List of Mental Health Providers Offering Screenings for those affected by the Wine Country Wildfires

Local Knowledge is a series of interviews highlighting local businesses and their creators.  Edify believes that a community is only as quality as its "human resources," the people who put intention and effort into their community.  Human resources are especially critical in rural or low population areas like Mendocino County.  Signature Skincare by Amy Wall is an ideal example of a business that has beat the odds, and created both a service and product that benefit the local and national

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Local Products and Services - #1 One-of-a-kind products can attract both local and visiting customers to a community contributing to the value and unique feeling of the region. Locally made goods (wine, soaps, coffee, art) seriously reduce their carbon footprint and keep tax dollars close to home. Local service professionals (consultants, travel agents, health & beauty, tech) know their community and the people or organizations they serve better than any traveling provider. If you live in a

The economic suffering of rural areas in the United States is at least as old as the Great Depression (1929-1939.) Once the economy began to see a resurgence after a decade of miserable financial conditions, it became evident that small towns were being left behind.   In 1942, a person named Arthur Morgan wrote a book entitled The Small Community: The Foundation for Democratic Life, an advocacy piece regarding the invaluable presence of small towns in America. Morgan warned urban dwellers and

Reclaim your Ways of Being and Build a Business you Enjoy What does “legalization” mean to you? For a lot of farmers it can mean confusion, shifting identity, loss or alteration of culture, and uncertainty about the future. Legalization can also mean a steep learning curve when it comes to creating a new business model after years in the free market. Competition has gone corporate, and it’s happening too fast. Acknowledging the feelings that come with this change is necessary in order to move

Doing business in a rural community doesn’t necessarily come with a status quo. There’s more room for creativity here; indeed, necessity is the mother of invention. When we consider creativity in business, we think of use of space, diversifying products or services, collaborating with others, and ramping up our customer interface game. These are all excellent ways to get creative. This post, however, is about how to use a pre-currency method of payment that can add a lot of flexibility and value

Entrepreneurship can be one of the most gratifying things a person can experience, but it’s a very sensitive process, especially if you don’t have much in the way of financing to fall back on. Nevertheless, millions of people accomplish it successfully; some for many years. Naturally, new businesses are more at-risk of failure than businesses that have been established, but there is an alarming failure rate for companies that are just entering their second decade as well. With both phases in

You have a fantastic business idea, and you want to be part of the solution; so you prepare to hang your shingle in an empty storefront in downtown Willits. This is going to be great! Now that you have decided your course of action, what do you need before signing a lease, ordering your inventory, and opening your doors to your anticipated customers? The short answer is... a lot, if you want to beat the 80% failure rate of a new business. Logistically, you need a business plan, financing,

Putting the Profit in Nonprofit As a nonprofit executive, you are familiar with the need to create multi-layered, diversified funding in order to maintain survival. There are grants to write, donors to appeal, government contracts to renew, and foundations to contact; but what about revenue from “unrelated activities”? Bringing in revenue, and hopefully making a profit, from “unrelated activities” can be a little scary for  business executives who do not want the IRS to raise an eyebrow over