Becky’s email newsletter

I sat at one of those planning meetings, where we all sit at tables and brainstorm about our region’s direction for the next decade or so. I looked around. Nearly everyone in the room fit a pattern: professional middle class, in their 30s to 60s, and white. A few people fell outside the pattern, but…

Us vs. Them is a myth. There is no them. There is only us. I’ve been saying that for a while. I think I first heard a version of it from Jon Swanson, who works at a small town church in Indiana. I even put it on my business card backs. I like how it sums…

What can businesses do when big events come downtown that require the streets to be closed? Webster City, Iowa, is on the route of a cross-state bicycle ride. Maybe 8,000 people will get off their bikes and eat and enjoy entertainment. Because they are traveling on bikes, they probably won’t do much shopping. The number…

Years ago, I helped organize a Trash-Off Day for a small town. The mayor and lots of local volunteers helped pick up trash and clean up the town for just one day. I helped. You bet I did. But one person made a specific point of telling me he was not going to participate because…

I’m not an expert in every facet of rural life. I can’t solve every problem or answer every question. Often, you’ll ask me about an issue I don’t know much about. How do we cope with losing our school? What should we do about parking meters? Why won’t our town board approve more apartment buildings?…

Awhile back, we talked about rural advantages, reasons to be grateful we’re rural and some of the great rural things we sometimes forget to take advantage of. You all said some smart things, and I wanted to share some of these with you. “Being a small business does have it’s problems, but being in Rural…

Before you can make a plan, you have to set a direction. Here’s what I mean. I wrote out a Well-Rounded Life list. Up til then, I had been doing business plans, but never any plan for a life outside of business. Eventually I realized my life was more than business. (Really. I know you’re…

If you want a stronger community, there is only one trick. Get people to talk to each other. The simple ideas we’ve talked about lately that most resonated with you (based on what you told me when you hit reply) are Coffee and Calendars and the Newcomers Dinner. Both are ideas based on getting people…

Time is a powerful lever. There is a magical effect of compounding your time. It’s like compound interest. It’s doing the right things consistently over time that adds up and adds on itself. For example, if you invest 30 minutes every day in exercising, you know you’ll become healthier and stronger. If you invest 15 minutes every…

Ben Winchester doesn’t have to know the name of your town to say that you have a lot of newcomers. Ben’s research shows that the Brain Gain has been going on, almost entirely unnoticed, since the 1970s. It has brought a significant flow of 30-44 year olds to almost every rural area. (Read more at the Brain Gain…

This is a story from the “You may have missed the real lesson” files:  A business owner mentioned taking a walk in their own downtown late on a Saturday. Apparently, it was a popular time for walking because they saw folks peering into the front window of their own business. Then, a few days later,…

Ever found out about an event or project in your town only after it was happening? Ever wish you could have helped with something, or helped stop it, if you only knew it was coming?  See, even in a small town, we don’t keep each other informed like you’d think we should. Rather than each…