economic development
My grocery store left town, now what?
It sure seems like many grocery stores in small towns are leaving. When that happens, it creates strife for local townspeople. They need to travel further to buy their groceries. Or they have to order online from big companies they don’t trust. Retailers have lost another store in their midst. Folks would stop by their…
Read MoreMoney for Ideas
On my onsite visits to small towns, I sometimes get asked about small grants to help get a project off the ground, to get an idea started, or to help entrepreneurs. The biggest dilemmas are: You have to be a 501c3 to apply, which most businesses are not. The application process requires days of work,…
Read MoreEmerging Trend Webinar: Connecting Community Partners March 27, 2024
Building Bridges Instead of Silos On March 27, 2024, at 11 am (Central time) join Dell Gines, the Chief Innovation Officer at the International Economic Development Council, and Becky McCray and Deb Brown from SaveYour.Town for a no-charge webinar about connecting community partners. They will help you understand the power of collaboration when you build…
Read MoreBuild a Library of Things
I like the idea of organizations coming together and collaborating, instead of always working in silos. How could you test out this idea in a practical way in your small town? Build a Library of Things. A library of things is a location where things you use rarely can be located, the community donates the…
Read MoreBuild Community
Just what is community? It’s a feeling of fellowship with others, because of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. It’s a place where we can belong. For me, small-town people are a community. We have many similar interests: knowing our neighbors and looking out for them, shopping at our local businesses to support our friends,…
Read MoreBlue Collar Career Fair
Creating a new workforce solution You’ve told us you’d like your kids to either stay in the community or come back after being in the world a little bit. Here’s one way to get them interested in your businesses and community. Let them experience your business. Don’t just preach at a one-day event and discuss…
Read MoreAttracting Remote Workers
You have what they want As young families come home to small towns, they are often remote workers. Mainstreet.Org says at the end of the day, the strength of this trend will be determined by how communities position themselves to leverage this growing interest in rural and small towns. What can you do to position…
Read MoreTourism as Economic Development
Tourism as economic development makes sense. Get people from outside of your community to come visit your natural resources, your events, and your community. Have them shop in town, eat at the restaurants, get gas in town, and stay overnight in your hotels, and that will stimulate your economy. We can all see that picture…
Read MoreDowntown placemaking can be simple and cheap
How often do you go somewhere and realize you didn’t even ‘see’ much along the route? Until something changes. Then everyone sees it. Candee Brossman from the Woodward Arts and Theatre Council shared this story with us. She attended Becky’s presentation at the Oklahoma Arts Council Conference, where Becky talked about the value of cleaning…
Read MoreLessons from an Idea Friendly Gift Shop in a Small Town
One of the chapters in my upcoming workbook is about using crafters as your next set of entrepreneurs. Stephanie from Canada shared her crafter entrepreneurial story with us! You don’t have to go it alone. Fourteen years ago Stephanie and her sister moved to a small town that had lots of summer tourists but no…
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