Working Groups

It’s a lot of work to design a whole community!

If you think about what FYREshire is working to create, it becomes clear that we need some level of organization to reach our goals. The FYREshire organizational structure utilizes a hybrid model combining professional staff, volunteer leadership, and member-driven working groups to manage operations, safety, and community engagement. If we climb the mountain of COMMUNITY, then the other mountains to climb will get easier!

Core Governance and Roles

Professional staff generally handle high-level operations, while working groups and volunteers manage daily functions and specific initiatives.

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Manages internal operations, finances, and strategy with Officers positions such as President,
VP of Internal Affairs, VP of External Affairs, Secretary, Treasurer, Chief Legal Officer, and add other Officer roles as needed.

OPERATIONAL STAFF

Includes Members functioning in Group Chairs, Vice-Chairs of Committees and employees of FYREshire.





VOLUNTEERS

Volunteer roles are critical for maintaining community culture and daily logistics.
The Volunteer Coordinator organizes and manages the Volunteer roster. Tool Testers are Members who test new users on their knowledge of proper tool usage, supporting Group Chairs.

Member-Driven Working Groups

We empower members through elected or volunteer-led groups that advise leadership and implement solutions. These groups act as a sounding board for each subject matter area and assist the Group Chairs with policy and spending decisions. If a group grows large enough it could be split up to maintain manageable and effective administration. Current Working Groups in alphabetical order include:

  • Automotive, Equipment, and Internal Combustion Engines
  • Communications
  • Includes a wide variety of skills and knowledge, including HAM radio, antennae design, meshtashic radios, SDRs, and similar type activities.
  • Construction
  • Includes a wide variety of skills and knowledge, including woodshop, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, equipment operation, concrete, tile work, and similar type activities.
  • Creative & Applied Arts
  • Includes sewing, ceramics, arts & crafts, leather working, blacksmithing, glasswork, paper making, and similar artisan-type activities.
  • Education
  • Focuses on curriculum development, class offerings, and community workshops.
  • Electronics & Electrical Engineering
  • Engineering – Civil & Mechanical
  • Enterprise
  • Includes management of Enterprise Zone. This would likely be separated out into more groups once all of the enterprise areas within the zone are defined. Some of the potential groups could be retail, workshop/fabrication spaces, manufacturing activities, co-working spaces, offices, visitor parking, and the marketplace.
  • Food Production
  • The food production zone may include greenhouses, community gardens, orchards and windbreak plantings, poultry and livestock, worm systems, seed starting, and related activities.
  • Health and Safety
  • Addresses safety concerns, ensures proper tool usage, and maintains a safe secure environment within the community.
  • IT & Information Architecture
  • Manages organizational digital/IT infrastructure, networks, communication norms, and addresses technical concerns.
  • Manufacturing & Fabrication
  • Includes a wide variety of skills and knowledge, including welding, plasma cutting, metal fabrication, machine shop activities, casting, 3D printing, automation, and similar type activities.
  • New Member Orientation
  • Provides initial tours and onboarding for new members.
  • Officers Steering Committee
  • Identifies organizational needs (financial, operational, or otherwise) and initiates strategic member-led projects.
  • Policy and Procedures
  • Works with each group to help develops and updates operational policies, documentation of SOPs, codes of conduct, and other related needs.
  • Recreation
  • Includes management of Recreation Zone infrastructure. This would likely be separated out into more groups once all of the recreation areas within the community are defined. Some of the potential groups could be water activities (such as pool, water park area, and lazy river), shooting sports (such as skeet/trap shooting and shooting ranges), equestrian activities, lake activities (fishing, paddleboats, canoes, or kayaking), trail activities (walking, bike riding, and quads/ATVs), sports fields, paintball fields, and other activities.
  • RV Park
  • Includes management of RV Park Zone.
  • Science
  • Includes a wide variety of skills and knowledge, including Life Sciences (such as biology, botany, and zoology), Physical Sciences (such as physics, chemistry, and astronomy), and Earth Sciences (such as geology, meteorology, and hydrology).
  • Security
  • Social Events
  • Organizes community-building events and socials.
  • Support
  • Includes management of Support Zone infrastructure like warehouse and equipment yard, fuel storage, equipment storage, maintenance equipment, and associated inventory.
  • Water Utilities & Waste
  • Includes management of water and waste related infrastructure like well houses, water storage tanks, septic/wastewater treatment, composting, solid waste shredding/compaction, bulk solid waste disposal, and fire-water reserve.

Once the project grows and matures, Working Groups would evolve into Committees with Chairs and Vice-Chairs.

Special Interest Groups

Whereas a Committee manages a broad area of operations and a Working Group typically represents a smaller subset of committee members that are focused on the detailed execution of a particular task or project to support the committee, a Special Interest Group (SIG) is a subset of a committee that is focused on a specific niche topic that is related to the subject matter of the committee.

A SIG can be formed as either an informal or formal group, depending on the level of structure and whether funding desired.

  • Informal SIGs can be started at any time with no minimum membership requirement; they simply exist within the community without official committee sponsorship.
  • Formal SIGs must be sponsored by an existing committee (such as Communications, Education, Science, etc.) and typically require at least 5 interested Members to officially form. 

Formal SIG Formation Requirements

  • Must have at least 5 interested Members to form and be sponsored
  • Leaders of a SIG must be elected from within the SIG
  • A committee must vote and approve sponsoring a SIG
  • SIG Leaders are responsible for leading their SIG’s meetings
  • While a sponsoring committee may choose to fund a SIG from it’s own budget, they are not obligated to do so

Formal SIG Operational Requirements

  • Must meet at least quarterly
  • Must record meeting minutes (including attendance, voted items, and outcomes)
  • Records must be uploaded to the SIG’s records page.
  • SIG Leaders must act as representatives when participating in the committee meetings
  • Any spending must follow board and committee voting and records rules.