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Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource
  • Business ideas for young entrepreneurs in small towns
    economic development | entrepreneurship | ideas | rural | youth

    Business ideas for young entrepreneurs in small towns

    ByBecky McCray July 31, 2017July 30, 2017

      Jerry Johnson issued a bit of a challenge in the comments, encouraging us all to brainstorm potential business ideas for young rural entrepreneurs. That reminded me of a terrific list of actual student businesses in Norfolk County, Ontario. It’s a list of real businesses started by kids in grades 6 through 12, part of their…

    Read More Business ideas for young entrepreneurs in small townsContinue

  • Can rural communities retain young people? Are rural Millennials different from urban Millennials?
    Best of | community | rural | trends | youth

    Can rural communities retain young people? Are rural Millennials different from urban Millennials?

    ByBecky McCray June 12, 2017July 30, 2017

    One of the top issues named in our recent Survey of Rural Challenges was how to retain young people. It ranked the number one concern in 2015, and number 2 in 2017. One participant commented, “We have already identified that to survive, we will need entrepreneurial millennials who want to be rural by choice. The…

    Read More Can rural communities retain young people? Are rural Millennials different from urban Millennials?Continue

  • How do I attract good employees for low-level jobs?
    economic development | entrepreneurship | rural | trends | workforce | youth

    How do I attract good employees for low-level jobs?

    ByBecky McCray June 5, 2017May 21, 2017

      “How do I attract good employees for low-level jobs?” That was one of the responses to our Survey of Rural Challenges. You don’t. That would be my answer. You will have to re-imagine and remake those jobs. Let’s look at a lumber mill, a real one in a real small town that friends from Oregon…

    Read More How do I attract good employees for low-level jobs?Continue

  • Tiny businesses in storage sheds: a rural economic development tool
    economic development | entrepreneurship | ideas | rural | youth

    Tiny businesses in storage sheds: a rural economic development tool

    ByBecky McCray March 19, 2017November 25, 2018

    When Deb Brown and I spoke at the RuralX Summit, one of the ideas we mentioned was the tiny business village, where businesses pop up inside of storage sheds in Tionesta, Pennsylvania. Dylan Fulton and Camden Breitling, high school students from Miller, South Dakota, heard that idea and ran with it. Together with some supportive…

    Read More Tiny businesses in storage sheds: a rural economic development toolContinue

  • Engaging businesses with school entrepreneurship programs
    economic development | entrepreneurship | rural | workforce | youth

    Engaging businesses with school entrepreneurship programs

    ByBecky McCray October 27, 2015October 19, 2015

    I attended the EntreEd Consortium Forum in Oklahoma City with the National Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education. The session on engaging businesses with school entrepreneurship programs generated a lot of interesting thoughts for me as a business owner sitting in on a discussion among educators. Businesses are desperately interested in skills in the workforce. It’s a natural…

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  • 3 Ways to teach kids to be entrepreneurs
    economic development | entrepreneurship | rural | youth

    3 Ways to teach kids to be entrepreneurs

    ByBecky McCray October 20, 2015October 19, 2015

    Last week, I attended the EntreEd Consortium Forum in Oklahoma City with the National Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education.   I was there because I believe small towns don’t need kids who will graduate high school or return from college, then look around for a job. We need kids who will graduate, then look for an…

    Read More 3 Ways to teach kids to be entrepreneursContinue

  • A group of young women in matching t-shirts visit the floor of a manufacturing plant
    economic development | rural | workforce | youth

    Grow Your Own Workforce

    BySmall Biz Survival August 3, 2015January 2, 2018

    Every small town faces the contradiction of young people saying “there are no jobs here” while business say “we can’t find good people.” My friend Kat Long from Ponca City, Oklahoma, sent this story of what they are doing to connect young people with the jobs that already exist in town and introducing girls to…

    Read More Grow Your Own WorkforceContinue

  • Redesign your downtown without breaking the budget
    economic development | rural | youth

    Redesign your downtown without breaking the budget

    ByBecky McCray July 29, 2014July 28, 2014

    Most small town downtowns could use some sprucing up. Different businesses have different styles from a bunch of different decades. None of the signs or facades match. Clashing is probably a better description than coordinating. What can you do to get updated designs without spending a ton on the project? Webster City, Iowa, is one…

    Read More Redesign your downtown without breaking the budgetContinue

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