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Downtown is your town’s core: How to make your case

By Becky McCray Leave a Comment

Why does downtown matter? I’ve been asked why downtowns matter to small towns. Why should you invest your time and money into revitalizing your downtown? What makes it more important than any other area of town? What about that highway frontage? Or the edge of town where the discounters locate? In our Survey of Rural […]

February 22, 2021 Filed Under: community, economic development, rural, shop local Tagged With: building community, community development, downtown, economic development, Joe Borgstrom, main street, opinion, Place and Main, rural

Video: How to fill empty car dealership buildings for the holidays

By Becky McCray

Empty buildings during the holidays are a drag on local shopping Who wants to shop downtown when it looks so empty? Car dealerships are an especially tough type of building to fill. Not many businesses need such a large space, and the layout of the space can make it tough to find a good fit. […]

November 6, 2020 Filed Under: community, economic development, rural, shop local Tagged With: holiday shopping, local, retail, shop local

Cheap placemaking idea: instant murals

By Becky McCray

2020 has taken a toll on downtown shopping and placemaking. There’s no time to waste on big master plans and no money for expensive consultants. Start taking action now to show life and new activity with small inexpensive steps. Murals add life and color to a downtown and are highly visible even to people driving […]

September 11, 2020 Filed Under: community, rural, shop local, survivors Tagged With: 2020, art, cheap, Climate, downtown, idea friendly, inexpensive, murals, placemaking, recession, shop local, tactical placemaking, tactical urbanism, temporary

Why “Small Town” Might Become the Sexiest Brand In the World

By Chris Brogan

Small Town Buildings

Guest Post by Chris Brogan The COVID-19 quarantine has crushed so many small businesses and the economy at large. It’s truly been the worst financial crisis unfurling in this country since the 1930s. And while some measures are in place to help this not reach that level of despair, many people are finding themselves out […]

August 7, 2020 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, rural, shop local, trends Tagged With: Chris Brogan, coronavirus, COVID, covid-19, COVID19, entrepreneurship, guest post, recession, recovery, recruiting, remote work, rural, rural sourcing

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