Many of you loved the information from Dave Shideler in Building Entrepreneurial Communities. Now you can participate as Shideler presents two webinars on the same subject, plus one on youth entrepreneurship. These three webinars are presented free by Oklahoma State University Extension Service and Oklahoma’s Rural Enterprises, Inc.: Building Entrepreneurial Communities Part I: What are…
[Reader Joel Bennett got really excited over last week’s post on, Is it time to rent office space? That’s because he is a big force behind a co-working space in a small town, called Veel Hoeden. I asked him to share some of what he has learned chasing that dream. -Becky] Guest Post by Joel…
[Melyn Johnson is the Main Street Manager in Guymon, Oklahoma. She always amazes me with her innovative projects in tourism and community development. She is also incredibly generous at sharing her knowledge. She wrote this piece for her “On the Bricks” column, in the Guymon Daily Herald. It’s been reprinted in other area papers, and she…
Building entrepreneurial communities means doing everything you can to welcome, develop and support entrepreneurs. And it doesn’t have to be hard. That was my take away from the webinar that Dave Shideler and Oklahoma State University presented on Building Entrepreneurial Communities. Here are some of the key points that I typed up as he went. …
Here’s a terrific poster I saw in Dodge City, Kansas. Turning around the phrase, “Get the heck out of Dodge,” the Dodge City/Ford County Development Corporation has “Get the heck into Dodge!” Ten bonus points for their excellent website address: DodgeCityHasJobs.com – Their whole site gives a wonderful impression of the community and their current economic…
Rural sourcing is like outsourcing, except to rural areas with lower costs of doing business. It’s like off-shoring, only it’s on-shoring. We’ve talked about it before, most recently in “Rural sourcing can replace outsourcing.” Two more rural outsourcing firms to watch: Saturn Systems celebrated 20 years in 2010. Rural America OnShore Outsourcing has a collection…
Every small town downtown has some unused buildings and others used just for storage. They aren’t adding anything to the downtown economy. What can you do with them, besides ignore them? Use the storefronts to advertise other businesses. Yes, it will take cooperative building owners. And this only works if the front windows are in…
Tourism is a traded business just as much as manufacturing. Tourism is a vital part of the economic development of your town and your region. It brings in outside dollars to be spent locally. It allows businesses to survive that could not make it by relying on local customers. Please don’t take my word for…
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