Becky’s email newsletter

When you’re trying to make a positive difference in your rural place, it can feel like you’re the only one in the world. This week, I heard from Triona Walsh, in Roscrea, Co Tipperary in Ireland. She’s there on a temporary post as an “Animator”, charged with making big changes and building the capacity of…

It’s the start of October. For a retail store owner like me, that means getting ready for the holidays kicks into a higher gear. Our annual supplier trade show is this weekend. (And let me tell you, the liquor trade show is more fun than the average trade show.) Holiday gift sets are already arriving,…

Do you remember the “Copy and Paste Towns” discussion from a few weeks ago? I mentioned how national chains want to “copy and paste” their standard template on your town. No one wants their small town to end up looking just like every other town and suburb. And we don’t want national chains to be…

Two weeks ago, I promised to share Johnita’s story about how one town filled some empty buildings.———- “I live in a great community in Cloud County and we are fortunate to have a fund in the county from our wind farm that we have been able to help our town and others do some great…

One of you wrote in with a tough question last week, and out of respect for privacy, I won’t say who. The question was one that can come up in any small town. It’s politics. It’s in-fighting. It’s that crazy “us versus them” game that can consume your town. It’s the thing that throws you…

Thanks for being part of the Positive View of Rural. I can’t tell you how much I love our conversations here. Ron Hirst replied to the last email on A dozen things to do with an empty downtown building, and I wanted to share it with you.  —————————–Becky, I really appreciate your newsletter and I have…

Empty buildings are a big topic in small towns. Several of you have brought up this subject lately, especially after we talked about the Tour of Empty Buildings.  Chris Miller, of Adrian, Michigan, told me a group of 22 local investors had pooled resources and bought a downtown building.  Deborah Hicks Midanek, of Grenada, Mississippi,…

I just saw a great article on “Cut and Paste Towns” by Andrew Price. It’s got me thinking.  “I call it a Copy-and-Paste town because it consists of nothing more than retailers that have ‘copied and pasted’ their standard template into the town simply to milk profit out of the town, often by using minimum…

My friend Deb Brown is the new director of the Webster City, Iowa, Chamber of Commerce. It’s her first job as chamber director in her long career of wide experiences, so she doesn’t look at chamber things the way most people do. Deb looked at the empty store fronts downtown and other available buildings around…

This week, I wanted to share the idea of “Investment Ready Places.” That is a new description of small towns and mid sized cities, from the team at Street Sense. “Mid-tier towns and cities are our most dynamic urban settlements and have the largest untapped potential for fostering economic growth. They vary in size from…

I’m spending some time unplugged, but I scheduled this email to keep up our shared Positive View of Rural.  This week, I wanted to share this idea from Tony Guidroz, Director of Economic Development from San Saba, Texas, (population 2,600). Tony came up with the idea for a Blue Collar Career Fair in 2012, and…

This downtown art project comes from my neighbors in Waynoka, Oklahoma, population 927. Far from a dressy, stodgy downtown, they have a casual attitude. It’s a working class town with history as a railroad community. Last year, the downtown utility poles were in bad need of a new coat of paint. You know, that boring…