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How to get more parking downtown without adding any spaces

By Becky McCray

There’s not enough parking downtown! Doesn’t every city have that problem? You’re about to learn a new way to get more parking for your Main Street without having to pave, stripe or get a permit. It doesn’t work in every town, but it very well might work in yours. Finding hidden parking There is only […]

March 7, 2020 Filed Under: customer service, economic development, entrepreneurship, marketing, rural, shop local Tagged With: Climate, creative placemaking, downtown, economic development, empty land, empty lots, entrepreneurship, parking, parks, placemaking, rural, small towns, walkability

The Stop Doing List for Communities

By Paula Jensen

Paula Jensen

By Paula Jensen Have you ever experienced a time when you could envision what needs to happen but had no idea what to stop doing in order to reach the point of success? Here is a simple example: This year at Santa Day in my community someone asked, “Why do we give away turkeys to […]

January 20, 2020 Filed Under: community, economic development, mistakes, rural Tagged With: community, economic development, guest post, idea friendly, innovation, jobs, Paula Jensen, rural, small towns, tradition

Better entrepreneur training for small towns

By Becky McCray

  Because I’ve been an entrepreneur since junior high school, I’ve been asked to help with all kinds of entrepreneur support over the decades. I’ve taught entrepreneur classes, I’ve been part of day-long entrepreneur events, I’ve taught workshops and I’ve been a mentor in formal and informal ways. And I’ve been thinking lately about what […]

November 4, 2019 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, rural Tagged With: classes, courses, economic development, entrepreneur, entrepreneur training, entrepreneurship, idea friendly, rural, starting, startup, Support, training

How do you start a microbrewery? With micro-steps

By Deb Brown

  Guest Post by Deb Brown When I visited Decatur County, Iowa, several people said that wanted a brewery. They talked about the big barriers in their way: finding the right building, the right funding, the right people. The big idea seems really hard this way. Why not start smaller? Start by using the Idea […]

March 11, 2019 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, rural Tagged With: building a business, Deb Brown, economic development, entrepreneurship, guest post, idea friendly, networking, startup, video

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