You and the Brag Basket go together like good news and wine. Photo (CC) by mario on Flickr.
The Brag Basket is open! This one is for April 8-10, 2016. Bring your good news, big or small, to share with everyone.
What can you share in the Brag Basket?
- introduce yourself
- share some great news from this week
- celebrate progress, even baby steps
- congratulate a friend
- applaud for each other
- confess your undying love for rural places
How do you join in?
- Below this post is the comment section. Add your good news there.
- Reading this in your email? Hit reply.
Don’t like to brag? Just share some good news for someone you’re happy for. It’s a conversation with friends. So jump in. And remember to cheer for each other.
- About the Author
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The rural small business blog. We talk about small town business, with how-to articles, especially on social media marketing and making your community a better place. We use this “author” for announcements and other things you’ll want to know.
Hey folks – I’m Terry Hahn, City Councilman in Aurora IN. Our downtown struggles with many of the same challenges cities and towns throughout Indiana (and across the country) find themselves up against. In 2016, we have been able to fund a Downtown Facade Improvement Grant program for business properties, churches, and residential properties within our historic district. Approved applicants are eligible for a dollar-for-dollar grant match (max $5000 from the city). I’ve been amazed at the response. We had budgeted $50,ooo for this program and we’re met with a total of $83,500 in property owner investment! The first year of the program has been so well received that we’ve added it as an item for the 2017 budget as well. This program compliments a low interest loan program offered by the city (administered to be community bank partnership). It’s a fight to bring that revitalization effort out of a planning process and turn it into a real action plan, but Aurora is gaining ground at a refreshingly surprising pace! Momentum lends itself to more momentum – I like it!
Thank you for sharing. Façade Improvement Program would be a great way to address those same problems!! We will be checking into that soon!!
I’d love to start something like this, but I’m not sure where the start-up funds would come from. Where did your $50,000 come from? Also, great idea that it’s not just for businesses; churches and residential too!
Hey, all!! I am Angie from Hazelton, ND. I am an active community member serving on several boards and the City Auditor. We are heading in the direction of greatness is little ol’ Hazelton (population 235)! In November I conducted a community forum. At this forum we gathered opinions and concerns from citizens within our community. But that wasn’t enough for me! We took it one step further and I, along with a local extension agent went into the local high school and conducted the same forum with the kids. Wow! Did they have ideas! These kids are the future of our communities and it is so important to have them be a part of the community development process. Our next step is to form a Community Betterment Committee that is made up of residents, business members and youth! I am so excited to be heading this up and I can’t wait to see what we can come up with together to make our community better and stronger…now and into the future! Kudos to everyone that is doing something good for their rural communities! You are all Rock Stars!! :)
Go, Angie! We did a similar thing in Webster, SD. We had this great community event, but we realized we didn’t have any representation from our youth. So, we worked with the school on a Youth Summit with 40 kids from grades 7-12 one year later. They had some great new ideas and also some similar ones that the adults did, which was really great to see. Can’t wait to hear how your new committee goes!
Hey, I’m John King. I was born and raised in the small community of Greenfield, Ohio, but currently live about 25 miles from it. But I still want to see the community thrive. We, like many other small towns, have the typical empty store fronts, a certain level of apathy, and always money concerns. On the positive side, our Greenfield Historical Society (www.greenfieldhistoricalsociety.org) is one of the more positive influences in the community. Through their efforts, community events are planned and held throughout the year, some of our heritage buildings are being preserved, we are restoring our oldest cemetery, we are repairing our 1939 Ahrens-Fox fire truck for display, parades, etc. It is hard to get many to look beyond what is being done to what could be done. Greenfield has such a rich heritage, from the award winning school facility (donated by Edward Lee McClain), being the home of the first and only African-American auto manufacturer (Patterson), home to other businesses (most no longer here) such as the Waddell Manufacturing Company, JA Harps manufacturer of the “Never-Fail Oil Can”, and many more as detailed on our website which I developed and maintain. I have been a subscriber to Small Biz Survival for a few years but this I believe has been my first comment. I enjoy reading all the positive influences your readership builds.
Hi, John. Nice to meet you! I don’t see any social media links on the Greenfield Historical Society website. Is that the site you developed and maintain? I would recommend they have a Facebook page. It would help get the word out to your community and draw people to your informative website.
Yes Cindy, that is the site. The issue with Facebook is getting someone to manage Facebook communications.
Reader Jane S. Reed sent this by email:
Last week a new cafe opened in a vintage restored 1930s Phillips 66 gas station. It is located in the historic area of Cuba, Missouri (pop. 3400) at the junction of Route 66 (Washington) and Hwy 19 (Franklin). The cafe is at a 4-Way stop and has always been called the four-way by locals, thus the name. We love that this business is preserving Cuba’s history and investing in the present of Cuba, known as Route 66 Mural City. The cafe is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/The-FourWay-1596961407217749/?fref=nf.
Wow! That is WAY cool!
I love this! I already liked the FB page. I’m going to message them with the easy advice to go to http://www.facebook.com/username and get a vanity URL for their page so it doesn’t have that wonky number in the link. I always recommend the name of the biz but sometimes it’s useful (or necessary) to add the kind of business (like FourWayCafe) and/or location (like FourWayCafeCubaMO but that seems awkwardly long).
Thanks, Cindy! I didn’t know how to do this but it only took a second and works so much better for our Facebook page.
Yea! Now I am trying to find you on Google Maps.
I meant I’m looking for the Four Way Cafe.
Found it:
https://goo.gl/maps/6J7FSsmuzbD2
What a great use of a fantastic building!
Greetings! This is Melissa Waldner from Webster, South Dakota, where I do regional economic and community development for a pretty fabulous area! The Walk/Bike Path Vision Team met this week to invite two city councilors to be its liaison to the city government, the vital entity for a successful project. They both said “yes!” And, the team also began planning for a “pop-up” walking and biking path next month to get community feedback on some important decisions for the first phase of the built path project — you know, location, surface type, etc. They have some great ideas about this pop-up path, and they are meeting again next week to keep rolling! Go team!
I live in a town of 2500 (Merkel, TX) 20 miles west from Abilene. Our housing situation at this moment is our greatest challenge. Due to the changes in mortgage lending it more of a challenge to qualify for funding. I spoke to the USDA Rural Development office yesterday and they are coming to meet with as many businesses, contractors, city council and town leadership to explain exactly what they have to offer. I believe these programs have always been pre-judged as difficult but like everything else things change and my understanding is their process has streamlined as well. So I am looking forward to reaching out to the families, land owners, businesses and city to offer them assistance that we may not have understood was available!!
We have moved just outside a couple of really cool small towns that we would love to see revived – Thamseville and Ridgetown, Ontario. I think sometimes people who live here don’t “get” that city folk like we were Love small towns and the more simpler way of doing things….I have a home based business so a challenge to be a part of the town life..But I am entering a float in both towns’ parades for their respective summer festivals. I’m hoping to accomplish two things: get the word out that I am HERE and let them know how fabulous their towns are. And yes, I have never done a parade float before!!
Hi Brag Basket – I’m Clark Hoskin, Manager of Tourism & Economic Development from Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada. On Monday and Tuesday of this week, I led a group of 45 small business people, tourism operators, farmers, etc., on a study tour of small towns, businesses, wineries, etc., in the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York. It’s a region very similar to ours, and this is the second year we have taken a group on a tour there. I have to brag about the towns and people we came across – they are doing stellar work: Patrick and John in Hammondsport (population 731) where they are working on events and waterfront development; Steve and his developer friends in Penn Yan (pop. 5,200) where their downtown revitalization work is in full swing, attracting new hotel development and working to revamp second-floor apartments and old industrial buildings; Coleen in Corning (11,000) where they have a great relationship with the town’s largest employer and it shows in the town’s downtown district; Philly in Ithaca (30,000) where they have recently reopened their pedestrian Commons area and attracted new tenants and development, and Sage in Geneva (14,000) where their new Neighbourhood initiatives are trying to address poverty in the area – some fantastic ideas were gathered by our group. We hope to use them in our upcoming downtown revitalization efforts across Norfolk County. Thanks for this opportunity to share the stories of these great community-minded people!
Hi Everyone! My name is Teddi Yaeger and I’m the new Tourism & Marketing Manager for the Madison County Chamber of Commerce in Winterset, Iowa. While we are known for our covered bridges (we are the setting of the book and movie “The Bridges of Madison County”), as well as the John Wayne Birthplace & Museum, not as many people know about our other historical highlights. We are the birthplace of George Stout of The Monuments Men, and George Washington Carver was a resident here for two years before going on to college here in Iowa. But we are very proud of the recent designation of our entire downtown square district (some 83 buildings) on the National Register of Historic Places, which we received in January thanks to a very dedicated, hardworking team of local historians and volunteers! It took hundreds of hours to complete our application, but their hard work has certainly paid off. Next month, we have several new openings here in Winterset. The Iowa Quilt Museum is opening on our town square, and will house rotating quilt exhibits, as well as serve as the official address of Quilts of Valor. The Winterset Cidery opens its doors in May to its beautiful facility which will craft hard apple cider the old-fashioned way, and Covered Bridges Winery opens a new tasting facility as well. Thank you for the opportunity to share our news with you all!
P.S. You can find out more about us on our website (www.madisoncounty.com) or please follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/madisoncountyiowa/
I liked your page!
Thank you, Cindy!
Hello! My name is Kronda Adair and (full disclosure), I’m from Portland, OR which is not a small town. I found this site through a mutual acquaintance who was bragging about this bragging page and I love it!
I’m run a web development and consulting business and I’m currently developing a course for small business owners to learn to make the most of their websites to grow their business or just employ a robot army to improve efficiency and create more time for other things. I publish a lot of free articles on my site as well, and have recently been a guest on a few different podcasts including Less Than or Equal, Hanselminutes and Women’s Tech Radio, talking about websites, failure, gardening and other fun things.
You can find out about any or all of those things from my website http://karveldigital.com
And if I can brag on someone else for a minute, I just picked up a book written by my friend Shelby Larson called Moonlighting on the Internet: Make An Extra $1000 Per Month in Just 5-10 Hours Per Week. I just started reading, but I know Shelby to be a very successful entrepreneur and a straight shooter and I love the idea of helping people make money online because it can be done anywhere.
OK, I’ll shut up now. Nice to meet you all.