Category Archives: Economic Development

“Local social networking communities will thrive”

Posted on Friday, December 19, 2008 by • No comments yet

From Scott Heiferman…

Forbes: “The Watch List: Meetup.com. The bartering economy will expand. Local social networking communities will continue to thrive and help people connect to information, resources, ideas and employees. Meetup.com groups will be at the center of the burgeoning part of the economy. Entrepreneurs will tap these groups for goods and services and to form new partnerships.” (Maureen Farrell via Greg)

We certainly see high volumes of business being done through Front Porch Forum… and it seems to be increasing as the national economy sours.

Backdoor Bakery and Front Porch Forum

Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2008 by • 1 comment

Quote seen on the website for the Backdoor Bakery in Huntington, VT…

“Also on my mind — the best almond croissant I’ve ever had in my life — last Saturday — hot out of the oven from the Backdoor Bakery (my stomach thanks Front Porch Forum).”  -Catherine

This is a “community supported bakery”… locals buy shares in advance and get regular doses of fresh baked yum yums… reduces the risk for the mom and pop owners of this treasured local small business.  Suzanne Podhaizer of Seven Days wrote about it recently.

Front Porch Forum in Two Slides

Posted on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 by • No comments yet

Here’s Front Porch Forum boiled down to two slides…

Future of Vermont June 19

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 by • No comments yet

Glenn McRea of the Snelling Center for Government posted the following on his neighborhood’s Front Porch Forum today…

The Future of Vermont is is an important opportunity coming up.  The Vermont Council on Rural Development is sponsoring a series of statewide forums on the “future” of Vermont.  Front Porch Forum is an important part of that future as a vehicle and a connected community.  I hope people will put this on their calendar and come and talk about FPF and other vital issues about the future of our Vermont community.

Forum on the future of Vermont – City Hall Auditorium in Burlington, from 6:00 to 8:30 on June 19th. Please check out the website at http:/www.futureofvermont.org to learn more, to take an on-line survey, or to contribute ideas electronically to this statewide dialogue.

Thanks Glenn!  I plan to attend.

Federal Economic Stimulus Check Spent Locally

Posted on Thursday, May 15, 2008 by • No comments yet

Peg from Shelburne sent a financial contribution to Front Porch Forum today along with this note of explanation…

I’m trying to put some of my “stimulus” cash into good causes since the gov’t apparently does not know how to do so.  Plus, without Front Porch Forum, I would not have had so many neighborhood folks come to my yard sale over the weekend (and hence have so much extra cash in my pocket!).

Much needed and much appreciated, Peg!  Every dollar received by FPF gets plowed back into the service.

Local Business finds Clients through FPF

Posted on Thursday, March 13, 2008 by • No comments yet

Thanks to Elaine for this wonderful note today…

I just wanted to tell you that right after the announcement that I had started my business was posted on the Five Sisters Forum, I received an email from a prospective client. I’m happy to say that he is now an official client and I foresee a successful working relationship ahead. Many thanks to you and Front Porch Forum for making connections like these happen!
— Elaine Sopchak, Vermont Voices Marketing Services

I wonder how she’d do if she reached out across all 130 of our neighborhood forums in addition to the single one she tried the other day?

Soup Mama Delivers to the Neighbors

Posted on Thursday, March 6, 2008 by • No comments yet

Congratulations to the Soup Mama, Lorraine Murray.  Nice coverage in today’s newspaper…

The only thing better than a bowl of homemade soup in winter — at least for those of us who arrive home from work simultaneously with the family’s demands for food — is a bowl of homemade soup we didn’t actually have to make.

If that soup made in somebody else’s kitchen were actually delivered to our front door, why we might just fall down and kiss the hem of that cook’s garment.

And she exists, at least if you live in Burlington. Hooray for Lorraine Murray, the Soup Mama, who delivers her homemade concoctions door-to-door every Monday.

Murray, the 26-year-old mother of one, launched her business in October. It works like this: She posts her soup-of-the-week on the neighborhood e-mail newsletter, Front Porch Forum, and her Web site (http://thesoupmama.wordpress.com/) each week. Customers place orders by Saturday evening.

Lots of small and micro businesses use Front Porch Forum to get the word out about their offerings… another great use of this service.

Past coverage in Ghost of Midnight… one, two and three.

“Army of Davids” use internet tools against unwanted development

Posted on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 by • No comments yet

The Planning Commissioners Journal blogs today that…

Free, new media have empowered neighborhood groups tremendously. A decade ago, anyone wanting to oppose a rezoning or a development had to go door to door or make scores of phone calls to get people to meetings. Time and distance greatly constrained what people could accomplish.

But now an increasing number of neighborhood groups are using tools like Yahoo or Google groups, which allow e-mail messages to go out instantly to group members — and only to group members — so quickly that neighborhoods are now as agile as their industry opponents. Neighborhoods are also using free blogs to give them a public face and to archive public documents.

I think this new “Army of Davids” power is very apparent in Greensboro, where developers have lost recent rezoning battles (or given up before they started) in response to neighborhood pressure. It looks like they’re going to lose a few more.”

— David Wharton, “And They’re Getting More Organized All the Time” (Dec. 4, 2007, on his A Little Urbanity blog about living in the middle of Greensboro, North Carolina)

People put Front Porch Forum to use in this way too… dozens of times in the past year or two.

Bill McKibben on Community and FPF

Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2008 by • No comments yet

Good to read this posting today on my own neighborhood’s Front Porch Forum by Carolyn…

I had the glorious pleasure of listening to Bill McKibben speak this week at an AIA meeting.  He is the guru on global warming, and has chosen to live in Vermont, too!

While he was answering questions about great things happening, he said that the Front Porch Forum was just the absolute best thing to happen, anywhere.

That it brought people back together, communicating with each other, in a terrific way.  The very best way.  And that most important thing to do is to get communication and neighborhoods back together, instead of the “dream house” where everyone lives in their own isolated internet cubby, and parents have dual bedrooms, and live miles from anyone.

I can only say ditto to this.  Having lived here for many years, in this neighborhood, I knew a few people who had dogs, or lived next door.  Now I feel connected to the entire neighborhood and I know almost everyone on my street, and neighboring streets.  And this place really really feels like my home in capitol letters.  (And yes, I was born in Kansas).

And this way, not only is there better communication, there will be less driving, more car pooling, more local jobs, …. more local shopping.

Bill’s most recent book, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, is a fascinating read.

Babajob connects poor and elites

Posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 by • No comments yet

A fascinating article in the New York Times was brought to my attention today (thanks Hubert) about Babajob.com…

Babajob, by contrast, connects India’s elites to the poor at their doorsteps, people who need jobs but lack the connections to find them. Job seekers advertise skills, employers advertise jobs and matches are made through social networks.

About Blog

Ghost of Midnight is an online journal about fostering community within neighborhoods, with a special focus on Front Porch Forum (FPF). My wife, Valerie, and I founded FPF in 2006... read more

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