This is the second of several reports from the Making Place Matter in Northwest Oklahoma Rural Community Economic Development Summit held in Alva on June 3, 2010. A session on community building covered a wide range of topics, from the Main Street approach, to supporting local businesses, rural tourism, rural grocery stores, the participation of young people, […]
One answer to lose fewer graduates
Small towns lose too many of their high school graduates: they drop out, they move away, they leave for college, they get involved in drugs, they vandalize, or they are just lost. What can you do? Read “This small town nurtures its teenagers,” a success story from Canada. Here’s the end of the story: The […]
Shopping local as a partnership
Lois Loucks, Director of the Tri-Cities Economic Development (Wheaton-Onaga-Havensville, KS), shared some of her innovative thoughts with me in an email about shopping local. “Shopping Local” as a two way street, with responsibility placed on the business owners to earn “their share of business”. Just because someone decides to be in business, does not automatically […]
Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns ebook
Shop local and buy local campaigns can significantly impact your hometown economy, but the instructions available online assume you are a big city. That’s why I decided to create a step by step guide to starting a shop local campaign in a small town, as a downloadable e-book. It includes solid research that shows whether […]
