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Has your community made negativity a habit?

By Paula Jensen

Paula Jensen

Living in a small town, we are often inclined to see change in our community as a threat to ourselves and our way of life. When we feel threatened by change, uncertainty rears its ugly head and our negativity often takes over. We say things like “What’s wrong with the way we’ve always done it?” […]

July 6, 2022 Filed Under: community, economic development, rural Tagged With: community coach, community development, guest post, habits, negativity, Paula Jensen, rural, small towns

Top 5 Rural and small town trends 2022

By Becky McCray

Who knows what trends will affect small and rural communities in 2022 and beyond? Not many trends pieces cover rural places. These trends are specifically about rural and small towns. I’ve been following rural trends and writing about them since 2009. My trends reports have been commissioned or quoted by Main Street America, Emergent Research, the […]

January 3, 2022 Filed Under: community, economic development, entrepreneurship, POV, rural, trends Tagged With: Becky McCray, Climate, community development, future, nature, neighboring, news, remote work, rural, rural migration, rural sourcing, rural trends, small towns, trends, zoom towns

The Role of Public Policy in Rural Community Economic Development

By Paula Jensen

Mechanic wiping down a wrench

By Paula Jensen My husband is a mechanic. The tools of his trade are important to his work. He has a large toolbox with many drawers lined in soft black padding. His tools lay clean and organized inside each drawer for easy access when he needs the right tool for a job. Yet, when things […]

October 16, 2021 Filed Under: community, economic development, rural Tagged With: community development, economic development, guest post, Paula Jensen, public policy, rural, rural policy

Downtown is your town’s core: How to make your case

By Becky McCray

Why does downtown matter? I’ve been asked why downtowns matter to small towns. Why should you invest your time and money into revitalizing your downtown? What makes it more important than any other area of town? What about that highway frontage? Or the edge of town where the discounters locate? In our Survey of Rural […]

February 22, 2021 Filed Under: community, economic development, rural, shop local Tagged With: building community, community development, downtown, economic development, Joe Borgstrom, main street, opinion, Place and Main, rural

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