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UVM Theses and Dissertations

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Format:
Print
Author:
Gervich, Curt D.
Dept./Program:
Natural Resource Planning Program
Year:
2004
Degree:
M.S.
Abstract:
Bristol, Vermont is a rural, resource dependent community. Many of Bristol's residents rely on the forests surrounding the community for sources of primary or secondary income. For example, residents hold jobs at local timber mills, tap maple trees for syrup, grow Christmas trees, and produce home furnishings from local timber. This research examines how Bristol's resource dependent business owners utilize social networks as they produce, distribute and market their products and services. Studying social networks may allow resource dependent business owners to understand their connections to other members of their industries and communities; become more successful by incorporating specific network structures and interactions into their management strategies; and work cooperatively with other resource dependent business owners to plan and adapt to a changing business environment.
Qualitative methods were used to identify forest dependent industries and business owners in the host community and in-depth interviews were used to document business practices and social networks used by 22 local forest-dependent business owners as they started their firms, purchased supplies and equipment for production, hired employees, marketed their products and services, and identified and interacted with clients. From these interviews, several social network types important to forest business owners in Bristol were identified and described. Several key community members and organizations were identified in the network types, and the characteristics of the business owners' linkages with individuals in their networks were analyzed. Analysis of the social networks and interviews identified 5 network themes. The themes-the importance of (1) family, (2) friends, (3) industry professionals, and, (4) the larger community in forest dependent businesses, as well as, (5) ways that business owners used social networks to circumvent certain aspects of business management-focused on the interactional and structural criteria of the respondents' social networks.
Network linkages allowed some business owners to save resources by making complex barter and trade agreements, identify new clients, hire employees and serve as, or interact with, network bridges and stars. Additionally, social networks played important roles in creating attachment communities among members of some forest dependent industries and in connecting the respondents to important institutions and individuals in the broader geographic community. This research made six general conclusions regarding social networks and forest dependency in the host community. These conclusions were: (1) that family members and (2) friends and acquaintances played a variety of important roles in the networks of forest business owners; (3) communicating with other forest professionals was important to business owners learning new skills and techniques; (4) that professional linkages often had, or developed, personal as well as professional significance; (5) that in Bristol, the professional and personal networks of forest dependent business owners frequently overlapped; and (6) that community locations and events served as backdrops for forest dependent business owners to interact with community members and conduct business. This thesis concludes with a discussion of the roles that forest dependent firms and social networks play in creating and strengthening community in Vermont.