By Don McNair on November 03, 2011

http://communityrenewal.ca/i4gateway007-turn-around:/communityrenewal.ca/i4gateway007-turn-around


Declining enrolment. Low property values. “For lease” signs in shop windows. These are such common sights in rural parts, it’s a relief to hear about a place that is beating the macro-trends. When the place is Sangudo, Alberta, it’s more than a relief – it’s astonishing. Sangudo’s 400 citizens didn’t wait for a town council, regional municipality, financial institution, or provincial or federal agency to take the lead. They took it themselves.

First, Sangudo took on the school board when it wanted to close the high school. Since then, they’ve organized bees to build recreational facilities and carry out local beautification.

The next part is where things get really different. In a place where so many folks are nearing retirement, a couple of dozen formed an investment co-operative. They use it to pool investment funds (theirs). Then they design and promote enticing venture opportunities where before there were empty or soon-to-be-empty commercial spaces.

Dan Ohler has been in the thick of Sangudo’s rebound these past three years. He pulls no punches about it. “Is your community another Sangudo? Not a chance,” he says. Every place has its own particular blend of economic sector, location, history, and politics. No place will address its challenges by trying to match Sangudo, step for step.

That said, Ohler perceives four things that are fundamental to Sangudo’s can-do attitude. Four keys, he calls them:

Common Vision: In the course of facing down a serious threat, residents have developed a clear idea of where they want to go.
Trusted Leadership: A number of locals habitually do things for the good of the whole community, while not trying to steal the show.
Economic Strategy: the investment co-op fights to retain Sangudo’s core businesses largely on the strength of local savings.
Wider agenda: Finally, local leaders are pressing for reforms to provincial policy that will help their co-op and others to do more of the same. While thinking and acting in the here and now, they’re looking to their “greater neighbourhood” - other small towns and what they can achieve together, given some strategic government action.
In Dan's view, these are all different ways of expressing the same thing. He explains it on YouTube.

There’s nothing exotic here. Yet together these factors are helping to put a twist in the tale of rural decline we all know too well.

What is it about Sangudo?

http://communityrenewal.ca/sites/all/files/resource/i42011OCT25_Sangudo_0.pdf

Summary

Sangudo, Alberta used to have many things in common with other rural towns: retiring shop owners, boarded-up shops, youth exodus, and resignation to its fate. Things are turning around in Sangudo, though. What are the keys to its revitalization?

For one, in response to the threatened closure of its elementary school, Sangudo's population rallied. It demonstrated a will to transgress its "comfort zone" for the sake of a better future. Citizens started to think hard about the community they wanted to become: a safe, vibrant, comfortable, and desirable place to live, to raise a family, work, and play. A few people began to organize events at which residents could have fun together while improving the local way of life. These leaders were established volunteers who could be trusted with authority, and who trusted others with authority, too.

Another key has been the structure these leaders created to retain local businesses. The Sangudo Opportunity Development Co-operative (SODC) does not own businesses. It receives investment dollars and proposals, and then "pitches" them out as venture opportunities. Then it looks for exceptional people to catch these opportunities and run with them. Sangudo Custom Meat Packers owes its rejuvenation to the SODC, which bought the premises and leased them to two young entrepreneurs.

For Sangudo's future success, access to more local capital may be critical. For that, policy reform is necessary regarding the investment of self-directed RRSP funds. Another possible means is the establishment of Community Economic Development Investment Funds, after the example of Nova Scotia.

Subtitle:
This rural town is getting a new lease on life. Can yours, too?
Author: Ohler, Dan
Co-Author: Cabaj, Paul
Pages: 6
Publication Date: 2011