MEAPA's Empowerment Wiki - Recently Updated Pages

MEAPA's Self-Empowerment Library and Resources

meapaman — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:57:50 CST

Resources on empowering your self

Paul Arden - former executive creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi and a legend of British advertising, Arden has authored two outstanding books, It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be and Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite.
Eckhart Tolle - is a spiritual teacher who travels extensively taking his message throughout the world and has authored several publications including A New Earth Awakening to Your Life's Purpose and The Power Of Now.
Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek, Life Entrepreneurship - serves as a guide for enriching our quality of life and revving up our work through the dynamic force of entrepreneurial leadership.
Darcy Andries, The Secret of Success Is Not A Secret (2008).
Steve Jobs - Commencement Speech given at Standford University, May 2005.
Michael E. Gerber, Awekening the Entrepreneur Within: How Ordinary People Can Create Extraordinary Companies (2008).
Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ (1995)
Laurence Gonzales, Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why (2003)
Daniel Gardner, The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the Things We Shouldn't and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger(2008)
Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success (2008)

MEAPA's Financial Empowerment Library and Resources

meapaman — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:55:15 CST

Resources on empowering your financial situation

Farrah Gray - named one of the most influential African-Americans by the National Urban League's Unrban Influence Magazine, Gray has written two books Reallionaire and Conquer the 7 Lies Blocking Your From Success.
Keith Cameron Smith - author of The Top 10 Distinctions Between Millionaires and the Middle Class.
David Bach - The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich (2004)
Timothy Ferriss. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (2007)
Ken Fisher, The Ten Roads to Riches: The Ways the Wealthy Got There (And How You Can too!)
Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich (1937)
T. Harv Eker, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth (2005)
Michael Collins, The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone: Easy New Ways to Make Money from Your Interests, Insights and Inventions (2008)

MEAPA's Creative Arts Database

meapaman — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:16:56 CDT

Harrison Ford (from college drop out to actor to carpenter back to actor and then to superstar - 10 years in the making)

1942 - born
1960 - graduated Maine Township High School East in Park Ridge Illinois (no athletic star, never above a C average).
Early 1960s - attended Ripon College in Wisconsin, but then dropped out.
1964 - moved to Los Angeles and signed a Hollywood contract with Columbia and later Universal.
Late 1960s - His roles in movies and TV ("Ironside" (1967), "The Virginian" (1962)) took his career no where.
Late 1960s-early 1970s - to support his family, Harrison became a self-taught professional carpenter. While working as a carpenter, he became a stagehand for the popular rock band The Doors. He also built a sun deck for Sally Kellerman and a recording studio for Sergio Mendes.
1973 - He turned to acting again when George Lucas, who had hired him to build cabinets in his home, cast him in a pivotal supporting role for his film American Graffiti (1973).
1975 - Ford's work as a carpenter would land him his biggest role to date. In 1975, director George Lucas used him to read lines for actors being cast for parts in his upcoming space opera, Star Wars (1977). Steven Spielberg convinced Lucas that Ford was meant to star in the film, resulting in his being cast as Han Solo. Star Wars became the biggest-grossing film in history and established Harrison Ford as a superstar.

Jonathan Larson (composer and playwright, RENT - 7 year journey)

1960 - born
1980s - after graduating from Adelphia University in New York, he worked at the Moon Bounce Diner as a waiter
1980s - wrote a series of acts/plays such as Tick, Tick....Boom
1989 - started collaborating on RENT with Billy Aronson
1996, January 25 - after almost seven years of collaboration on RENT, Jonathan died alone in his apartment due to an aortic aneurysm.

Jerry Seinfeld (comedian - 13 years from college to Seinfeld)

1954 - born
1976 - graduated from Quenns College, City University of New York, tries out for Catch a Rising Star mic night
1977 - appeared in a Rodney Dandgerfield HBO special
1979 - small recurring role as Frankie in Bencon sitcom
1981 - made debut on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1989 - ptiched The Seinfeld Chronicles show to NBC in 1989, pilot premiered but was not well received. However, Rick Ludwin, head of late night and special events for NBC, diverted money from his budget for the next four episodes. These episodes were highly-rated and the series was finally picked up.

MEAPA's Empowerment Wiki Home

meapaman — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:08:20 CDT

Hello and thank you for visiting MEAPA's Empowerment Wiki. We started this wiki as a result of conversations with hundreds of individuals from all walks of life over the last three years who have a tremendous need to either empower themselves, their communities or their businesses. MEAPA’s mission is to empower communities, businesses, and individuals with the knowledge and ability to succeed in today’s dynamic and competitive global economy. We offer a portfolio of innovative EMPOWER programs, publications and on-line tools. This wiki is yet another tool within our portfolio of innovative empowerment tools and we do hope that you find this valuable. To visit our web site or contact us, please click on the Magnifying Glass to the right.

COLOR GUIDE - throughout this wiki we use a variety of colors to help the user better understand and navigate.

Text underlined and italicized in bold blue = link to a another page on this wiki or some external source
Text in bold red = section header
Text in bold orange = refers to an attached pdf at the bottom on that specific wiki page.

Click on any of the links below to visit a specific wiki

Empowerment for communities wiki - this wiki helps communities gain insight into the various economic development, workforce development, downtown revitilization and community development strategies.

Empowerment for businesses and organizations wiki - this wiki helps businesses and organizations understand the new dynamics of selling and marketing in today's dynamic global economy.

Empowerment for individuals wiki - this wiki provides a resource for individuals who would like to enhance their person and/or professional lives.

The Paradox of Concern Amidst Growth wiki - this wiki explains the Paradox and then outlines a variety of examples and resources that support it.

The Creative Economy wiki - this wiki highlights a variety of tools and definitions relevant for a better understanding of the Creative Economy.

The Entrepreneurship wiki - this wiki allows entrepreneurs to view MEAPA's Entrepreneurship Directory as well as other resources related to helping individuals start or grow their business in today's global economy.

The Creative Economy wiki

meapaman — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:57:27 CDT

MEAPA's Creative Economy wiki provides a variety of resources to help individuals better understand today's dynamic and every changing global Creative Economy.

Resources explaining the Creative Economy

A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age by Daniel H. Pink (2005)
Revolutionary Wealth: How it will be created and how it will change our lives, by Alvin and Heidi Toffler (2006)

Resources explaining Web 2.0

Web 2.0 Video

Center for the Digital Future Report - published by the University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication. For a summary PDF of the report, please click on the link located at the bottom of this page.

Resources concerning the accelerated information exchange rate

Mobile TV

Resources explaining open innovation

October 11, 2007 - "The love-in" The Economist.
Open Innovation: Researching a New Paradigm, by Henry Chesbrough (2008)

Resources examining mass participation (crowd sourcing)

Crowdsourcing: Why The Power of The Crowd is Driving The Future of Business, Jeff Howe (2008)
May 15, 2008 - John Stossel column "U.S. officials stifle wisdom found on gambling site."

COLOR GUIDE - throughout this wiki we use a variety of colors to help the user better understand and navigate.

Text underlined and italicized in bold blue = link to a another page on this wiki or some external source
Text in bold red = section header
Text in bold orange = refers to an attached pdf at the bottom on that specific wiki page.

Web 2.0 Video

meapaman — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 07:17:21 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

MEAPA's Enterpreneurship Timeline

meapaman — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:17:51 CDT

The list below briefly outline the 'back story' and timeline associated with some of the brands that are now household names. The 'back story' refers to what transpired before each company/person became a household name.

Google (3 years before company established)

1995 - Larry Paige and Sergey Brin meet at Stanford
1996 - January - started collaborating on a search engine called BackRub (ability to analyze the "back links" pointing to a given website)
1997 - September 15 - google.com domain registered
1998 - August - Andy Bechtolsheim, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems wrote out a $100,000 check to Google Inc.
1998 - August/September - Paige and Brin had no bank account and no Google Inc - quickly got additional angel investors ($1 million total)
1998 - September 7 - Google Inc established and opened in garage

Craigslist (4 years before company established)

1995 - Craig Newark starts as an email for San Francisco residents/programmers
1999 - craigslist founded as a private for profit company
2000 - expanded to 9 cities outside of San Francisco

Cheesecake Factory (over 20 years in the making)

Late 1940s - Evelyn Overton made a cheesecake for her husband's (Oscar) employer and opened small cheesecake shop in Detroit.
1950s-1960s - Gave up shop to raise children (David and Renee) but supplied cakes to local restaurants through a kitchen in her basement.
1971 - Oscar and Evelyn moved to Los Angeles, using the last of their savings to open a 700 square foot store "The Cheesecake Factory".
1975 - opened large bakery as they had hundreds of accounts from Santa Barbara to San Diego, and even out of state.
1978 - David founded The Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills, which made Evelyn's cheesecakes even more famous.

Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling (6 years of little, if any, support)

1990 - Idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry "came fully formed" into Rowling's mind on a plane trip.
1990 - December - Rowling's mother died after a ten year battle with multiple sclerosis.
1992 - moved to Portual to teach English as a second language and married Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes.
1993 - gave birth to Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes and separated from husband.
1994 - J.K. and daughter Jessica moved to be near J.K.'s sister in Edinburgh, Scotland. Also diagnosed with clinical depression.
1995 - Rowling finished her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on an old manual typewriter
1995 - Rowling submitted manuscript to 12 publishing houses, all of which rejected it.
1996 - Bloomsbury press in London agree to publish book at request of the 8 year old daughter of Bloomsbury's chairman
1996 - Barry Cunningham, editor of Bloomsbury advises her to get a day job since she had little chance of making money in children's books.

Samuel Truett Cathy (Chick-fil-A founder – over 20 years at one store)

1921 – born Samuel Truett Cathy in Eatonton, Georgia
1920s-1930s – sold Cokes, magazines and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a child and learned how to cook chicken by watching mother
1946 – opened Dwarf Grill or Dwarf House – created chicken sandwich along with brother Ben
1967 – opened first Chick-fil-A in Greenbrier Mall in Atlanta

Life is Good (t-shirt company - 5 years to find Jake)

1989 - brothers Bert and John Jacobs began selling t-shirts out of an old van at colleges and street fairs up and down the East Coast.
1994 - they adopted the mascot "Jake", a smiling stick figure and the mantra "Life is good." - symbolizing everything the brothers believed in.
For more information about its history, visit http://www.lifeisgood.com/about/

The Coffee Equipment Company (5 years to product)

2001 - Zander Nosler developed coffeemaker for Starbucks called the Interactive Cup
2002-2004 - Nosler decided he could do better and started to come up with plans for a superior coffee brewing machine
2004 - Nosler recruited friends, family members and investors with a business plan and raise half a million dollars in a year
2005-2006 - Nosler and employees worked developing the first Clover prototype.
2006 - Nosler debuted Clover at the Specialty Coffee Association of America

The Entrepreneur Database

meapaman — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:50:50 CDT

This part of MEAPA's Empowerment Wiki provides readers with a list of products and services are started due to an entrepreneur. Below is a brief description of each business as well as a link to additional information. To help keep this wiki organized, we have divided the entrepreneurs up into categories.

Food and Beverages

Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream - started in 1948 when Irvine Robbins and his brother-in-law Burton Baskin combined their ice cream stores in the Los Angeles area.
Domino's Pizza - started in 1960 when Tom Monaghan and his brother James purchased "Dominick's Pizza" in Ypsilanti, Michigan. During the following year Tom traded his car for his brother's half of the business and renamed the pizzeria Domino's.
Kentucky Fried Chicken - started in the 1950s by Harland David Sanders. In 1930, in the midst of the depression, Sanders opened his first restaurant in the small front room of a gas station in Corbin, Kentucky. Sanders serves as station operator, chief cook and cashier and names the dining area "Sanders Court & Café." During the 1950s, Sanders, then in his 60s and almost broke, spent several years selling his Secret Recipe to restaurants.
Cheesecake Factory - started in 1949 when Evelyn Overton of Detroit baked one of her New York-style cheesecakes for the employer of her husband, Oscar. The employer requests additional cakes to give as gifts. She rolls the idea into a small-scale bakery operated first from a shop and then from the finished basement of the family's Detroit home. She continued to run the enterprise there for more than 20 years.
Starbucks - The first Starbucks opened in 1971 in Seattle. Howard Schultz joined Starbucks in 1982 and after a visit to Italy's espresso bars had the idea of creating them in the U.S..
Pepsi - created by 1898 in North Carolina by Caleb Bradham a pharmacist and drug store owner.

Cold Stone Creamery - started in 1988 when Donald and Susan Sutherland open the first Cold Stone Creamery ice cream store in Tempe, Arizona.
Mister Softee Ice Cream - Mister Softee Inc. was founded by two brothers, William and James Conway, in 1956. On St. Patricks day of that year, Bill and Jim took their first truck and gave out green colored ice cream in the neighborhoods of West Philadelphia. By 1958 the company had outgrown the building in Philadelphia and moved to the current location in Runnemede, NJ.
Chick-fil-A - Cathy began the chain in the Atlanta suburb of Hapeville, Georgia in 1946 with a restaurant called the Dwarf Grill or the Dwarf House, named for its small size. It was there that he, along with his brother and partner, Ben, created the sandwich that later became the signature menu item for Chick-fil-A. The

Services

Xerox - started in 1938 when Chester Carlson made his first electrophotography (later known as xerography). Took him 10 years before Haloid Company in New York (later renamed Xerox) became the only company to express interest in the machine and two years later the firm sold the first Haloid Xerox coper.
Kinko's - started in 1970 when Paul Orfalea opened a 8' x 12' copy store near the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara. The name Kinko comes from a nickname he had been given as a child for his kinky hair.
Build-A-Bear - started in 1997 by Maxine Clark who launched its first Build-A-Bear workshop in St. Louis and in 2007 had 300 shops across the world.
Barnes and Noble - Barnes & Noble's beginnings can be traced to 1873, when Charles M. Barnes started a book business from his home in Wheaton, IL. In 1917, his son, William, went to New York to join G. Clifford Noble in establishing Barnes & Noble. During the height of the Great Depression, what later became the Barnes & Noble flagship store was opened on Fifth Avenue at 18th Street in New York City, where it still resides today.

Clothing & Department Stores

Macy's - started in 1958 by Rowland H. Macy in after four previous business failures. Macy opened his retail store in Manhattan.
Life Is Good - started in 1994 by brothers Bert and John Jacobs after spending five years hawking shirts from their car.
Urban Outfitters - started in 1970 as The Free People's store by Robert Hayne. In 1975 renamed to Urban Outfitters.
Sears - started in 1868 by Richard Sears as the R. W. Sears Watch Company.

Various Other Consumer Products

Post-It Notes - created in the 1970s by 3M and Art Fry.

COLOR GUIDE - throughout this wiki we use a variety of colors to help the user better understand and navigate.

Text underlined and italicized in bold blue = link to a another page on this wiki or some external source
Text in bold red = section header
Text in bold orange = refers to an attached pdf at the bottom on that specific wiki page.

MEAPA's Athletes Database

meapaman — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:48:54 CDT

Roger Bannister & breakthrough thinking - first man to run the mile under four minutes (3:59.4 on May 6, 1954)

Richard Douglas ("Dick") Fosbury & thinking differently - revolutionalized the high jump using a back-first technique now known as the Fosbury Flop. Click on the link above to read MEAPA's article on the Fosbury Flop and the need to think differently.

Empowerment for Individuals

meapaman — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:53:23 CDT

This page provides a listing of the wiki pages and the related resources within the Empowerment for Indiivduals wiki.

Component One - MEAPA's Athletes Database: contains our compilation of athletes who persevered to reach new heights in their sport.

Component Two - MEAPA's Creative Arts Database: contains our compilation of actors, musicians and other creative arts individuals who proved resilent as they developed their careers.

Component Three - MEAPA's Self-Empowerment Library and Resources: contains our list of on-line resources that individuals can use to start or grow a business or sell their products and services.

Component Four: MEAPA's Financial Empowerment Library and Resources: contains a brief overview of the start-up timelines associated with some of the entrepreneurship enterprises that are now household names.

COLOR GUIDE - throughout this wiki we use a variety of colors to help the user better understand and navigate.

Text underlined and italicized in bold blue = link to a another page on this wiki or some external source
Text in bold red = section header
Text in bold orange = refers to an attached pdf at the bottom on that specific wiki page.

Technology Based Economic Development

meapaman — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:57:19 CDT

Resources supporting TBED

A Resource Guide for Technology-based Economic Development, prepared by Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, August 2006.

Resources against (or at least challenging) TBED

"Can Business Incubators Justify Their Existence?" published in Business Week, October 25, 1999.

There Is No Alternative

meapaman — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:00:50 CDT

Resources promoting large box retailers can be found on the following wiki pages:

Resources against recruiting busiensses can be found on the following link:

Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses by Stacy Mitchell (2006)
Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age by Michael H. Shuman (2000)
The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition by Michael H. Shuman (2007)

Entrepreneurship Library

meapaman — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:36:08 CDT

Resources with a positive view of entrepreneurship (small businesses succeed more often then you think).

Starting from Scratch: Secrets From 21 Ordinary People Who Make the Entrepreneurial Leap by Wes Moss (2006).
Startup Nation by Jeff and Rich Sloan (2005).
8 Patterns of Highly Effective Entrepreneurs by Brent Bowers (2006).
Work, Entrepreneurship and Opportunity in 21st Century America published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (May 2006).
The Million Dollar Idea in Everyone by Michael Collins (2008)
Get Rich, Stay Rich, Pass It On by Catherine S. McBreen and George H. Walper, Jr. (2007).

Resources with a negative view of entrepreneurship (most small businesses fail).

The Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths That Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By by Scott A. Shane (2008)
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber (1995)

Resources examining entrepreneurship around the globe.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor by Babson College and the London Business School. 9th edition in January 2008.

Biographical accounts of companies by their founders or CEOs

Pour Your Heart Into It: How STARBUCKS Built A Company One Cup At A Time by Howard Schultz (1997)

Entrepreneurship wiki

meapaman — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 09:38:20 CDT

MEAPA's Entrepreneurship wiki consists of four components:

Component One - MEAPA's Entrepreneur Database: contains our compilation of today's businesses that were all started years ago due to an entrepreneur.

Component Two - MEAPA's Entrepreneurship Library: contains our review of literature and resources that examine entrepreneurship.

Component Three - MEAPA's Short List of On-Line Resources: contains our list of on-line resources that individuals can use to start or grow a business or sell their products and services.

Component Four: MEAPA's Entrepreneurship Timeline: contains a brief overview of the start-up timelines associated with some of the entrepreneurship enterprises that are now household names.

COLOR GUIDE - throughout this wiki we use a variety of colors to help the user better understand and navigate.

Text underlined and italicized in bold blue = link to a another page on this wiki or some external source
Text in bold red = section header
Text in bold orange = refers to an attached pdf at the bottom on that specific wiki page.

Post-It Notes

meapaman — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:50:19 CDT

Almost A Failure

Art Fry, co-inventor of 3M's Post-it Notes, often tells the story of how the product tested horribly and almost got abandoned in the early days (1977-1979) because consumers did not understand how to use the sticky notes. So in 1979 the company took a truckload of Post-its to a single market in the Northwest and gave the inventory away. Not only did people love the notes, but they found millions of uses for them.

Origins

Chemical engineer Art Fry didn’t invent the special adhesive, and he didn’t invent the paper. But he did put them together in 1980 to come up with the best thing to happen to notes in years. His Post-it® Notes—the self-sticking notes that can be removed without a trace—are now marketed around the world.

Fry’s inspiration for the self-sticking notes dates back to when he sang in his church choir in the early 1970s. He used scraps of paper to mark selections in his hymnal, but they kept falling out. "I needed a bookmark that would stay put, yet could easily be removed without damaging my hymnal," Fry said.

At that time, Fry’s colleague, Dr. Spencer Silver, an organic chemist, was doing basic research on adhesives in 3M’s Central Research Department. Silver had created a low-tack adhesive that stuck lightly to many surfaces, yet remained sticky even after you repositioned it. Fry realized Silver’s adhesive was perfect for his needs. One morning, Fry applied some of the adhesive to the edge of a piece of paper. His thought was to make a bookmark. After having made the bookmark, he discovered that it was a great self-attaching note.

A short time later, Fry realized his invention’s full potential, when he wrote a note on one of his new "bookmarks" and attached it to a report he was forwarding to a colleague. "That’s when I came to the very exciting realization that my sticky bookmark was actually a new way to communicate and organize information," Fry said. Indeed, soon co-workers were at Fry’s desk demanding more samples of his invention. Fry took advantage of 3M’s "15 percent rule," which allows scientists to spend up to 15 percent of their time on projects of their own choosing, and the Post-It Note was born.

Introduced in the United States in 1980 and in Europe in 1981, demand for the notes grew quickly. One year after its introduction, Post-it Notes were named 3M’s Outstanding New Product. Today, Post-it Notes are one of the five top-selling office products in the United States, and are best-sellers worldwide. And, there are now more than 400 different Post-it® products available in 30 different colors, 56 shapes, and 27 sizes.

Local Small Business

meapaman — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:37:10 CDT

The following resources highlight the value that small businesses bring to a community:

Philadelphia Inquirer May 3, 2008 article entitled "As a Home Depot closes, a pair of local hardware stores survive. 2 Davids help topple Goliath."
Entrepreneurship and Urban Success: Toward A Policy Consensus, February 2008 by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. To view this 27 page report, see the PDF that is attached at the bottom of this page.
Michael Shuman - is Vice President for Enterprise Development at the Training & Development Corporation and the author of several publications including The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating The Global Competition.
Stacy Mitchell - is a senior researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and author of Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for American's Independent Businesses
Growing Local Value How To Build Business Partnerships That Strengthen Your Community by Laury Hammel and Gun Denhart, (2007).
"Light a Store, Save a Town," Forbes Small Business July/August 2008.
Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by BIll McKibben (2007)
Community: The Structure of Belonging by Peter Block (2008)

Empowerment for Communities

meapaman — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:34:48 CDT

Links to Wikis On The Five Most Commonly Used Economic and Community Development Strategies

There Is No Alternative (TINA) - when communities see no other way to develop themselves but to give away tremendous financial incentives for a company or retailer to move into their area.

Only Local Small Business - when communities only want to grow and protect their own local small business community inviting little, if any, outside businesses to join them.

Creative Class - when communities provide direct support to the artisans, bohemians and other 'creative types' to help spark economic activity.

Clusters - when communiites arrange to have specific industries clustered together within a geographical proximity to one another in order to generate producitivty from the collective group.

Technology Based Economic Development - when communities focus on developing or attracting high-end technology companies. Also closely resembles TINA.

To compliment your current development efforts you may want to consider MEAPA's Innovation and Community Empowerment (ICE): Creating A 21st Century Empowered Community (2008) - communities small and large have a tremendous need to better train their people and utilize their resources. ICE fills that need by offering community leaders and stakeholders a very practical and innovative approach that they can immediately implement to help them create a 21st Century Empowered Community.

COLOR GUIDE - throughout this wiki we use a variety of colors to help the user better understand and navigate.

Text underlined and italicized in bold blue = link to a another page on this wiki or some external source
Text in bold red = section header
Text in bold orange = refers to an attached pdf at the bottom on that specific wiki page.

Resources for Growth Component of Paradox

meapaman — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:20:59 CDT

Affluence in America: America's Changing Wealth Landscape, May 2008 by Nielsen. The pdf of the report is located at the bottom of this page as an attachment.
The Middle Class Millionaire: The Rise of the New Rich and How They Are Changing America by Russ Alan Prince and Lewis Schiff(2008)
Get Rich, Stay Rich, Pass It On: The Wealth Accumulation Secrets of America's Richest Families by Catherine S. McBreen and George H. Walper, Jr. (2007).
November 2007: Marks Record 51st Consecutive Month of Job Growth
August 26, 2007: "President Bush Pleased With Lower Poverty Rates" (White House Press Release)
January 2, 2007: "The Number of Rich Households" (Wall Street Journal)
2007 Wealth and Values Survey - published by The PNC Financial Services Group.

Color Guide

Text underlined and italicized in bold blue = link to a another page on this wiki or some external source

Text in bold red = section header

Text in bold orange = refers to an attached pdf at the bottom on that specific wiki page.

Light a Store, Save a Town

meapaman — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:16:35 CDT

Light a store, save a town

By reopening an iconic clothing shop, a rural community revives its once-dying downtown.

By Hope Hamashige

Last Updated: July 17, 2008

POWELL, WYO. (Fortune Small Business) -- The residents of this windswept basin 100 miles from anywhere know that if they want something done, they have to do it themselves. Whether it's repairing a tractor or rejuvenating Main Street, the people here fix their own problems. So when the town's last clothing shop shuttered, forcing them to make an hourlong roundtrip for a pair of socks, they decided to fix that too.

More than just an inconvenience, the closure of the Stage store threatened the very existence of Powell's historic retail district. The small stretch of shops along Main Street had become a patchwork of empty storefronts and struggling merchants, and local business owners worried that additional shops would close if residents driving to the nearest Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) in Cody spent their money on more than just long johns.

In response, town leaders such as Ron Blevins, owner of the office supply store; Harold Robirds, a CPA; and Andy Lampe, owner of the jewelry store, decided to replace the Stage store with a community-owned for-profit shop run by a manager and overseen by a board of directors. They sold $500 shares to more than 800 of the town's 5,300 residents, raising over $400,000 for what they dubbed, in a nod to their frontier past, the Powell Mercantile.

"The chamber spoke to some national retailers, and nobody wanted to come to Powell because we aren't big enough," says Ken Witzeling, 81, president of the Merc's board of directors. "We knew we could do something that would help downtown, but we also wanted this to be a successful business."

More than a dozen small towns across the West and Midwest, from Ely, Nev., to Glendive, Mont., have copied Powell's solution - and for good reason. It has kept spending and jobs within the local economy, revitalized the downtown, and prevented the chain-store homogenization that has robbed so many communities of their distinctive character.

The Merc, as it's affectionately known in Powell, has also proved a financial success. Last year, when many national retailers saw growth stagnate, sales were up 8% at the Merc; this year revenues are expected to top $700,000. Investors just received their first dividend, $75 a share, after six years in operation.

In the best of times, small-town shopkeeping is a hard go. Chicago-based retail consultant Jim Dion estimates that 70% of new stores go under in the first five years. It's worse for independent clothiers, which have been hard hit by Wal-Mart and the web. Compounding that struggle in Powell is a lack of tourists. Nor is the city a second-home destination.

"Powell is still primarily a farming and ranching town," says Sharon Earhart, 61, the former director of the Powell Valley Chamber of Commerce and one of the Merc's founders. "We don't get tourists like Cody, and we don't have oil and gas development anymore."

Everyone in and near Powell, from teenagers to ranch hands, shops at the Merc. And nobody comes for atmosphere. The walls are painted white, the racks and display cases are recycled, and rows of fluorescent lights glare overhead. The lure is not just convenience but the store's wide selection of clothing, shoes, luggage, jewelry, and handbags, all jammed to the rafters.

Shoppers can find known brands such as Lucky jeans and Tommy Hilfiger as well as Levi's and Wranglers. The same merchandise can be found 100 miles north in Billings, Mont., at the regional mall, but the Merc keeps its prices lower, thanks to minimal overhead and patient owners. A pair of Silver jeans, for example, that normally retail for $80 to $82 sell for $70 at the Merc.

"If I know that a particular shirt sells for $49.99 in Billings," says store buyer Mike Reile, 61, "I knock $5 or $10 off the price."

Manager Paul Ramos spends almost all day talking to shoppers. He knows the regulars by name and has learned their tastes. When items come in that he thinks they might like, he gives them a ring. The store takes special orders nearly every day.

"We really emphasize service," says Ramos, 41. He and Reile have learned that their neighbors want low-cost goods but are also willing to spend $100 for well-made pants so that they can wear something more fashionable than Carhartts into town.

Anita LaFleiche's store, Lights 'n Such, has resided on Bent Street, just a few doors down from the Merc, for 14 years, and now visitors from neighboring towns are discovering her business.

"People are coming here from all over the Bighorn Basin," says LaFleiche, 62. "The Merc has been great for us. It's been great for the whole town."
Glen Holm, 63, has owned a True Value hardware store in Powell for 28 years. Even with the recent downturn in the economy, he says, his sales have grown every month for the past 16.

Once-moribund Main Street now has few vacant storefronts. Businesses from outlying areas, including Pepe's Restaurant and Hidden Treasures, an antique shop, relocated downtown recently. A bookstore, toy store, videogame shop, and guitar seller have all taken the plunge in the past two years. There's even a martini bar, Joey's, that serves 34 varieties of the classic cocktail and is packed on weekend nights.

There are days now when Earhart can't find a parking spot downtown, and she couldn't be more pleased.

Empowerment for Businesses and Organizations wiki

meapaman — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:12:17 CDT

This wiki provides a variety of resources for businesses.

Resources on branding, marketing and staying relevant include the following:

Allen P. Adamson, Brand Simple
Glen Senk, CEO of Urban Outfitters - "As a company we think that nothing is more boring than last year's best seller. We would rather change regularly and be wrong on occasion than become boring and irrelevant." As published in The Philadelphia Inquirer June 2, 2008.
Branding, Business Week June 2008 article.
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne (2005).

Resources examining the impact of the Internet for businesses and organizations:

June 2, 2008 - "Beyond Blogs," Business Week
Revolutionary Wealth: How it will be created and how it will change our lives, by Alvin and Heidi Toffler (2006)
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams (2007)

Resources on the mass customization of products and services:

July 12, 2004 - "The Vanishing Mass Market, Business Week
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson (2006)

COLOR GUIDE - throughout this wiki we use a variety of colors to help the user better understand and navigate.

Text underlined and italicized in bold blue = link to a another page on this wiki or some external source
Text in bold red = section header
Text in bold orange = refers to an attached pdf at the bottom on that specific wiki page.