We invite you to explore our work. Recent projects and presentations are listed below. You can explore additional work using the various tags in the right hand column.
Shanna Ratner, principal of Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. was a founding member of the National Network of Forest Practitioners, serving on the organization’s Executive Committee, and as Chair of the Research Subcommittee.
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. worked with the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce to identify seven key sectors – Industry, Tourism, Real Estate, Cultural Affairs, Retail, Financial and Professional Services, and International Border Businesses…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. surveyed members of the Learning Cluster to determine the variety of approaches being used to build rural community capacity, resulting in a report entitled Community Capacity Building, What Is It? for the Aspen Institute.…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. assisted the Town of Cambridge, Vermont Planning Commission in designing and implementing a process to engage local residents and landowners in a dialogue about guiding future growth in the town. Specifically, the dialogue…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. worked with the Agricultural Development Council of Chenango County, New York to assess the feasibility of establishing a milk-based, value-added manufacturing enterprise to support the local dairy industry. Phase 1 of…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc., in collaboration with the Forest Trust of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the National Network of Forest Practitioners, received a Planning Grant from the Fund for Rural America to develop a national center to create and support…
Served a three-year term on the Administrative Council of the Northeast Region’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. researched and analyzed the socio-economic impacts of a proposed expansion of lodging and retail facilities at Stratton Mountain for the Stratton Area Citizen’s Committee. The analysis considered the economic viability…
"What Towns Can Do to Support Local Economic Development" presented to the Addison County Regional Planning Commission Board meeting.
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. presented two interactive workshops on promoting learning communities through measuring progress toward community goals. The learning process requires a continuous cycle of action reflection action. Participants learned…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. analyzed the EZ/EC Communities’ Annual Benchmark Progress Reports and prepared a summary document for the Community Partnership Center of the University of Tennessee. The report discussed areas of accomplishment, common…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. worked with John Gaventa at the University of Tennessee and Vicki Creed to prepare a workbook, training manual, and four-day workshop on participatory evaluation of rural Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities. Recipients…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. prepared a paper on flexible manufacturing networks for wood products firms for the Maine Rural Development Council and the Maine State Planning Office. The paper includes a discussion of the network concept and profiles…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. prepared a paper on the concept of learning communities for the Appalachian Regional Commission. The paper focused on how to identify traits common to learning communities and how to foster the development of these community…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. conducted training for the staff and grant recipients of the Maine Community Foundation's Rural Initiative. Training focused on defining poverty and economic security and learning how to measure progress toward the goals…
Ms. Ratner, Principal of Yellow Wood Associates, Inc., spoke on the topic of "Creating Learning Communities" to an audience of economic development practitioners and elected officials. The focus of the forum was "Build Community Capacity: Tools for…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. presented a workshop on measuring progress toward community goals for economic development practitioners.
"The lecture was informative; but the real action began when we went through…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. prepared a study for a Forest Resource Center, including a forest heritage program, an incubator for secondary wood processing companies, and a training program for loggers. The study also researched and compared similar…
Ms. Ratner spoke on the topic of "Creating Learning Communities" to community development practitioners in six communities who have been working for four years to promote community sustainability.
Yellow Wood received a grant from the Vermont Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research to prepare a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant proposal. Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. proposed to develop a Participatory Training Program…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. worked with Cornelia Butler Flora of the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development and the Heartland Center for Leadership Development to develop and test a training program for measuring progress toward community…
One of a series of Rural Community Assistance regional trainings that Yellow Wood co-faciliated with staff of the Heartland Center for Leadership Development, as part of their work with the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, for the…
One of a series of Rural Community Assistance regional trainings that Yellow Wood co-faciliated with staff of the Heartland Center for Leadership Development, as part of their work with the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, for the…
One of a series of Rural Community Assistance regional trainings that Yellow Wood co-faciliated with staff of the Heartland Center for Leadership Development, as part of their work with the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, for the…
