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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

How one food business keeps adapting, from table to cart to truck, to restaurant and back again

By Rob Hatch

Holyoke Hummus Company cart

Guest post by Rob Hatch My dear friend John Grossman and his wife Dawn own the Holyoke Hummus Company in Holyoke, Massachusetts. I’ve marveled at how they grew from setting up a small folding table at a local park selling falafel sandwiches to acquiring a cart. Next, they outgrew the cart and bought a food […]

April 28, 2022 Filed Under: Best of, entrepreneurship, management, rural, survivors, trends Tagged With: business success, food business, guest post, small business success

An embarrassing story about community engagement and dialogue

By Paula Jensen

Chairs and tables set up for a town board or city council type meeting

By Paula Jensen Quite simply, community dialogue is an exchange of ideas and experiences through listening, sharing, and questioning. At its best, community dialogue is created in a safe environment where a diverse group of people gather to talk and understand each other. Community dialogue at its worst looks something like the embarrassing story I […]

April 1, 2022 Filed Under: community, economic development, rural Tagged With: community engagement, guest post, leaders, officials, Paula Jensen

Boost your rural retail business with this trick

By Deb Brown

Shoppers at a furniture store find temporary displays of jewelry and skin care products.

By Deb Brown The old way of doing business is one building, one business. What if you could test an idea and have a business inside a business? Anyone of us either knows or can find someone who is making things from their home and selling it. What if you encouraged already existing home-based businesses […]

November 5, 2021 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, ideas, rural Tagged With: building community, Deb Brown, economic development, entrepreneurs, guest post, pop ups, retail, rural, store

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