Harbinger provided research support for the development of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Ambassador Program, which was created in by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC). The purpose of the program is to provide training, resources, and a peer network for those who interact with visitors to the region’s outdoor spaces.

On January 15, the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation released the first reports from the Do-It-Yourself Economic Impact Report program — a pilot to assist local governments and nonprofits in identifying the local value of outdoor recreation. The reports detail millions of dollars in economic activity generated by visitation to outdoor destinations across Wisconsin.

Harbinger assisted with the workshop series and one-on-one coaching for community teams that collected and analyzed visitor data to estimate the economic contributions of the City of Eau Claire’s paved trail system, Dodge County Parks and Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center, the Cheese Country Trails in Lafayette County, Nine Mile County Forest in Marathon County and WinMan Trails in Vilas County.

Michele Archie and Amy Camp (Cycle Forward) explored what it means to be a trail town (hint: you don’t have to be part of an established program) and how communities can benefit from building stronger connections with trails and trail users. This free American Trails webinar introduced three simple, concrete strategies to engage communities, entice locals and visitors, and take the next steps toward making the most of outdoor recreation and trails.

The Artisan Grains Marketing Solutions Roundtable (November 6, 2024) was hosted by the Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center with assistance from Harbinger’s Michele Archie and colleagues at the Western Community Assessment Network.

Growing markets for climate-resilient artisan grains requires working together — growers, processors, distributors, buyers. It can also mean building support and investment in processing, infrastructure, product development, marketing, and other things that could involve other partners—financial institutions, individual investors, economic developers, nonprofits, community groups, local governments and others.

This one-hour webinar—presented by Harbinger’s Michele Archie and Kathleen Minogue, founder and CEO of Crowdfund Better—explore how to use community capital strategies to support local businesses and housing for locals that are part of the outdoor recreation economy.

With support from Harbinger and the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation, teams from eight competitively selected Wisconsin communities are collecting data about visitors and trail users this summer to help them estimate the economic contributions of outdoor recreation.

The replay of Three Ways to Estimate the Economic Impact of Trails and Outdoor Recreation is available in the American Trails Advancing Trails webinar series archive.

In August 2023, 100 finalists in the selection process to host one of 65 Economic Recovery Corps fellows took part in a 6-week accelerator to refine proposed project plan, learn more about the practical aspects of hosting a fellow, and engage with peers from across the country. Harbinger helped build an online community platform to connect the group, provide a central place

Harbinger helped plan, promote and facilitate the Rural Mental Health Solutions Roundtable organized by the Western Community Assessment Network (WeCAN) on February 8, 2024. The 1/2-day virtual gathering drew participants from Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and 35 other states. Like the housing and workforce solutions roundtables that came before it, the Rural Mental Health Solutions Roundtable was aptly named, with a focus on what's working in small towns and rural communities.

Spring 2023 found Michele Archie presenting about community engagement, building on the North American Association for Environmental Education’s Community Engagement Guidelines for Excellence. Michele was a contributing author and editor for the guidelines publication.

Harbinger is working with the new Kansas Association of Trail Towns to design and implement a new initiative focused on gathering trail user data along three major destination trails

In this webinar, Michele Archie, principal of The Harbinger Consultancy, reviews what studies tell us about how trails benefit communities and outlines some simple, practical ways you can demonstrate this for your own trails.

Harbinger contributed to the Working for Montana Agriculture: Economic Benefits of Conservation Easements for Montana’s Farms, Ranches and Communities report. The idea for this report—produced by the Montana Association of Land Trusts, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Heart of the Rockies—was spawned by a cohort of Montana participants in our Tell the Economic Story of Your Trails and Conserved Lands Without Hiring an Economist course.

From January through April 2022, Harbinger guided participants from 16 Kansas communities through a curriculum of weekly sessions focused on trail user and visitor research, economic impact and community benefits analysis, and how to communicate using data. Harbinger principal, Michele Archie, spoke at the culminating event on April 27 on the topic of Using Data to Move Bodies, Hearts and Minds.

The WeCAN Community Bootcamp wrapped up on April 13. This four-week program helped six ad hoc, cross-sector teams from small communities in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming fast track a priority community project. The focus was on placemaking, youth development, beautification, events, and other projects that often don’t get done unless community members take the lead. Harbinger helped design and facilitate this inaugural bootcamp, which will be offered again in Fall 2022.

On April 6, Harbinger principal Michele Archie met with a group of partners of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route in the first of two meetings, focused on gathering data and translating economic value so that it can be understood and leveraged for informing and influencing stakeholders and the community. Taken together, the two sessions will cover a lot of ground: understanding heritage tourism, the kinds of economic and community values associated with it and how heritage organizations, museums and historical sites, and local communities and businesses can collect visitor data and other information, analyze it and use it to benefit their work.