From HUD's Southwest Office of Native American Programs...

FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE LAUNCHES NEW ONLINE SERIES ON AMERICAN INDIAN ENTREPRENEURS TO INCREASE AWARENESS ON NATIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The new Native American entrepreneur online series entitled, “Native Entrepreneurs: Faces and Stories of Economic Development,” is dedicated to illustrating why healthy Native economies require innovative and successful entrepreneurs. The series shares success stories about American Indian business owners and examples of what entrepreneurs can do when they have the resources necessary for effective business development. To view the online series, visit www.firstnations.org.

Whenever I talk to someone about starting a Facebook Page to promote their business, they ask about creating a user account just for that purpose. Most are not too excited to hear that Facebook just doesn't work that way.

How Facebook Accounts Work

Do you know why they called the Facebook movie "The Social Network?" - because Facebook is fundamentally built on relationships between individuals. To reduce impersonation and creation of too many unused accounts, it is against Facebook's Terms of Use to create more than one account.

They even make it difficult for one individual to create a second account by requiring unique email addresses and phone numbers. It's really in everyone's best interest for it to work that way, but it does lead to some concern for those who don't want to mix their business and personal lives.

How to Protect Your Personal Privacy When Using Facebook for Business

Fortunately, Facebook has thought of several ways to protect the privacy of individuals who manage Pages. First off, Facebook does not display whom is a Page administrator except to the administrator himself. That means your friends won't know what Pages you administer and your Page's fans won't know who is running the show.

More significantly, it was recently made possible for an individual to log in using their personal account but then switch modes to "use Facebook as [Page Name]". This allows you to post comments and interact with other individuals and Pages without displaying your personal profile. Plus, it is already a standard feature that anything you post on your own Page will appear to come from the Page and not you personally. Here is an example that I posted today - you can see that no where does it identify me (Jennifer).

Note: We do recommend sharing in the information about your Page who is running things and is able to make posts. You can simply list yourself and any other administrators as well as your positions. This provides a transparency that breeds trust with customers, but ensures that your personal profile is not visibly linked to your Page.

The Bottom Line

It is completely understandable that for some, privacy concerns have kept you from launching a Facebook Page. The social media landscape changes so rapidly (especially Facebook), that it is hard to keep up. We're looking out for you and will keep you updated here and on our Facebook Page.

How To Run Your System Like A Business is a series at SmallWaterSupply.org, appearing on Mondays

Initiating the conversation is sometimes the hardest part. One of the tricky roles that water system operators, especially managers, have is communicating important issues to the decision makers in the community. You best understand the challenges facing the water system, but you most often don't control the funding that can make things happen.

In this new create-your-own guide from the Source Water Collaborative, you can create a brochure designed specifically to educate decision makers in your community about protecting sources of drinking water. This can be the topic that helps spur further discussions about taking small steps towards a more sustainable water supply.

This guide covers three key areas:

1. Development Patterns - Offers local officials considerations for promoting development in already developed areas or in less environmentally sensitive areas.
2. Water Budget Guide - Offers local officials considerations for budgeting the costs of protecting and treating water sources.
   
3. Stewardship Guide - Offers local officials considerations for promoting responsible use locally and regionally.
   

While source water protection may just be one important issue in your small community, it is one that is readily understandable and has clear implications for the present and the future. It may be that 'low hanging fruit' that can spur even bigger changes and support down the line.

• Your Water. Your Decision. Your Guide

How To Run Your System Like A Business is a series at SmallWaterSupply.org, appearing on Mondays

In this week's newsletter, we reported about a new law in Missouri that requires training for public water supply board members before they can get paid or reimbursed. SmallWaterSupply.org loves seeing states think creatively about providing effective incentive systems to make training a reality.

Why are we concerned about getting board members trained? These critical players in each water system have a lot of decision making power, but often lack the education they need to make sound choices In a 2006 article from NESC's On Tap magazine, Jerry Biberstine, an engineer with the National Rural Water Association, said it well:

"If, indeed, board members are too busy, too cost conscious, or too important to learn how to be proper guardians of their water system, then they shouldn’t be on the board in the first place. Their role as board members is to make important decisions about the future of the water system based on their knowledge of pertinent issues, and that means learning all they can about water systems and everything that goes into providing safe drinking water to their customers."

Resources for Board Member Training

As states increasingly do require board members to obtain training (read more on five different state models), there are more resources available to support their continuing education efforts.

Small Utility Board Training - Videos, animations and interactive documents provide new board members with valuable tools and experience to hit the ground running from the Montana Water Center. This course contains over three hours of total training time.

Water Board Training Manual - Videos and comprehensive written materials designed to educate and serve as a resource for board members of public water associations and municipal water supplies from Mississippi State University Extension Service.

Guidebook to Financial Leadership for Water Utility Boards - An extensive set of resources focused on the business basics board members need to know. These materials are based on a previous customized training program from the UNC Environmental Finance Center.