tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838561643881788482024-02-20T12:08:55.288-08:00Rural InnovationRobert (Bob) Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11412590660891677808noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-883856164388178848.post-45971388344278016052011-03-29T07:24:00.000-07:002011-03-29T07:24:59.503-07:00Online Tutor Ideal Virtual Business<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The success of the two giants in the tutoring industry --Kumon and Sylvan -- attest to the demand for after-school teaching skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Clients of the two primary tutor franchises seek assistance for their children for a variety of reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some, it is to enable their child to keep pace with classmates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For others, it is to ensure that their child is best equipped for advanced education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In several instances, these parents are opting for private schools for their children in the middle and high school years, rather than throughout the child’s entire school life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others are looking to explore and stimulate specific skills and interests of the child, to provide that child with a stimulating learning environment.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Kumon and Sylvan tutoring programs, though, place the urban client at a distinct advantage over rural students. Whether the rural student requires remedial tutoring or specific, focused one-on-one mentoring, distance becomes problematic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In essence, rural students do not have access to the quality of extra-curricular training that is available to urban students.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">That disadvantage is an opportunity, however, for rural educators and advanced students. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Most jurisdictions, from states to provinces in North America, have specific licence requirements and certification processes for teachers and special education instructors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In spite of that requirement, an apparent gap exists in the licensing process that allows online tutors to be exempt from those criteria, in most areas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That means that anyone can become a tutor!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Recognizing the dearth of one-on-one personal education support for rural youth, a creative rural entrepreneur could easily set up an online mentoring program that allows youth in need to tap into the resource at the click of a mouse or touch of a pad. While, ideally, the tutors employed in this system should be teachers and education students in a university program, the opportunity is available for retired teachers, top-achieving students and even laypersons with specific skills and knowledge.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The program could allow for video conferencing, text interaction, self-guided training and teaching regimens and email interaction with the student.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By setting specific times each day, the mentor can work with a range of students throughout his available free time, and the student can pick and choose the most appropriate time in which to engage with the instructor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This makes for a very personalized approach, and an actual advantage over bricks-and-mortar institutions.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The online tutoring business can offer limited curriculum and subjects, or a broad range, utilizing the talents of educators that are available world-wide, instead of in a specific geographic area, as is required for conventional tutoring businesses.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The degree of flexibility that an online tutoring program offers is significant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clients can be recruited face-to-face, locally, regionally, or across the country, continent and globe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This opens up a wider range of open time slots, greater student base and greater pool of qualified educators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, it can be established, simply and inexpensively, in the basement of a rural business person in any part of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Online tutoring offers a real competitive edge over conventional tutor programs, at a fraction of the cost of conventional programming.</span></div>Robert (Bob) Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11412590660891677808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-883856164388178848.post-84384287954386629192011-03-11T11:09:00.001-08:002011-03-11T11:09:53.042-08:00Live Work and Travel the Pioneer Way<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">While rural communities struggle to drum up interest in tourism to their regions with festivals and fairs, museums and local icons, the big-money tourists are flocking to rural towns and municipalities to experience an authentic western, First Nations, pioneer or eco-experience.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The disconnect seems to be caused because rural residents are reluctant to believe that someone might be interested in what those residents se as an everyday experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that were true, no resident of Hawaii, Paris, Mexico or Wyoming would ever recognize the value of sandy beaches, the cafes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>along the Seine, the arid air, or Old Faithful. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Much of what we in rural North America is precisely how we live and who we are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not just the Americans who are intrigued by history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the days when the wild west was being opened up, Europeans have been fascinated with everything about that rustic environment, snapping up the dime novels that glorified commonplace tramps and hoodlums of the west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That interest has not waned, but, instead, has burgeoned, growing to include China’s and even the North American eastern cities’ interest in participating in an authentic western experience.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The pioneer encounter is an extension of that fascination with our ancestors of the west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we who live every day in that milieu generally are disinterested in such out-dated modes of living, those that have never been part of its routines cannot get enough of the romance of the era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>German and Slavic tourists form the bulk of that influx of visitors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No doubt, Kenyans are mildly amused at our own interest in their everyday pests, such as lions, or nuisance wildlife such as the wildebeest.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What others see as intriguing often baffles locals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, it is these idiosyncratic events and experiences that provide a glimpse into a world that others, from other regions and countries, find as a counterpoint to their own lives.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So where does that leave rural communities, who invest heavily, in terms of volunteer labour and money, in museums and community fairs that often are duplicates of the museum down the road?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Those museums and festivals may actually offer the jumping off point for your thrust into the activities that are more in demand by paying customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “Live, Work & Travel The Pioneer Way” program integrates those existing venues and events into a more holistic experience.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Local people who have access to old buckboards, wagons, sleighs, York boats, vintage cars and so on should be digging them out of the tall grass in the field, refurbishing them, and offering rides to visitors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Museum organizers should look to reconstructing and repairing old sod shanties, log cabins, tepees, and Dirty 30s clapboard homes, so that tourists can visit or spend a night in an authentic pioneer or First Nations dwelling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Empty former blacksmith shops, Bombardier snow planes, fixed-position threshing machines and old fishing boats should be restored, and tourists invited to take part in a day of work with those that know the routines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First Nations should be spending days in the field, showing interested visitors how to harvest from the wild, and have them experience the 1800s way of life.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Involve your potential tourist in your life, and discover the enthusiasm with which they embrace an experience that is unique to them, pedantic to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Work with adjacent communities, expand your programs, and turn farm life into a financial windfall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>Robert (Bob) Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11412590660891677808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-883856164388178848.post-58179489727924166042011-03-03T09:20:00.001-08:002011-03-03T09:20:43.311-08:00Best Price Program Offers Best Deal For Rural Entrepreneurs<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Internet has opened doors for rural development that had remained locked for many years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Historically, one of the impediments to rural business growth has been the lack of access to competitive markets and supply lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Distance from distribution networks has limited the ability to obtain the lowest prices on supplies, or demand the typical urban prices on products and services.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">High speed Internet access has<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>reversed that situation, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, suppliers and manufacturers in rural settings can produce many goods for less than city businesses, due to lower wages, lower facility costs and competitive energy rates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These savings are not offset by transportation costs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">While, until the 1990s, the level of technological skill has lagged, that gap is closing, with more rural youth obtaining advanced skills and education that can be applied to rural business opportunities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Location, location, location as a mantra has lost much of its lustre for new developments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While many of the emerging rural businesses rely on local raw materials for their innovative products, others must source suppliers from out of the region to be truly competitive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, marketing of goods no longer is limited to the immediate region of production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Markets and suppliers can readily be located, worldwide.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">One of the most obvious examples of global reach is alibaba.com. A website that lists thousands of suppliers from China and the far east, it does not limit itself to one or two product lines, but is inclusive of any product or service that is available from that region.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its clients are found worldwide, with a huge base in North America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Biodiesel operations in the prairies, alongside architects from Quebec or electronics manufacturers from Newark source suppliers on the Alibaba website.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This access to low-cost supply lines, available to anyone and everyone, means that cost of goods is more uniform, regardless of the location of manufacture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, a wealth of global distribution sites are available to market goods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alternatively, a rural producer, supplier or manufacturer can reach into worldwide markets at the click of a button.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One western Canada grower markets oats to Ogilvie in South America!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But the cornucopia of supply line resources and markets comes with a huge drawback: the size and variety of available sources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The time to evaluate and access each of these suppliers can be overwhelming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therein lies an opportunity for an enterprising entrepreneur, who might well be a rural businessman rather than an urban one.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">By compiling and filtering a variety of suppliers, one could, with modest effort, develop a very substantial database of products, listed by reliability, cost, customer service, shipping time and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Customers who are looking for a specific product, service or raw material could pay a nominal fee to this database operator, who would provide a number of competitive price and product quotes, establish the connection to the supplier, and even facilitate purchases.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">To enter the marketplace by offering “best price quotes” on a vast array of items would be prohibitively time consuming and labour intensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, by focusing on regional business needs and developing a database of suppliers for a few hundred products and then expanding that list by a hundred or so<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>each week, an operator could easily compile a catalogue of almost half a million items within a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The potential to offer this service globally<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is, like the research required to asset up the competitive network, only a few clicks away, relying on a website with the reach similar to Alibaba.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">While a concept such as this is easily established, without disadvantage, in a rural environment, it is not limited to any geographic location, since not product physically is filtered through that operation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">To obtain, at no charge, additional information and guidance on establishing such an undertaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Contact us via our blog contact form.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div>Robert (Bob) Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11412590660891677808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-883856164388178848.post-68421490707520206492011-03-02T10:27:00.000-08:002011-03-02T10:27:52.514-08:00Cross-Docking Business Opportunities<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In the 1990s, cross-dock facilities proliferated in larger centres, as wholesalers sought cost-effective distribution outlets that would reduce payroll and shipping costs to the small retailers dotting the retail world.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As larger retailers either swallowed smaller mom-and-pops or overwhelmed them into closing their doors, the need for cross-docking appeared to diminish. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In the Canadian food services industry, any one region of the country is dominated by, at best, three large distributors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In smaller regions, such as the Manitoba/Saskatchewan/Northern Ontario market, those distributors also manage more than 88% of the retail grocery trade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that same market, two primary distributors dominate the restaurant sector, with two others sharing about one third of the market of the larger two. In that mix, dozens of small suppliers and distributors attempt to compete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This scenario is replicated across other parts of the country.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Several independent cross-dock outlets have closed their doors in the past dozen years, as the suppliers and the dominant distributors turned their attention from retailers to independent distributors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Caught in that war has been the trucking industry. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Two years ago, Walmart refocused their distribution mechanism toward in-house shipping, as opposed to their long-standing practice of using independent trucking firms to haul goods across the nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ultimate effect will be to squeeze the independent truckers out of the picture, even though the consumer possibly will see a reduction in prices.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The confluence of this series of recent events seems to be leading to an inevitable result: the elimination of local warehousing and shipping opportunities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That, in fact, is not either inevitable or even probable.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">While cross docking traditionally has been focused on urban locations, a major opportunity has opened for rural facilities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Many suppliers to rural grocers and restaurants currently charge a levy, or delivery charge that runs from a base of $35 within a 50 kilometre radius to $100 or more, per delivery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That fee is significant to a small town retailer, and often stimulates that retailer to take one day each week to journey to the nearby city to purchase supplies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that, in turn, require that the merchant arrange for employees to work in his or her stead for that day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, the $35 saving may be lost, unless the owner is able to offset that loss by finding competitive prices that result in savings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This conundrum has led to most rural buyers turning to major wholesalers or distributors for their entire supply, which, consequently results in higher inventory costs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The higher inventory costs force higher prices onto the consumer, who often responds by redirecting his buying dollars into the larger city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The local retailer is now in an even poorer position to be competitive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Local restaurants, though, tend to emerge from the increased food cost problem unscathed, as locals remain loyal to local restaurants.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In order to compensate for the increased costs, rural food merchants need to be able to capitalize on competitive pricing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is only possible if the distribution network offers the full range of competing products.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, the optimum arrangement would be to establish cross-dock locations at the margins of the base-rate radius provided by the supplier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Typically, that is 50 kilometres.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">By setting up a depot at the perimeter of the distribution line, that depot can order a significant quantity of goods, thus sharing the one-time delivery fee over a much larger quantity of goods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of a $35 charge on a $1,000 purchase, for instance, the depot may be able to purchase $20,000, with the delivery fee spread over that amount.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">By purchasing bulk quantities, the cross-dock depot also is able to capitalize on bulk buying deals, further reducing the costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, the depot can operate profitably, while offering lower costs to the remote rural retailers.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">A second business opportunity opens itself through this cross-dock system: the ability to provide bulk-buy deals directly to the consumer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This concept was tested in the Whiteshell resort region of Manitoba a few years ago, and proved to be very successful.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">By providing a low-cost (3% of gross) delivery service (along with a share of the bulk-buy savings) directly to resort restaurants, the single-truck operator was able to generate net (not gross) revenues of $350 per day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later in that summer, he added direct-to-consumer deliveries, as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Individuals and families would attend at one location in each community at a specified time, to pick up the orders that they had placed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This expanded his net revenues to $475 per day, by using two trucks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">While the cross-docking concept requires some warehouse and cooler/freezer space, the start-up costs are very modest, and the cash flow immediate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If you would like further details (at no charge) on setting up a cross-dock business in your region, contact us through our blog site listed in the resource box below.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div>Robert (Bob) Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11412590660891677808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-883856164388178848.post-39869006910666377092011-02-03T10:58:00.001-08:002011-02-03T10:58:49.004-08:00Bartering is Just What You Bargained For<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Bartering conjures up images of trading chickens for a house call by the rural family doctor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, barter networks have emerged as vehicles for a reported transaction value of more than $8 billion per year, plus the billions more swap and trade transactions that go unreported.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From personal to corporate transactions, from in-person to online exchanges, the barter infrastructure offers significant opportunities to move goods outside the realm of cash and credit contracts.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For the most part, trade exchanges flourish where there is a diversity of products or services being offered and, consequently, are focused mainly upon urban networking. Bartering may have begun as a mechanism to allow businesses, countries and individuals with limited cash flow but access to desired goods or services to participate in and benefit from a capitalistic market, but has evolved as a valued way of moving surplus inventory or capabilities stock expeditiously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is estimated that more than 350,000 businesses in the USA alone participate in trade exchanges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The International Reciprocal Trade Association boasts membership of more than 80 corporate barter networks around the world, the National association of Trade Exchanges lists 60 more, with Gigafree.com claiming to have identified over 700 personal and business networks. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The ease with which a barter network can be set up makes it attractive for neophytes to the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guided packages that detail the steps involved are readily available online.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In addition to ease of setup, linking of these myriad exchanges through formal and informal agreements mean that small groups can access a much broader array of goods and services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Local operations easily can tap into the national and international exchanges, often paying only a nominal amount to participate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Because of the ability to expand the reach of modular exchanges, the very nominal start-up costs and efforts and the appeal of cashless transactions, barter networks are ideally suited to rural economies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it is ironic that, with the variety of unique products and services available and the propensity to turn to community for support, rural entrepreneurs have been reluctant to establish their own unique brand of barter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Perhaps it is the misperception that the only goods that they have to offer to each other are farm goods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, aside from the rural retailers and service providers that have inventory and services to trade, individuals and farmers also have a wealth of goods that may be exchanged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Equipment and personal assets are only a few of the valued goods that could be bartered, while produce of varying grades, livestock, and even leases and rentals on production equipment make excellent offerings.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">To set up a network involves little more than a good bookkeeping software package, an Internet connection, a website and a coordinator to arrange and list the items to be bartered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In some instances, organizers may require a refundable deposit, to allow for a credit account to be set up for each exchange member.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Similar to the eager online entrepreneur who traded a giant paperclip upwards and laterally sixteen times in order to acquire a house in Kipling, Saskatchewan, bartering offers latent potential to generate profits and benefits where none were previously seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Realistically, an old tractor may become a holiday excursion to the Caribbean, or a few hours of babysitting nurtured into a substantial discount on a vehicle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The possibilities are endless for the trader, but invaluable for the rural communities who are seeking ways to stimulate enterprise in their regions.</span></div>Robert (Bob) Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11412590660891677808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-883856164388178848.post-66044591359596800522011-01-29T09:50:00.000-08:002011-01-29T09:50:28.293-08:00Barter Networks Provide Link to Rural Economic Development<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Bartering conjures up images of trading chickens for a house call by the rural family doctor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, barter networks have emerged as vehicles for a reported transaction value of more than $8 billion per year, plus the billions more swap and trade transactions that go unreported.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From personal to corporate transactions, from in-person to online exchanges, the barter infrastructure offers significant opportunities to move goods outside the realm of cash and credit contracts.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For the most part, trade exchanges flourish where there is a diversity of products or services being offered and, consequently, are focused mainly upon urban networking. Bartering may have begun as a mechanism to allow businesses, countries and individuals with limited cash flow but access to desired goods or services to participate in and benefit from a capitalistic market, but has evolved as a valued way of moving surplus inventory or capabilities stock expeditiously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is estimated that more than 350,000 businesses in the USA alone participate in trade exchanges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The International Reciprocal Trade Association boasts membership of more than 80 corporate barter networks around the world, the National association of Trade Exchanges lists 60 more, with Gigafree.com claiming to have identified over 700 personal and business networks. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The ease with which a barter network can be set up makes it attractive for neophytes to the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guided packages that detail the steps involved are readily available online.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In addition to ease of setup, linking of these myriad exchanges through formal and informal agreements mean that small groups can access a much broader array of goods and services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Local operations easily can tap into the national and international exchanges, often paying only a nominal amount to participate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Because of the ability to expand the reach of modular exchanges, the very nominal start-up costs and efforts and the appeal of cashless transactions, barter networks are ideally suited to rural economies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it is ironic that, with the variety of unique products and services available and the propensity to turn to community for support, rural entrepreneurs have been reluctant to establish their own unique brand of barter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Perhaps it is the misperception that the only goods that they have to offer to each other are farm goods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, aside from the rural retailers and service providers that have inventory and services to trade, individuals and farmers also have a wealth of goods that may be exchanged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Equipment and personal assets are only a few of the valued goods that could be bartered, while produce of varying grades, livestock, and even leases and rentals on production equipment make excellent offerings.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">To set up a network involves little more than a good bookkeeping software package, an Internet connection, a website and a coordinator to arrange and list the items to be bartered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In some instances, organizers may require a refundable deposit, to allow for a credit account to be set up for each exchange member.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Similar to the eager online entrepreneur who traded a giant paperclip upwards and laterally sixteen times in order to acquire a house in Kipling, Saskatchewan, bartering offers latent potential to generate profits and benefits where none were previously seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Realistically, an old tractor may become a holiday excursion to the Caribbean, or a few hours of babysitting nurtured into a substantial discount on a vehicle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The possibilities are endless for the trader, but invaluable for the rural communities who are seeking ways to stimulate enterprise in their regions.</span></div>Robert (Bob) Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11412590660891677808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-883856164388178848.post-6433881454681368072011-01-11T10:23:00.000-08:002011-01-11T10:23:36.260-08:00Communities Cash in on Geocaching<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The explosion in popularity of global positioning systems since the early 2000s, combined with the ease of use of these systems and the rising interest in eco-tourism<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>has opened the door to a wildly popular new outdoor gaming experience known as geocaching.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Geocaching combines the skill and dedication of analysing <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>latitude and longitude readings to decipher geographic locations with the fun of scavenger and treasure hunting. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this moment, there are in excess of 1,270,000 “treasure caches” hidden around the world, awaiting intrepid <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>high-tech treasure hunters.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In its simplest form, a geocache is a small container with a log book and a few memorabilia or “treasures,” generally of nominal value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A geocache is hidden in a specific location, then the originator posts the geographic location (latitude and longitude) online, at any of hundreds of geocache hunting sites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Hunters choose the cache that they wish to search out, based on the general description, approximate location and difficulty of search. Once they pinpoint the site and uncover the cache, these seekers record their “find” both in the log and online, along with the date of location.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They may then take one of the “treasures” within the cache, so long as they replace it with something of equal or greater value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This leaves an opportunity for discovery for the next explorer.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">To date, many communities have capitalized on the intrinsic capacity of geocaching to draw in tourist visitors to their villages and towns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That minor foray into eco-tourism offers opportunities for exposure to outsiders of a town’s other treasures.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">However, for the most part, the most significant opportunities offered through geocaching remain relatively unexplored. Those opportunities center mainly around the natural and historical attractions of a rural community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By working with adjacent communities, your town, it or village could develop a network of geocache locations of interest to specific seekers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For example, historic sites could harbour caches across a large territory, providing a treasure hunt capable of filling weeks of searches by eager explorers. Working individually, those communities would be less likely to attract dedicated geocachers than if there is a wealth of exploration chances.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Other caching collections could include geographic points of interest, monuments & community statues, structural oddities and interesting buildings, natural features, recreation locales, and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a limitless capacity to attract a diverse array of visitors.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">By pooling resources and attractions, and relying on local volunteers to maintain the caches and webpages, financial investment is minimal.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Added impact can be generated if a regional partnership is able to set up a sufficiently popular geocache website to attract lots of online visitors, and increase web rankings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coupled with that geocache website, local businesses are able to promote their own individual attractions.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Within the cache itself, treasures can be placed that include minor local artefacts, as well as specific coupons or prizes that draw in those geocache hunters to local restaurants or retailers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A skilled hunting family, for example, may be able to “cash in” on free or nearly free meals, discounted accommodations, tickets to events, and so on.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">While setting up such a web package and physical presence may take some forethought and effort, ongoing maintenance becomes relatively easy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">A few years ago, an enterprising online fellow created a unique trading experience that led from him offering a giant paper clip in barter for some other item of value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After less than two dozen trades, his paper clip had been bartered upward and sometimes laterally, culminating in acquisition of a house in Kipling, Saskatchewan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This unique approach to barter offers similar, if less lucrative, prospects for diligent rural developers and community leaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Geocaching is an opportunity for treasure hunters, today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Properly orchestrated and organized, it offers a valuable chance to invite strangers into your rural homes, and increase the potential for economic success.</span></div>Robert (Bob) Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11412590660891677808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-883856164388178848.post-52886320959700626652011-01-11T07:42:00.000-08:002011-01-11T07:42:30.490-08:00SIPs Offer Rural Growth Potential<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In spite of being originally conceived and incorporated into a durable home as far back as 1937, stressed skin and structural insulated panels only gained significant attention in the 1970s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even then, widespread acceptance of this building design component did not occur, and remains more of an anomaly than a conventional, commonplace technology.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In part, the higher materials cost for SIPs versus stick frame construction deters many builders, much like the higher capital cost of energy-efficient homes and alternative energy systems deters homeowners from converting their old natural gas furnaces, hot water systems and electric power sources into cutting edge systems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">However, capital cost versus ongoing operating expense analyses consistently show that there is a considerable saving achieved through using EPS/OSB structural panels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Offsetting initial materials cost is a general reduction in construction and assembly costs by onsite labourers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The more airtight format of the SIPs means greater energy savings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SIP construction also provides greater axial strength than stick frame building.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Several successful building concepts and projects, however, have been developed using SIPs as the core of the design innovations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One company – Britco – has a huge array of building options, from hotels & motels to seniors housing, offices, residences and schools that they have built using SIP technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2010, Britco’s modular unit system that comprised the Whistler Athlete’s Lodge during the Olympics was presented with the top award for design excellence in North America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Build to LEED standards, it provided optimum energy efficiency, versatility and comfort for the athletes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In 2004, a Northern Village modular building that was constructed with SIP panelling was tested in the harsh Nunavut environment (far north Arctic), and was so airtight that an opening had to be temporarily provided so that the airflow tests would register.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In spite of the significant performance record of SIP construction, relatively few firms have been established that focus on SIP production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This opens a huge door for many rural communities, strategically situated within striking distance of lumber mills and forestry operations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether the emphasis simply is on engineered SIPs for resale to the construction industry, or on finished products such as pre-manufactured homes, apartment complex modules, restaurants & kiosks or even temporary shelters, the array of available products for sale is substantial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">There are several advantages to constructing SIPs and SIP-integrated buildings in the rural communities near logging plants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>EPS and rigid foam insulation is light, with reduced transportation costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moving the OSB or plywood panelling to another site would still require shipping EPS to that assembly area, as well, meaning that there is no significant advantage to outsourcing SIP assembly away from the nearby mills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sip panels can be constructed to template requirements, including window & door openings and electrical & plumbing channels cut into place, and then shipped flat to the job site, where they would be assembled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Modules could be assembled at the mill site, then shipped on flatbeds to the construction site, more economically than building from scratch on site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By assembling components and modules in a temperature-controlled factory, the impact of seasonal weather is eliminated.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Probably, however, the greatest advantage is to the local economy, with value-added manufacturing creating local jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, primary processing is tandemed with secondary processing of the local raw materials.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">One small rural company in western Canada assembles prepared components for small cabins, with 100 sq.ft. of floor space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These cabins have been used as storage buildings, farm outbuildings, construction site offices and even “quickie” summer cabins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few have been joined by breezeways to form a network of buildings for a small fishing lodge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The small footprint means that these buildings “fly beneath the radar” of many municipal and urban zoning bylaws, that commonly require permits for buildings larger than 10 square meters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This, in turn, opens the builder’s market to a larger range of buyers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such a concept would form an excellent micro-business model for rural communities across the continent, whether they are located adjacent to forestry operations or not.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">SIP construction offers a wealth of ideas and gateways to small business development in a variety of other areas, as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, such small businesses could help to stimulate economical and efficient local development of housing complexes for seniors and low income families, or upscale homes, expansion of local schools and medical facilities in a cost-efficient manner, and development of tourism micro-sites to attract visitors to local icons and points of interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The possibilities are vast.</span></div>Robert (Bob) Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11412590660891677808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-883856164388178848.post-71890010247902659302010-12-30T11:00:00.000-08:002010-12-30T11:00:07.447-08:00Leapfrogging Rural Development<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Worldchanging.com describes leapfrogging as the phenomenon that occurs when underdeveloped countries skip a generation or more of technology, to embrace a cutting-edge system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This, for example, has occurred in Africa, where hundreds of thousands of citizens have gained access to cellular telephones and the array of applications that are contingent upon that equipment, without ever having constructed a mile of copper wire to carry land-based telephone systems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has occurred, as well, where those same telephones provide access to pseudo-banking facilities, barter and money exchange schemes that stimulate local economies.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In rural North America, that leapfrogging could occur on select frontiers, if local and regional developers respond to the emerging opportunities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For the past fifteen to twenty years, remote and rural communities have fought to gain access to traditional Internet and hard-wired communications systems, including cable television.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Satellite television has offered a modest alternative, while tower wireless has reached into semi-remote communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wimax, though, offers 100% penetration where conventional line-of-site wireless fails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the same time, 802.11g and 802.11n wireless radio connect means that Wimax capabilities, built into every new laptop, could be used to establish fully mobile telephone service, through the Internet, at a fraction of the cost of 3G or 4G cellular mobile systems.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">By leapfrogging hard-wired systems, remote communities could build<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a regional network to rival national wireless providers, and enter the global business community by building virtual offices.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Over the past two decades, natural gas providers have reached pipeline tentacles into smaller rural communities, but still have thousands more yet to service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their petro-heat solutions, though, may have already reached the stage of obsolescence, without ever being implemented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dozens of forward-looking communities are attacking the energy problem head on, by building closed loop heating and energy networks with geothermal, solar/photovoltaic and wind power systems.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">A reverse form of connectivity ( a dis-connectivity, in reality) has been taking place as rail spur lines have been decommissioned across North America, limiting the options of farm growers to move their produce to markets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than be victimized by the shift, these producers have built biodiesel and ethanol plants, eliminating the need to transport their product to distant markets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the same time, they have disconnected, in part, the petroleum suppliers that have called the farmers “clients.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a type of reverse leapfrogging.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Distance education is a variation on leapfrogging, eschewing conventional classrooms in favour of more flexible and portable education strategies at all levels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This allows for a two-way flow of teaching, with the potential for education directed inward toward urban centres from the country, as well as outward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not just the information flow, but the access to live video from any point where the Internet can be accessed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That opens the door to hundreds of business possibilities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In order to employ leapfrog strategies effectively, rural development needs to be less focused on what they lack in terms of conventional infrastructure, access or processes, and what they can forego in those areas while implementing forward-looking development projects.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Where will the next open door to leapfrog industry or technology present itself?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will it be in off-the-pavement transportation, or in ecological conversion technologies?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will it be in unique energy transmission processes or in innovative shelter systems that are independent of urban manufacturing environments?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We simply do not know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, as technology breakthroughs occur, rural entrepreneurs and community leaders should look away from seeking to emulate city systems, and explore new opportunities to bypass existing dinosaurs and location-focused infrastructure. </span></div>Robert (Bob) Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11412590660891677808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-883856164388178848.post-77188850983392265872010-12-26T10:46:00.000-08:002010-12-26T10:46:29.573-08:00Low Output Community FM Radio<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: blue;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">When the United States Senate passed the Low Power Community Radio Act last week, it opened the door for the creation of thousands of small FM stations across the continent and, in particular, rural communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This bill closely compares to the Canadian Radio and Television Commission’s regulations governing low-output FM broadcasting in Canada.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">In Canada, those community radio stations must operate as not-for-profit organizations, with specific requirements for local content and non-traditional programming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, in the USA, the current requirement for low-power stations is that they are non-commercial in nature. At first blush, this may seem to be focused on university campus radio, travellers’ information stations and the like, but, in fact, provides a tremendous boost to rural development efforts.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In 2008, the typical cost for acquiring a full-power licensed radio station exceeded $2,500,000. That, clearly, was beyond the reach of small towns across North America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The maximum power outputs, prior to the LPCRA, were so low that broadcast ranges were measured in hundreds of meters, at maximum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Canada, prior to changes in 2000, stations were limited by hours of operation, and outputs that made reception difficult at distances of a mile or so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Many communities opted to use the Internet to set up online broadcasters, thus skirting many of the regulations to which radio broadcasters were subjected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While this option allowed for an exponentially greater reach, the irony was that, in rural communities, many homes and communities had limited or no access to high-speed internet, meaning that they effectively could not access those small broadcasters. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">While reception quality for online broadcasts tends to be reasonable, many people who otherwise are able to access the sites fail to do so because of the inconvenience of having to open a browser, enter a URL, tie in speakers to the computer, and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Accessing a radio station simply requires one or two pushes of a button. Thus, ease of use becomes integral to the decision of whether to tune into a local broadcast. Once a typical radio listener tunes in a station, that station will remain the one of choice for upwards of several hours. Since loyalty to a station is important to develop a following and encourage participation, ease of access and ease of use become critical determinants of a station’s success.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">With the lifting of restrictions on community radio station development, the two primary considerations that will govern viability of a new station are community participation and cost (both capital and operating). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Fortunately, there is no shortage of suppliers and distributors of broadcast transmitters, antennae, consoles and peripheral equipment that are needed to establish a workable broadcast center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Costs for a complete setup begin in the range of $40-55,000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, that is only half of the equation needed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Community input may be the most difficult to generate and manage, yet appear to be one of the easiest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is common to see almost universal support for such undertakings, but once a recruit is asked to reach into his pocket, or commit volunteer time on a regular basis, much of that initial support evaporates.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">A reasonable option is to set up the local station as a non-commercial operation, but solicit local businesses to input money into the station’s start-up costs, in exchange for advertising and/or time slots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, community groups and charitable undertakings may be asked to provide manpower, in exchange for time slots during operating hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By relying on commercial operations for capital costs, and community groups for operational input, financial risks are minimized.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">A supplementary option for successful setup and operation may involve partnering with nearby communities, and arranging for re-broadcast (repeater signals) in those local areas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This increases the number of businesses and community groups that may participate, and increases the reach of local promotions and advertising impact.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Within this general premise, there are almost limitless permutations and combinations that will allow for quick deployment of your local radio station. By passing the LPCRA, along with existence of the CRTC Canadian regulations, thousands of communities now are granted access to their own localized radio operations, and, with that, the potential for building another brick in the framework of community economic development.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div></span></span></span>Robert (Bob) Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11412590660891677808noreply@blogger.com0