Author: Becky McCray

I spent last week in Washington, D.C., talking about rural issues and sharing your stories. Before I report on that, I want to mention that we have a lively discussion going on why big boxes are getting smaller, and how consumer behavior is driving that. Join the conversation here OK, on with the policy stuff! On…

Lots of local groups issue “shop local” coupon books. Most are pretty much what you expect: a packet of coupons good for savings at local businesses. But one local business alliance came up with a better idea during one of my conference workshops. The alliance helps local people build a stronger local community. To communicate their purpose to…

Thanks to the Newcastle, Washington, Chamber of Commerce for putting this slogan into graphic form.  Howdy Friend, I think there are three essential steps to a Shop Local or Buy Local campaign. But most towns only do one of them. Step 2 is to focus on shifting customer spending.That’s where everyone starts and stops. A…

Last week’s email apparently looked suspicious to email servers, because it didn’t make it to a lot of readers. So if you missed the “how we welcome newcomers” stories last week, you can read them here. This week, I’ve been thinking about triggers. What can trigger good changes in your town?  Remember Deb Brown’s Tour…

Thank you for sharing your own “how we welcome newcomers” stories! I appreciate every one of you. First up, Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel has a relocation guide for you to borrow and more thoughts on how we welcome people. Becky,A colleague forwarded your recent post asking for sources of relocation guides. The link has a good one…

Moving from the big city to the small town can be a rough transition. And since we just talked about how many people are moving IN to small towns, this is an important topic. One story on this theme, “Giving Up My Small-Town Fantasy” by Reyhan Harmanci made The New York Times recently. Reyhan moved…

Here’s an idea that you can pass along to the economic developers in your area. If that’s you, hit reply and let me know what you think. Many small towns have a modest budget for economic development. Rather than try to save it all for one big deal, break it up. Instead of offering $50,000 in incentives…

Hey, you know that story everyone tells about how teachers and adults are pushing the best and brightest rural young people away to the big city? A new study casts some doubt on that. In fact, the highest achieving students may be the ones with the strongest ties to their own communities. Which makes sense…

Last time, I asked you for your stories about how your town works together. Thank you so much for your answers! I’m sharing these three because they represent towns with populations under 1000, over 10,000 and somewhere in between. Before the answers I wanted to give you one link, one story worth reading today. Daily…

A reporter asked me about towns where business people have pulled together to turn the town around. I wanted to tell him about you, but something held me back. See, I know a lot about Webster City, Iowa, because my friend Deb Brown tells me all about it. I know about Lincoln, Illinois, because their…

There’s a game we play. We state our problem. We might even complain about it. Someone helpfully offers a suggestion. We explain why that won’t work. They give us a different idea. We counter with the things that make it impossible here. And it goes on, back and forth, as we knock down every single suggestion…

There you are, going along, trying to get things done, making a little progress, and then someone hits you with the news. Someone has just pulled a really stupid move. Maybe it was the town government. Maybe the economic development group, chamber of commerce, legislature, or some powerful local organization. Whoever it was, they really…