Community Capacity vs.

Capacity Building

Community capacity is the collective ability of residents to respond to stresses, create and take
advantage of opportunities, and meet the needs of the community by drawing on as much local
capital as possible. There are four interdependent categories of capital that define community
capacity:

1. Human Capital: education, skills, experiences and abilities of local residents to meet
workforce needs.
2. Social and Cultural Capital: ability and willingness of residents to work together to solve
problems or create opportunities.
3. Physical Capital: sewer systems, transportation systems, business property, developable
land, and other community infrastructure to facilitate investments in future industries.
4. Financial Capital: municipal budgets, income of residents, access to loans and grants,
operating funds, and other such resources to entice investment in the community and its
physical capital.

Capacity building refers to the actions taken to develop community capacity. Key steps to
building community capacity include, but are not limited to:

1. Technical assistance to increase the skills of local businesses and community leaders
2. Activities designed to allow for collaborative planning and problem-solving
3. Support to improve community infrastructure and technology
4. Grants and loans available for business development, educational pursuits, skill-building
and the costs incurred through participation in collaborative activities

Framing Our Community (FOC) believes that Capacity Building and Sustainability go hand-in-
hand. Rural communities that have the right combination of human, social and cultural,
physical, and financial capital are uniquely situated to sustain themselves and the natural
resources that surround them.

Using this belief to guide our program design, FOC has created an integrated program that:
• begins in the woods with forest and watershed restoration
• delivers raw materials to a sort yard where best use and value can be determined
• where buyers and sellers are connected
• where growth of new and expanding businesses is fostered
• and, community projects demonstrate product use to enhance our quality of life
COMMUNITY CAPACITY STEWARDSHIP
Human and Social Capital Jobs in the Woods Program
Public Meetings Forest & Watershed
Community Projects Restoration
Community Education Wildlife Habitat
Organizational Education Hazardous Fuels Reduction
Infrastructure Water Quality Improvement

HEALTHY
FOREST
HEALTHY
COMMUNITY

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Small Business Incubator
Value-added Wood Products
Business Development & Management Courses
Market Development
Specialty Wood Sort Yard
Access to Loan & Grant Programs
Human Capital:

FOC’s programs are designed to utilize existing knowledge, skills and life experiences, and to
expand the knowledge and skills base through demonstration projects, business development and
management seminars, teacher workshops, leadership training, and presentations by leaders from
communities involved in similar efforts.

FOC began building partnerships and community participation in 1999 by introducing local and
regional participants to value-added wood products by hosting a Timber Frame Rendezvous that
raised a timber frame gazebo that would be available for use by the community and school.
Participation included local and regional residents and timber framer’s guild members from as
far away as New Hampshire.

The gazebo/outdoor learning center project was integrated into the school math, social studies
and language arts programs. Each student had a WSU “Cougar Buddy” who worked with them
via internet to improve their writing skills. Children discovered the importance of math in
construction and how early American construction could be replicated in a modern, beautiful and
useful structure.

Guild member demonstrates the need for accurate measurements to school students

Participants work together to raise

timber framed beams in the gazebo
after a week
Of hands-on instruction
.
Adults experienced a hands-on
learning experience receiving
instruction on how to lay out beams,
measure and cut mortises, tenons and
peg holes, as well as how to raise a
structure.

The first event of many held in this beautiful structure was a wedding ceremony. The success of
this collaborative project is evidenced by the long-term memories created and the lack of any
graffiti. Below is a picture of the Community Gazebo – Outdoor Learning Center.

FOC began its efforts with public meetings and surveys which brought the community together
to form a vision that would build a sustainable restoration-based economy. Results showed that
Elk City residents wished to remain tied to the natural resources that surrounded them. The
difference would be to step away from large scale logging which produced commodity level
items and created the climate for a single employer (a saw mill) and move towards growing
small to mid sized businesses that would manufacture wholesale and retail products. Tourism
and recreation markets should also be pursued to boost the local economy.
FOC used its regional network of community-based organizations to bring speakers from similar
natural resource-based towns in to give presentations on their efforts, successes and failures.
Lessons learned and shared have helped many communities throughout the west achieve success
in their local efforts. Two two-day forums on Rural Economic Development have been
conducted in cooperation with the University of Idaho and the Idaho Department of Commerce.
We have sponsored staff and community members to receive training and take courses on
economic and community development, to improve leadership skills and to participate in
regional and national policy meetings and regional economic development.

Additional methods used to involve the community include newspaper releases, newsletters,
flyers and demonstration projects that are located at sites that are visible to residents in their day
to day lives.

Social and Cultural Capital:

Framing Our Community’s primary goal is to provide community members with the tools
necessary for social and economic success. To this end FOC facilitates public meetings, brings
speakers and instructors in to illustrate examples of business and social opportunities that have
been proven to be successful in rural settings. FOC has hosted regional rural economic forums
for the Idaho Department of Commerce and the University of Idaho. Community members have
completed courses at the Northwest Community Development Institute, attended seminars and
workshops on marketing and branding, fire safety, participated in regional and national meetings
on national policy, economic development, stewardship and collaboration, given senate and
house testimony and participated in state and regional rural economic development forums. A
major role for FOC is to act as a conduit that connects residents to business, cultural and
financial opportunities.

Physical Capital:

A community assessment was completed in 2000 to determine the available infrastructure and
where expansion or development was needed. Issues identified included the need for a new
water treatment plant, a manufacturing facility, market development and research, and improved
telecommunications. To this end FOC has:

• Completed a feasibility study for a Small Business Incubator

• Completed and updated a Five-Year Business Plan for the Small Business Incubator
• Constructed Phase I of the Small Business Incubator
• Assisted the community in gaining grant funds for a new water treatment plant and
system upgrades
 • Built the community gazebo – outdoor learning center
• Participated in regional telecommunications study and subsequent regional
telecommunications forum
• Are currently conducting a feasibility study on a Biomass Cogeneration Facility and
Biomass Utilization
• Actively pursuing funding for high speed telecommunications
• And, will complete its Online Internet Web Site which will provide local businesses with
E-commerce capability.

Financial Capital:

FOC has built financial capital through its small business incubator program which provides:

• Business development and management courses

• Technical assistance and shared use equipment
• Product development and marketing
• Access to regional organizations that promote value-added wood businesses
• Low cost rental space
• Assistance to attend trade shows and educational seminars
• In-house bookkeeping and marketing services, office space, promotional brochures and
materials
• Access to loans and grants and other such resources to entice investment in the
community and its physical capital

Financial support has come from private foundations, federal and state grants, as well as the
corporate and public sectors. Partners include State and County Governments, Bureau of Land
Management, USDA Forest Service, Clearwater Resource Conservation & Development
Council, the University of Idaho, The Aspen Institute, Sustainable Northwest, Timber Framers
Guild of North America, American Forest and a wide range of individuals, corporations,
communities and local/regional/national organizations.