Sprawl-Busters Goal:

Sprawl-Busters Consultants help local community coalitions on-site to design and implement successful campaigns against megastores and other undesirable large-scale developments.

Consulting Services:

Strategic Planning:

Developing the basic coalition infrastructure necessary to conduct a coordinated campaign: building the group itself, membership, name, delegation into task areas (fund-raising, media, visibility), assessing local politics, timelining the process, securing legal assistance, establishing campaign objectives, and shaping the message of the campaign. Strategic planning gives local groups a structure to begin further organization. Especially useful to an ad hoc group that has not done previous organizing.





Field Operations:

Citizens groups are comprised of part-time volunteers. Campaigns that succeed must have at least part-time field operations assistance on the ground, with on-going telephone support. Field Operations oversees the on-site assistance with the daily logistics of conducting a grass-roots and media campaign. Field operations will vary according to the dynamic of each case, and includes: carrying out the objectives defined during strategic planning; securing necessary consultants (legal, polling) overseeing media efforts (letters to the editor, display ads, cable TV, news features, etc.); raising money.





Electoral Campaigns:

When campaigns involve binding or non-binding referendums, town meeting votes, exit polls, or any other voter-related activities, Sprawl Busters provides: voter identification (phone canvassing), GOTV efforts, pursuasion mailings, media and visibility strategies, and poll-watching.





Special Events:

Every campaign needs pyrotechnics. Sprawl Busters Consultants attract the media because of a national reputation in megastore field. Special Events can include: VIP press conference near site, release of a study or report, exclusive interviews, campaign kick-off, etc.





Tech Support:

Community groups get follow-up support by phone. This can include special data searches, strategic responses, media assistance, etc.





The Consultant: Al Norman

Al Norman achieved national attention in October of 1993 when he successfully stopped Wal-Mart from locating in his hometown of Greenfield, Massachusetts. Since then he has appeared on 60 Minutes, and gained widespread media attention from the Wall Street Journal to Fortune magazine. Al is the editor of the monthly Sprawl-Busters Alert, and has traveled throughout the U.S. helping dozens of local coalitions. 60 Minutes called Al "the guru of the anti-Wal-Mart movement."

 
"Norman has become the guru of the anti-Wal-Mart movement" ~ 60 Minutes