Sorry for the interruption.

1. Farmers who are accepted into the corporation's transition program are also brought into the preventative health program offered for the construction workers and cooks (assuming that the renovations project has moved into further phases and is still active).
2. Meanwhile, remember the storefront that I mentioned earlier? It's function is still nebulous but my main purpose was to have a place where one or more sustainable businesses could operate out of. This might be where the corporation stores and sells some of its house renovations materials. More than likely it, or a similar storefront, would become a food preparation location and grocery store that would provide a direct sales outlet for local farmers. Not only could they sell their produce at the storefront but they could also rent the use of the food prep facilities to dry, can, or otherwise preserve some of their produce for wider and/or later sales. Although the grocery store would be open to the general public, members of the corporation and its contractees (I'm not exactly sure how the corporate structure would operate in this regard) receive a discount on all goods sold here.
3. With all of this lottery money flowing into the community, the corporation would also be well-advised to work through a local credit union or locally-owned bank. This would enable it to establish favorable loan conditions for local people to obtain micro-loans and perhaps even found a local currency to be used within the local economy.
4. Assuming that the number of solar economy homes within the town continue to increase, this should, eventually result in a net generation of electricity from the homes and farms. If enough energy is generated, the corporation could either spin off an electricity coop in the area or join forces with the local power producer (assuming that it is locally owned). This, in turn, could result in an increase in solar and wind-generated electricity by the local power company(s).
5. One of the political changes that might also evolve in such a community is a true costs initiative in which the town/village phases in a true cost and true disposal of materials sold and discarded within the town. This would be difficult in the beginning but, as the town develops a solar economy and begins manufacturing more of its own goods, such programs would become more practical.
6. As the local farms become more sustainable and costs of fuel become greater, a plan to phase-in the use of farm animals in the field could be implemented under the corporation's aegis. Although it would begin as a demonstration and heirloom species preservation program, it would, eventually evolve into a more commercial program.

     There are more elements to the plan but the central idea, here, is not to supplant the community with sustainability-oriented people but to bring the locals into the plan a little at a time so that they can see how sustainability can bring a better life for everyone. As I see it, when you walk into a local bar and there are at least three conversations going on about such topics as the merits of one low-energy appliance versus another, whether or not walnuts fit neatly into a midwest US permaculture scheme, or a new recipe for soured vegetables, then you know that you've made a positive impact on the community.

                                     Geoffrey Tolle