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Solve Rural Community Challenges the Idea Friendly Way – stories from IEDC

By Deb Brown

Guest post by Deb Brown What attendees learned from attending the Idea Friendly Session by SaveYour.Town at the International Economic Development Council Conference — Big Ideas you can copy in your town  Becky McCray and I were excited to lead an interactive Idea Friendly workshop at the International Economic Development Council Conference in Dallas in […]

November 9, 2023 Filed Under: community, economic development, ideas, rural, youth Tagged With: big ideas, childcare, downtown, housing, idea friendly, volunteers, youth

Get started as an outdoor outfitter without breaking the bank

By Becky McCray

Three kids in a canoe

Our latest Survey of Rural Challenges said natural resources are rural communities’ best rural assets, but most places don’t have enough outfitters to take advantage of them as tourism development. Here’s how rural people like you can take small steps to grow into outdoor outfitters.  Gather Your Crowd to attract groups and organizations that want to help […]

August 28, 2023 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, ideas, rural, Survey of Rural Challenges, tourism Tagged With: economic development, Idea Friendly Method, natural resources, small business, Survey of Rural Challenges, tourism

Shared retail spaces and sheds: smart business ideas in small towns

By Becky McCray

Small retail spaces like retail collectives and shed markets generate prosperity for rural areas and small towns when they: give small business ideas an affordable foothold create experiences that draw customers in build on the element of discovery for customers test promising retail concepts shelter businesses too small to survive on their own fill gaps […]

October 17, 2022 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, ideas, marketing, rural, trends Tagged With: farmers markets, retail, shed businesses, tiny businesses

Metaverse business idea: virtual world tour guide

By Becky McCray

Screenshot from the Metaverse Festival captioned "A POAP token is being sent to your wallet"

  Are you a proficient online gamer or metaworld master based in a rural community? You could make a small business out of being a virtual world tour guide. Years ago, a now-defunct business ideas site profiled Synthtravels, a business that offered guided tours of online virtual worlds. If you’ve heard of the metaverse or […]

April 15, 2022 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, ideas, rural, trends Tagged With: business ideas, metaverse, rural, virtual worlds, VR

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