Building Possibility
Ag Careers – Iowa Leads the Nation
Karma
I had a great meeting with our local Super 8 owner, Bhavik (Bobby) Shah last week. It was your standard check in meeting: how are you, what’s working, what’s new, how can we help kind of meeting. We got to talk about becoming more involved in the community. We talked about participating in events, attending meetings,…
Read MoreAggregate Reading for Building Possibility
I use Flipboard on my phone to read about things that interest me, found all in one place. I’ve organized the categories according to the things I’m interested in. I can choose to share an article on social media sites, email it and even save it to read later. As someone very much interested in…
Read MoreBuilding a Better Block
I’ve visited with proponents of Building a Better Block over the past several years. They are onto something. The Better Block project started in April, 2010, when a group of community organizers, neighbors, and property owners gathered together to revitalize a single commercial block in an underused neighborhood corridor. The area was filled with vacant…
Read MoreQuantifying Community Revitalization
I’ve been thinking and studying about what revitalization is and what it can mean to small towns. Is new businesses downtown enough? No. Is a new smokestack going to help? Maybe, but not enough. What about tourism and bringing people in to town? Yes, but again – not enough. Storm Cunningham* shared a white…
Read MoreBuilding Possibility in Milbank, SD
I don’t just drive somewhere to speak at a meeting, and then leave. I’m a small town enthusiast so I like to visit. I like to drive around and see what I can see. I stop in shops and talk to people. I visit the Chamber/tourism people. I get a feel for a town. I…
Read MoreAnalytics and Why You Need Them
I would think that mostly women, over the age of 50, would be reading my blog. Maybe about 450 of them a month. I write about places I’ve traveled, diet and exercise, social media, tech toys, Webster City and building possibility. I would be wrong though. I use Google Analytics to track how many people…
Read More5 Things You Need to Know about Webster City
1. We have Iowa’s First. The first fish farm to raise barramundi in the state of Iowa. The Nelson cousins, Mark and Jeff converted a couple of old hog barns into a fish farm. It’s actually out in the country with a Blairsburg address, but they are Chamber members in Webster City. Keep your…
Read MoreBrookings: Accelerating Business
What if you found a way to help entrepreneurs and small businesses repopulate a downtown district? And what if that made your community a place people would travel to from all over the state? Brookings, SD is off to a great start doing just that. Their city council just passed the Retail Acceleration Grant Program.…
Read MoreSmall towns: Change is coming
A pattern is emerging. I’m old school raised. You want something done there’s a process: you find the person or group to do it, you follow the rules, you do all the paperwork, you form a committee, you discuss it to death, you figure out the rules and regulations around it, you find the money…
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