What do flowers have to do with community?

group of flowers at the end of a driveway across from the gulf of mexico

Chris Brogan has picked up his camera again. He takes photos on his daily walk and shares them on YouTube. Here’s a bit of advice about how he finds the motivation to keep on going. I was watching a video about how some people lose motivation to go out and shoot photos, and that their…

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Start your own beautification project

I’ll be traveling to a small county in Nevada to help with a beautification project.  So will Becky later on – it’s an Intensive, Idea Friendly Package. Back in my chamber days, this kind of thing would scare the bejesus out of me. It would involve endless meetings with boring, important-feeling people. No talking to the…

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Can your downtown make a difference in bringing youth home?

Main Street illustration by Mars Manderico

I didn’t think about how a vibrant downtown could make a big difference to our current students. I know that involving youth in community activities like building benches, having their ideas used for events, hearing what they want, and helping them try their idea out makes a difference. Rik Adamski, the President of ASH+LIME shared…

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Small town ideas for Gowrie, Iowa

I attended the Chamber Dinner in Gowrie, Iowa and talked about small town ideas they could use. It was my pleasure to spend a couple of days there. This article talks about small town ideas for the community and by the community. Got empty buildings? Every small town has empty buildings and empty lots. Gowrie…

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Have you shared your rural challenges on our survey yet?

What challenges do you face in your community and business? SaveYour.Town (Becky McCray and I) have had over 1400 people have share their rural challenges with us since 2015. With all the change we’ve been through, have your priorities changed? We’d like your help to get an updated view of the challenges to your community…

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The Tour of Empty Buildings Long Story

I’d like to share the story of one town that suffered a huge economic blow, then kind of got stuck at the bottom, and how they got out. This is Webster City, Iowa, Population about 8,000. It was home to a factory that at its peak employed over 2,000 workers. In 2009, the corporation announced…

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Harvest Tour

6 bloggers came to Franklin County Iowa for the first Harvest Tour. The tour guides 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 on the first day. Adam…

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WTF

Wrench That Fits Kickstarter is this site where inventors can raise money to back their projects. It’s a real grassroots kind of thing, and those of us in small towns are very familiar with grass roots fundraising. People will give if it’s a worthwhile project. Lots of things get done when local, small town people…

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Why Toilet Paper?

Buy One Product Local Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce created the Buy One Product Local Campaign. The strategy was to use toilet paper as the product focus for this campaign. Toilet paper was chosen because it is a product that is universally consumed. Toilet paper is also a product that is readily available from…

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Idea Friendly Workshop

People too closed to new ideas? Open them up to be Idea Friendly Gather your crowd, make connections, and take small steps. We’ll show you the research behind it, and the practical steps you can take to put it into action right away. Live video broadcast Sept 7 Or catch it on-demand until Sept 21…

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