When my friend Deb Brown started as Chamber of Commerce director for Webster City, Iowa, they had too many empty buildings. Rather than try to hide that fact, Deb put on a tour of empty buildings. The idea was to clean up buildings and show them off to potential new business owners. Read about how…
If you believe what you read or hear from the media, then all small towns are dying. But that’s not the real story. The real story is much too nuanced for a sound bite or 3 minute story: some small towns are dying, most are surviving, and some are prospering. And any town can choose…
Chris Gibbons is well-known for pioneering the concept of “Economic Gardening” in the small-town of Littleton, Colorado. (Population about 40,000, and part of the greater Denver metropolitan area.) On a recent webinar presented by the Kansas City Branch of the Federal Reserve, Gibbons explained the basics of economic gardening. Differences between economic gardening and other…
Small rural communities are here to stay! This should not shock anyone. If you read this blog on a regular basis, you have heard the message before. Yet a look at many news sources would suggest that thes message has not yet made it into the main stream. Not a problem. We will just continue…
I am a farm boy. Grew up on a what today would be a small farm. My summers and after-school hours were spent working on the farm. Days were long and there was always something to do. Putting up hay always happened around July 4th. For most of my farming friends, this was a way…
Sometimes, you ask me for help with questions of importance in your town. Then I turn around and ask you to help each other. This morning, Dena needs your help with a parking meter question. Our City Council is considering putting parking meters downtown to discourage employee/owner parking and encourage quick turnover of spaces. I…
Michael Shuman Interview Economist and Author Michael Shuman knows a heck of a lot about why we have a local movement. He’s also the author of the books Small Mart Revolution and Local Dollars, Local Sense. In this interview, he goes all economist on durable and nondurable goods right at the start, but hang on,…
We have been celebrating Small Business Week in the U.S this week. It is a time to recognize what small businesses mean for us and for our communities. In small towns, they form the mainstay of where we shop and eat. Our everyday lives depend on them. Yet, we often don’t think of what these…
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