This is the last of the reports from the Making Place Matter in Northwest Oklahoma Rural Community Economic Development Summit held in Alva on June 3, 2010. Dr. Glenda Humiston is the director of California Rural Development at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). She sees the USDA, especially Rural Development, as more than just agriculture. Rather than…
By Maesz I recently ordered a slow cooker from an individual merchant on Amazon. I know, I know, a crock pot is not a very high tech item. However, the interaction delivered by the merchant was, I thought, instructive from a “how-to-do-business” aspect. (All email addresses, street addresses and phone numbers have been removed by…
Does your town have a slogan? Does it convey anything unique, or could it apply to any number of other towns? Generic lines like “Best Little Town” or “Heart of…” don’t really tell your visitors anything. Our friend Mike Knutson of Reimagine Rural brought up this idea, after reading this list of South Dakota town slogans….
Feeling happily independent this weekend? Jump into the Brag Basket. Even though I call this the Brag Basket, it’s not really about bragging. It’s about sharing. I started this so you can introduce yourself, share some good news, or congratulate a friend. The basket is open all weekend, from July 2-4, 2010. Speak up and…
The Oklahoma City edition of the Get Social Conference brought out some direct and honest advice about dealing with critics. Get Social crowdby Jessica Miller-Merrell The dog keeps barking, and the train keeps moving on. @stargardener Being active in social media doesn’t make people like you. Sometimes they just want your ___.@eblakejackson What my spouse…
Let’s talk about the National Broadband Plan, and its 100 Squared initiative. The goal is to get 100 million households on 100 mpbs by 2020. All well and good. The problem is the remaining 5.5 million households, almost assuredly rural. They are not included in the plan, and there is no “phase 2” or second…
Every tourism business needs photographs. Lots and lots of photographs. But not every photo is equally compelling. As I look through tons of destination and tourism websites, I notice a theme. Where are the people? Your new water park is amazing. Why is it empty? That playground must be wonderful fun, but I don’t see…
This week, I have a tip to help you promote entrepreneurship. Use a social bookmarking site to collect the websites of businesses in your area. This idea is one way of recognizing your existing entrepreneurs, presented by Dave Shideler in a webinar called “Building Entrepreneurial Communities.” Why use social bookmarking? 1. As you bookmark those businesses,…
Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.
We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.
Meet our authors on the About page.
Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.
Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.
We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses.
Copyright © 2006–2026 Becky McCray • Site by Webdancers