In March, the K-J Arts commission and K-J Horizons organized a community meeting with Two Degrees Northwest: Where Art Meets the Land, a program with the University of Idaho Extension that seeks to support local artists, craftspeople, and small ag producers in the region of northcentral Idaho and southeastern Washington–folks who are making unique local products. This support will most likely take the form of an artisan trail and/or a regional distribution network. Our goal is to help create and sustain a locally-based economy where dollars stay within communities and people do not have to leave home to make a living.

About a dozen community members came to that first meeting and helped 2DNW Program Coordinator, Elizabeth Carney, come up with a list of the assets that the K-J and 7 Ridges area would like to share and those they would not like to share. Since then, Two Degrees has been moving forward, developing its website (currently under construction) at 2dnw.org, compiling lists of assets in our region, hosting entrepreneurship trainings, and planning for a trail guide they hope to launch in the spring.

If you would like to find out more and/or be included in a trail guide, contact Elizabeth Carney at ecarney@uidaho.edu or 596-5975.

Kendrick-Juliaetta and the 7 Ridges Horizons partnered with Troy Horizons to host this three-day workshop (details below) with about 26 participants. Alana Sneve from the Harvest Lighthouse Cornerstone catered dinner for three nights - and it was delicious.

Workshops participants made valuable connections with residents of other communities and with the Small Business Development Center and other resource providers. They expressed the need for a regional vision of the economic future and they want to maintain a regional network of entrepreneurs.

Would you like to see another workshop like this one in the area? (If so, please comment on this blog and/or contact the Two Degrees Northwest folks –see info below)

Entrepreneurial Training Series
Introduction to Entrepreneurship: Starting a business, marketing, finance and networking to support entrepreneurship in our region.Format–A series of 3 workshop sessions to be held in 3 separate locations. You may attend any or all sessions at each location. See below for session descriptions.

Kamiah, ID
Kamiah Welcome Center
518 Main Street April 29 Session 1 6pm-9pm (PST)
May 1 Session 2 6pm-9pm (PST)
May 6 Session 3 6pm-9pm (PST)

Kendrick, ID
Kendrick Fire Hall
518 Main Street

April 8 Session 1 6pm-9pm (PST)
April 21 Session 2 6pm-9pm (PST)
April 28 Session 3 6pm-9pm (PST)

Plummer ID
Coeur d’Alene Tribal Wellness Center
1100 A Street

April 9 Session 1 5pm-8pm (PST)
April 14 Session 2 5pm-8pm (PST)
April 23 Session 3 5pm-8pm (PST)Session 1) Business start-upSession 2)

Marketing (with specialized breakouts for arts, farm-related, and hospitality businesses)Session 3) Financial management. (with a focus on resources to help small businesses, establishing mentoring relationships for new entrepreneurs and creating networks/mechanisms for fostering an entrepreneurial environment)

The emphasis of this training is not to teach every detail of starting or growing a business, but rather to foster relationships that will support small business start-up and help existing businesses become more successful. Therefore, identifying the existing resources in your communities/area is going to be important to the success of this effort!

Contacts:
Two Degrees Northwest
Lorie Higgins higgins@uidaho.edu or 885-9717
Elizabeth Carney ecarney@uidaho.edu

Just one week until the firm community newsletter deadline of May 15, 2008. Any news items to be included for the June-July-August newsletter must be here at kjand7r@gmail.com by midnight May 15, or news items may be mailed to arrive by May 15 in PO Box 54, Kendrick, Idaho 83537.

Thank you,

Community Communications Action Team  

Guidelines for submission of articles to “What’s Happening”, our community newsletter: 

This newsletter is meant to provide a stronger sense of community through the sharing of information.  Appropriate articles are upcoming events, current community needs and services and new activities of organizations.  The newsletter is written and edited entirely by volunteers so to get it out on time and in a readable format we need your help.  Please submit articles using these guidelines: Submit articles by May 15th to kjand7r@gmail.com

Please supply your own title and byline (author’s name)Articles should be about 500 words (a single typewritten page) or less.Articles may be shortened by editors depending on space available.Please use a common, standard font such as Times New Roman.When submitting by email, if you send an article as an attachment, also please paste the article into the newsletter in case it does not open.

Reflective Questions:
What is something unique about your Horizons community that you’d like to share with the rest of the world? What makes your community different from the one right down the road? Is it a strength your community can capitalize on or a burden you have to bear? Or both? For example, Sun Valley has the beautiful landscape, ski resorts, etc. but the tourism industry has also left behind many local people who are now unable to afford to live in the town they work in…

sheldondenier - The unique thing about our community is that it is actually two communities and they have not always seen eye-to-eye. If you are not a long-time member of the community, you never know when you will be stepping on someone’s toes or potentially opening an old can of worms.

We are very like the communities “right down the road”. The things that fed our community in the past - saw mills, railroad, orchards, etc. - are no longer here. Farms cannot support the farm families like they once did. We are in great measure bedroom communities. We struggle with the lack of local jobs for experienced workers and those just entering the job force. We are not a destination spot, but we are on the road to destination locations. There are a few key people in our community working to encourage traffic to stop in our communities. Or make it an outing to check out our local antique shops, special sales, and unique businesses such as The Cornerstone Harvest Lighthouse Bakery.

As the old addage goes “Divided we fall; together we stand.” As our community (actually two communities) continues to work together we will find a way to battle poverty in all its faces.

Scavenger Hunt Question: This week the scavenger hunt is a simple assignment. Find an entry on one of the Horizons community blogs (or even your own blog) and leave a comment to the author. It’s fun to give and get feedback about things we’re doing and talking about.

sheldondenier - I left a comment to vintagerose’s Kudos to Those Who Attended The “Meet Your Sheriff” Forum. I also left the comment - Just a suggestion - Have an administrator go to “Options” and under there click on “Reading”. The second main topic down is “Blog Pages”. In the box following “Show at most:” change the number to something higher - at least 15. I think Couer d’Alene Reservation uses 20, we use 25. Almost no-one clicks “previous” when scrolling down your page to see what is posted. It would improve your opportunities to have someone stop, read, and become interested enough to return to view the blog again. This is one of the few easy fixes for the blog site. - on Bonners Ferry Summer Hours set for the NIC Center, Bovill Going Beautiful, Kooskia A REALLY great forum for homesteading lifestyles, Stites Stites News May 2008, and Up River EVENTS!–U R Invited!!!  These were all sites with the # ten blog (the preset number to show at once) less than one month old. I felt they could possibly benefit from more showing posts. The communities of Couer d’Alene and Kendrick/Juliaetta already show more posts. Cascade, Cottonwood, Grangeville, Riggins, Silver Valley, St.Maries, and Troy had a # ten blog more than one month old. I felt they are not blogging enough to make it worth my while to make my suggestion to them.

Reflective Questions:

• What’s next in Horizons for your community? Are your Action Teams planning activities in the next 2 months? How do those activities relate to the 3 legs of Horizons: Poverty reduction, Leadership Development and Community Mobilization?

mountainmama: Our community is going to keep up the good work that has been started through the push Horizons has given us.

The Community Communications Action Team will publish their 4th newsletter that is mailed to every postal customer in the Kendrick-Juliaetta and 7 Ridges community. The response has been good to the newsletter from people wanting to include information for it. This time we are going to make a concerted effort to get feedback on what those receiving it think about it. We are going to take personal polls and report back to the Team what we find out. We are also checking with businesses to see if they think it is valuable enough to support through sponsorship. We are determined to continue it if it is viewed as a good communication tool.

The Bridge Builders are starting to step back from Pug Marks CSI a little and let it operate with its new Board of Directors (adults) and Advisory Board (youth). Pug Marks CSI applyed for and received non profit status from the State of Idaho. We are finalizing our by laws in preparation for filing for 501(c)(3) status. Without the help of the Bridge Builders Action Team this community service group would still just be a dream of mine. Bridge Builders has plans to do a Foxfire type project of having youth interview people in the community and publish in some form the resulting stories. They are also currently partnering with ACTION to bring training to our community on intergenerational communication and on how established groups in the community can make youth a part of their program.

The Leadership Development Action Team has also been instrumental in the start up of Pug Marks Community Service Incorporated. The service projects and random acts of kindness planned by the group all need a project leader. Leadership Development is helping to insure that those leaders have the skills they need.

The Economic Development Action Team has been very active in promoting our community by organizing monthly sales highlighting our antique stores, the Grange sale, and new bakery. They are attempting to feature artists in the future. They are also working with the established Farmer’s Market to provide more on Saturdays starting on May 10. They are looking for people or groups interested in providing an activity or demonstration during market hours. Musicians would be welcomed. Buying some banners and signs is on the agenda for the very near future.

Through the efforts of each of these Action Teams people in the community are being kept better informed and better served. The Community Newsletter lets everyone know what is going on and what is new in the community. The Bridge Builders continue to work at bridging the gap between young and old and through them Pug Marks CSI was made possible. Pug Marks’ latest service project had 6 adults and approximately 14 youth working together sweeping the sidewalks of Kendrick. (Juliaetta had 3 adults and 2 youth sweep there last month.) By advertising in the Money Saver, the Economic Development Team has brought traffic into town. And Leadership Development is making it possible for those who have never taken a leadership role to have the skills and support to make them successful.

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