Community Development Corporations

The Basic Issue
It was very disheartening for me back in the early 90's to have a company name rejected by our provincial company names branch, as I thought it very accurately expressed what it was that I did in terms of community. The name I wanted was "Interactive Community Developments". The reason for its being rejected was that it was too close to a reserved expression "Community Development Corporation", which was reserved for provincially mandated organizations operating at the municipal level, one per municipality. Actually, on appeal it was allowed but then the appeal got overruled.
The incident points up some major aspects of this aspect of community development work"

That there is a community growth or empowerment activity which can be stimulated by individuals, organizations or groups acting intentionally.
That the animating process is to a great degree interactive.
That a wide variety of developments can emerge from such activity.
That there have been others ahead of us wrestling with how to institute such an animating force in communities.
That a unified or unifying center to community development may in fact be beneficial, especially in small communities.
That there is a place for elected and politically "responsible" institutions at the municipal level have a great deal to be said for them.
That maybe there needs to be more than one animating force in a community.
That maybe there needs to be a mobile "jumpstarting" entity for communities whose animating system itself has bogged down.
That sometimes if the job needs doing and your name is on it, you just have to find a way to jump in and do it anyway.
If you do jump in, you will find that no matter what route you take, you're going to be working through some institution.
Adolph Berle in his book Power (), points out that there are five operational principles regarding the exercise of power at every level of life. One of those principles is that power is exercised through and depends on institutions.
In the above example, I started out wanting to operate contractually through my own institution. I then agreed to operate as an employee of the organization I wanted to contract with. After a short time, it became necessary to shift over to a contractual arrangement with that organization, and I worked out of my own company under a name different from my first choice. Each case was an example of working through an institution for the exercise of power.

Off-Line Resources

Rathage, Richard W., Gary A. Goreham, and Dena Nundahl. "The Role of Rural Community Development in Economic Development". Journal of the Community Development Society. Vol 23, No.2., 1992 (p.39-49). Reprinted in Ferrazzi, Gabe. Course Reader, Rural Community Development, Brandon University, 2001.
This paper presents a brief history of CDC's and a statement of the problem that historically many could not sty viable. It was felt that the dual role of social action and remaining a viable corporation in the business sense was not doable. The authors state that there is very little material on the organizations and most of it is urban based.
The study itself looked at two possible explanations to see if they held up. The first variable examined was the degree of vested interest on the part of personnel, the second was the degree of business philosophy and organization present. . The object was to see of these two factors could be used as two predictors of CDC success elsewhere. They found that a coherent set of priorities in the area was essential for success.
It is interesting that the group also found that a community development philosophy and approach was especially important. This counters the often-heard comment that "if you get the businesses and economy running, the community will look after itself". This study found the reverse. it seems that a community is a much more complex, multi-dimensional entity than some would have us believe, and that CDC's that pay heed to that reality have a greater chance of success.

On-line Resources