By Paula Jensen My husband is a mechanic. The tools of his trade are important to his work. He has a large toolbox with many drawers lined in soft black padding. His tools lay clean and organized inside each drawer for easy access when he needs the right tool for a job. Yet, when things…
You’re familiar with the traditional way of handling community engagement. Once every few years, an outside consultant comes in and leads a community engagement planning meeting. There are lots of flip charts and post it notes. Most of the people who attend hold official titles or formal leadership roles. Almost all are professional middle class…
Dorrigo in New South Wales, Australia, population 1100, created an entire event to support local makers. David from the Red Dirt Distillery told us about Made in Dorrigo Day, where everything offered for sale had to be made, grown or produced in their local 2453 postcode area. Back in 2014 when they started, David said,…
Craft entrepreneurship is a strategy for prosperity that works in every community, no matter how small, even if everything else is against you. Even if all you have is the dirt under your feet. This is the story of Avard, Oklahoma, a town that knows how to make something out of nothing. Often listed as…
By Becky McCray Need an idea for your next small town or rural business? This one would make a good side hustle: Gather and resell fruit that would otherwise be wasted. Think of all the fruit, berries and nuts that no one picks, especially in yards and public spaces in your town. You don’t have…
The only housing “best practice” that really works for every town: Keep renewing your town’s core No one likes a mushy core, in an apple or a small town. Build more in the center, less on the outside. Grab a paper map of your town and a highlighter. Circle the oldest neighborhoods, the ones closest…
When you’re introduced to someone, you wouldn’t start the conversation with, “Hi, I think your hair style is a big mistake.” So why do we greet new ideas with “That will never work”? How to greet an idea respectfully Picture being introduced to someone you’ve never met. You look them in the eye, and you…
Your fellow reader Miriam wrote in to ask about attracting filmmakers to her town. I am designing a website for a small town in Texas that apparently was used as a location for some small films years and years ago. They are designing a new website for the town and thought it might be fun…
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