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The city council members are not your enemy. The code enforcement officials are not your enemy. The funding board members who keep giving money to other projects are not your enemy. On every round of our Survey of Rural Challenges, people tell us about leaders not moving forward, officials not acting on suggestions or new ideas,…
In 2015, I decided to ask readers of SmallBizSurvival.com to share what topics they most wanted to learn more about. That grew into the Survey of Rural Challenges, collecting input from rural people all over about their challenges and assets. Looking through all 2200 responses, there are some surprises and some “yeah, we knew that”…
Sometimes officials ask, “What should we do first?” or “What are the 10 things we should do?” It’s not just officials, either. All kinds of people and groups want to know, ‘what should we do first?’ You can find 10 things you can choose from, or do them all, right here. We’ve also provided links…
At the CSG East conference I was asked by a Canadian legislator how communities could start a market village using simple garden sheds when faced with strict regulations that seem to make it impossible. It’s not just Canada. This wasn’t the first time someone pointed out that shed businesses don’t fit all the rules, so…
I bet your town has a history book somewhere. When was the last time young people got to see it? At the recent Rural Renewal Symposium, two speakers brought up stories of resilience from the past. Dr. Taylor shared three things that helped the people of Niobrara to be resilient: Those history books are mostly…
When I visited Caldwell, Kansas, the manager of the co-working site said they had filled their private offices, but struggled to attract day users. People who work from home like working from home. They don’t want a full time office, so they don’t think they want the coworking space. How can the coworking space attract…
The best antidote to the forces pulling us apart as communities is local action that brings us together. Local action that brings us together can be as simple as painting something together. When I visited Rosthern, Saskatchewan, I was struck by these colorful murals filled with circles. I saw several mounted to different downtown buildings….
One common small town parking complaint is business staff taking up customer parking. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this brought up in discussing downtown businesses. Sometimes business owners or business employees park right in front of their business or along the Main Street. They might park out front for any number…
At the IEDC International Economic Development Council’s Annual Conference, my topic was Overcoming Divisiveness. In the group discussion, we took on one attendee’s challenge related to housing. You might be facing opposition to housing, too, so I wanted to share our group insights. Her community has an old auto racetrack that they’d like to revitalize….
People ask Deb Brown and me, “What would business would work in a small town?” or “What business does every small town need?” or “How can we fill all these empty buildings?” The questions are all related. 1. Try a pop-up. Set up a temporary store, restaurant, cafe, interactive experience, etc., just for the busy…
I met Heidi Johnson (Tymko) at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference. After my presentation, she told me excitedly how she had been using Idea Friendly methods, even though she didn’t know it. Heidi moved to a new small town, so she started a run club to meet other people. That was her big idea. She…
What do you do about the people who just complain about everything but don’t ever take any action? That was one of the questions when I visited Caldwell, Kansas, recently. Here’s my advice: Recruit them to join the Pillars of the Community: to show up and encourage people. They can show up with their lawn…
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