Disbanding an elite chamber spurred a poor county’s economic takeoff.

Evidence

To create a less hierarchical social order, the town’s elite Chamber of Commerce was disbanded and a Community Development Foundation open to everyone was started in its place. The foundation set to work improving local schools, starting community organizations, building a medical center, and establishing a vocational education center. At the same time, businesses were welcomed into town only if they paid high wages to all employees and shared this as a goal. Rural Development Councils were set up in outlying areas to encourage self-help collective action—from technical training to local cleanup campaigns—in a setting in which cooperative action for shared goals had been countercultural. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 1121

Categorization

• SEED: Tupelo’s story is a case study in deliberately dismantling hierarchy to build inclusive civic capital — an angle for writing on how elites must give up power to grow a local economy.