Even those raving, anti-business liberals at BusinessWeek have seen the writing on the wall surrounding Nestle’s predatory approach to rural water supplies:

This is cautionary tale for any company. Time was when multinationals could arrive in economically depressed communities and pretty much have their way. But in the age of hyper connectedness, residents in McCloud were able to turn their issue into an international sensation.

Now Nestle has capitulated. The management lesson: no company can afford to go forward with projects like these without engaging ALL stakeholders, not just supporters. Yes, this is still David versus Goliath. But David has a megaphone.

They got the last bit wrong. It’s not David vs Goliath. It’s a whole bunch of Davids vs Goliath (including the Undergrounders).

Here’s hoping for a renegotiation of the Nestle contract resulting in a worthwhile project for the town of McCloud — and a little instant karmic payback for Nestle’s legal intimidation, copious lies, and for consciously splitting the town of McCloud in two.