If you love small towns, you want to read Katie McCaskey’s Micropolitan Manifesto. I have an interview with Katie coming up soon, but I couldn’t wait any longer to share the manifesto with you. Get it. Read it. Tell Katie what you think. Note: updated in 2025 to replace dead links to the PDF at…
Small town businesses are starved for capital, but small town people continue to bank and invest their money with corporate behemoths based on Wall Street. What if we could change investing from a gamble in the stock market into a local development tool? Local investing is the answer. Local Dollars, Local Sense and Locavestingcomplement each…
Tourism is economic development, and it influences all your recruiting efforts. “If people think it’s a nice place to visit, they think it’s a nice place to live.” –Cynthia Reid Cynthia Reid said this while talking about recruiting businesses. Every effort you make to improve the visit-ability of your town also enhances your economic development. …
The trend of “reshoring” manufacturing showed up in my back yard last week, with a story in the Alva Review-Courier about local business Vantage Plane Plastics. Vantage Plane Plastics in my hometown,Alva, Oklahoma, is competing with Chinafor manufacturing jobs. Another Oklahoma manufacturer had planned to outsource their product to China, when a sudden increase in shipping costs…
Ken Kelsey, art instructor at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, explains why he’s involved in the arts in Northwest Oklahoma. If you don’t see the video, click through to Small Biz Survival. Ken refers to working with Kay Decker on local arts. You can see her interview here: Starting an art walk.New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the…
Many small towns and small cities have a terrible shortage of skilled workforce, especially in today’s high-tech skills. The reasons why are complex: some places lack local training, some have high out-migration rates, some places just have no history of high tech work. Lindsey and Cory Miller A few Oklahomans decided to do something about…
Dr. Kay Decker tells about arts projects in Alva, Oklahoma. She explains how and why the First Friday Art Walk was started here. Here is a summary of what Dr. Decker said: The art space we are sitting in, Graceful Arts, is a project of Freedom West Community Development Corporation, where she is executive director….
Laura Girty has worked in economic development for more than ten years. What has she learned? Email and RSS subscribers may need to click through to Small Biz Survival to see the video. New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.
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