Page 32 RAIN Febraary/March 1983 The Future of Spokane The Northwest Regional Foundation in Spokane has been in the forefront of long-range planning since its inception in 1974, at the Hme of Spokane's World Expo. For several years, the Foundation published Futures Conditional, a journal devoted to futures planning and anticipatory democracy started by Robert Theobald. They have more recently launched FutureSpokane, an ambitious plan to provide the community with a framework for planning the direction of their community. The project calls for the development of an Action Plan that will result from a process involving input from citizens, community organizations, and government agencies. Between February 1982 and October 1982, the Foundation conducted five day-long community forums, attended by more than 1000 people. The forums were designed to encourage people to think about the future of education, government, economic development, and health. From the forums twelve community task forces were established to produce working papers in areas ranging from food and agriculture to culture and recreation. In early November the working papers were forwarded to the Committee of 100, a group formed by the Foundation to take the primary lead in drafting the final Action Plan. The Committee of 100, made up of leaders in government, business, neighborhoods, churches, civic organizations, agriculture, unions, education, media and minorities, met in November at a two day retreat, developed a draft of the Action Plan and presented it to the community on behalf of Future- Spdkane. Throughout 1983, FutureSpokane will be taking the Action Plan to the community, by means of slide/tape presentations, public meetings and workshops, in an attempt to find methods and support for carrying out the Action Plan. For more information on FutureSpokane, including a summary of the Action Plan, write to the Northwest Regional Foundation, N 910 Washington, Spokane, WA 99201, 509/327-5596. Buy Oregon First: Mix and Match In five months, an innovative networking tool is expected to begin creating new jobs in Lane County, Oregon. Instead of outside capital, this tool works indigenously among Eugene-Spring- field businesses: producer-retailer matching. The concept spearheads the "Buy Oregon First" project, one of several under U.S. Bank's "Are You With Us?" plan to enliven Oregon's soggy economy. The bank recently awarded a project grant to Eugene's Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO) — a branch of the Whiteaker Community Council. "Buy Oregon First" operates by recycling money flow within the county and prevents unnecessary "leakage" of capital out of the state. NEDCO is concocting this economic wax in four parts. Part One entails connecting Lane County businesses now purchasing their products outside Oregon to manufacturers within Oregon. After all, why buy storm windows from Pittsburgh when they're available "home grown?" The project coordinator, Alana Probst, who pioneered a similar program near Chicago, points out that "this method shows local jobs can be locally created — immediately." Part Two calls for promoting the new producer-retailer matches among businesses within Lane County. The examples will be used to emphasize the cyclical effect of spending money locally. ' In Part Three, NEDCO determines who is producing what in the county and what products are being bought elsewhere. Part Four, called import substitution, identifies products being produced in Oregon that are similar to those being bought through non-Oregon producers and could be replaced by native models. A further objective involves computer-tallying the number of buyers and sellers matched, how many businesses grow or originate with NEDCO's assistance, the cost of catalyzing such new markets compared to conventional aproaches, and the number of jobs created by the project. Eventually NEDCO hopes to make its research available to small businesses in other Oregon counties. As the program's longterm financing method, small businesses would pay a reasonable fee for a local-regional market assessment, a service most struggling, small-time entrepreneurs cannot otherwise afford. It is hoped that this service encourages enterprises that contribute to the counties', state's, or region's agricultural, energy, and human services self-reliance. One such incentive would be to offer reduced market assessment fees, perhaps jointly offset by the Chamber of Commerce and the City, to these "sustaining" businesses and those that will use locally recycled materials. For information contact Alana Probst, NEDCO, 341 Van Buren, Eugene, OR 97402, 503/343-7712. Seattle Potlatch Network Like the Briarpatch Network in San Francisco, the smaller and younger Potlatch Business Network has established itself in Seattle. Committed to a common vision of work as a satisfying way to realize such values as cooperation, honesty, respect for others, and the health of the planet, the year-old group hopes to help finance new businesses that are socially and environmentally responsible. A directory of its 130 person mailing list is in progress. To receive their newsletter. Potlatch, or find out more, contact Larry Katzman, Potlatch Business Network, P.O. Box 4296, Seattle, WA 98104, 206/633-4121.
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