When small town entrepreneurs prosper, they help their community prosper. It’s one of my core beliefs, and it’s supported by some scholarly research. Charles M. Tolbert, Baylor University, looked at the effects of small business on their local community. His research shows that more locally-oriented business establishments are associated statistically with: higher average income levels less…
Educator Kevin Honeycutt of Inman, Kansas, (population 1300) is working with other locals to create a “New Billboard”: a combination QR code, Foursquare tour. If you can’t see the video, click through to Small Biz Survival. The basic idea is to draw in visitors from the highway, and use tools like QR codes and Foursquare…
I believe in entrepreneurship training. It’s a good investment in your small town’s future. The more successful local entrepreneurs you have in town, the stronger your local economy, and the more resources you have to take on your local challenges. Good entrepreneurship training can cost money. One source for funding of up to $50,000 in…
Luling, Texas, has a terrific Chamber of Commerce Shop Local campaign, using “Homegrown” as the theme. They are profiling local businesses in the news paper, organizing cash mobs, and more. They even posted a big sign pointing highway travelers to the downtown business district. How are you cultivating your local economy? If it includes a…
You remember your small town back when there was a drugstore downtown, and lots of shops, and the theater was a happening place. You remember two hardware stores and independent gas stations. But it’s not like that anymore. You feel so sad when you think of what your town is now. Can you ever revive…
Another report from the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies Conference. Alfa Demmellash, co-founder Rising Tide Capital, wanted to bring loan funds to underserved communities to start small businesses. When she met with potential entrepreneurs, they always mentioned lack of capital and access to loans as major problems. But what she found was that they…
Imagine a small town with nearly no local businesses. All the downtown storefronts are empty, except for a couple of antique and craft stores. There is practically no local shopping to promote. Kids move away as soon as they graduate. Ames, Oklahoma, could fit this description:empty storefronts, no local shopping. One Business Alliance for Local Living…
Cooperatives are familiar to many small town people from the farmer’s co-ops and the rural utility cooperatives. Really, any kind of business can be a cooperative. At the BALLE conference, we heard about worker-owned cooperatives and how they can help develop an area economically. This can work in small towns as well as big cities….
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