This is the first of several reports from the Making Place Matter in Northwest Oklahoma Rural Community Economic Development Summit held in Alva on June 3, 2010. Deidre Myers from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce presented statistics and analysis about Northwest Oklahoma’s population changes. Most Northwest Oklahoma counties have lost 50% or more of their population…
In July 2009, I attended the High Plains Resource Conservation and Development Board meeting in Taloga, Oklahoma. While I was officially there to present their new website, I couldn’t help learning and taking notes. Dr. Larry Sanders from Oklahoma State University spoke about wide ranging rural business issues, including marketing, entrepreneurship, retaining youth, and tourism….
[This arrived by email from the National Rural Assembly. I didn’t think I could improve on it, so I asked for permission to reprint it here, which they have kindly granted. I added photos from the White House blog. -Becky] From the National Rural Assembly, www.ruralassembly.org President Barack Obama tours MogoOrganic in Mt. Pleasant, Ia.,…
Here’s an entrepreneurial idea for any small town. Build “a community of small businesses” like 1440 Main Street in Ferdinand, Indiana. via @ahoffman50 on Twitter. Each business can support the others in promotions, in sharing customers, in splitting expenses. Each entrepreneur can benefit from brainstorming and networking with the others. Everyone can learn something from…
Shop local is a popular topic here, but this week I’ve watched a new trend pop up: bank local.Move Your Money is encouraging people to shift their money to locally owned banks. The site includes bank rankings by Institutional Risk Analytics. All of my local banks scored B+ or higher. The project was dreamed up…
Many small towns have un-used space in their downtown. A local resident in Buffalo, Oklahoma, has used some of that space to create short-term lodging for hunters. Julia Hinther runs a salon and gift shop. The space upstairs used to be an apartment for her sons. When one of her sons tried his luck with…
Two new shop local ideas hit me this week. 1. Can you get your city utility on board? The City of Alva added this shop local message to their utility bills: Support your local merchants – Shop Alva for the Holidays Some cities and towns mail out larger bills in envelopes. They might even let…
Bob Jacoby is a business startup investor in Texas. He offers some advice to entrepreneurs: Make your idea work on the small scale first, then you can grow from there. [Subscribers, you may need to click through to the site to see the video.] Interviewed by Becky McCray at NASVF – the National Association of…
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