Today in America Featuring Building Communities, Inc.

March, 2013

Boise, Idaho | Building Communities, Inc., a community and economic development strategic planning company, is being featured nationally on Today in America, a television program hosted by football legend Terry Bradshaw and featuring stories on successful companies and communities across America.

Brian Cole established the company in 2009 based upon his 25 years of experience working with communities to envision and enact their future. The approach by Building Communities is different from other firms. It is more comprehensive, objective and expeditious that the competition.

Building Communities is a national leader in community-based strategic plans, with over 50 plans currently underway throughout the nation. Community participants have given the company tremendously positive reviews for its very fast-paced Plan Week process, which enables local volunteers and paid professionals to determine their direction within hours of starting the planning process.

"The old way of doing strategic planning is just too slow for today's fast-paced society," says Brian Cole, President and Founder of Building Communities. "American communities need direction now, not a year from now after dozens of meetings. We provide that."

The five minute Today in America feature video on Building Communities shows the work the company is doing in North Dakota and Arizona. Terry Bradshaw describes how Brian Cole's process is shaping the fast-paced economic growth of the Bakken Boom in western North Dakota. Coincidentally, Bradshaw and Cole share the same birthday.

"We were delighted that Terry Bradshaw's program took an interest on our work," said Cole. "We have worked around the clock over the past three years to improve our planning process. Getting the word out to city and county managers, economic development professionals and community advocates about this better way to plan is very helpful."

Cole speaks nationally on community and economic development. In addition to the planning process, Cole has developed a theory that he calls the Four Stages of Civic Condition model that predicts how a community will do in the planning process and how it will (or will not) implement the plan.

Building Communities is also pleased with the work that it has done to assist Jonesboro Arkansas to complete its long-range strategic planning effort. The work done in Jonesboro has also been featured in this four minute video:

Brian Cole also speaks at national conferences and events before cities, counties and regional planning organizations. Cole's messages inspire community advocates to think differently about how to advance their community.