empty buildings
Done is better than perfect
Natchez, Mississippi. One of my favorite things to do is tour empty buildings and empty lots, because a town’s empty buildings aren’t a symptom of failure. They’re an inventory of possibility. On an event trip, we toured empty lots in residential neighborhoods and learned about the African American history in Natchez. The organizer, Joe Smith, sent…
Read MoreStop Fighting Dollar Stores. Start Building Local Solutions.
I see dollar stores in towns that still have grocery stores. I see even more in towns where the grocery store has already closed. That is not a coincidence. Dollar stores are not good for your community We can argue all day about whether dollar stores are “good” or “bad,” but we should at least…
Read MoreFrom Possibilities to Reality: Stop Waiting, Start Doing
Every small town has the same temptation: wait. Wait for the factory to come back. Wait for a big grant. Wait for some outside expert with the one right answer. I’ve seen it play out in hundreds of rural communities — no one is coming to save your town. You are. And the good news…
Read MoreRural Speaker for Your Event
Why Me? I work with rural people who are ready to move beyond complaining and start doing. Speaking is one of the ways I help small towns see what’s possible and take the next small steps with the resources they already have. When you hire me, you’re not just paying for an hour on stage.…
Read MoreKittanning, PA Changed Their City One House at a Time
Andrew Laddaslaw, a local pastor in Kittanning, PA, had this idea for a project to do during their Summer of Giving programming. 5 years ago, Kittanning, PA had a blight problem. Many houses in neighborhoods needed sprucing up, repairing, and a few needed tearing down. What they did He and his crowd got together and…
Read MoreThe Burney Book Club
The poster said: The Chamber has partnered with Shasta EDC, Intermountain community members, and business owners to initiate positive action in our community. If you are invested in the Intermountain community and want to be part of the solution, please join us. You don’t need a lot of money. You don’t need to be an…
Read MoreBuy? Rent? What one family did with a small business in Pittsburg, Kansas
On a Kansas State University/Extension webinar I did about my book, Pam Thompson shared about their small business in SE Kansas. Arggghh old buildings My husband, Don, and I have been in business for over 10 years now. Last August, we were scouting around for a place to move his business to a better location.…
Read MoreJust get started – take small steps
Memorial Day weekend of 2024, a block-long building in Alpine, Texas, burned to the ground. In a small town, that’s just horrible. There was a cooperative art gallery, bakery and cafe, hair salon, antique shop, and jewelry store located in the historic structure. As you can imagine, the store owners were in shock. Some said…
Read MoreUse Your Empty Lots
Porterdale, Georgia had a huge community center and gymnasium that was 12,000 square feet. It was built in 1939, and designed by Ellamae Ellis League That’s right, a woman designed the original building. Almost unheard of. It burned down in 2005, and the cause of the fire was never found. It was located downtown and…
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…
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