Shaklee Shines

Bob Ferguson

Title: Lifetime Master Coordinator
Join Date: April 1971

Making a difference in your community can be a matter of being in the right place at the right time…and sometimes, it means creating the ‘right place.’ Just ask Bob Ferguson (Lifetime Master Coordinator, Fairfield, IA).

I lived in Kansas City for 25 years and while I lived there, I never really contributed directly to the welfare of the community.  So when I moved to Fairfield to help my mother Kay in October of 2006, I decided that I was going to be a part of the life of the town.

When Bob first arrived, his downline Distributors, Sharon and Rick Starr (Star Associates, IA), suggested that as a way to introduce Shaklee they find 100 people in the community to use Shaklee Get Clean® products. “I thought it was a great idea, but wanted to put it in a larger context, so I got the idea of promoting Shaklee as a part of a larger move to help Fairfield become a more sustainable community.” So Bob hosted an event at his local library. He also invited Shaklee Chairman and CEO Roger Barnett to call in to the meeting and share the ‘green’ heritage of Shaklee as well as his vision for Shaklee’s future environmental leadership. Only 15 of the invited guests attended the event–but one of those guests was the Mayor of Fairfield. “The Mayor was so impressed with Shaklee and the fact that the head of a major company would be on a conference call to talk about the company’s environmental commitment and the details of the company working to offset all carbon emissions,” says Bob.

Out of that event Bob met other like-minded members of the community who were concerned about sustainability issues. The group began meeting informally in Bob and Kay’s home to discuss ways they could help Fairfield become greener. A year later, the Mayor formed the Fairfield Go-Green Commission to create a sustainability plan for Fairfield and he appointed Bob co-chair. The commission developed a strategic plan that will move Fairfield towards being a more sustainable and economically prosperous community. This and other efforts have helped make Fairfield a model for other towns in the state and the region. “We’re at the beginning stages, but a lot of exciting things are happening,” says Bob. “We received a grant from the Iowa Power Fund for $80,000 to fund our efforts, and in partnership with Iowa State University Extension, we were able to hire a Sustainability Coordinator for the next three years to facilitate the implementation of our Go-Green Plan, which at its heart is an economic development plan that improves every aspect of the community.”

And how does this help his Shaklee business? “Everyone knows that I have a very successful Shaklee business that allows me the freedom to do a lot of pro-bono civic work,” says Bob. “But by putting community service first, not only have I become a part of the fabric of what’s going on here, but I have established myself as someone who has demonstrated concern for the community, so when I talk about Shaklee products and the Shaklee Opportunity, I can talk about it from that context.” Bob has also taken what he’s learned on the road. “I’m also involved with the Climate Prosperity Project,” says Bob. “which is eight pilot areas creating green economic development plans, including Silicon Valley, Denver, Portland and St. Louis. “My work in helping to create a sustainability plan for Fairfield has helped inform the work of Climate Prosperity,” says Bob. “What’s great is that I’m becoming a part of a network of top civic and governmental leaders all over the country who are working for a more sustainable future, and as a by-product of my service, I am establishing a reputation that creates some very powerful outcomes for my green mission and my business.”