Building Wealth in Local Communities:
A Program for Change
Goebel & Associates specializes in facilitating solutions to community problems through consensus building, sustainability planning, and scarcity management using a number of proven diagnostic techniques and action processes. Our approach involves developing a holistic community vision and using a decision-making process that emphasizes financial planning for the triple bottom-line (people, profit, planet).
What’s Building Wealth in Local Communities: A Program for Change (BWLC) and why should I care? BWLC is a community-based process for attaining short- and long-term sources of revenue and employment by identifying local resources, engaging local initiative and talent, and designing a locally endorsed and sponsored vision of community quality of life. The process is a response to the crisis experienced by communities and individuals throughout the United States who have lost vast amounts of wealth, and to the struggles of local governments to balance budgets while meeting local needs and obligations.
What can it do for me, my town, my company? This process can rebuild wealth for individuals, businesses, communities, and governments. In my experience, individuals and organizations have made tremendous change happen using this process. One owner’s four ranches increased their net by $2 million per year. A government at a large Indian reservation doubled land treatments while cutting costs by $1 million annually. A national forest attained its goals by 126%. A local watershed council was able to restore its financial condition with an investment of a three-day workshop. A county in West Texas increased tax revenues through successful businesses by 27%. Another county in Eastern Oregon had a 93% “new business” success rate over 5 years. These are just some of the results.
What problem is it solving? The BWLC process removes the roadblocks to success by addressing the limiting beliefs that prevent movement toward building wealth and provides tools that allow people to learn new ways to solve complex issues. These issues involve the social, economic, and ecological needs and values of individuals and communities.
What does the process involve? The following six steps are a comprehensive process for building wealth throughout an entire community – from change for individuals, to business and organizations, and local governments. While all six steps are optimal, communities may choose to start with one or two processes, then add as needed.
Of course, these processes can best be mastered and implemented with the assistance of a trained community facilitator. This is because too many paradigm and belief shifts must occur in order for individuals and communities to replace current belief systems and methods of doing business with processes that yield sustainability and produce enduring success. It is extremely difficult – if not impossible – for these kinds of “paradigm shifts” to originate from within a community seeking change.
The following steps are recommended for cultivating community wealth and fostering sustainability.
1) Develop three elements of community vision – quality of life; means to support that way of life; and means to sustain that way of life.
2) Introduce and adapt a process that evaluates whether actions are sustainable from a social, economic, and ecological perspective simultaneously.
3) Incorporate the principles of cultivating community wealth
a. Plug the leaks of community wealth
b. Shore up existing businesses
c. Create new local businesses
d. Recruit new outside businesses that are consistent with the community vision
4) Institute processes that allow community members with passions to successfully enter entrepreneurial opportunities, through a network of passionate people who fulfill the three legs of a successful business: product / service, financial management, and marketing. This process needs to tap into the diverse areas of expertise of the community; should not initiate potential businesses or motivate potential entrepreneurs; and be a free and confidential business service. This selective identification and mobilization of skill-and-passion sets is one of the processes used to accomplish principles 2 & 3 above.
5) Adopt a financial management process that ensures the triple bottom line; people, profit, and planet. This approach will lead to economically and ecologically sustaining means to achieve individual family, business, organizational, governmental, and community-wide visions.
6) Of critical importance, the recognition that unresolved community conflicts carry a very high price tag, AND the commitment to changing those limiting beliefs that prevent movement toward the community vision.
What happens if you only use 3 or 4 of the steps? It has been our experience over the course of over two decades and three continents that optimal results are attained by following all six steps. We recognize, however, that it is not always feasible or possible to do the entire program. We can assess which of the six steps are most crucial to the successful outcome of a particular set of problems and design a scenario that will bring about the desired changes. Follow-up assessment and review are always an option.
How easy is it to implement? Again, some changes will occur just by attending a workshop. Others will require more and continuing investment of time and energy into learning and practicing the processes that are being taught. Another way of answering this question is to consider your attitude to the current situation. How satisfied are you with the present state of events? If the answer is “very satisfied,” then you can just go on doing what you’ve been doing, and this is easy. If, however, you are not satisfied or you are not attaining your desired outcomes, you will have to do something different that will bring the desired successful situation. Doing something different is usually not easy, as it requires forming new habits and patterns. However, the long-term results of this hard work are extremely rewarding.
How quick are the results? Results will materialize on several levels at various intervals, depending on the degree of commitment to learning and to adopting new beliefs and tools. Some results will be instantaneous and visible immediately after the workshop, due to changes in limiting beliefs. Other results will take disciplined work over time and will include learning and practicing new methods that will create desirable outcomes in the long run. The methods have a proven track record of success in producing both short- and long-term outcomes.
Is it cost effective? If you are satisfied with your current results, keep doing what you have been doing. If you need to do something different, it will take an investment of effort, time, and money.
How do I get started? You can start by talking with Jeff Goebel, Goebel & Associates, about what your relationship is in your community (personal business enhancement; organizational or governmental enhancement; or overall community wellbeing), and what your desired outcomes are. We will develop a strategy what will begin in the most effective means to meet your desired outcomes.
