Happy Mother’s Day

I just spent the last 5 days at a conference in Sioux Falls.  It was the Midwest Area Chamber Executives conference, and I walked away with new contacts, information I an use and more motivation.  You’ll see more on that this week. But the coolest thing about the last week?  I took my mom with…

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I’m an AgNerd

I don’t live on a farm anymore, haven’t for over 40 years.  I am an Agnerd though.  I live in rural Iowa.  I work as a Chamber director and its behooves me to be knowledgeable about agriculture.  I actual think it would serve all people to become some sort of an agnerd.  Do you know…

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Sunday Funday

We have an ice storm going on right now.  So this day, I’ve stayed home and cleaned out my email inbox, worked on my portfolio, and shared a few links.  I missed Small Biz Friday this week, I was working on a series of Main Street awards and that writing was a priority.  I promise…

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Buy One Product Locally

This blog post is written for residents of Greater Franklin County.  But you know what?  Change the name to your local chamber and your local businesses and the message is just as strong.  Buy Local. This year the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce rolled out our Buy One Product Local Campaign.  We focused on…

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Harvest Tour Redux

This week I was asked by the owners of Tourism Currents to contribute to their November newsletter. ( If you are not receiving the newsletter, you can do so by starting here.) I wrote about the Harvest Tour(s) in Greater Franklin County and what we found out as a result of doing them.  Enjoy the…

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Road Trip

Tomorrow at noon my baby brother and I head off to Kansas.  We’ll stop in Bethany, Missouri to check out an antique shop he likes (arrowheads), then go to St. Joseph for the night.  The next morning we will leave at Oh-God-Thirty and drive through the Flint Hills on our way to Hutch.  That day…

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Small Town Opportunity for Connections

The historic Fox Theatre in Hutchinson, Kansas will host the 3rd State of Now/140 Character Conference on November 8.  Becky McCray and Jeff Pulver are producing a day of presentations by over 50 different speakers.  Topics include Agriculture, Media, Business, Tourism, music, politics, culture, education and more.  Each 10-minute presentation will cover how the State…

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Harvest Tour 2012 Day 2

6 bloggers woke up to country fresh air in Franklin County Iowa on Saturday, October 6, 2012.  They came to find out about: how food ends up on their table, rural living and the changes made in the last 100 years, entertainment in a small town, and why someone would want to live here. They…

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Following the Hashtag #HarvestTour2012

6 bloggers came to Franklin County Iowa last night.  We took them to the REA Plant and Museum (first farmer owned electricity plant in the United States), the Old Stone House (built in 1854) and Maynes Grove Lodge for some wine and food and mingling. Our hashtag for you to follow along on twitter is…

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