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Reaching “at risk” kids for local jobs

By Becky McCray

Workforce is a challenge for 2/3rds of rural small businesses. Source: Survey of Rural Challenges, 2021 One under-utilized source of workers: At-risk students Tony Guidroz, from San Saba, Texas, told me he was shocked when he found out there were 702 kids in the local school district, and more than 400 were considered “at-risk” either […]

July 15, 2022 Filed Under: economic development, rural, workforce, youth Tagged With: at-risk students, blue collar jobs, career fair, workforce, youth

3 Major factors in rural remote work: incentives, flexible workspaces, and a sense of community

By Becky McCray

Remote work will dominate the future small town workforce Your current residents Your current small town residents will increasingly work from home or remotely. Gallup looked at jobs that could be done remotely and the locations where workers actually did them. Four times as many workers will work remotely going forward, compared to the number […]

June 6, 2022 Filed Under: community, economic development, rural, trends, workforce, youth Tagged With: community, coworking, internet, remote work, resident recruitment, rural, zoom towns

Zoom Towns: attracting and supporting remote workers in rural small towns

By Becky McCray

Zoom Towns: Remote Work Ready from SaveYour.Town

People have been saying for years that they would prefer to live in rural areas. Trulia research in 2014 showed 7% more people wanted to live in rural places than did then. In 2018, Gallup asked people where they preferred to live. Rural came out on top for all age groups except for 18-29 year olds. With the 18-29 […]

December 10, 2020 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, rural, trends, workforce Tagged With: attraction, economic development, entrepreneurs, remote work, rural, rural sourcing, zoom towns

Two 2019 small business trends that are good for small towns

By Becky McCray

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  Brother released their small business trends for 2019, and two struck me as particularly good for small towns and rural businesses. Remote workforces will continue to rise Brother says: “2018 was a pivotal year for remote working and as we head into 2019 that is not going to slow down. Good talent is becoming […]

January 14, 2019 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, rural, tech, trends, workforce Tagged With: broadband, remote work, rural sourcing, self-employment, telecommuting, zoom towns

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