Clint Kolby, Project Manager at Brenham (Texas) Economic Development Foundation, (population 16,000) shared this story at the recent LCRA Economic Development Forum where I was a speaker, and I knew you’d want to hear it, too. –Becky Through our Business Retention & Expansion Program (BREP) we were able to identify that the strongest and weakest…
Barry and I are excited to introduce Small Town Rules to you. The book is rolling out for sale now, and we’ll be celebrating the launch all week. Barry introduces Small Town Rules, from an undisclosed location: I introduce Small Town Rules, from my office in Hopeton, Oklahoma: Watch for special offers to launch…
Seth Godin took on the role of technology in changing the role of geography, in Sovereignty and the new world–the end of nations? Technology has allowed us to move both information and goods in ways that completely changed long established business patterns. In addition to the changes in communication, look at the changes in containerized…
The tech startups in Central Europe are following the Small Town Rules to achieve successes in a different way than Silicon Valley. Oliver Holle at The Next Web Europe explains how in Hail the hidden champions: Why fringe markets may beat Silicon Valley (at least for investors). While Silicon Valley startups are always shooting to…
The Brag Basket is our tradition of sharing. I feel like sharing ice cream this week. :) Hey, it’s a basket. Photo by Hartini The basket is always free and open all weekend, this one March 9-11, 2012. Have some good news this week? Put it in the Brag Basket. Don’t hold back because of…
If you love small towns, you want to read Katie McCaskey’s Micropolitan Manifesto. I have an interview with Katie coming up soon, but I couldn’t wait any longer to share the manifesto with you. Get it. Read it. Tell Katie what you think. Note: updated in 2025 to replace dead links to the PDF at…
Audio tours at tourism destinations are nothing new. Museums have been handing out little headsets for years. But all kinds of new technologies are available. Now that every visitor is carrying a cell phone, you might as well make use of it. Here’s an example from Zedler Mill, in Luling, Texas. There is a welcome…
Small town businesses are starved for capital, but small town people continue to bank and invest their money with corporate behemoths based on Wall Street. What if we could change investing from a gamble in the stock market into a local development tool? Local investing is the answer. Local Dollars, Local Sense and Locavestingcomplement each…
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