What can small towns do about crumbling buildings in their downtown? They can join together to fix them up and get businesses in them. Our own Jeanne Cole helped to bring this building back in downtown Waynoka. Photo by Becky McCray.   Waynoka, Oklahoma, had a lot of vacant run-down buildings in their downtown. In a town of 900 people, the prospects didn’t look great. At an all-class reunion, a group of alumni got together and decided to change that. They called themselves Project Waynoka, our friend and early contributor Jeanne Cole said. They started raising money. They bought on ..read more

The “Move Your Money” campaign wants you to shift your financial resources to local banks and investment opportunities. That makes a lot of sense for small town businesses who care about having a thriving local economy. The 2024 Move Your Money Campaign The American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) has been at the forefront of the “Move Your Money” campaign, offering resources and support for those interested in making the switch to local banking. This year, AMIBA has emphasized the critical role that local banks and credit unions play in fostering economic resilience within small towns ..read more

These 10 questions will provide information to many organizations and people on what is challenging for rural communities. Are you rural? This survey is for you. SmallBizSurvival.com and SaveYour.Town are conducting the 10th-anniversary edition of the Survey of Rural Challenges! Take the Survey of Rural Challenges. Spread the word Could you help us spread the word on the Survey of Rural Challenges to as many people as possible? You could repost, add to your newsletter, print it in the local newspaper or share in meetings and presentations now through the end of May 2024.  Share ..read more

Takeaways for improving rural workforce: Bring together students, employers and multiple levels of education Build and document employee skills with micro-credentials Use apprenticeships to build skills, increase awareness of local job options Stitch together multiple programs to build your own workforce To add a new program in the public schools, hire dedicated program staff (at least part time) At the Teeny Tiny Town Summit held in Woodward, Oklahoma, a panel of local people addressed rural workforce challenges and what actions they were taking to address them. The panelists were Barclay ..read more

Building community in your small town sounds like a daunting task. It’s easy to get bogged down, thinking there’s too much to do, that you’d need too many permissions or it would take too much money. The reality of building community is it’s a change of mindset to Take Small Steps. 99% of the best things you can do for your town don’t require anyone’s permission. I’ve seen lists before of things you can do for your city, but none written for small towns. Let’s fix that. Here are 100+ small-town-approved ideas to build community.  Hang out downtown, in the park, in plazas and pocket park ..read more

Communities are the foundation of our society, and their strength and success lie in the unity of its members. Yet, often at the heart of so many communities is disunity. As a community coach, I collaborate with rural leaders to build local capacity and engage community members in working on local priorities so their community can thrive. One of the most common topics that comes up as the groups are planning for future outcomes is their desire for unity with other community leaders. They recognize disunity as a polarizing barrier to their success as they strive to engage other individuals, org ..read more

Guest post by Jen Risley, AMIBA Thank you for your commitment to building the local economy movement! Wishing you an inspiring Shop Indie Local Week with the entire community. My cat Shamu (above) can’t wait for Plaid Friday! One practical step: #ShopIndieLocal It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Any local business or group can start by sharing social media posts announcing your plans and adding #ShopIndieLocal to your posts. Get ready, get set, get indie local! Not just Saturday: Plaid Friday through Giving Tuesday The week after Thanksgiving is a super busy one for the Shop ..read more

Part of our Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration Nov 13-19, 2023. Speaking about small businesses, entrepreneurship and sharing rural stories Story and photos by Deb Brown I was invited to speak in Portugal by my friend and business associate Frederico Lucas. My first night in Lisbon I spoke at this event hosted at the coworking space NOW Beato and broadcast live on Facebook. Focused on rural entrepreneurship, the panel had a lively conversation about the possibilities for their rural areas. And meeting the challenges their depopulated communities have. In today’s global economy, en ..read more

Part of our Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration Nov 13-19, 2023. Photo CC by Joanbrebo Guest post by Mike Humphrey, Japan Skiing has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I don’t know why my parents decided skiing would be our family sport. They were not avid skiers, and we didn’t live in a ski town. Whatever the reason, I was on skis at 3, and my love for the sport began. We would spend every weekend in the winter on the hill. When I was 15, I became a ski instructor. Skiing is my passion. I love being out on the hill, and I love the mountains. As I grew older, skiing was ..read more

Part of our Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration Nov 13-19, 2023. Rural business people are trying a variety of different business models today, including pop-ups, shared buildings, businesses inside of other businesses and more. Entrepreneurs are using these smaller-scale experiments and tests to learn what works before making a huge investments. Learn how these Innovative Rural Business Models are being used right now in small towns in this video from the RuralRISE speaker series, featuring Becky McCray and Deb Brown, co-founders of SaveYour.Town Innovative Rural Business Models, Becky ..read more