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Shop Local tools: Easy Editorial, Letter to the Editor template to copy

By Becky McCray Leave a Comment

It's the Most Wonderful Time to Shop Indie Local

Promote local shopping with a letter to the editor or editorial Step by step instructions Ready to promote local shopping to more of your community? Try an editorial or a letter to the editor. You can submit this to your local newspaper, share it in any organization newsletters, and post it on social media! Step […]

November 27, 2023 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, rural, shop local Tagged With: holiday shopping, shop indie local, shop local

Shop Indie Local Week and Holiday Season, it’s way more than Shop Small Saturday

By Small Biz Survival Leave a Comment

A cat wearing a plaid bandana shown over a background of Shop Indie Local graphics

Guest post by Jen Risley, AMIBA Thank you for your commitment to building the local economy movement! Wishing you an inspiring Shop Indie Local Week with the entire community. My cat Shamu (above) can’t wait for Plaid Friday! One practical step: #ShopIndieLocal It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Any local business or group can start by sharing social […]

November 20, 2023 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, rural, shop local Tagged With: shop indie local

GEW: Rural Entrepreneurship in small villages in Portugal – panel video

By Deb Brown Leave a Comment

A group of people seated at outdoor tables in front of a tapas restaurant in Portugal. They turn and smile for the camera.

Part of our Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration Nov 13-19, 2023. Speaking about small businesses, entrepreneurship and sharing rural stories Story and photos by Deb Brown I was invited to speak in Portugal by my friend and business associate Frederico Lucas. My first night in Lisbon I spoke at this event hosted at the coworking space NOW […]

November 19, 2023 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, global, rural Tagged With: Deb Brown, entrepreneurship, GEW, Global Entrepreneurship Week, Portugal, rural

Surviving the Peaks and Valleys of Seasonal Small Business in a Rural Ski Town

By Small Biz Survival

A group of skiers in colorful outfits on snowy slopes. Banners in Japanese script are in the foreground.

Part of our Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration Nov 13-19, 2023. Guest post by Mike Humphrey, Japan Skiing has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I don’t know why my parents decided skiing would be our family sport. They were not avid skiers, and we didn’t live in a ski […]

November 17, 2023 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, global, management, POV, rural, tourism, workforce Tagged With: building a business, entrepreneurship, GEW, Global Entrepreneurship Week, good management practices, guest post, hospitality business, management, rural, seasonal business, small business success

Innovative Rural Business Models: video

By Becky McCray

Becky McCray and Deb Brown featured on the Virtual Speaker Series

Part of our Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration Nov 13-19, 2023. Rural business people are trying a variety of different business models today, including pop-ups, shared buildings, businesses inside of other businesses and more. Entrepreneurs are using these smaller-scale experiments and tests to learn what works before making a huge investments. Learn how these Innovative Rural […]

November 16, 2023 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, global, rural Tagged With: Becky McCray, Deb Brown, Global Entrepreneurship Week, Innovative Rural Business Models, video

Pop Up in An Empty Lot

By Deb Brown

empty lot pop up

Part of our Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration Nov 13-19, 2023. Starting a business the old way is hard On an Idea Friendly visit to Jackson County, Kentucky, I visited with a group of artists/entrepreneurs. This group had created a loose organization called the Jackson County KY Creative Community. They wanted to start businesses, but were […]

November 15, 2023 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, rural, success Tagged With: Deb Brown, economic development, entrepreneurship, events, Global Entrepreneurship Week, guest post, Innovative Rural Business Models

Entrepreneur week advice for small towns: 3 practical steps for economic developers and chambers of commerce

By Becky McCray

Multicolor logo with text that says "Global Entrepreneurship Week"

Part of our Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration Nov 13-19, 2023. Last year during entrepreneurship week, I saw lots of articles about what big cities can do to support entrepreneurship. Advice for small towns got left out. Again. So I wrote this entrepreneur week advice for small town economic developers and chambers of commerce, whether you […]

November 14, 2023 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, global, rural Tagged With: artists, entrepreneurship, food business ecosystem, Global Entrepreneurship Week, shared buildings

Rural entrepreneurs start small to succeed: Global Entrepreneurship Week

By Becky McCray

A tiny travel trailer being used as a mobile retail store, two customers are smiling just outside with their purchase.

Part of our Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration Nov 13-19, 2023. Find this and other Global Entrepreneurship Week events listed on the official calendar at GenGlobal. The old way to go into business Imagine all the work that goes into starting a new business. You need to be a good business manager, a marketing guru, and a […]

November 13, 2023 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, rural, Small Biz 100 Tagged With: Global Entrepreneurship Week, Innovative Rural Business Models

Solve Rural Community Challenges the Idea Friendly Way – stories from IEDC

By Deb Brown

Guest post by Deb Brown What attendees learned from attending the Idea Friendly Session by SaveYour.Town at the International Economic Development Council Conference — Big Ideas you can copy in your town  Becky McCray and I were excited to lead an interactive Idea Friendly workshop at the International Economic Development Council Conference in Dallas in […]

November 9, 2023 Filed Under: community, economic development, ideas, rural, youth Tagged With: big ideas, childcare, downtown, housing, idea friendly, volunteers, youth

Small town retail topics from IEDC conference: getting owners to improve their buildings, recruiting chain groceries and supporting local retail startups

By Becky McCray

IEDC 2023 annual conference logotype over a nighttime skyline of Dallas, Texas.

I’m sharing notes from sessions and conversations at the International Economic Development Council annual conference in Dallas. First up: Retail! Lacy Beasley of Retail Strategies moderated a panel on retail real estate and development. While it was mostly big city stuff, several topics were relevant for smaller towns. How to convince a property owner to […]

October 9, 2023 Filed Under: economic development, rural, trends Tagged With: chain stores, dilapidated properties, recruiting businesses, retail

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