Becky’s email newsletter

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…

Katie McCaskey has lived a rural pattern that you’ll recognize. She grew up in a small town, left for education and opportunity, moved back to a different small town later, and started a business.  She’s come to see small towns as a center of opportunity, as a place where entrepreneurs can step up and make…

Last week, both my friend Rob and I took time out from all that demands our attention to spend time at conferences that energize us. We both work from our homes in small towns, so we both value that in-person time to focus and think. Even though we were at very different events, we got…

Last week, I mentioned Placemaking briefly. Let’s talk about it a bit more. Placemaking is all about the planning, design and management of the public spaces and assets in your town. When done right, placemaking involves asking the people who actually live and work there, who use the public spaces, what they need, and then…

Do you know what the most commonly asked question is at any of my talks? It’s always about dealing with the negative people, the people who say you can’t, the roadblocks. Jack Schultz calls them the CAVE people: the Citizens Against Virtually Everything.  I find that encouraging and discouraging all in one. It’s encouraging because…

I bring up tourism and economic development together for good reason. Tourism is a terrific strategy for small towns to stay alive, but people who are working on tourism in small towns tend to get looked down on by the traditional economic developers.  “Tourism doesn’t count as economic development. We go after traded businesses,” the…

I got a call from a freelance reporter today. She was assigned to write a positive story about the future of rural. Someone told her she should call me, so she did. It was hard, but I want you to know I showed some restraint, so I only kept her on the line for 30…

There’s one more reason I want you to start your own successful small business. It’s the only way I can help your town.  The assets in your small town are different from the assets in mine. The big problem in your town is different than in mine. It doesn’t matter if we’re a thousand miles…

Last week, when I said, “If you want to save your small town, open a small business,” what kind of business did you picture?  Did you picture a downtown retail store? One of a row of brick-fronted business, like in the logo up above? That seems to be the kind of small town business most…

Last week, we talked about saving your small town by showing support for your local businesses through your money and your words. I started to include “start your own business,” but knew I couldn’t do it justice in a quick paragraph. So let’s talk about it now. Want to help save your small town? Start…