Strategic Growth Capacity Analysis & Recommendations
Environmental Health Project
Economic Resilience
The Environmental Health Project (EHP) is a nonprofit public health organization that assists and supports residents of Southwestern Pennsylvania and beyond who believe their health has been, or could be, impacted by oil and gas development.
EHP had the opportunity to consider geographic expansion of their data, education, and advocacy services to the Gulf South via a grant from Bloomberg’s Beyond Petrochemicals campaign. EHP hired Fourth Economy to examine the industry in Texas and Louisiana to better understand opportunities for geographic expansion. Fourth Economy was also tasked with mapping out organizational capacity needs for expansion and conducting an overall SOAR (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results) analysis of the organization.
Fourth Economy developed background research on the petrochemical industry in both Louisiana and Texas, including an overview of the industry, relevant data on trends in both states, and a review of relevant companies, trade associations, and nonprofits that comprise the industry ecosystem. Fourth Economy then led EHP through a series of interviews with like-minded community organizers, advocacy organizations, funders, and coalitions working to fight the petrochemical industry. These interviews provided crucial insights into the needs of people and organizations already working on the ground in the Gulf South and introduced EHP to potential partners for future projects.
Fourth Economy also led an internal capacity session to better understand organizational needs for expansion of services, geography, and impact. Through multiple sessions with EHP’s management staff, the path towards potential expansion became clear through the lens of employee capacity, organizational processes, and strategic planning.
Fourth Economy packaged notes and insights from background research, community engagement, and the SOAR analysis into the final deliverable, along with a matrix to help EHP better comprehend the path forward towards expansion of geography and services. Ultimately, EHP did not decide to move forward with the proposed expansion, but the information we provided them proved valuable in strategically assessing new opportunities and outcomes.
Location
Pittsburgh, PA