Author: Becky McCray

I operate with a set of assumptions about rural places and small towns. I want to share them with you so you’ll know what I’m assuming whenever I talk with you. (Yes, I know what happens when you assume. Call them basic beliefs instead of assumptions, if you prefer.) When I tell you that I…

I’m leading a workshop on becoming a more professional speaker. It has me thinking about why I speak. When you go to all the work of creating a conference or event, I know that you’re trying to serve the needs of your rural people. You want your participants to go on a journey. They should…

I’m hoping you’ll be joining Deb Brown and me for our webinar… March 16 – this Wednesday – at 6 pm Central Time for one hour.  Rural business people are trying a variety of different business models today, and using these smaller scale experiments and tests to learn what works before making a huge investment….

Beauty salons. Even really small towns probably have one. But when was the last time an economic developer considered them as important business development tools?  Last week I was speaking to the Northwest Oklahoma Workforce Board about the 8 Innovative Rural Business Models. When I got to the Business Inside a Business model, my own…

Patrysha Korchinski with Community Futures Yellowhead East (Alberta, Canada) asked my advice for rural people who want to startup businesses. I said try small experiments and test as soon as possible.  I want you to test your business startup quickly because you’ll be more likely to succeed. You’ll save money over building a full-scale business…

Russ was telling me about his dad, how he had been one of the small group of guys who improved his small town in the 1950s and 1960s. They served on the chamber of commerce board together, belonged to the Kiwanis Club together, and went to the country club together. These were the people who…

Lots of towns have a history video. What I want to see is your “now” video, and then I want to see your “future” video.  You know the kind of town history videos I mean. The ones with an announcer narrating the story while historical photos show your town the way it used to be….

“Easy levels” are those first few minutes of a video game where you learn how to play. Tetris starts slow while you learn how to move shapes around. Angry Birds gives you easy lessons in hitting pigs with birds, to borrow an idea Chris Brogan shared in a recent issue of his newsletter.  Where are the…

Business people want to know why they ought to pay dues to a business association that doesn’t appear to help them directly. The association wants to know why businesses that don’t pay should reap any benefits. When an association helps produce events, advertises, puts up signs, produces brochures or maps, all the businesses profit from…

One of the best things that Deb Brown and I do for communities is called a walk-through.  One of us will come to your town, and we walk down the main street with you. Doesn’t sound like much, does it?  But it’s more than a tour for us as visitors or a chance for you…

Rural people are innovative. We have to be. Limited resources, limited choices means we get creative to find ways to make lives better.  Tech-related companies dominated the Farm Bureau Rural Entrepreneurship Initiative contest this year.  The 15 important innovations for 2015 from Missouri S&T (that’s  Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla) include cool…

Twice recently, the question has come up: who is going to buy the stores in my town when their owners retire in a few years? In small towns, this is a pressing question. If you lose a key business because the owner can’t sell it, it’s probably gone for good.  Buying an existing business is…