Research and Consulting Services: We provide consulting, research, organizing, technical, and educational services for clients and our constituencies from labor, community, business, government, policy groups, coalitions, and others in need of our services. These are usually provided on the basis of a partnership agreement with an organization or on a fee for service basis. These services always help the particular organization, generate revenues for the organization, and provide a learning opportunity for us to apply in our projects.

We are serious about mission and strategic vision. We are guided by the belief that "If you don't have your own strategy, you are following some else's." From our 20 years of experience in the trenches of mostly industrial communities, we are convinced that traditional strategic visions for community development are no longer effective. So we have advanced our own vision in our paper, Building the Bridge to the High Road, written by Executive Director Dan Swinney. It identifies what we think is wrong; advances a positive alternative; and describes the kind of alliances and coalitions, and specific campaigns that can be successful.

We create "signature" projects. These are specific, practical projects that have three or four purposes. They demonstrate the "practicality" and "workability" of this vision or a key component of the vision. They also provide an honest test of our ideas-exposing our weaknesses and giving us the opportunity to correct them. Our experience with these projects provide knowledge that is then used to refine and improve our strategy and vision. Typically, we initiate these projects when an opportunity and resources permit. Current signature projects include the Candy Institute, the Re-manufacturing Project, and our Manufacturing Workforce Development Project. Information on our visit to Spain Cooperatives

Organizational Structure: We are a not-for-profit organization that is anchored in Chicago, but with projects around the country, and growing international contact. Our Board includes a diverse pool of labor, educational, business, community development, religious, and policy leaders from the United States and Canada. Our budget is about $800,000. We have 8 people on staff and a network of consultants that work with us on projects. For more information, contact:

Dan Swinney, Executive Director
3411 W. Diversey Chicago, IL 60647
Email: dswinney@igc.org
Website: www.clcr.org
773 - 278-5418, ext. 13