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A small town apprenticeship

By Becky McCray

Any rural business owner can offer an apprenticeship Kevin Rubash is now the owner and designer at Interior Spaces which is a interior home design business in Webster City, Iowa (population 8,000). Kevin designs interiors for homes and business and sells everything from bedding to furniture to flooring and curtains. He got his first chance […]

July 9, 2018 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, rural, Small Biz 100, workforce, youth

Business ideas for young entrepreneurs in small towns

By Becky McCray

  Jerry Johnson issued a bit of a challenge in the comments, encouraging us all to brainstorm potential business ideas for young rural entrepreneurs. That reminded me of a terrific list of actual student businesses in Norfolk County, Ontario. It’s a list of real businesses started by kids in grades 6 through 12, part of their […]

July 31, 2017 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, ideas, rural, youth

Can rural communities retain young people? Are rural Millennials different from urban Millennials?

By Becky McCray

One of the top issues named in our recent Survey of Rural Challenges was how to retain young people. It ranked the number one concern in 2015, and number 2 in 2017. One participant commented, “We have already identified that to survive, we will need entrepreneurial millennials who want to be rural by choice. The […]

June 12, 2017 Filed Under: Best of, community, rural, trends, youth

How do I attract good employees for low-level jobs?

By Becky McCray

  “How do I attract good employees for low-level jobs?” That was one of the responses to our Survey of Rural Challenges. You don’t. That would be my answer. You will have to re-imagine and remake those jobs. Let’s look at a lumber mill, a real one in a real small town that friends from Oregon […]

June 5, 2017 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, rural, trends, workforce, youth

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