Author: Becky McCray

In my travels, I’be been refining my latest hypothesis of small towns:  Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to see what’s really going on.  You know you’ve heard (or maybe said): We tried that once. That’s not how we do things here. That wouldn’t work here because… We can’t because we’re just a …  Each…

Today, I finished my last speaking event for 2013. (Whew!) So I’m taking time to reconnect with you. I’ve missed talking with you! You know that I’m writing a 7 week series on The 7 Most Common Weaknesses of Local Shops, and what we’re all going to do about them. Here’s the list so far:…

I have several random topics this week. (Does it sound better if I say it’s like a topic sampler?) Wait! I just figured out the connection: It’s time for us to look ahead. 1. Upcoming TravelI’m going to be out of town the next several weeks, visiting communities and speaking in Ardmore, Oklahoma; Simcoe, Ontario,…

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…