economic development
What if you held your meetings outside?
You’ve sat through plenty of board meetings and a few city council meetings. They are held in the ‘official’ locations, with assigned seating (real or imagined) and there’s a course of action you must follow. What if you moved your meeting outside? Send the previous minutes and financials out by email ahead of time and…
Read MoreWhat can you do to help create young entrepreneurs?
We complain that our young people don’t want to stay here, or come back here. In fact, in our survey of rural challenges this complaint is always in the top 5. Let’s take a look at how we’ve created this monster and what we can do about it. Why is it they don’t want to…
Read MoreWhat Happened One Day in LA
The Western Association of Chamber Executives came together in LA and for the first time ever, they spent an entire day with the opportunity for small chambers to learn things that related specifically to them. Small Chambers: A League of Their Own. I started the breakout session as a speaker and shared ways to update…
Read More5 Reasons to Join the Chamber
Becky McCray and I co-hosted a webinar on June 8 and it went so well. We had a lot of questions that we answered and I was really excited about the progress of our webinars and the direction we are going with SaveYour.Town. Well, there was one thing that did bother me about the webinar.…
Read MoreSaturday at JunqueFest
This is the 3rd year for JunqueFest in Webster City. 84 Vendors are in Wilson Brewer Park through Sunday – rain or shine. No admission, junque, repurposed, antiques, barn wood, rustique, signs, yard art – you name, it’s here. Live music and fair food too – we’ve got a little bit of everything. I’ll let…
Read MoreLet’s talk about downtown
Joseph Minicozzi, AICP is the principal of Urban3, LLC, a consulting company of downtown Asheville, real estate developer with Public Interest Projects. Prior to creating Urban3, he served as the Executive Director for the Asheville Downtown Association. I got to see Joe speak at the Downtown Summit in West Des Moines in August 2015. What he said…
Read MoreSolar Car in the Hood
One day I’m in the park just minding my own business, actually working on setting up things for JunqueFest and I see this cool airplane looking car coming down the street. Followed by a truck pulling a trailer and a bunch of college kids. Of course I whipped out my smart phone and shot a…
Read MoreWhy We Should Tell Our Stories
I live in Iowa, in a small town of 8000 people, in a rural environment. I grew up on a farm and know what it means to do chores, feed animals and depend on those animals to feed our family and actually, the world. And frankly, most farmers don’t even think about it. They get…
Read MoreThe Ask
You have a business. You need customers. If someone were to ask you “how can I refer people to you?” would you have an answer? The right answer is NOT “we want everyone to come here.” Your perfect customer is not everyone. Take the time to reflect on the products you offer. Who are your…
Read MoreBackcountry Winery
Preston and Amber Gable decided one day they wanted to make wine. They bought an acreage with an old barn, fixed it up, planted some vines and now they have this winery that has a grand opening next weekend. Of course, that’s the short story – and it sounds pretty, lovely and simple doesn’t it?…
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