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.
Participants in the April 2015 Becoming a Measurement Guide Training joined us from the 1772 Foundation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Yellow Wood Associates. Yellow Wood has been offering professionals with facilitation skills…
Participants in the fourth WealthWorks training, which began in April 2015 and runs through February 2016, come from organizations and states across the country, including National Joint Powers Alliance (MN), Southern Colorado Economic Development…
The Rutland Area Farm and Food Link received a 2014 partnership grant from Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (NESARE). Rutland Area Farm and Food Link’s (RAFFL) programs link small-scale, diversified, and local farms with new…
Yellow Wood, in consultation with the Working Lands Enterprise Board Forestry subcommittee of the State of Vermont, is working to provide a systems analysis of the forest and wood products industry. This work will engage a variety of stakeholders…
Renewable Energy Vermont is a Vermont-based non-profit focused on reducing the state’s dependence on fossil fuels and expanding the use of renewable energy across the state and the region. Yellow Wood is working with Renewable Energy Vermont on a three-part…
Participants in the third WealthWorks training, which began in October 2014 and runs through August 2015, come from organizations and states across the country, including Agricultural Utilization Research Institute…
Yellow Wood provided the Town of Hinesburg with assistance in developing an economic development strategy. This assistance included planning and facilitating a community engagement workshop to identify the strategic leverage points for goals identified…
Yellow Wood worked with the Land Trust Alliance Northeast Region and the 1772 Foundation to plan and facilitate a meeting of farmland preservation grantees. The Land Trust Alliance Northeast Region has a collaborative relationship with the 1772 Foundation…
Profit Squared sought Yellow Wood’s assistance in developing a case study of a goat meat value chain project supported by Heifer International in Nepal, for use in training Heifer International staff on a wealth creation approach to development. Yellow…
Participants in the April 2014 Becoming a Measurement Guide Training joined us from the Virgin Islands Developmental Disabilities Council and the Rutland Area Farm and Food Link. Yellow Wood has been offering professionals with facilitation skills…
Participants in the second WealthWorks training, which began in April 2014 and runs through February 2015, come from organizations and states across the country, including Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group…
The WealthWorks Training provides coaches and coordinators from nonprofit, for profit, and government agencies with an introduction to the Wealth Works approach and framework and a guided six to nine month Wealth Works…
Shanna Ratner was invited to serve on the National Advisory Board of the Food Hub Management Program, an innovative higher education program focused on food hub management. Shanna is collaborating with thought leaders, practitioners, funders, and…
Shanna Ratner provided coaching and mentoring to 2007 Measurement Guide Molly Anderson, Partridge Chair in Food & Sustainable Agriculture Systems, College of the Atlantic, during a You Get What You Measure® in Use session with Farm to Institution New…
Members of the April 2013 Measurement Guide class included Ashley Taylor, Wallace Center at Winrock International, Virginia; Barbara Newman, Jefferson County Department of Health, Alabama; Denise Smith, Friends of Northern Lake Champlain, Vermont;…
Melissa Levy presented, “Wealth Creation in Rural Communities: Measuring Impact to Build Locally Controlled Wealth” at the Vermont Nonprofit Conference in Fairlee, Vermont in March 2013. The Ford Foundation’s Wealth Creation in Rural Communities initiative…
FINE is a network of organizations working to strengthen farm to institution connections throughout New England. Yellow Wood worked with FINE using You Get What You Measure® to engage multiple stakeholders in clarifying its external goals, creating…
Yellow Wood served as a strategic partner and facilitator for eight monthly calls with the New England Beef to Institution Steering Committee. The purpose of the group is to cultivate a Community of Practice that enables participants to discuss challenges…
Under the direction of Peg Elmer of Community-Resilience.org, Yellow Wood engaged in targeted strengthening of municipal hazard mitigation planning in the state of Vermont. Yellow Wood assisted in guiding and augmenting national research related to…
Yellow Wood designed and administered a survey on evaluation metrics for the Farm to Plate Network Technical Assistance for Producers and Processors Working Group, which is facilitated by the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. The need for improved program…
Yellow Wood was contracted by the Vermont Environmental Consortium to produce content for a Vermont-focused “green careers” website, as part of a Vermont Department of Labor deliverable to Vermont Technical College. The content that was researched…
Members of the November 2012 Measurement Guide class included Jeff Farbman, Wallace Center at Winrock International, Virginia; Katie Enterline, Wallace Center at Winrock International, Virginia; Stacia Kiraly, Wallace Center at Winrock International,…
Members of the April 2012 Measurement Guide class included Ben Lesser, US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.; Greg Hessel, ReGeneration Resources, Vermont; Jackie LeBlanc, Yellow Wood Associates, Vermont; and Michael Hancox, Skeo Solutions,…
Yellow Wood conducted a market study to determine if there was a sufficient market for a commercial/light industrial park in the Town of Johnson, including the types of sectors/clusters that might be most interested. The study shed light on whether…
Melissa Levy co-presented a workshop session titled "Visioning and Beyond: Developing Plans and Measuring Implementation" with Peggy Reichert of the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The workshop walked participants through the process of connecting…
Yellow Wood worked with the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) to conduct a pilot study on the unique contribution cooperatives make to the creation and retention of wealth in the communities and regions in which they operate. We worked…
Melissa Levy spoke about Wealth Creation in Rural Communities during a session titled "Working Lunch: Rural Wealth Creation."
Melissa Levy facilitated "Social Equity in Rural Communities: Setting Goals and Tracking Progress" with Wayne Fawbush of the Ford Foundation and Noah Dorius of HUD Region 1.
In an effort to help the Northeast and Midwest meet their needs for renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction through the sustainable utilization of woody biomass, the U.S. Forest Service engaged Yellow Wood Associates in conducting third party…
Melissa Levy and Jackie LeBlanc co-presented a full-day public workshop on the You Get What You Measure® process in Montpelier, VT. Attendees came from the Orange County Parent and Child Center, the Chittenden Regional Planning Commission, and Skeo…
Panelists Kamalesh Doshi and Samantha Dunn, along with panel organizer Sarah S. Smith, discussed the The Community Roadmap to Renewable Woody Biomass Energy (the Roadmap) as part of a panel at the Woody Biomass Energy Research Symposium. The roadmap…
Members of the November 2011 Measurement Guide class included Ann Jones-Weinstock, NRG Systems, Vermont; Deb Markley, Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, North Carolina; and Marilyn Hoke, Community Resource Group, Arkansas. Since 2002, Yellow Wood has…
Members of the March 2011 Becoming a Measurement Guide class included Katy Allen, Rural Support Partners, North Carolina; Thomas Watson, Rural Support Partners, North Carolina; Judy Anderson, Community Consultants, New York; Ruth Feldman, Project for…
Shanna Ratner presented on the wealth creation approach as a guest lecturer for this five-day intensive summer program offered by the UVM Institute for Global Sustainability, taught by Professor Rhonda Phillips of Arizona State University.
Yellow Wood conducted a feasibility study for a local retail food enterprise in the Town of Johnson, Vermont. The study included interviews with local food businesses, institutions and social service agencies to learn more about their desire and interest…
Shanna Ratner participated as a speaker/panelist in a call discussing how communities can help to create business opportunities and mentor the entrepreneurs who can help them grow.
At the Vermont Community Development Association’s Annual Meeting in April 2010, Shanna Ratner presented Green Community Technologies® and facilitated exercises in skilled listening, skilled inquiry and skilled advocacy with Vermont planners and U.S.D.A.…
The May 2010 class of Measurement Guides included Jeremy Phillips, Jeremy Phillips Consulting, Massachusetts; Ora Grodsky, Just Works Consulting, Massachusetts; and Samantha Dunn, Yellow Wood Associates. Since 2002, Yellow Wood has been offering professionals…
Yellow Wood was engaged by the Vermont Environmental Consortium (VEC) to define Vermont’s environmental sector, survey the sector to improve the understanding of the workforce education and training needs of these firms and survey schools, organizations…
Yellow Wood worked with the Vermont Community Foundation and the United Way of Addison County to use You Get What You Measure® with each organization’s grantees, a diverse group of organizations operating in Addison County, Vermont, to learn more about…
The January 2009 class of Measurement Guides included Peter van Schaick, consultant, Vermont; Rob Petrini, Yellow Wood Associates, Vermont. Since 2002, Yellow Wood has been offering professionals with facilitation skills the opportunity to become Measurement…
Melissa Levy and Rob Petrini co-presented a full-day public workshop on the You Get What You Measure® process in Rutland, VT.
Yellow Wood worked with the Town of Brattleboro to complete a municipal infrastructure inventory and assessment.
Yellow Wood assisted Wayne Fawbush of the Ford Foundation in developing an innovative approach to rural development based on an application of triple bottom line principles to create and maintain community wealth. Wealth was defined by categories of…
The November 2007 Becoming a Measurement Guide class included Molly Anderson, College of the Atlantic, Maine; Valerie Esposito, Gund Institute, Vermont; and Daniel Spies, consultant, Illinois. Since 2002, Yellow Wood has been offering professionals…
Yellow Wood delivered an Economic Impact 101 teleworkshop to byway community members. The workshop covered the basics of economic measurement as applied to byways, with definitions of key concepts. Participants shared their experience with measuring…
Yellow Wood Associates was hired by the Village of Derby Line to study the potential economic, fiscal and environmental impacts from a proposed expansion of the I-91 Derby Line Port of Entry on the Village of Derby Line as well as potential mitigation…
Yellow Wood worked with 9 communities throughout New England on inventory and assessment and research on alternative technologies.
Yellow Wood worked with Stone Environmental to assess options for water supply and wastewater treatment in the rural town of Westford, Vermont's town center. Yellow Wood prepared a Wastewater Feasibillity Study Survey for landowners in the town center…
Yellow Wood evaluated the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and its work helping advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide research and education…
The April 2006 Becoming a Measurement Guide class included Wilma Bodnar and Hélène Gaulin of Environment Canada. Since 2002, Yellow Wood has been offering professionals with facilitation skills the opportunity to become Measurement Guides and learn…
The November 2006 Becoming a Measurement Guide class included Kimberly Norris, EcoEval, Maryland; and Susan Koschak, America’s Byways, Minnesota. Since 2002, Yellow Wood has been offering professionals with facilitation skills the opportunity to become…
Shanna Ratner provided coaching and mentoring for 2005 Measurement Guide Jeff Forward of Forward Thinking Consultants as he facilitated his first You Get What You Measure® session with the Vermont Environmental Consortium at Groton State Park on Monday,…
Yellow Wood Associates designed and conducted a day-long Community Forestry Workshop in Craftsbury, Vermont. The workshop was designed both for communities that own and manage town forest land and for communities that are exploring the possibility…
Yellow Wood Associates conducted market research on behalf of Deep Root Organic Cooperative with current buyers, supermarket chains, food coops and natural food stores, institutions, wholesalers/distributors, and organic processors to learn about the…
Yellow Wood worked with the Town of Richmond to complete a municipal infrastructure inventory and assessment.
Yellow Wood worked with the Town of Thetford to complete a municipal infrastructure inventory and assessment.
The Vermont Association of Conservation Commissions hired Yellow Wood to help design a participatory evaluation process for a project in which five rural communities received funds to prepare directories of local agricultural products and producers…
For the second time, Vermont Environmental Consortium's Board of Directors selected Yellow Wood Associates to facilitate their strategic planning process using our trademarked You Get What You Measure® approach. In a one-day retreat, Yellow Wood assisted…
Melissa Levy presented on Green Community Technologies® as part of the "Building Health Communities" session at the 2005 Vermont Planning Celebration. The presentation discussed identifying new technologies and sustainable approaches to managing community…
The November 2005 class of Measurement Guides included Jeff Forward, Forward Thinking Consultants, Vermont; Joy Stalker, Rural Health Network of South Central New York; Christine Berwald, Rural Health Network of South Central New York; and Charlie…
Members of the February 2005 Becoming a Measurement Guide class included Lorie Higgins, University of Idaho and Susan Youmans, Executive Director, Environmental Partnerships, Inc., Massachusetts. Since 2002, Yellow Wood has been offering professionals…
The Town of Hinesburg asked Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. to research alternative ways of increasing their wastewater capacity beyond expanding the plant, using their Green Community Technologies process. Hinesburg, Yellow Wood, and Stone Environmental…
Yellow Wood presented "Assessing Rural Community Infrastructure to Cut Costs and Protect the Environment" at the 27th Annual Municipal Officers' Management Seminars in October 2004. Participants learned about the range of alternative technologies available…
Members of the November 2004 Becoming a Measurement Guide class included Monica Stone, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Samin Dadelahi, Wyoming Community Foundation. Since 2002, Yellow Wood has been offering professionals with facilitation…
Citizens and communities of the Northern Forest region have demonstrated the power of local knowledge and participatory research thanks to a grant from the US Department of Agriculture. Over the course of four years, the National Community Forestry…
Yellow Wood facilitated the Vermont Environmental Consortium's strategic planning process using our trademarked You Get What You Measure® approach. Over the course of two workshops, Yellow Wood assisted the board with planning to better define the…
Shanna Ratner presented a participatory research workshop at Middlebury College on November 20th, 2003. The workshop was presented by the National Community Forestry Center Northern Forest Region in cooperation with the Middlebury College…
Yellow Wood developed and delivered testimony on the economic and fiscal impacts of a proposed Shaw’s Supermarket at an Act 250 hearing before the District #5 Environmental Commission. Testimony emphasized the impact on downtown and traffic costs.
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. conducted research to determine how, and whether, Vermont municipalities can use alternative technologies to save money, create jobs, and reduce negative environmental impacts. Our research focused on alternative approaches…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. worked with the Town of Richmond, Vermont to inventory and assess municipal infrastructure assets and provide options for future investment based on a comparative analysis of alternative technologies versus conventional…
Members of the August 2002 Becoming a Measurement Guide class included LaDonna Coy, Southwest CAPT, Oklahoma; Kerstin Gorham, Northwest Area Foundation, Minnesota; and Karen Affeld, Rural Action, Ohio. Since 2002, Yellow Wood has been offering professionals…
Members of the first Becoming a Measurement Guide class included Sunny Walker, SunWalker Enterprises, Colorado; Suzanne Hughes, ACT Missouri; Jon Zeltsman, Zeltsman Associates, New York; and Michaela Stickney, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. Since…
The Aspen Institute’s Community Strategies Group, which is administering the Ford Foundation’s Community-Based Forestry Initiative in the United States, invited Shanna Ratner of Yellow Wood Associates to review and analyze the monitoring plans of nine…
This project consisted of two phases. The first identified a mix of possible products that the former Ethan Allen employee group would be able to produce given their skills, knowledge base, opportunities for additional training, and an array of business/marketing…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. prepared a short lesson on “Planning for Economic Development” for Vermont municipal officials, which was used as part of the Lincoln Land Institute’s Online Planning Series, sponsored by The Orton Institute. The lesson…
The Principal of Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. participated as a socio-economist with a three-member interdisciplinary team to conduct a management assessment of 83,000 acres of private forest land according to criteria established by the Forest Stewardship…
On behalf of the Burlington Community Land Trust, Yellow Wood worked with potential vendors of the Burlington Public Market to explore cooperative marketing arrangements. Yellow Wood helped determine which groups would be most ready to participate…
Yellow Wood worked with the Conservation Law Foundation to help explain the importance of economic and fiscal impact assessment in relation to a proposed sewer expansion. Work included substantial attention to the importance of developing standards…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. gathered information from primary and secondary sources, developed written and oral testimony, and appeared before the Vermont Environmental Board on behalf of appellant, Friends of Vermont’s Way of Life. Our client took…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. defined a business concept and conducted preliminary research for a cooperative cleaning business that used non-toxic products and techniques.
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. worked with NESARE in piloting an outcome-funding approach to grantmaking. The work included two year’s participation in the design process, proposal reviews, interviews with potential grantees, committee work to select…
Worked on behalf of the Conservation Law Foundation to document and analyze the economic and fiscal impacts of the proposed Stowe Ski Area Master Plan. The analysis emphasized the extent of public investment versus public benefit in electric utilities,…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. evaluated the proposed Stratton Mountain Master Plan expansion; prepared prefiled direct and rebuttal testimony explaining the impacts of growth, costs of scattered development, and reasonable rates of growth (Criteria…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. assisted in developing methods for low-income people to estimate the demand for a cooperative specializing in the restoration and maintenance of wooden windows. Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. analyzed secondary data, conducted…
The Burlington Public Market Steering Committee retained the services of Yellow Wood to explore the feasibility of developing a year-round, indoor public market in Burlington, VT. Yellow Wood identified and surveyed Vermont producers to determine their…
Yellow Wood provided written and oral testimony for the foundation in the Act 250 review of the Town of Milton, Vermont in their proposal to expand sewer service along Route 7. The purpose of the evaluation was to review the adequacy and/or deficiencies…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. delivered its interactive workshop, You Get What You Measure®, for state government employees at Vermont’s Cyprian Learning Center, a state personnel training center. Follow-up from the initial workshop included working…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. provided an inventory and assessment of hiking and walking resources in the Lake Champlain Basin. The work was undertaken as part of a bi-state Lake Champlain Byways Management Plan, and produced a database and maps with…
On behalf of local business people, Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. prepared an independent analysis of the potential economic impacts of a proposed national chain hotel on the existing lodging industry in Middlebury, surrounding areas, and downtown Middlebury.…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. evaluated the feasibility of establishing a facility and demonstration forest to support and coordinate progressive logger training for the region encompassing northern Vermont and New Hampshire. This project was based…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. worked with conservation commissions in Starksboro and Huntington, Vermont to develop a community-based education program designed to help communities appreciate forests as economic, environmental and social assets. The…
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. coordinated the design and implementation of public involvement needed in assessing the management of 700,000 acres of New York State multiple-use forest land for SmartWood certification. Activities included press releases,…
