• Priority Definition
• Consensus Building
• Self-education
• Vision Creation
• Task Definition

ISP offers real solutions for a broad range of community revitalization problems:

• Community dilemmas
• Quagmires
• Inneficient Strategies

as well as more specific, typical problems and attitudes blocking development:

• Reactive planning by crisis management
• Uncoordinated planning
• Inertia.. The "do it later, let someone else do it" mentality
• The "we've done that already" attitude
• Ineffective communication patterns
• Lack of communication
• Non-coordinated work
• Duplicated efforts
• Wasted time and money
• The usual power base, usual priorities
• Decisions from above
• Trickle down the drain
• Talk about what should be done, no action
• Individuals feel they have nothing real to offer the community
• Invisible barriers to community involvement
• Low participation
• Low interest in volunteerism
• "Conspiracies of silence" about the real issues
• Community members can't bring passions and emotions to the table
• "Undiscussable issues" create barriers to consensus and change
• Intolerance of differing priorities and views
• Communication patterns that reinforce barriers
• A culture of mean-ness
• The "i'm just a resident" syndrome: "what do i have to offer?
• Let the important people/the government do it."

Using the STITT facilitations' "formula":

• Diversity + Community Participation + Consensus x Stewardship = Reinvestment + Pride

we guide and educate a community in its development initiative by:

• Establishing Committees
• Steering Committees into Action
• Developing Efficient Work Groups
• Generating Publicity
• Directing Fundraising
• Organizing Logistics

so that you will realize the following results:

• Your community will attract reinvestment in commercial, industrial, and residential real estate
• Downtown business will increase sales and profit margins
• Residents will see an increase in residential property values
• School districts will see an increase in tax revenues
• The community will attract new talent and entrepreneurial resources
• Community pride will translate into action,

See the Sheboygan Success Story

STITT facilitations will jumpstart your community development by providing:

• Oversight
  • Supports a community through the change process
  • Helps a community discover its full range of resources
  • Set up a regular schedule to attend your meetings.
  • Prompt and monitor your action steps to keep you focussed on your work plan.
  • Meet one-on-one with any interested community member on any subject.
  • Maintain the development project's high profile by making presentations to local service clubs.
• Process Design
  • We will work with a community to custom design a planning process that will help them map and reach their development priorities.
  • Provide you with a process for a community retreat:
    • A "big tent," landmark participation and planning event, facilitated by the STITT facilitations team.
    • Aday-long process open to any and all community members who want to define community priorities and objectives.
    • Formatted to guide the diversity of the community through a focussed discussion of issues and concerns.
    • Enables your community jointly to establish priorities, creating a shared vision.
    • Enables a community to establish the teams, workplans and objectives necessary to make that vision a reality.
    • Creates a "safe place" where community members can express concerns and do the work of cultural transformation
  • Teach a community to build wide participation in downtown development
  • Guide a community to reach consensus about its priorities
  • Help a community bring its priorities into a comprehensive vision
  • Provide a method for establishing work groups to address these priorities with objectives, tasks and deadlines
    • Demonstrate how to set up committees and task groups.
• Facilitative Support
  • Help a community take charge of re-defining its own culture and priorities
  • Help a community build cooperation between agencies, organizations, groups, individuals
  • Discover and develop leadership within the community
  • Guide community members to more effective ways of behaving, thinking, and expressing their feelings and commitment
  • Volunteer Position descriptions
  • Facilitate large group "town hall" sessions.
  • Help you fine-tune your process so you can keep moving forward.
  • Help you put your differences on the table without getting bogged down in conflict.
    • Provide you with necessary support processes for conflict resolution.
    • Help you over the rough spots of decision-making, consensus-building and change.
• Education
  • Empowers members of a community so they can empower the whole community
  • Teaches a community to develop its sense of stewardship and the spiritual values of community
  • Train you in team-building.
  • Teach you how to engage broad community participation.
  • Provide you with resource and support material
  • Current literature on community development issues
  • Referrals to other experts, etc
  • Develop your leadership and communication skills.
  • Provide workshops in fundraising and consensus building.
  • Teach you how to run more efficient meetings.
  • Teach you to do your own research on community issues and priorities.
  • Teach you how to present your findings to larger audiences in your community, creating a shared language and knowledge base.
  • Teach you how to use education to recruit more community members to full participation.
    • Education is the engine that drives change
  • Teach you how to take hold of education and community participation to catalyze action and results.
• Twenty Five Years of Experience in Downtown Development Projects
  • Helping over 200 communities take charge of their culture, vision, and change.
  • Bert Stitt & Associates knows how to teach communities to cope with complex development processes so they can build healthy communities—today and for the future.