Building Possibility
Five Stories – Session One
Becky McCray and I have started a series at Blab. We are discussing five stories that address some viewpoint that can be used in some way, shape or form to help small towns. Todays stories were: The State of Entrepreneurship in 2016: U.S. is on the Verge of an Entrepreneurial Boom http://buff.ly/1QnB4zp – for the focus on…
Read MoreEloy, AZ – Part One
Eloy, Arizona is a town of about 16,000 located 50 miles northwest of Tucson. Mark Benner is the Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Mark took advantage of our Tour of Empty Buildings Toolkit at www.saveyour.town. I was in Tucson for Chamber professional development and had the opportunity to head to Eloy one…
Read MoreToulouse-Lautrec on a Barn
I saw the article in the paper and promptly forgot about it. Then my friend asked if I wanted to go take a picture of it. I didn’t realize it was so close to where I lived, just west of Dayton on Highway 175. What a great story! How often do you see the Peter…
Read MoreWhat Rural People Say They Need: The Survey of Rural Challenges
We all know what rural towns need, right? They need jobs, and to recruit some manufacturing and they have a huge poverty problem. Right? Well, no. At least that’s not what rural people told us. Becky McCray, my partner at www.saveyour.town, ran a survey of subscribers and visitors on SmallBizSurvival.com. Over 200 people who identified themselves as…
Read MoreYou’re the Expert
I flew back to Iowa on Saturday. Seated next to me was a gentleman from Korea and he asked me what I did for a living. I told him I was an Executive Director for a local Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Jeong asked me what was a Chamber of Commerce. I explained I had the pleasure of…
Read MoreThree Words: 2016
Usually I have this post written in November. Much has happened this year for me – most of it personally. Thinking about how three words can direct the course and intention of my life in this year has not been at the top of my thinking list. Yet.. yet, those three words and the idea…
Read MoreBlab – Tour of Empty Buildings
Blab.im is a new place to have conversations online with up to 4 people who can see each other. The listening audience can ask questions via a text option. It’s pretty smooth running and meets a lot of needs. Becky McCray and I ran a blab last night to answer questions submitted to us about…
Read MoreWeed Whackers and Windex
Ninjas Needed I visited Roscommon County, Michigan and toured a few empty buildings. On one corner, a major intersection into town, there was an empty building on each corner. We talked about building possibility, working with the county and the town and hosting a tour. Next to one of the buildings that needed to be…
Read MoreChristmas is the PERFECT Time to Shop Where You Live
If you’re a small business, you’re neck deep in Christmas. It’s only 23 days until Christmas. We all know how fast time goes, and even faster as you get older. Do you buy gifts for your employees? Many do. Many give out cash. Why not purchase Chamber bucks instead of giving out cash? Ours can…
Read MoreEight Thinks to Do on Small Business Saturday
Buy new furniture. Locally. Go visit your local furniture store and be surprised. The value, the customer service and the attention to detail will simply blow you away. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what is now available in the better lines of furniture and how affordable the pieces are. Don’t big box it…
Read More