Thread: Don Allen Holbrook IEDC Rogue Former Member / Jeff Finkle Orchestrates Cover-up

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Girl Talk

Holbrook Queen.JPG

On Girl Talk Don Allen Holbrook's wife Laurie brags of selling a $236,000.00 watch at her job and goes on about her European tour and time in Italy (no doubt paid for by the East Montgomery tax payers as the pictures from 2009 show.) She goes on about cosmetic surgery and intimate noises she makes. She even quips that she picked up a stalker. She and that lying fraud Holbrook are a perfect couple

That witch continues to live like a queen whilst wallowing in bankruptcy yet again.

Bankruptcy # 1 was filed in 2007. The Holbrook shenanigans while living the lifestyle of the rich and famous never end!

Originally Posted by littleroundman

Now wouldn't that be a hoot ??

Donnie and / or his legal representative explaining in open court in front of the assembled media just how the whole sorry Earthquest saga unfolded.

Come to think of it, I guess Donnies' rationalizations could be described as being "tortuous"



Yep, that really DOES describe Donnies' involvement in the Earthquest saga.

Forget Desperate Donnyboy's involvement in EarthQuest, the Synonyms devious, serpentine, and crooked describe g@SSbag PERIOD. As for the Adjectives, I'd say exessively lengthy and full of twists and turns would describe his latest ramblings on economicdeveloperinhisownmind..... signed.........bigblowhardchickenshit

EAST MONTGOMERY COUNTY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT / Directors approve contracts / Contract OK'd for theme park consultant

SUZANNE WEST, Houston Chronicle Correspondent

Thu 11/29/2007 Houston Chronicle, Section ThisWeek, Page 6, 2 STAR Edition

East Montgomery County Improvement District directors approved contracts for services to the district. These ranged from site surveying to retaining consulting services in connection with the Earth Quest theme park project at a special directors meeting Nov. 7.
The directors will retain Don Holbrook and the Vercitas Group for consulting services in connection with the for-profit theme park portion of the Earth Quest project.
Under the terms of the $25,000 contract, Holbrook will provide the district with outside consulting services connected with securing financing and investors, said Frank McCrady, EMCID president and CEO.

"We want to make sure he stays with the project and makes the presentations," said McCrady.
Holbrook has already been working with the project's promoters, founders and the district and was actively involved in the process that selected the site of the Earth Quest venture.
The district has five potential financing sources for the for-profit portion of the project, he said.

Don Holbrook is babbling on:

Tags
business case driven financing, Consultants, out of the box thinking, paradigm shift fees, risk and reward mindset, solutions versus studies

Today there is more and more pressure to perform versus just provide advice. The traditional consulting houses have always favored hourly fees versus risk for reward. But businesses today are less and less prone to risk big retainers and open ended monthly exposure to fee based billing. This same phenomenon has also swept across the site location and business incentives driven side of economic Development consulting.

It is much easier to gain clients when you can say to them, if I don’t succeed you don’t have to pay me. This is the new risk for reward mindset that is slowly taking over our industry.
Personally I am glad this practice is taking hold. I have been mostly using this approach since I started consulting 6 years ago.

My focus has been go big or go home so swing for the bleachers.

My selling proposition is a simple formula that everyone seems to favor. It goes along these lines; for every dollar I save the company I get a nickel.
When I am providing a financing strategy for a public sector organization it is based on a 3% value of the project.

Again if I don’t put the deal together no matter what side of the table I am on, it lets my client know I am not gonna get paid. Nothing like a sink or swim situation to keep a consultant focused.
Today the biggest challenge in this type of approach is to only engage with the very best businesses and weed out the tire kickers.

From The Tribune:

In fact, McCrady said,"Without a doubt, this will happen. If Contour fails, others are willing to step up. We are not putting all our faith in one developer. That is not the way we do business.
We have backup plans A, B, C and D."

From The Tribune:

Contour was originally the park designer, and is now hoping to secure more than $500 million. McCrady said that if Contour could not secure the funding, then other interested developers could step in. McCrady did not disclose those other interested developers. EMCID has committed more than $2 million to the project along with a $7.8 million bond issue.

We know Holbrook had his greedy hands in every pie. No doubt he stands to profit very handsomely from any money raised for EarthQuest. It looks to me like his reputation is so sullied he simply can't raise a dime for this pipe dream himself.

It appears the negative publicity, much of it generated by Holbrook himself, has prevented Chris Brown from getting financing secured as well. There are only 12 weeks left to repurchase the EarthQuest property.

Will that brainless idiot Frank McCrady now go to plans C and D and bring in those additional developers he claims will take the project? Or, is McCrady just a windbag like his consultations that have raked in millions off of this boondoggle and in truth left with no eggs in the basket?

Holbrook's latest rant on Karma has no comments. Who in their right mind would want their name on anything Holbrook is associated with???

I assume a valid source according to Holbrook is only something he himself blew out his rear.

Rules for Comments on My Blog

The Internet has to be managed or it can become an excuse for some people to bully and act discourteously towards others. While there are many blogs that allow such despicable verbal abuse and bullying and in many cases acts of defamation, my blog does not tolerate such behavior. Here are the rules if you would like to post to any of my blogs:
1.) All comments must be civil and not defamatory in nature.
2.) There can be no negative comments unless they are done professionally and with honorable written prose and are not personal attacks on mine or anyone else’s character.
3.) Disagreement is fine, but please state your reason for disagreeing and back it up with some form of factual and verifiable information from a valid source. By doing this everyone can read such comments and decide for themselves which direction their own personal beliefs are on such subjects and discussions. This will allow meaningful conversations and enlightened discussions with some basis for progressing the subject to a new level of knowledge.
Following these rules of conduct can create a safe place for folks to discuss things in a civilized manner without resulting to shameful tactics and name calling and even worse cyberbullying. The Internet is not a place where the rules of behavior should be overlooked.

---

Posted on Sep 29, 2013 8:25:11 PM PDT

Don Allen Holbrook says:
Has anyone ever noticed that this hapless woman seems a bit warped and mentally obsessed with trying to post comments everywhere? The only negative commentary seems to spew from one malicious woman, I've never met, has no factual knowledge about what she is commenting on with regards to me and who seems possessed with some dark personality disorders that must plague her. I apologize again to my friends (who actually know me), my fans who she annoys and my clients who have never complained about my work and who are very satisfied with my work and fees. Again please ignore this poor mentally challenged stalker she has plenty of imaginary conspiracy theories maybe she should try writing a book of her own. That would require hard work and creative intellect, something she seems totally devoid of. The scary part is since she has to now pay for legal defense she had to actually get a job. What's scary is she is working with children. God help those poor parents allowing their children to be exposed to this woman known as Soapboxmom. Her real name is Heather Clark Dobrott. If your children are around her you should do some research on her and get your kids as far away from her as possible in my opinion. I believe her to be very mentally disturbed. Her actions should demonstrate why I believe so.

Soapboxmom says:
I am a volunteer for a charitable organization. I am not paid and would not want remuneration for the work I do for our neighborhood children.

Please note that Holbrook cannot quote any statement of fact made by me and refute it with verifiable facts. He is once again having a big boy meltdown.

Holbrook chose to sue me, numerous other bloggers, newspapers and all the taxpayers of Texas who dared to comment on how their tax dollars were spent. The truth shall set us all free. The public being warned and informed will keep Holbrook from emptying the public coffers anywhere ever again!

Here is the latest rant from Sir GasBag BlowHeart.


The Power of Self Determination

29SundaySep 2013

How many of you like to achieve great results that make you feel good about yourself?

How many of you like to waste money?

How many of you believe the best part of your life is behind you?

How many of you have at least three major bucket list items you would love to accomplish in your lifetime and haven’t yet?

Ok… Now lets talk about mindset and human behavior today is your chance to reset both with an AHA moment!

You have to live with a sense of urgency that acknowledges we are all here on borrowed time!

That does not mean to be frivolous but rather to be resolved to enjoy your time and spend meaningful time with those you love and your friends. Create a plan that allows you to enjoy your passions and pursue your own intended bucket list of things you want to accomplish and places you want to see and explore to fulfill your inner child curiosity. That is natural, normal human desire and very healthy for us all emotionally, mentally and physically.

We are controlled by our mindset, Behavior and Money! Get all three of these into balance and focus them to enable you to achieve your desired outcomes not inhibit you from making progress…

Today you have to choose;

Stated intentions are just words, but focused outcomes… Now that is action and that creates Results. This Requires accountability to yourself and Family

Honest assessment of your financial savvy to create the Moxy to get it done… Make Mojo and Memories to create your Life Story Legacy.

Choose an affordable behavior that Flys your desired mission then just focus on sticking to your plan.

Meanwhile you should enjoy the journey… Life is about the journey not the destination.

Originally Posted by fjjm303

Here is the latest rant from Sir GasBag BlowHeart.


The Power of Self Determination

29SundaySep 2013

How many of you like to achieve great results that make you feel good about yourself?

How many of you like to waste money?

How many of you believe the best part of your life is behind you?

How many of you have at least three major bucket list items you would love to accomplish in your lifetime and haven’t yet?

Ok… Now lets talk about mindset and human behavior today is your chance to reset both with an AHA moment!

You have to live with a sense of urgency that acknowledges we are all here on borrowed time!

That does not mean to be frivolous but rather to be resolved to enjoy your time and spend meaningful time with those you love and your friends. Create a plan that allows you to enjoy your passions and pursue your own intended bucket list of things you want to accomplish and places you want to see and explore to fulfill your inner child curiosity. That is natural, normal human desire and very healthy for us all emotionally, mentally and physically.

We are controlled by our mindset, Behavior and Money! Get all three of these into balance and focus them to enable you to achieve your desired outcomes not inhibit you from making progress…

Today you have to choose;

Stated intentions are just words, but focused outcomes… Now that is action and that creates Results. This Requires accountability to yourself and Family

Honest assessment of your financial savvy to create the Moxy to get it done… Make Mojo and Memories to create your Life Story Legacy.

Choose an affordable behavior that Flys your desired mission then just focus on sticking to your plan.

Meanwhile you should enjoy the journey… Life is about the journey not the destination.

Dontcha just love when self- styled gurus proclaim a bunch of truisms to try to sound intellectual? What a crock.

I received an email from a veteran friend of mine. He read Holbrooks latest rant and responsed back to it. This is the response back from Holbrook.




September 30, 2013 at 8:50 pm
.

Raymond;

Why in the world do you follow my blog if you think I’m not genuine and valid?

I don’t understand your reasoning for following and reading my blog.

Don Holbrook

HAHAHAHA!! I notice the chicken didn't publish the original comment to which he was replying. I bet it was quite the comment!

Creating A Best Selling book over 18 months | economicdeveloper

Creating A Best Selling book over 18 months


4 Friday Oct 2013 Posted by economicdeveloper in Books Available for Purchase

Tags
Book Promotion 101, creating a best selling book

I have decided to create a published account of my goal to take my latest non-fiction book, the Next America-Moving Beyond a Fragile Economy published in November 2011, to a nationally ranked Best Seller on the major book sales lists.
The Next America is up to us… we will define this century by our bold actions.

Now this is not meant to be a bragging journal. It is a scientific experiment on how I believe publishing has evolved so quickly into a business of very fast paced self-promotion and social media integration. You must be prepared to use these tools if you want your book to reach the masses of readers out there. Currently there are nearly 10,000 new self-published books per month and hundreds of thousands created per year. Therefore to make an impact you must be prepared to take risks and invest some cash in the game to get viewers and potential paying readers.

I have experimented over the course of 2012 with pushing the sales of the printed book by using the varies outlets available for free such as LinkedIn and Facebook. The sales over that year were not enough to cover the cost of production of the book. I have approximately $3500 tied up in editing, cover design and publishing type setting etc. My breakeven point is the sale of 1600 book sales. Of course promotion is going to cost money as well. During my first year I also launched the book as an audio book format. It has done much better on Itunes and Audible.com than from printed or digital sales on Amazon thus far. I believe the book has sold approximately 50 books in this venue so far since January 2013.
My promotional campaign is going to start out very simple then increase in complexity....

<snip ridiculous scheme to unload books>

....So my break even financial goal is to sell approximately 750 ebooks in total over the course of the campaign to cover marketing.

Once this impact has been assessed if there is a positive return on my investment or sales of approximately 2400 Ebook sales and/or audio sales, then the venture was a break even. If the sales surpass that then it was successful depending on by how much I surpass sales. In order to make the New York Times list your book must reach over 10,000 sales in one month in its’ genre. This is a tall task for non-fiction books.
Beginning in 2014 if the campaign is successful I will repeat it again, this time I will include a new book trailer for Youtube $400 from Novel Publicity...

<snip more ridiculous schemes to unload said book>

I would probably include a new professional author Bio and new enhanced ebook distribution beyond Kindle to various other formats by Book Baby which will cost another $299.

<snip more mindless sales schemes>

As you can see this type of work as an author is the dark side that very few authors enjoy but it is necessary. The risks are fairly high as well. Without investing capital and time it is very difficult to build enough marketing power to be financially successful at publishing and being a paid author, versus an author that pays for notoriety and reaps no financial rewards significant enough to make their authorship a viable commercial venture. Some authors tie their books primarily to their speaking platform and use the books as a loss leader. That is a fine and very acceptable approach. My goal is that the books need to be both commercially viable and also generate interest in me as a professional speaker. If the books are successful, then the speaking should follow suit.

I decided to write about this marketing experiment in hopes of helping others who might also want to learn how to market their books if they are forced into the self-publishing market. There is little sense in writing a book if you do not build readership in my opinion. Therefore while writing a book is quite a feat unto itself, marketing is just as much work if not more. Without the finale of marketing the writing experience may be rewarding personally but it will not be financially lucrative and you may never recover your cost of actual production.
Let’s hope I have good news to report by January of 2014. Cheers

Concerning the proceeds from his book sales that are apparently not reported on Holbrook's second bankruptcy:
Town board chair announces run for open Assembly seat | Pahrump Valley Times

Holbrook speaking about himself says:
And Mike Darny questions Holbrook’s accomplishments. These projects have created over 50,000 living wage jobs for hard working Americans and won Holbrook the Fellow Member award by his peers, the highest honor in his industry for lifetime achievements. On top of all this he wrote 3 books telling others how to accomplish similar results and encouraging his peers to strive to make a difference. This has made him the #1 author in his industry and Amazon ranked him as the #1 author in his genre in 2011.

This clown has self-published 8 or so books. They have all been abysmal failures commercially it seems from his mindless babble about it. He has been repeatedly mired in controversy. Does this guy really think his name will sell?

He has been fired from several economic development positions. He has been accused of resume fraud and irresponsible spending as documented in numerous newspaper articles. The sick ******* actually filed suit against the John and Jane Does (taxpayers) commenting on his likely failed mega international theme park, EarthQuest, that was supposed to have long ago opened in Houston. That frivolous failed suit also included numerous bloggers, journalists and mainstream news publications. Huber Heights Ohio sued him for his economic development work. The guy has been involved in numerous other suits and it is well documented that making lawsuit threats is one of his favorite hobbies.

He declared chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2007 while making a fortune off of the perpetually stalled (likely failed) EarthQuest project. He wrote off almost 2 million in debt including 1.29 million in legal fees alone in that bankruptcy. He is now wallowing in chapter 11 bankruptcy after he and his LLCs pulled in 1.2 million from that same EarthQuest debacle from 2007-2010 and he and his family toured Europe on the spoils. He has made countless other solicitations for projects that will never come to fruition and made many bogus claims about his involvement in projects as documented in these many pages.

There is no way in hell anyone who has any clue about the guy is going to bother picking up a copy of one of his silly self-published self-promotion rags. And, to shell out money for it??? After 8 books if he was an author worth reading that was marketable, he would have publishers fighting over him. The lack of interested publishers says it all!!! The "#1 author in his industry" is just another Texas tall tale in Holbrook's gargantuan pack of lies!

Wheredidmyjobgo1.JPG

Wheredidmyjobgo2.jpg

Don A. Holbrook was quick to pull his "official website" when the pooh started hitting the fan. It is certainly impossible for him to document those 100 + projects and 50,000 jobs judging from the hard hitting news coverage he has received in the last decade. I dare him to name even one "world-class project" that he had a leading role in! Apparently, the true definition of a "visionary leader" according to the self-aggrandized Holbrook is the dumb hick that Frank McCrady so perfectly embodies! Hilarious that that official pack of lies had to removed from the great world wide web!

Don Holbrook

Motivational & Keynote Speaker
Las Vegas, Nevada (Las Vegas, Nevada Area) Capital Markets.......

Don Holbrook's Education


University of Phoenix

2000 – 2004


LaSalle University


1991 – 1995

Grade: 4.0


Oklahoma State University

1991 – 1992


University of Kentucky

1991 – 1991


Wright State University

1979 – 1982
Grade: 3.0 approximately

http://www.realscam.com/f11/don-alle...html#post29315

http://www.realscam.com/f11/don-alle...html#post29319

http://www.realscam.com/f11/don-alle...html#post20999

http://www.realscam.com/f11/don-alle...html#post21000

http://www.realscam.com/f11/don-alle...240/#post19576

http://www.realscam.com/f11/don-alle...html#post29307

Blatantly advertising a 4.0 at LaSalle??? This scammer hasn't even attained the IQ of a head of cabbage!

Originally Posted by Soapboxmom

http://www.realscam.com/f11/don-alle...html#post29315

http://www.realscam.com/f11/don-alle...html#post29319

http://www.realscam.com/f11/don-alle...html#post20999

http://www.realscam.com/f11/don-alle...html#post21000

http://www.realscam.com/f11/don-alle...240/#post19576

http://www.realscam.com/f11/don-alle...html#post29307

Blatantly advertising a 4.0 at LaSalle??? This scammer has the IQ of a head of cabbage!

Interesting that at Wright State his GPA was 3.0 (approximately). Hmm, I guess you could say 2.5 is "approximately" 3.0.

But what is fascinating to me is all the colleges he has attended, and for what? One was less than a year, another one for a year and then one for 3 years, and Wright State for 4 years. Slow learner, or dropped out to keep from flunking?

That big fat bag of $h!t might have attended Wright State, but we all know what college he graduated from.......WRONG State <<<<< signed bigblowhardchicken$h!t@kissmyroseyreda$$.com

Originally Posted by EagleOne

Interesting that at Wright State his GPA was 3.0 (approximately). Hmm, I guess you could say 2.5 is "approximately" 3.0.

But what is fascinating to me is all the colleges he has attended, and for what? One was less than a year, another one for a year and then one for 3 years, and Wright State for 4 years. Slow learner, or dropped out to keep from flunking?

Sounds like he majored in Drop and Add Day...! It took me 7 years to get my Bachelors, but I was married, working full time and playing in a band 3 nights a week...

Marketing Your Message

08 Tuesday Oct 2013
Posted by economicdeveloper in The Next America Discussion

Tags
the next america book promotion

October marked the beginning of my 12 month campaign to market The Next America my current non-fiction book. I am also finishing the edits on the 9th Templar historical fiction based thriller and my SoapboxMomma murder mystery thriller.

The marketing thus far has been several blogs. I am anxious to see if the 25,000 bloggers I exposed to my book will have a positive impact on my sales.

The break even on this effort is only about 30 book sales. This sea like a reachable goal to be.

The one thing that Holbrook has murdered is his own career.

Posted on Oct 15, 2013 11:18:17 AM PDT

Don Allen Holbrook says:

This person SoapboxMom is a cyber stalker... I have reported her to Amazon. Her real name is Heather Dawn Clark Dobrott. She has a history of attacking people on the internet through her realscams self promoted blog. She has a few cronies that are bought into her sick and malicious tactics but none of any credible sources. Her attacks have been conducted on hundreds of people. In my opinion she is not mentally well and appears to be both delusional in her belief that she is somehow justified in her inappropriate cyber attacks on folks in the public spectrum. To my knowledge she does not work for any paying employer and appears to be completely unstable. I would not ever respond to such people and allow them to further pester my clients. What she fails to acknowledge is that none of my clients have any complaints regarding my work. She did in my opinion spook several of my clients last year into somehow believing her and one of them wrongfully terminated a consulting project. That client and I settled without any further consideration between the two of us, once the truth came out, they realized I believe that they had no case for their termination of my contract and settled the matter. She has a history of attacking my clients and other business folks that she somehow finds on the internet. Her comments in this forum are not appropriate and not related to my book discussion what so ever. I will continue to police her if possible through Amazon. Thank you for your patience in dealing with this unstable person.

Jul 22nd, 2013, 02:44 AM

#14

Unregistered Guest Posts: n/a

The best revenge is to write a fiction novel about her and then have her twisted character exposed and of course killed by some mysterious person she has tormented. The book will be out next year. Soapbox Stalker. Oh yea and then sell the rights to make it into a movie and make millions while she is exposed for who she really is on the big screen. Do tons of interviews of how this real life sicko stalked you and surviving that inspired me to write the book!

EarthQuest's Don Holbrook Sued by Ohio City for Alleged Fraud

Don Holbrook, one of the masterminds behind the perpetually stalled New Caney clusterfuck known as EarthQuest, has been sued by the city of Huber Heights, Ohio, for allegedly performing a substandard economic analysis for the city. The city, located just northeast of Dayton, entered into a $66,000 contract with Holbrook, who was to "create an economic development business case" and conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threat) analysis "from a regional economic development perspective."
The city forked over $53,800 before Holbrook submitted his report, which "wholly failed to conform to the terms [of the contract] and wholly failed to conform to industry standards," according to the suit. The city withheld its final payment and demanded a refund, which Holbrook refused, the suit states. (Specifically, the city accuses Holbrook of fraudulent inducement, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment.)

The local paper, the Palladium-Item, followed with an editorial calling for Holbrook's ouster, saying, "Holbrook's flagrant bullying involves tactics designed to silence critics of a public official's public spending and performance. His actions follow a pattern from past employment, a pattern that stifles needed public discourse and disclosure."

Holbrook was fired from 2 economic development jobs. Again happy clients, right???? Did I mention I talked to clients who were unhappy with his work, claimed he had grossly exaggerated his involvement in projects or had never even heard of the clown. All the numerous newspaper articles from various publishers all substantiate that.

Why would the city of Huber Heights chase a pauper. He declared chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2007 and wrote off 1.29 million in legal fees alone. He is now wallowing in chapter 11. The city had nothing to gain by spending tens of thousands pursuing someone who is uncollectable. Duh!!!

Those Amazon threads he insists on attacking me on are on the 1st spot in a Google search for his name. Brilliant self-promotion to be sure!

Professional suicide is something to watch.

Posted on Oct 15, 2013 5:06:16 PM PDT

Don Allen Holbrook says:
This woman is not only incapable of understanding my comments she also takes them out of context. My comments referred to my current book, The Next America, which I have spent no effort or time in promoting until this month. My #1 reference is correct as my first book now in its second revised edition is still the best seller in the economic development industry with sales of over 6,000 books since 2007. The Next America has sold briskly this month and I am very pleased with its new sales growth.
You just replied with a later post

---

1 new post since your last visit
Your post, in reply to an earlier post on Oct 15, 2013 5:55:10 PM PDT

Soapboxmom says:
Following is an exact quote from the first edition of the book Holbrook is referencing. The EarthQuest international mega-destination theme park referenced below has gone from perpetually stalled to likely a colossal fail that will never be more than drawings and models. Holbrook was paid 1.2 million ( in tax dollars) by numerous parties including the improvement district (to secure the funding), the developer, the associated and now defunct charity and more. The taxpayers have spent millions and must satisfy the $21,000,000.00 in bond money if it doesn't come to fruition. The park was to open several years ago. At this date the property has been through bankruptcy and is only available for repurchase for 2 more months. So, where is this theme park and how can this boondoggle be called a success???

New Caney

An unincorporated area in southeastern Montgomery County, Teas, New Caney grew rapidly during the 1980s and 1990s with an estimated population of 8,000 in 1980 and 17,189 by 2000. The primary factor driving population growth is its proximity to the Houston metropolitan area. In 1997, New Caney's community leaders established their own improvement district, the East Montgomery County improvement District or EMCID. Its sole purpose was to carve out a niche for economic development within the surrounding high-growth sprawl of greater Houston.

In order to achieve this purpose, two goals were defined: first, traditional economic development through the creation of shovel-ready sites capable of supporting high-quality jobs along with robust infrastructure that would make them competitive; and second, EMCID's sponsoring of a new state-of-the-art community center that includes community college offices, a library, EMCID's offices, and the East Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce.

Once these goals were agreed upon, EMCID's board applied for initial financing to the Texas Legislature in 2007 for approval of additional taxing authority under a provision known as Request for Allocation of Sales Tax Funding that allows successful applicants to levy additional half-cent sales taxes to use for development projects. By this stage EMCID's board had also decided to extend its development commitments to Earthquest, a private sector-driven combination theme park and museum and/or institute and to designate it as EMCID's primary investment project.

When completed, the new five-hundred-acre complex will house a full-scale "green" theme park and "dinosaur city" institute styled along the lines of a modern paleontological research center. The EMCID board is projecting growth of more than $1 billion annually and ten thousand jobs. Frank McCrady, EMCID's president, fully appreciated the risks involved but thinks the potential gains are so significant that even partial success will guarantee ample rewards.

The story behind EMCID and New Caney's success is one of taking the decade -old statewide Texas local sales tax proposition to heart. This sales tax provision, approved by the Texas Legiislature in the mid-1990s, is designed so that local development entities such as EMCID may apply to the state for authorization to levy 4(a) and 4(b) additional half-cent sales taxes. These new taxes are authorized specifically to fund local development projects. The laborious approval process can take months from inception to completion, and since the Texas Legislature meets only once every year, this can further delay getting the green light.

EMCID's board conducted its own research and then went a step further, successfully lobbying the legislature for passage of its uniques hybrid version of the enabling legislation, HB 4015, which received approval in the 2007 legislative session. This bill allows EMCID to focus additional sales taxes and ad valorem taxes within the development district on special economic projects. Each project, in turn, creates a special tax zone from which can be imposed additional food and beverage, hotel occupancy, ticket admissions, and property taxes, leading to the funding of development projects such as Earthquest.

According to Karin Richmond of Austin's Intelligent Incentives Inc., this legislation gave EMCID the most powerful economic-development tools in the state. By the time its proposal reached the statehouse door, EMCID had already performed some traditional economic-development work so that its campaign to get the proposal passed had a leg up from the beginning because of an established track record, including its well-received Earthquest presentation.

In decision-making on exactly what its development projects should be, the EMCID board fully understood the importance of its SWOT analysis, and its members agreed that something special was required in order to attract attention from the investment world. Following up at this point, the members further decided that instead of asking private sector clients to pay the freight for considering their local, EMCID needed to front the risk capital for an economic business case-study analysis (which ultimately totaled about $500,000).

The Baker Leisure Group of Orlando, Florida, a firm with long experience in the themed attractions industry, was retained by EarthQuest's original sponsors to conduct a warranted-investment study. This essentially is a study using language familiar to financial professionals that lays out the economis-development encentives and risk-reduction inducements of a development project. A clear-cut warranted-investment model is applicable both to private investors and to publicly traded companies. In addition, Baker aksi advised the EMCID board memberes on what products would work in East Montgomery County, including what the return on investment, or ROI, would be for typical investors.

After EarthQuest was chosen as the primary development project, EMCID now had a business proposal for potential investors that was specific to EMCID's locale and was written employing language familiar to the financial community. In addition to BLG, EMCID hired exoerts from ITech of Orlando, Florida, Contour Design and Dezignskape (started by former Disney Imagineering / Design employees) of Los Angeles to do the blue-sky conceptual designs, master land-use plan overview, and visitor experience narrative.

Now potential investors could study a multilayered design model that helped them to more fully appreciate the investment fine points behind the numberse. Last, but most assuredly not least, EMCID co-marketed with EarthQuest's initial principal sponsor the necessary research to find the right investor group and for the prospectus for the initial investor solicitiation that was aimed at either private or publicly traded firms.

Finally, EMCID's last steps at this stage were to option and gain site control of necessary highway frontage property. At this point, EMCID had market intelligence, a unique sales tool in its warranted-investment study model, site control. And incentives to offer prospective investors. The recommendation to use these specific investment tools was made by me in my role as economic -development consultant to EMCID.

As a further measure of validation, I also recommended that Karin Richmond of Intelligent Incentives be hired to provide third-party validation of EarthQuest's investment worthiness......

I used the successful experiences of New Caney and EMCID as examples of what could be done.....

Is this chapter still in the book????

Why would Holbrook promote a book about one of his most catastrophic failures???

Posted on Oct 15, 2013 5:06:16 PM PDT

Last edited by the author 5 hours ago
Don Allen Holbrook says:
The sole critic I have is this woman named Heather Dobrott aka. Soapboxmom and she is not only incapable of understanding my comments she also takes them out of context to try to make her own misguided points. It would consume my time trying to correct each of her posts, so unfortunately I must leave it at this. I am known for being very factual. My comments are made based upon what I know to be true at that moment in time. As in all things in life, sometimes those circumstances change, but not due to my own attempts to be dishonest but due to circumstances I am not in control of. That is part of life and we all deal with that. When I experiment as an author on new genres, I have no guarantee as to what will work and/or what sales will be. But it is with my own money used to do so, and that is my own risk. The crowd funding was an interesting experiment but not my cup of tea, and nobody invested or lost any funds in that experiment. My comments that SBM referred to were regarding my current non-fiction book, The Next America, which I have spent very little effort effort and/or time in promoting until this month. Within my own genre of Economic Development I am the #1 author as I referenced and that is a correct statement, made by third parties that validate such information. My first book now in its second revised edition is still the best seller in the economic development industry today with sales of over 6,000 books since 2007. The Next America has sold briskly this month and I am very pleased with its new sales growth. I am currently seeking a traditional publisher for this non-fiction work, so I began to market it officially in October. I have been very pleased with the sales response I received for my effort. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to it last year, but I was working on completing my soon to come out new fiction novel, the 9th Templar and also I allowed myself to get sucked into this psychopath SBM's charades and that consumed far too much of my time, that was a mistake. She is what she is a very unethical, mentally deranged woman with major psychological issues in my opinion. I am moving on now and not allowing her comments to take my focus off my actual priorities. If she somehow touches some people with an accord that they choose to believe, then so be it, the truth is still the truth and I have no time to defend or reply to illogical and stupid people such as her. You can reason with people who are incapable of being reasonable, it is just a waste of precious time. Cheers

Unethical is the siphoning off of 1.2 million tax dollars for a project that is still and shall always exist only on paper. Holbrook has legions of critics. Unfortunately for him, totally frivolous court cases really draw my ire and I intend to see his antics are put to a stop. Holbrook is bailing because he can't refute my factual posts. The truth certainly is the truth and our readers are having any trouble discerning where that lies. He should definitely stick with fiction. He has had years of practice with that already!!!

Originally Posted by Desperate Donny

The SOLE critic I have is this woman named Heather Dobrott aka. Soapboxmom

You wish, Donny, you wish.

The war of words continues:

Your post: Oct 17, 2013 6:25:14 AM PDT
Soapboxmom says:
Holbrook's website stated 7/2/2007

Holbrook is hired by Livingston Parish Louisianna to conduct a warranted investment study for the local economy to determine the possible types and sizes of projects that might consider investing in a destination attraction zone to drive the tourism and leisure components of the Greater Baton Rouge market. The project includes the design of a ancillary public sector incentive practice for use in their business attraction efforts to secure private investment in such projects.

Don A. Holbrook

Holbrook's self-published book, The Little Black Book of Economic Development Little Black Book of Economic Development, 2nd Edition Revised (Professional Economic Developer) that he referenced before rewriting his previous post, states:

Livingston Parish

<snip .....>
In this environment, the LEDC (Livingston Economic Development Council) had identified a catalyst investment project, The Missouri-based Bass Pro Shops. However, the LEDC faced a major hurdle in that Louisiana's TIF legislation restricted tax money to industrial applications. Thus, the LEDC's first job was to successfully lobby the state legislature to expand existing TIF legislation. Fortunately, the state capitol was in nearby Baton Rouge, which made the commuting to meetins with legislators and/or staff members relatively simple, adding greatly to the eventual successful outcome of the LEDC's lobbying campaign.
As part of its overall strategy, the LEDC retained Stellar Fundrasing to design a customized profile for it, focusing on how to build new investment development funding tools. At this point, I was brought into the picture as a consultant to Stellar and participated in Stellar's decision recommending the creation of an opportunity fund to be administered through the LEDC. The purpose of the opportunity fund would be to attract development projects and capital to Livingston Parish.
In discussing the opportunity fund with LEDC's president, John Ware. I used the successful experiences of New Caney and EMCID as examples of what could be done. John Ware and the other LEDC board members followed up by doing their own due diligence research on New Caney and EMCID. These discussions included identifying the Baker Leisure Group's expertise in conducting warranted-investment studies, and BLG was subsequently hired by the LEDC for this purpose. Now the seed money provided by the expanded TIF legislation became even more vital.
Baker was responsible for the type of investment projects, initially recommending three, and the amount of investment money it thought the market would support. Two of BLG's recommendations were later adopted by the LEDC. Next, the Vercitas Group was hired to create the incentive tools to fill the gaps in the warranted investment so investors would make the necessary risk investments into the development projects.
A result of these efforts is the Edutainment Zone, which is projected to yield billions of dollars in economic opportunities during the coming years. The LEDC ultimately contributed $300,000 in risk capital, which it obtained by selling a lot in an industrial park, to fund the Stellar campaign for $3,000,000 in new capital funds that included the establishment of the opportunity fund and approximately $75,000 for the intelligence work with BLG and the Vercitas Group on the warranted-investment study and the incentive strategies to attract new business projects........

The facts are that I personally contacted the Livingston Economic Development Council and they have no idea who Holbrook is. Further investigation made it clear that he had only a very limited involvement in the Bass Pro deal and the Edutainment Zone does not and will never exist. The Bass Pro deal was well in progress when Holbrook appeared on the scene. Holbrook will not be involved in any further development though he did his usual grandiose pitch for a ridiculous destination theme park in 2007 and that got him run out of town. Years of annual reports for the parish show not one mention of Don Holbrook.

Is this gross exaggeration of Holbrook's work in the new second edition along with his New Caney / EMCID mega theme park disaster (that he touted as a success in 2008 when it has only existed on paper for many years now???) The Mega theme park is about to meet its date with destiny. The option to repurchase the property (lost in bankruptcy) for the project expires in less than two months.

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Posted on Oct 17, 2013 12:13:20 PM PDT
Don Allen Holbrook says:
Folks the Wicked Witch of Texas (Soapboxmom) again has taken to pestering people... her citations are made up. The person that I worked with at Livingston Parish has long since retired (John Ware). She has made false claims about my activity and involvement in this project. I simply did an opinion for them in conjunction with another company the Baker Leisure Group. They acted on their own accord to follow up and land the Bass Pro Deal, after the report. I had no involvement in that project other than my initial opinion. Suffice it to say, Ms. Heather Dobrott needs to spend her time perhaps working and contributing something positive to our economy instead of criticizing those of us that actually do work for a living. Her posts as usual are not factual and made up of her own conjecture. More to the point they have nothing to do with my book, The Knights Templar Uncloaked- A Theoretical History of the Knights Templar Order post 1307. She is to say it nicely obsessed with me, my family and my work, and she should perhaps try donning a superhero suit and running around Texas fighting her own version of crimes and at least it might be entertaining for us. LMAO I have reported her to Amazon and hopefully they will begin to better protect Authors like myself from these type of cyber thugs, stalkers and bullies, who just want to maliciously harm people for their own personal vendettas and their own purposes, whatever they may be.

Holbrook made very lofty claims in his book which I quoted directly. I contacted his client in Louisiana to get the facts and I am reporting exactly what my understanding was from those conversations. Those folks checked out the pipe dream in New Caney and apparently smelled a rat as many of us did years ago.

Holbrook chose to sue me and there is a price for that. I choose to continue investigating his activities and reporting them to the public. And, since when did sucking the public trough dry constitute legitimate employment???

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		The International Economic Development Council's 2014 Leadership Summit, February 2-4, in Irvine, California will focus on the economic development industry's transition into the global economy. The conference will identify the skills that leaders in the profession must have to excel within international business models. In today's world of international connectivity, where geographic boundaries are easily crossed, it is imperative that the economic development industry find innovative ways to stimulate business and develop new revenue streams across national boundaries. The economic development professional's new goal is to build a long-term, sustainable community that is connected worldwide. The 2014 Leadership Summit will focus on the success of leaders who have been able to adapt to today's global business environment. Industry experts will also discuss the tools and relationships needed to create a sustainable economic landscape. As a hub of international commerce, Irvine, CA is an ideal location for the IEDC's 2014 Leadership Summit. The city has brought business, trade, travel and tourism, and government interests to the same table to take advantage of the opportunities the global economy offers. Irvine is also the home to diverse communities and a growing foreign-born population. Join us at the 2014 IEDC Leadership Summit as we find ways to bring the economic development industry into the global market. Gain valuable knowledge, skills and tools from professionals who are paving the way into the international age. Please note: Attendance is limited to senior managers of economic development organizations and Certified Economic Developers (CEcDs).

Holbrook, former IEDC board member and one time Fellow Member, is not one of the speakers. I guess no one wants to hear about his self-published books and incredible economic developer successes. He has been bragging off the fantastic success EarthQuest Adventures is for years, so why stop now? What a shock!

Interesting speaker list. Does IEDC have proofreaders? How many ways do you spell "Sheila",(or Shelia)? Also what is a "chief sherpa"? Since this is right down the road from me, if Holbrook was speaking, I'd like to attend and ask some pointed questions!

I am shocked I tell you, shocked that Sir Gasbag is not speaking. This has to be a mistake. I'm sure Sir Gasbag will be able to rectify this oversight immediately. How can they hold this seminar without his "expert" commentary? I thought he was the "consumate expert" on these matters. Do they realize this event has lost its luster and stature without Sir Gasbag's attendance as a speaker? Shame on them. OK, sarcasm off.

Originally Posted by EagleOne

I am shocked I tell you, shocked that Sir Gasbag is not speaking. This has to be a mistake. I'm sure Sir Gasbag will be able to rectify this oversight immediately. How can they hold this seminar without his "expert" commentary? I thought he was the "consumate expert" on these matters. Do they realize this event has lost its luster and stature without Sir Gasbag's attendance as a speaker? Shame on them. OK, sarcasm off.

Everytime the gasbag opens his mouth, the hole gets deeper and deeper. He will end up in China if he keeps it up!