DESTINATION PROSPERITY™

Building Economic Opportunity That Stays in the Community.™

Building Economic Opportunity That Stays in the Community.™

Economic activity can happen anywhere.

Prosperity is different.

Prosperity exists when economic activity produces lasting opportunity for the people, businesses, institutions, and communities that make a destination work.

Destination Prosperity™ is the economic-development operating system of Military-Connected Destinations™, connecting entrepreneurship, business growth, investment, procurement, ownership, innovation, workforce, tourism, events, and community assets into a coordinated strategy for shared and enduring economic value.

Economic Activity Is Not the Same as Community Prosperity.™

A destination does not fully prosper simply because money moves through it.

It prospers when people can participate in, benefit from, and build upon that economic activity.

Explore the Prosperity Model | Build With Us

WHAT IS DESTINATION PROSPERITY™?

From Economic Activity to Enduring Economic Capacity.

Traditional economic-development strategies often emphasize:

  • jobs created;

  • businesses recruited;

  • capital invested;

  • property developed;

  • visitor spending;

  • tax revenue;

  • and economic impact.

  • Those indicators matter.

But Destination Prosperity™ asks another set of questions:

  • Who owns the businesses?

  • Who receives the contracts?

  • Who gets hired?

  • Who advances?

  • Who has access to capital?

  • Who acquires assets?

  • Which local institutions become stronger?

  • How much visitor spending reaches local enterprises?

  • How much economic value remains in the destination?

And ultimately:

Does economic growth increase the community's capacity to create its own future?

That is the difference between economic activity and community prosperity.

THE PROSPERITY CONTINUUM™

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Money enters or moves through the destination.

Visitors • Events • Employers • Development • Institutions • Consumers

ECONOMIC CAPTURE™

Local people and enterprises participate.

Employment • Contracts • Vendors • Businesses • Services • Hospitality

ECONOMIC CIRCULATION™

More value remains within the local ecosystem.

Local Purchasing • Local Hiring • Local Suppliers • Local Institutions

ASSET CREATION™

Economic participation becomes something durable.

Businesses • Property • Savings • Ownership • Intellectual Property • Institutions

WEALTH BUILDING™

Assets produce longer-term economic security and opportunity.

Equity • Business Growth • Investment • Homeownership • Intergenerational Assets

COMMUNITY PROSPERITY™

The objective is not simply to bring money into a destination. It is to increase the amount of value the community can retain, grow, and pass forward.

THE DESTINATION PROSPERITY ECOSYSTEM™

Prosperity Requires More Than One Economic Strategy.

COMMUNITY PROSPERITY™

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

  • Startups • Small Businesses • Military Brat Enterprises • Social Enterprise

CAPITAL

  • Loans • Equity • Grants • Impact Capital • Investment

WORKFORCE

  • Talent • Careers • Skills • Advancement • Economic Mobility

PROCUREMENT

  • Contracts • Suppliers • Local Purchasing • Institutional Spending

DEVELOPMENT

  • Property • Commercial Space • Housing • Community Assets

INNOVATION

  • Research • Technology • Commercialization • Intellectual Property

EVENTS

  • Visitors • Vendors • Sponsors • Hospitality • Local Spending

TOURISM

  • Experiences • Overnight Stays • Attractions • Repeat Visitation

OWNERSHIP

  • Businesses • Homes • Property • Equity • Community Assets

INSTITUTIONS

  • Government • Universities • Hospitals • Employers • Foundations

Prosperity emerges when these systems reinforce one another rather than operate independently.

CREATE IT HERE. SPEND IT HERE. OWN IT HERE. GROW IT HERE.™

Support entrepreneurship, innovation, enterprise formation, creativity, and commercialization.

SPEND IT HERE™

  • Increase opportunities for local businesses to participate in institutional, visitor, resident, and event spending.

OWN IT HERE™

  • Expand pathways toward business ownership, property ownership, equity, intellectual property, and community assets.

GROW IT HERE™

  • Help enterprises, careers, investments, and institutions scale without requiring people to leave the community to find opportunity.

PROSPERITY THAT STAYS™

THE MILITARY BRAT ECONOMY™

A Global Community Is Also an Economic Network.

This is where Destination Prosperity™ becomes uniquely Brat Corps®.

Military brats are not simply a population to serve.

They are also:

  • entrepreneurs;

  • professionals;

  • executives;

  • creatives;

  • educators;

  • technologists;

  • investors;

  • tradespeople;

  • researchers;

  • developers;

  • small-business owners;

  • and institutional leaders.

Their geographic mobility can create unusually broad networks across cities, states, military communities, countries, schools, universities, industries, and generations.

Destination Prosperity™ can help transform that social connectivity into an economic network.

Potential mechanisms could include:

  • Military Brat Business Directory;

  • Brat-to-Brat commerce;

  • entrepreneur networks;

  • supplier identification;

  • professional networks;

  • business mentorship;

  • investment readiness;

  • procurement opportunities;

  • market access;

  • business showcases;

  • and destination-to-destination commerce.

Belonging Creates Relationships.

Relationships Can Create Opportunity.™

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Build Businesses, Not Simply Jobs.

Employment is essential.

But a durable prosperity strategy also creates pathways toward enterprise ownership.

Destination Prosperity™ can connect entrepreneurs with appropriate partners and resources involving:

  • business formation;

  • technical assistance;

  • mentorship;

  • incubation;

  • acceleration;

  • commercial space;

  • procurement;

  • capital readiness;

  • technology;

  • professional services;

  • market access;

  • and business networks.

This can include military brats and other entrepreneurs within participating destinations.

THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP PATHWAY™

  1. IDEA

  2. VALIDATE

  3. BUILD

  4. CAPITALIZE

  5. SELL

  6. SCALE

BC-OWN™

A job creates income. A successful enterprise can create income, jobs, assets, and ownership.

PROCUREMENT AS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT™

Large institutions already spend substantial amounts of money.

  • Cities.

  • Universities.

  • Hospitals.

  • Hotels.

  • Developers.

  • Corporations.

  • Events.

  • Schools.

  • Nonprofits.

Destination Prosperity™ asks:

How much of that existing purchasing power can responsibly connect to qualified businesses within the destination ecosystem?

This is not about bypassing competitive procurement requirements or creating guaranteed contracts.

It is about increasing:

  • supplier awareness;

  • business readiness;

  • vendor participation;

  • procurement education;

  • bid opportunities;

  • business-to-business connections;

  • and institutional visibility.

FROM SPENDING TO STRATEGY™

  1. INSTITUTIONAL PURCHASING

  2. LOCAL SUPPLIER ACCESS

  3. BUSINESS REVENUE

  4. EMPLOYMENT

  5. BUSINESS GROWTH

LOCAL ECONOMIC CAPACITY™

A procurement dollar can potentially do more than purchase a service.

It can help strengthen an enterprise.

DESTINATION EVENTS™ AS AN ECONOMIC ENGINE

Destination Events™ creates visitation and activity.

Destination Prosperity™ helps communities capture the economic opportunity created by that activity.

Before a major event, the destination can identify:

  • local restaurants;

  • hotels;

  • retailers;

  • transportation providers;

  • caterers;

  • production companies;

  • artists;

  • vendors;

  • small businesses;

  • entrepreneurs;

  • and community organizations

that may appropriately participate in the event economy.

The objective is to move from:

  1. EVENT ATTENDANCE

  2. VISITOR SPENDING

  3. LOCAL ECONOMIC CAPTURE™

  4. BUSINESS REVENUE

  5. REPEAT CUSTOMERS

  6. BUSINESS GROWTH

DESTINATION PROSPERITY™

An event's economic impact should not disappear when the visitors leave.

DESTINATION TOURISM™ + PROSPERITY

Visitors do not experience economic-development systems.

  • They experience places.

  • Restaurants.

  • Hotels.

  • Museums.

  • Heritage.

  • Entertainment.

  • Retail.

  • Neighborhoods.

  • Events.

  • Universities.

  • Public spaces.

Destination Tourism™ turns these assets into experiences.

Destination Prosperity™ helps ensure that the resulting visitor economy supports the broader destination.

The relationship becomes:

DESTINATION EVENTS™

  • Creates reasons to come.

DESTINATION TOURISM™

  • Creates reasons to stay and explore.

DESTINATION PROSPERITY™

  • Creates mechanisms for more of that activity to benefit the community.

COMMERCIAL CORRIDORS & ENTREPRENEURIAL PLACES

Prosperity Needs Places to Happen.

Destination Prosperity™ should connect directly back to Destination Development™.

Entrepreneurs need:

  • storefronts;

  • offices;

  • commercial kitchens;

  • maker spaces;

  • studios;

  • markets;

  • innovation environments;

  • coworking;

  • retail;

  • and affordable places to begin.

Destination Development™ can create or reposition those places.

Destination Prosperity™ helps populate them with economic activity.

This opens opportunities for concepts such as:

  • small-business districts;

  • market halls;

  • entrepreneurial corridors;

  • innovation districts;

  • community marketplaces;

  • adaptive-reuse business centers;

  • and commercial spaces integrated into Community Commons™ environments.

PLACE + ENTERPRISE = ECONOMIC ECOSYSTEM

CAPITAL ACCESS

Opportunity Requires Capital.

  1. Good ideas cannot become businesses without resources.

  2. Existing businesses cannot always grow without financing.

  3. Community projects cannot advance without investment.

Destination Prosperity™ therefore builds capital connectivity, not pretend to become every source of capital itself.

Depending upon the opportunity, businesses and projects may be connected with qualified providers of:

  • commercial lending;

  • microenterprise financing;

  • community development finance;

  • venture capital;

  • impact investment;

  • philanthropic capital;

  • grants;

  • public programs;

  • equity;

  • and other lawful financing mechanisms.

The role is:

  1. IDENTIFY

  2. PREPARE

  3. CONNECT

  4. CAPITALIZE

  5. GROW

And again, Brat Corps® or MCD does not represents itself as a lender, broker, investment adviser, or CDFI .

OWNERSHIP

Participation Is Important. Ownership Changes the Equation.

  1. Employment provides income.

  2. Entrepreneurship can create enterprise ownership.

  3. Homeownership can create residential equity.

  4. Commercial property can create business assets.

  5. Intellectual property can create scalable value.

  6. Investment can create financial assets.

  7. Community ownership structures can preserve community value.

Destination Prosperity™ therefore consider ownership pathways as part of economic mobility.

  1. INCOME

  2. SAVINGS

  3. ASSETS

  4. OWNERSHIP

  5. EQUITY

INTERGENERATIONAL OPPORTUNITY

Prosperity Is Strongest When People Own Part of What They Help Create.™

ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS™

Turn Institutional Presence Into Community Capacity.

Most destinations contain organizations with enormous purchasing and employment power:

  • universities;

  • health systems;

  • local governments;

  • school systems;

  • major employers;

  • military-connected institutions;

  • financial institutions;

  • foundations;

  • and large nonprofits.

Destination Prosperity™ can help convene these institutions around shared economic objectives.

This could involve:

  • local procurement;

  • career pathways;

  • entrepreneurship;

  • research commercialization;

  • supplier development;

  • commercial development;

  • workforce partnerships;

  • community investment;

  • and coordinated economic data.

Rather than treating each institution as an economic island, MCD asks:

What happens when anchor institutions intentionally strengthen the ecosystem around them?

DESTINATION PROSPERITY + WORKFORCE

Destination Prosperity™

Builds the economic ecosystem.

  1. Businesses

  2. Capital

  3. Investment
    Ownership

  4. Procurement

  5. Entrepreneurship

  6. Economic circulation

Destination Workforce™

Builds the talent ecosystem.

  1. Skills

  2. Credentials

  3. Career pathways

  4. Employer connections

  5. Advancement

  6. Economic mobility

Together:

PEOPLE + OPPORTUNITY™

A strong workforce without sufficient opportunity can export talent.

A strong economy without prepared talent can import workers.

A Military-Connected Destination™ does develop both simultaneously.

PROSPERITY WITHOUT DISPLACEMENT™

Economic success creates another responsibility.

As destinations become more attractive, property values, rents, commercial demand, and investment can increase.

  • That growth can benefit communities.

  • It can also displace the people and businesses that helped create their value.

Destination Prosperity™ therefore operate alongside the anti-displacement principles already established within Destination Development™ and the Military Brat Housing Initiative™.

Potential strategies may include:

  • small-business support;

  • commercial affordability;

  • homeownership;

  • housing preservation;

  • local procurement;

  • community ownership;

  • mixed-income development;

  • local hiring;

  • entrepreneurship;

  • and resident participation.

Prosperity should expand who can participate in a community's future, not determine who must leave it.

THE PROSPERITY LOOP™

THE PROSPERITY LOOP™

ATTRACT

  • Visitors • Employers • Investment • Talent • Institutions

CONNECT

  • People • Businesses • Capital • Opportunity

CAPTURE

  • Employment • Contracts • Spending • Investment

CIRCULATE

  • Local Purchasing • Local Business • Local Employment

OWN

  • Businesses • Homes • Property • Intellectual Property • Equity

GROW

  • Income • Enterprises • Assets • Institutions

REINVEST

  • People • Places • Businesses • Community

PROSPER™

  • And then the loop returns to ATTRACT.

THE DESTINATION PROSPERITY INDEX™

Measure What Actually Matters.

  1. Economic impact alone should not define success.

  2. Destination Prosperity™ ultimately feed measurable indicators into the larger Destination Index™.

ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION

ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION

  • Employment

  • Labor-force participation

  • Business participation

ECONOMIC MOBILITY

  • Income growth

  • Career advancement

  • Financial stability

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

  • Business creation

  • Survival

  • Growth

  • Revenue

OWNERSHIP

  • Business ownership

  • Homeownership

  • Asset formation

ECONOMIC CAPTURE

  • Local procurement •

  • Visitor spending capture

  • Supplier participation

INVESTMENT & REINVESTMENT

  • Capital attracted

  • Local investment

  • Community reinvestment

THE PROSPERITY TEST™

Before describing an initiative as economic development, we ask:

  1. Who benefits

  2. Who gets hired?

  3. Who gets the contract?

  4. Who owns the enterprise?

  5. Can local businesses participate?

  6. Can entrepreneurs access opportunity?

  7. Does money circulate locally?

  8. Are assets being created?

  9. Can residents remain as the destination succeeds?

What economic capacity remains after the original investment is gone?

And finally:

  • Is the Community Becoming More Capable of Creating Its Own Prosperity?

That should be the governing question.

HOW DESTINATION PROSPERITY™ FITS WITHIN MCD

Before describing an initiative as economic development, we ask:

  1. Who benefits

  2. Who gets hired?

  3. Who gets the contract?

  4. Who owns the enterprise?

  5. Can local businesses participate?

  6. Can entrepreneurs access opportunity?

  7. Does money circulate locally?

  8. Are assets being created?

  9. Can residents remain as the destination succeeds?

What economic capacity remains after the original investment is gone?

And finally:

  • Is the Community Becoming More Capable of Creating Its Own Prosperity?

That should be the governing question.

Create It Here. Spend It Here. Own It Here. Grow It Here.™

A thriving destination should do more than attract investment.

  • It should create opportunity.

  • Build businesses.

  • Develop talent.

  • Expand ownership.

  • Strengthen institutions.

  • Connect entrepreneurs to markets.

  • Connect businesses to contracts.

  • Connect people to careers.

  • And convert economic activity into assets capable of serving another generation.

That is the purpose of Destination Prosperity™.

  • Build a Prosperity Strategy

  • Partner With Destination Prosperity™

  • Explore Entrepreneurship Opportunities

  • Explore Destination Development™