Articles

From one boomer to another

I’m a boomer, born between 1946 and 1964. Many of us boomers are past retirement age or close to it. That doesn’t mean we are retiring! Many are still working in some capacity, or active in our communities through volunteering.  We’re used to doing things a certain way, following an old hierarchy and bureaucracy that…

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Tourism 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…

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We gave up planning the old way for a Brendan Hoffman exhibit and visit

Webster City, Iowa hosted an international photojournalist, Brendan Hoffman, in residency at the Daily Freeman Journal, the local paper. A town of 8,000 people managed to take a 6 week free class on Using Photography to Tell Your Stories, view an exhibition of War In Ukraine, and personally visit with the photojournalist Brendan Hoffman and…

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Downtown 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…

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Driving Positive Change in Rural – we can help

SaveYour.Town has been instrumental in driving positive change in rural communities. You’re interested in the work Becky McCray and I do, you read our newsletters, you’ve seen us in your towns and on stage, you watch our videos and webinars. As you plan for 2024, I’d like to share a bit more about the various…

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Lessons 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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Turn your crafters into entrepreneurs and a new choice for shopping during the holidays

I’m writing a workbook. About ways to save your small town. Here’s one chapter from the book. Crafters can be your new entrepreneurs  You can boost creativity while building community with co-crafting events such as “crafternoons,” hacker or maker days. These are events where crafters/makers/or hackers gather together and do their thing. Sometimes they are…

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Entrepreneurship in small villages in Portugal – Speaking about small businesses, entrepreneurship and sharing rural stories

In today’s global economy, entrepreneurs are always looking for new opportunities to innovate and create value. Small towns and villages are often overlooked and also can be a rich source of local knowledge and expertise. However, engaging with these communities can be challenging for people outside them, especially in areas with low population density and…

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Two Ways to Make Your Town More Attractive: Celebrating the Good and Welcoming Newcomers

Talk about the good things First things first, take a moment to appreciate what already makes your town special. Is it the picturesque scenery, the tight-knit community, or the awesome local businesses? Make a list of all the things you love about your town and share it with your friends. Get them involved too! Post…

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Turning a school into apartments in a small town with adaptive reuse project

I talked about adaptive reuse in our Rural Housing webinar. In May of 2019 three young business owners, under the age of 35, bought the abandoned Bowtie School in Homestead PA, population 2800 people. It took them two years to figure out what to do with the building! They finally decided to turn it into 31 apartments. It took…

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