Ever feel like your town is too far gone to come back? Well, how about Timbuktu, coming back after hundreds of years of obscurity. Originally, it was a center of learning because it was on important overland trade routes. History and change turned it into a backwater. But the people held on to their heritage….
Buffalo Oklahoma Centennial Celebration a Smashing Success Submitted by J.J. Struther to our Brag Basket I was an innocent victim of a marketing campaign. My son came home from school last month with a couple of very professionally designed, full-color brochures in one hand while waving a nifty red wrist band in the other, excitedly…
“My belief is that everyone has a story.”Jeff Pulver Our Friend Jeff Pulver is a big believer in the Power of One. One person can make a difference. One person can do something amazing. This summer, he is encouraging everyone, you and me, to profile some of the amazing people we meet. The trick is,…
UPDATE: new tour sites now listed! You can now attract savvy tourists to your area with audio tours and videos.Record an MP3 audio file for visitors to listen to as they walk or drive through your area. Mention the sights, tell the old stories, direct them to businesses. Post it on your community or business…
Found in the E+Action Newsletter: A recent report by the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University concentrates on why students are leaving Illinois, where the students are moving, and what strategies can be employed to retain more students. The report offers a number of recommendations to keep students within the…
Small Biz Survival is one of hundreds across the country taking part in EntrepreneurshipWeek USA (February 24 – March 3, 2007) by planning thousands of activities for America’s next generation of entrepreneurs. Why is this important? In the rural Midwest and Great Plains, nearly 70 percent of job growth in the 1990s came from people…
Our friend Jack Schultz found the best ever “shop local” campaign. (From Oklahoma, of course!) An advertisement from the Perkins Community Foundation really caught my eye in the Perkins Journal. It showed a picture of the local fire department fighting a fire in the community with this caption, “If you have a fire, you need…
Some rural communities develop, and some wither. Some development efforts succeed, and some terrific attempts are miserable failures. What makes the difference? Michael Holton with the Center for Rural Affairs explores the Top 10 Reasons Rural Community Development is So Hard to DO! You have two ways to read it. Read the entire article in…
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