Can business save small towns?
No I cannot forget where it is that I come from.
I cannot forget the people who love me.
Yeah, I can be myself here in this small town,
And people let me be just what I want to be.
(John Mellencamp, “Small Town”)
Shawn Kirsch lives in a small town in North Dakota. He’s a 20-something technophile who cares deeply about the cutting edge of social media . . . but also about the rural community he calls home. In a series of recent blog posts, he’s been asking key questions about what’s next for his town and others like it. See, for example “Small Town USA, Would You Live There?” and “Is Small Town USA Ready For Expensive Gas?”*
Earlier today I asked my friends on Twitter (which is where I met Shawn) what I might be able to do for them, or how I might help them change the world for the better. Shawn’s tongue-in-cheek reply: “You can send me bunches of money to create many small businesses in my small town.”
Humor aside, Shawn’s acutely aware of the benefits that would come from having more small, entrepreneurial businesses in his town.
Since I don’t have bunches of money to send him, and since I’m not sure what the answer is for promoting entrepreneurship in small towns, I’ll put these questions out to the crowd:
What can small towns do
to boost their business communities?
What can businesses do to boost small towns?
I’m looking forward to your responses.
~
* Yes, that second post kicks off by quoting a tweet that I made about the price of gasoline. So this post either completes the circle, or gets us into an ouroboros-like spiral from which we may never escape.
(Photo by anyjazz65.)
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I worked for several years for the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Rural Economic Development division, so I’m somewhat familiar with what’s going on in rural Texas. The big focus in Texas has been on tourism, which has worked for some communities, but not all. Technology helps in driving tourism to a place; when you can research that little B&B online you’re more likely to stay there.
Other communities chase after businesses that are shunned by others – such as meat processing and low-level radioactive waste storage.
In theory, technology is already providing the platform for at least some entrepreneurship in small towns. eBay sellers are the first example I can think of. Other examples include freelance writers and researchers, including some members of my family. But obviously many people in small towns are still struggling, especially if their education and income are low. An eBay business may not provide the good jobs for those people. Education is so important and needs to be addressed, I think.
The Texas comptroller just launched a new Web site this week to give companies and communities better access to information they need to start new businesses and plan economic development. Check it out at http://www.texasahead.org/. It’s applicable to all communities, not just rural ones.
If people don’t find opportunity locally then they need to move where the jobs are. That is what is great and unique about the American economy. Duh!
@dave
You are missing the point. We know where jobs are at, but we don’t necessarily want to live in a town that large. We want our small towns to survive. We like knowing everyone in town, we like little to no crime, we like knowing that if something happens to our kids, everybody knows who to call. We want to determine what small towns need to survive, whether it’s better prices in agriculture, better internet connections, or simply better paying jobs. We want to create opportunity in our small towns, not just allow everyone to leave.
Dave — First, I agree with Shawn. There are plenty of people who don’t *want* to leave their hometowns, because of quality of life, ties to family and friends, and so on.
Beyond that, I’d also argue that what’s great and unique about the American economy (really the free-market system more generally) is the ability of people to *create new jobs* where there had been none before – for example, in small towns whose reliance upon agriculture is looking shakier by the year.
Get better internet connections and learn how to leverage the web. The internet allows small businesses to act bigger by allowing their niche products to reach broader audiences.
They can also stop shopping at Wal-Mart!
Michelle — I think you’re right. My favorite piece of luggage comes from Red Oxx. They’re in Billings, Montana, which is too large to call a small town (pop. ~100,000), but they certainly have the e-commerce bit down cold. More companies could be doing this, offering their employees high quality of life in a great small town while also purveying their goods to the world. Even better: they could be doing it with intangible goods (e.g. software) that won’t be subject to the vagaries of oil prices and the like.
I am a small business owner in a very small town. My biggest problem, and maybe it is a problem just with this town, is that local people don’t even bother patronizing local businesses. People don’t understand how much it means to a small business in a small town to to have locals patronize the business at least once a month. If I sold $3 worth of stuff every month in my storefront for every person in my small town, it would generate over $4,000 a month! About $2,200 of that is profit! I’m surprised that after being in business for 3 years in my town, I still get people in here who say things like ‘oh, i’ve never been here before’ It’s a small town. Everyone knows what’s going on in here. What does it take to visit a small business in your town and buy something for a couple bucks? It would mean the world to the business that’s for sure.
[...] Can business save small towns? — Hoover’s Business Insight Zone "Shawn Kirsch lives in a small town in North Dakota. He’s a 20-something technophile who cares deeply about the cutting edge of social media . . . but also about the rural community he calls home. In a series of recent blog posts, he’s been asking key questions about what’s next for his town and others like it." – an excellent question, and one that i think about a lot, given the fact that the majority of Maine's primary industries – with the exception of tourism – are either dead or dying. telecommuting factors in, certainly, but there need to be other local businesses to support that. (tags: rural business economies centralization) [...]
I think the first step is for the leadership of small towns to self assess. What built this town to begin with? Is there anything inherently unique about the town’s past that can be (for lack of a better word) exploited? What are the qualities of the people who live here? What are their skills? What makes them interesting or different and how is the world missing out by not interacting with these people or learning about the history of the town? In what capacity might the people, the town and the location of the town be of appeal to larger businesses in cities looking to “small town source” without overly “citifying” the small town? Is there anything geographically or physically redeeming about the landscape that can serve as an attraction? Is there a seasonal population (i.e. Summer residents) that can be called on to aid educational, cultural or critical services in the town during the non season months? Many people who live in small towns part of the summer relish the ability to help keep the town alive with micro philanthropy.
Truly admirable American qualities often remain in small towns, they are not found in cities, suburbs and exurbs — ugly with big box retail compounds, self entitled, characterless lost souls looking to find their identity through what they buy rather than who they are in character and deed and purpose.
We need the individuality that is inherent in being American. And that begins with each of us as individuals, in identifying and appreciating that there is uniqueness, value and appeal waiting to be discovered and utilized to bring more to the world rather than diminishing it.