When Wal-Mart recently tried to build a supercenter in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, the community overwhelmingly banded together to say "No!" Over a hundred local residents and business owners voiced their opposition through a downtown rally during a City Council meeting. Afterwards, the Council unanimously voted against an annexation proposal for a new 180,000 square foot supercenter.

Community leader and Working Families Win organizer Jim Riopelle explains how he and fellow activists successfully kept Sturgeon Bay Wal-Mart-free:

The first thing I did was to have conversations about Wal-Mart with people in coffee shops and gas stations. People who are in the people business know what is happening in their cities. I then began to walk up and down the main street of Sturgeon Bay, where most of the businesses are. I talked with people about the things Wal-Mart could do to a city of this size, and I talked with them about Working Families Win.

It was very clear that most of the business owners did not want a Wal-Mart or any big-box retailer in Sturgeon Bay. I asked the owners to call five other owners and tell them to call five other owners. This way I could get the ball rolling quickly and get the community involved with very little effort but make a big splash.

We then planned a meeting where we could get the city involved. This was held at the high school. There was a championship basketball game being played in another city so we didn't know if we would get any people to show up at all.

Well it went great! We had over 2,000 people including the former owner of Palmer Johnson who signed the roster. (Palmer Johnson makes boats.) We then divided into small committees: flyers, walkers and people who will attend rally's and letter stuffers. After that we planned to have regular meetings on Sunday afternoons.

We also made sure as many people as possible were at City Council meetings. We filled the little City Hall with over one hundred people. We also got 2,000 people to sign a petition -- in a city of only 9,876! This is a tribute to all the people of Sturgeon Bay that Working Families can Win!

It has been a great pleasure working with the people of Sturgeon Bay and building a relationship with them and sharing in their success.