Small towns lose too many of their high school graduates: they drop out, they move away, they leave for college, they get involved in drugs, they vandalize, or they are just lost. What can you do? Read “This small town nurtures its teenagers,” a success story from Canada. Here’s the end of the story: The…
Shop local and buy local campaigns can significantly impact your hometown economy, but the instructions available online assume you are a big city. That’s why I decided to create a step by step guide to starting a shop local campaign in a small town, as a downloadable e-book. It includes solid research that shows whether…
Marci Penner, executive director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, has lots of ideas of how to solve the volunteer shortage. She’s looking at all new ways to involve and engage people in small towns, with the WeKan volunteer program! Apologies for the dark video. It’s really dark in that barn! Marci also has a…
Dave Ivan of Michigan State University Extension rocked the house at the Michigan Small Town and Rural Development Conference with his “Can Small Towns Be Cool?” presentation. He showered us with ideas and examples gathered from 250 community visits, a literature review and the Michigan “Cool Cities Initiative” survey of young professionals. He grouped his…
As you work to promote your small town, you’re looking for your special qualities. Marci Penner, executive director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, walks us through the eight rural culture elements. Using this framework, any town of any size can answer the question, “what is there to see or do here?” Read more about the…
When I saw what an exciting thing the Third Thursday downtown in Hutchinson, Kansas, was, I grabbed my cell phone, and Jim Seitnater, the Downtown Development Director for Hutchinson, and did a quick interview. I admit, the quality of my cell phone video is awful, but the content is terrific, so there is a…
From Jack Shultz Boomtown Institute April 21, 2009 Take Charge of Your Community Within the past couple of weeks, we have received two great stories from community leaders telling about the positive things happening in their hometowns. Each involves a powerful Can Do Spirit. Estherville, IA You spoke at our chamber banquet in Estherville, Iowa…
Serving on a tourism board is fun and challenging. Sometimes we get a little set in our ways and need a good jolt to move on to new ideas. My recent trip with fellow bloggers to Hutchinson Kansas was the jolt I needed. These are some of the things I learned while I was having…
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