Author: RiverAdmin
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River Roots Community Farm Update – Nov. ’22
The gardens are put to bed for the most part (green onions, chives, and parsley are still available to cut!). But, things are still moving along with the community farm, and today our new gazebo and garden shed arrived. Both were built by a local craftsman and delivered this morning to the farm site at… Read more
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Pitfalls and Best Practices
Published first on the Progress News, September 12, 2022 One of the best things about visiting other areas undergoing redevelopment is the opportunity to learn from the successes and challenges of projects in those areas – being able to analyze our own community’s similarities and differences and figure out our most practical next steps. We never… Read more
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Notes from the National Brownfield Conference
Published first on the Progress News, September 5, 2022 A couple of weeks ago, from the 15th to the 19th of August, I was lucky enough to tour a number of former brownfield sites in Oklahoma City. It wasn’t just a random trip; it was the much-delayed, long-awaited National Brownfield Conference – the first in over… Read more
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Potential of a Community Garden
Published first on the Progress News, August 29, 2022 So, what does it take to ensure a school garden or farm project is successful? Based on the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services’ analysis of the long-running Farm to School initiative, success can take many forms, but there are some similarities across many… Read more
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Challenges of a Community Garden
Published first on the Progress News, August 15, 2022 As we get started on the work made possible by the USDA’s Farm to School grant, I’ve received a few questions from folks curious about the big picture. So, I’d like to talk a bit more about what a school garden or farm can be, and what… Read more
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River Roots Wins USDA Farm to School Grant
Published first on the Progress News, August 8, 2022 While this year has been flying by ridiculously fast, it has still been a pretty good year, all things considered. And we just got another reason to smile – the USDA approved of our vision for the River Roots Community Farm and awarded us a Farm to… Read more
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Aligning Values
Published first on the Progress News, July 25, 2022 When it comes to partnerships between public-benefit, non-profit organizations and private, for-profit companies, there is no shortage of confusion and misunderstanding. For quite some time, the only way most corporations, large or small, got involved in public-benefit programs and projects was by donating money or, occasionally, sending… Read more
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When Partnerships Get Official
Published first on the Progress News, July 11, 2022 We’ve talked in the past about partnerships in a general sense – folks working together for the common good. Municipalities working with community groups working with agencies working with private individuals, all working toward some shared goal for the benefit of their community. The River Roots Community Farm… Read more
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Azerbaijan and the Valley that Changed the World
t on the Progress News, June 27, 2022 Events in different areas, even opposite sides of the planet, can sometimes collide in the most unexpected of ways. When we heard back in May that the Ambassador from Azerbaijan wanted to visit the Oil Heritage Region, we were delighted, but also somewhat confused. Azerbaijan is a small country… Read more
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Summer Project Updates
Published first on the Progress News, June 20, 2022 If someone could please let me know where the year has gone, I’d much appreciate it. But, here we are in the middle of June already, so it seems like a great time for a project update! Over at the River Roots Community Farm, a generous donation… Read more
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ORA Staff Member Graduates From Harvard With 4.0 GPA
Published first on the Progress News, June 21, 2022 Oil City, PA— Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry & Tourism Redevelopment Manager Selina Pedi graduated with “Highest Honors”, from Harvard University, earning her master’s degree in Sustainability with a focus on community resilience on May 26. In addition to her 4.0-grade point average, Pedi’s master’s… Read more
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Agency Partnerships
Published first on the Progress News, May 23, 2022 Last week I shared the great news that we have been awarded another EPA grant to continue the important foundational work of assessing and planning for future reuse of our region’s brownfields. This is one of those times where, yes, absolutely, the funding is fantastic and necessary… Read more