“You know if you change one space in the Nowheresvilles that you talk about, you’d get a completely different interpretation,” someone asked me after my talk at the Indiana Statewide Association of Rural Electrical Cooperatives Annual Meeting titled Energizing our Blue Ribbon Communities. He was referring to my reference to the national media considering some places to be “out in the middle of nowhere.”
He continued, “You don’t even have to change a letter. All you have to do is add a space in Nowhere after the ‘w’, and you get Now Here! How can we change the concept of rural America to the happening place?”
He had a great idea and I wish that I had caught his name in the crush of signing books, but I didn’t. I hope that he reads this blog. He has a great idea!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
101 Quips, Quotes & Concepts for Sustainable Small Town Development
“In an Information Age, leadership, not location, is the most important factor in community survival,” is the first of 100 more 101 Quips, Quotes and Concepts for Sustainable Small Town Development, a new publication that Allan Hooper just published. Allan is the dynamic head of ED for Consumers Energy in Jackson, MI and also on the Rural Partners of Michigan board.
He first talked to me about this project when I gave several talks in Michigan and encouraged Allan to develop his ideas into a book and talk. He has done a great job of putting this project together and there are loads of great ideas for anyone involved in rural ED.
You can download a PDF file of the publication at the Rural Partners of Michigan website. Allan told me, “We want people to have access to the range of ideas in this book. Our experience is that people in small towns "get it", that is, they readily understand their challenges and the need to work toward a better future. Unfortunately, sometimes it just "doesn’t get to them"... small town leaders often don't get exposed to some of the best ideas and concepts. We want "101+ Concepts" to be that conduit to bring a range of new ideas to a community along with the confidence that they are doable and they work.”
You also can communicate directly with Allan at achooper@comcast.net. I hope that you will check out his work.
He first talked to me about this project when I gave several talks in Michigan and encouraged Allan to develop his ideas into a book and talk. He has done a great job of putting this project together and there are loads of great ideas for anyone involved in rural ED.
You can download a PDF file of the publication at the Rural Partners of Michigan website. Allan told me, “We want people to have access to the range of ideas in this book. Our experience is that people in small towns "get it", that is, they readily understand their challenges and the need to work toward a better future. Unfortunately, sometimes it just "doesn’t get to them"... small town leaders often don't get exposed to some of the best ideas and concepts. We want "101+ Concepts" to be that conduit to bring a range of new ideas to a community along with the confidence that they are doable and they work.”
You also can communicate directly with Allan at achooper@comcast.net. I hope that you will check out his work.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Seethers? You Need Seekers!
Yesterday, as I listened to the press conference by the Iraq Study Group I was struck by a question on the difficulty in accomplishing things in Washington that former Senator Alan Simpson responded to. Here was his answer,
“The sad part to me is that, you know, you see people in this who are "hundred percenters" in America. A "hundred percenter" is a person you don't want to be around. They have gas, ulcers, heartburn and BO.
(Laughter.) And they seethe. They're not seekers. They're not seekers, they're seethers. There are a lot of them out there. And we're going to get it from the right, the far right, we're going to get it from the far left, we're going to get bombs away, and everybody will say it can't work.
Well, we're just sincere enough to believe that it will and that all people with a "D" behind their name did not become a guard at Lenin's tomb, and all people with an "R" behind their name did not crawl out of a cave in the mountains, and that maybe we can do something. And that's what we're here for, people of goodwill in good faith. Maybe it's corny, maybe it won't work, but it's sure as hell better than sitting there where we are right now.”
I’d never heard the term “seethers” before, but thought that his definition fit in small towns also. Too often these “seethers” slow or try to stop progress in towns. I continue to try to figure out how to turn them from “seethers” into seekers, but haven’t figured it out yet. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had more seekers in this world?
“The sad part to me is that, you know, you see people in this who are "hundred percenters" in America. A "hundred percenter" is a person you don't want to be around. They have gas, ulcers, heartburn and BO.
(Laughter.) And they seethe. They're not seekers. They're not seekers, they're seethers. There are a lot of them out there. And we're going to get it from the right, the far right, we're going to get it from the far left, we're going to get bombs away, and everybody will say it can't work.
Well, we're just sincere enough to believe that it will and that all people with a "D" behind their name did not become a guard at Lenin's tomb, and all people with an "R" behind their name did not crawl out of a cave in the mountains, and that maybe we can do something. And that's what we're here for, people of goodwill in good faith. Maybe it's corny, maybe it won't work, but it's sure as hell better than sitting there where we are right now.”
I’d never heard the term “seethers” before, but thought that his definition fit in small towns also. Too often these “seethers” slow or try to stop progress in towns. I continue to try to figure out how to turn them from “seethers” into seekers, but haven’t figured it out yet. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had more seekers in this world?
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Working Together
For over 10 years the communities of Edwardsville (population 21,491) and Glen Carbon (population 10,425) have been working cooperatively with a joint chamber and a joint economic development effort. Driving around the two communities, it was obvious this cooperative effort was yielding some incredible dividends for both communities. And, in studying their strategic plans, it is obvious the best days for both communities lie in the future.
Edwardsville is the third oldest town in the state of IL, having been founded by Colonel Benjamin Stephenson, one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence. Five governors of the state were originally from the town. Abraham Lincoln litigated in the local courthouse. As you would imagine in a town with that kind of history, the downtown is incredible and they are developing it into one of those “special sense of places” that I’m seeing which are growing in importance for recruiting in young people. The city is making efforts to reopen the old Wildey Theatre, a 1919 Vaudeville Theater that was closed in 1983, which could act as a wonderful anchor for a growing downtown.
Southern Illinois University—Edwardsville, sits on 2,660 picturesque, wooded and rolling acres on the outskirts of town. The campus started 50 years ago when a group of local citizens decided that they needed a local college and worked to establish the campus in Edwardsville. From a small base as a commuter college the university has grown into the largest campus in the St. Louis metro area with over 13,000 full time students. It is quickly developing into a major research institution with the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center and adjacent research laboratory as magnets for the clustering of related jobs and businesses.
The communities are rapidly growing their jobs with two industrial parks of almost 3,000 acres opened within the last 10 years. Already, over 3,200 jobs have been created in the rapidly growing distribution and logistics industries. Another 1,000 acre park is planned by another national company, with plans to open it in 2007.
Rounding out the equation for Edwardsville/Glen Carbon is their wonderful trail system which is run by their transit system. The 85 mile trail system was set up in the early 1990s to preserve rail corridors for future light rail possibilities and has received more than $15 million in federal and state grants to develop. The system includes nine loops of 10 to 30 miles and a way to be able to ride all the way to downtown St. Louis.
Edwardsville/Glen Carbon has all of the attributes that make them an attractive location for expansion. It has a very strong educational system, wonderful housing stock, unique historical buildings and strong recreational assets.
Edwardsville is the third oldest town in the state of IL, having been founded by Colonel Benjamin Stephenson, one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence. Five governors of the state were originally from the town. Abraham Lincoln litigated in the local courthouse. As you would imagine in a town with that kind of history, the downtown is incredible and they are developing it into one of those “special sense of places” that I’m seeing which are growing in importance for recruiting in young people. The city is making efforts to reopen the old Wildey Theatre, a 1919 Vaudeville Theater that was closed in 1983, which could act as a wonderful anchor for a growing downtown.
Southern Illinois University—Edwardsville, sits on 2,660 picturesque, wooded and rolling acres on the outskirts of town. The campus started 50 years ago when a group of local citizens decided that they needed a local college and worked to establish the campus in Edwardsville. From a small base as a commuter college the university has grown into the largest campus in the St. Louis metro area with over 13,000 full time students. It is quickly developing into a major research institution with the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center and adjacent research laboratory as magnets for the clustering of related jobs and businesses.
The communities are rapidly growing their jobs with two industrial parks of almost 3,000 acres opened within the last 10 years. Already, over 3,200 jobs have been created in the rapidly growing distribution and logistics industries. Another 1,000 acre park is planned by another national company, with plans to open it in 2007.
Rounding out the equation for Edwardsville/Glen Carbon is their wonderful trail system which is run by their transit system. The 85 mile trail system was set up in the early 1990s to preserve rail corridors for future light rail possibilities and has received more than $15 million in federal and state grants to develop. The system includes nine loops of 10 to 30 miles and a way to be able to ride all the way to downtown St. Louis.
Edwardsville/Glen Carbon has all of the attributes that make them an attractive location for expansion. It has a very strong educational system, wonderful housing stock, unique historical buildings and strong recreational assets.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Table Decorations Idea
In Harlan, IA the local chamber offers their various businesses a chance to promote themselves at community events by doing unique, permanent table decorations. I’ve shown some photos of those here.
It’s an idea that other chambers might want to copy.
It’s an idea that other chambers might want to copy.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Pride in Harlan
You could tell in driving through Harlan, IA (population 5,282) that this was a town that took a lot of pride in itself. Houses were all freshly painted, yards were well maintained, people waved on the streets.
Dave Yamada, head of economic development, moved here from Denver two years ago to be closer to a son and his young family. He told me, “This is an incredibly friendly town that knows how to get things done. Some of the pride you see comes from our high school, where they’ve won 49 straight football games, winning three straight state championships.” Local testing scores put the school into the top 10 to 20% of national rankings academically also.
Many of the jobs in Harlan are agriculturally related. A spec building, done by Yamada’s organization, sat empty for 4 ½ years but now has over 100 employees in a microwave bacon operation with local ties. Jim’s Wholesale Meats, with 25 employees, is expanding into the rapidly growing organic beef market. They also sell buffalo steak burgers.
Gary Wiehs who grew up on a family farm, worked for Proctor and Gamble, Pepsi and Monsanto before moving home to set up Natural Pork Production in 1998. From an initial site with 2,800 sows he has grown it to over 50,000 sows, producing over 1 million pigs each year at sites in IA, MN, IN, OH AND TX. From that base he has expanded into local production from a 6,000 head dairy and 10,000 ewe sheep operation. His most recent ventures are farming operations in Romania and Brazil. All of this is run from Harlan.
The Therkildsen Activity Center, the facility I spoke at was built through donations from the community, including a major one from Turk Therkildsen, a local boy who made his fortune in Chicago but still had a great love for his hometown.
My one reservation about the town is their median age of 41.3 years compared to the national average of 35.3. Towns like Harlan have to be careful that they don’t just age in place. They’ve got to leverage their resources and find ways to help create opportunities for their kids and grandkids.
Dave Yamada, head of economic development, moved here from Denver two years ago to be closer to a son and his young family. He told me, “This is an incredibly friendly town that knows how to get things done. Some of the pride you see comes from our high school, where they’ve won 49 straight football games, winning three straight state championships.” Local testing scores put the school into the top 10 to 20% of national rankings academically also.
Many of the jobs in Harlan are agriculturally related. A spec building, done by Yamada’s organization, sat empty for 4 ½ years but now has over 100 employees in a microwave bacon operation with local ties. Jim’s Wholesale Meats, with 25 employees, is expanding into the rapidly growing organic beef market. They also sell buffalo steak burgers.
Gary Wiehs who grew up on a family farm, worked for Proctor and Gamble, Pepsi and Monsanto before moving home to set up Natural Pork Production in 1998. From an initial site with 2,800 sows he has grown it to over 50,000 sows, producing over 1 million pigs each year at sites in IA, MN, IN, OH AND TX. From that base he has expanded into local production from a 6,000 head dairy and 10,000 ewe sheep operation. His most recent ventures are farming operations in Romania and Brazil. All of this is run from Harlan.
The Therkildsen Activity Center, the facility I spoke at was built through donations from the community, including a major one from Turk Therkildsen, a local boy who made his fortune in Chicago but still had a great love for his hometown.
My one reservation about the town is their median age of 41.3 years compared to the national average of 35.3. Towns like Harlan have to be careful that they don’t just age in place. They’ve got to leverage their resources and find ways to help create opportunities for their kids and grandkids.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Montana Ambassador Program
This morning I received an email and link from Russ Fletcher who runs the Montana Associated Technology Roundtables to Montana’s Ambassador Program, similar to the ones I blogged on yesterday. If you haven’t checked out Russ’ website or don’t receive his excellent MATR ezine, you should.
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