ENGAGING COMMUNITY IN ENTERPRISE A presentation by Jill Jordan for the Regional Initiatives Conference – Gippsland 2006

BRIEF HISTORY OF COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE IN MALENY Began in 1979 Already long history of cooperation First group had little business experience – mostly process of trial and error Began with enterprise for which there was a demonstrated need (Food Cooperative) Built on success of first enterprise to start second, and so on

RANGE OF COOPERATIVE ENTERPRISE Caters for: Food – Maple Street Cooperative (1979); Money – Maleny Credit Union (1984) & LETSystem (1987); Land-sharing cooperatives – Manduka Cooperative (1978), Crystal Waters Permaculture Village (1986), Prout Cooperative (1989), Cedarton Foresters (1991); Environment – Barung Landcare (1991), Catchment Care Group (1998), Green Hills Fund (2000); Education – Ananda Marga River School (1992); Booroobin Learning Centre (1995), Flexi-school (1999), Ghandi School (2002); Employment – MENA (1991),LEED (1997), HBC (2004);

RANGE OF COOPERATIVE ENTERPRISE (2) Culture – Peace of Green (1992), Maleny Film Society (1993), Waroo Arts (1994), Maleny Cooperative Club (1994), Spectrum (now COMA) (2001), Maleny Youth Theatre Ensemble (2005); Social Welfare – Neighbourhood Centre (1997), FACE (1998); Media – The Range News (1984), Hinterland FM Radio (2000); Others – Wastebusters Cooperative (1989), Black Possum Publishing (1992), Mountain Fare (1989).

PHASE TWO Next in the Maleny development process

Phase 2 is characterised by: Organisations have been developed which span the full range of “sectors” (except media) Capacity to “auspice” most projects the community want to embark on – through existing organisations Less energy spent in “bureaucracy” / developing organisational infrastructure (therefore more available for community projects) More “cross-fertilisation” between organisations

THE PROCESS ESSENTIALLY INVOLVES BUILDING A CULTURE OF INVOLVEMENT, AND ORGANISATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY

THIS DEVELOPMENT IS: A gradual (community development) process Characterised by “steep learning curves” Needs early success, which gives the community confidence in its ability to develop more enterprises Is capable of providing a community with most of its needs Produces an empowered community

“GOLDEN RULES” Start small…start from “where you are” Start by assessing the most pressing need in the community, and developing an enterprise which addresses this need Develop a clear vision and goals, which helps to retain focus Make use of “role models” Ensure there is a “driver”/coordinator in the core group

MORE GOLDEN RULES Publicise the initiative widely – promote open- ness and opportunity for involvement Give the enterprise a public physical focus “Head-hunt” for needed skills Be prepared to work voluntarily at first – this changes as the enterprise brings in money Research all potential sources of start-up capital eg LETSystem, CSA principle (pre-payment), etc (plus make use of community capital) Develop a Business Plan, so those involved can see “light at the end of the tunnel”

FOR SUCCESSIVE ENTERPRISES “Hive off” some “old hands”, and team them with community members new to the process Use people’s passions / skills (this is where their energy will be!) Be prepared to train, train, and train some more - both in technical / enterprise skills, as well as in interpersonal skills (learning to work together)

AND ABOVE ALL ENJOY YOURSELF – HAVE FUN!