• Survey of Rural Challenges
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Improving the rural workforce: small town stories and takeaways

By Becky McCray

A group of young women in matching t-shirts visit the floor of a manufacturing plant

Takeaways for improving rural workforce: Bring together students, employers and multiple levels of education Build and document employee skills with micro-credentials Use apprenticeships to build skills, increase awareness of local job options Stitch together multiple programs to build your own workforce To add a new program in the public schools, hire dedicated program staff (at […]

January 19, 2024 Filed Under: economic development, rural, workforce, youth Tagged With: apprenticeships, economic development, education, employment, workforce

99% of the best things you can do for your town don’t require anyone’s permission

By Becky McCray

Building community in your small town sounds like a daunting task. It’s easy to get bogged down, thinking there’s too much to do, that you’d need too many permissions or it would take too much money. The reality of building community is it’s a change of mindset to Take Small Steps. 99% of the best […]

January 2, 2024 Filed Under: Best of, community, rural Tagged With: community development, idea friendly, rural

Book review: Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg

By Becky McCray

Cover of the book "Supercommunicators" by Charles Duhigg. "How to Unlock the Secret Langauge of Connection"

Get better at connecting with people. Charles Duhigg’s new book Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection offers practical ways to hold deeper, more meaningful, less conflict-driven conversations. Given the divisiveness in small towns and rural communities today, these are essential community-building skills. It’s also relevant for rural small business owners who face a […]

December 13, 2023 Filed Under: community, entrepreneurship, rural Tagged With: belonging, book review, communication, community building, diversity

Shop Local tools: Easy Editorial, Letter to the Editor template to copy

By Becky McCray

It's the Most Wonderful Time to Shop Indie Local

Promote local shopping with a letter to the editor or editorial Step by step instructions Ready to promote local shopping to more of your community? Try an editorial or a letter to the editor. You can submit this to your local newspaper, share it in any organization newsletters, and post it on social media! Step […]

November 27, 2023 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, rural, shop local Tagged With: holiday shopping, shop indie local, shop local

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Partners

We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses. Logo with "Shop Indie Local" Move Your Money, bank local, invest local Multicolor logo with text that says "Global Entrepreneurship Week" Save Your Town logotype

Best of Small Biz Survival

A few people shopping in an attractive retail store in refurbished downtown building.

TREND 2025: Retail’s Big Split: what small town retailers can do now

Three kids in a canoe

Get started as an outdoor outfitter without breaking the bank

A shopkeeper and a customer share a laugh in a small store packed full of interesting home wares.

How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores

Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors

Wide view of a prairie landscape with a walk-through gate in a fence

Tourism: Make the most of scant remains and “not much to see” sites with a look-through sign

Make extra money from extra workspace: co-working and 3rd workplaces in small towns

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2026 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in