If you can work from anywhere, why not work from a small town? Photo by Becky McCray.

Remote work will dominate the future small town workforce

Your current residents

Your current small town residents will increasingly work from home or remotely.

Gallup looked at jobs that could be done remotely and the locations where workers actually did them. Four times as many workers will work remotely going forward, compared to the number in 2019. Up to 24% of all remote-capable jobs primarily will done remotely in 2022 and beyond, and that’s more than the 23% who expect to work primarily on site.

And most people in the workforce like it that way. In a 2022 Axios Harris 100 poll, 84% of millennials say remote work is important vs. 66% of Gen Z, 75% of Gen X and 68% of Boomers.

Your young people

Some of the new people who will be remote workers in the future are actually your own young people. Kids who are using distance learning today are your future remote workforce. They’re learning how to use the technology right now, and they already live here.

Your new residents

You will also see new people moving in who bring their job with them via remote work, or bring their own business with them.

Research from 2015, 2018 and 2021 shows that there is pent up demand for rural living, and way more people prefer living in rural places than urban.

What remote workers need in small towns

We’ve talked before about what makes your town attractive to remote workers.

Since your current residents, young people and future residents will increasingly work remotely, what will they need from their community in order to thrive?

Qatalyst Research Group shared their findings from a review of current programs from big cities and small towns all over the world that attract remote workers. Common tactics included:

• offering financial incentives
• providing coworking spaces
• building a community of remote workers

Those are the supports that remote workers with a choice are looking for, so these are the supports for rural remote workers we’ll talk about in this article:

1. Incentives to live here
2. Places to work
3. A sense of community

Incentives for rural remote workers often center on housing, including land giveaways and cheap building lots. Photo by Becky McCray.

1. Incentives to live here

Your first thought might be big-city style “come live here and we’ll give you thousands of dollars” incentives. That’s not your only option or even your best option for small towns.

Promote incentives for current residents to stay

Don’t just think about luring new people. Think about what rewards your local people to live here.

Start combing lists of benefits any local resident could qualify for. It could be a special program based on income or residency. Or it might be something a local business offers that helps local people. Get creative!

• homebuyer assistance
• weatherization and energy efficiency help for existing houses
• free checking at the local bank
• media services at the library

I’m sure you can brainstorm a longer list from local, regional and state agencies that serve your community. Make sure your local residents know how to tap all that they qualify for.

Create small-town sized incentives to move in.

You’ve heard of small towns offering free or reduced price lots for homebuilding for new residents. Most small towns could also offer reduced city utilities for the first few months.

In some places, you can promote your streamlined permitting process. James Decker pointed out the difference in homebuilding between his town Stamford, Texas, and Austin, Texas: “you can get permitted in like a day.” compared to it taking 100+ days.

You can also promote most of the incentives you found for current residents because they’ll apply for new residents, too.

Entice alumni with “come home” projects:

People who once lived in your town are an easy target for living in your town again. Here are some ways to encourage them to consider a return.

Hold awe inspiring alumni reunions. Cross the year boundaries and combine all the classes. Do this more than once every hundred years. Waynoka, Oklahoma, does it every 5 years.

Include all alums. Private schools, church schools, rural schools, vo-tech schools, schools now closed or consolidated, all the schools you can think of. Remember the colleges, universities, junior colleges, beauty schools, and trade schools. Include the pre-schools.

Develop an outstanding mailing list of alums. Use it wisely to promote your the quality of your town, events and opportunities to return.

Make sure that alumni groups know about the incentives you’ve compiled and mention them regularly.

Workshifting at the RV park. Photo by C.C. Chapman

2. Places to work

Create more flexible workspaces: Third Workplaces

With more people working remotely, more people are working from places that are neither their offices or their homes. Cue the rise of the Third Workplace.

You may remember “third places” as places you hangout that aren’t home and aren’t work. Coffee shops, bars and places like that. “Third workplaces” are places you work that aren’t home and aren’t the office.

One of our favorite trendwatchers, Emergent Research said:

We’re seeing signs that, thanks to the shift to remote work, the paradox of place is breaking down and workers and companies are geographically spreading out.We expect both the trends towards greater use of 3rd places for work and economic de-agglomeration to continue.

Different people will like different kinds of workplaces.

Some people want a noisy coffee shop. Some will like quiet libraries. Some want a more homey place, and others will feel more business-like in an office-style setting. Whatever the feel of the work space you create, there is someone who will love it.

Create appealing co-working spaces

A 2015 co-working study from Emergent Research and partners showed that coworking spaces are human spaces.

“The key finding is while coworking spaces are definitely workspaces, they are also much more,” they said. “They are places where members work, network, learn and socialize together.”

In their research, coworking members reported:

• improving professional success
• learning new skills
• attending events at the coworking space
• feeling happier and less lonely in their work.
• Those are all outcomes you’d love to see from any entrepreneurial program in your town!

Where to find space

You probably have some office space in a local business incubator, belonging to an economic development group, or in a local educational facility that you could re-purpose. Maybe you have a business that just has way more office space than they need. Or there’s an empty building with potential.

The key element is community. I successfully persuaded my friends at the Northwest Oklahoma Small Business Development Center in Alva to convert an under-utilized space for coworking. They had the space, outstanding wifi, desks, chairs and all the extras. What we didn’t have was a ready-made community to connect to it. So it didn’t get as much use as we would have liked, and they ended the experiment. We needed to build the community for it to work.

Connect with local people who work from home, coffee shops, the library or any other alternative space. Begin holding work-together days, like Fridays from 10-2 or something. You don’t need a special space for the meetups. The library, coffee shop, or even one big home office will work for now.

Joel Bennett of Pella, Iowa, helped pioneer a co-working space in his town. You can read his 5 tips for starting small-town co-working and listen to an audio interview with Joel on co-working. Sneak peek: he talks a lot about building community before finding a building.

Informal work space: the low-budget version of co-working

If you don’t have a coworking space in your town now, there are small steps you can take now. Find creative alternative places where remote workers can connect with each other and get some work done.

Where can you find unofficial coworking spaces?

• Start with the public library. They have work areas.
• Maybe a local hotel, motel or bed and breakfast has a workstation or two for guests.
• Whatever organization or business you work for, could you set up a guest workstation in your office? Economic development groups or chambers might be first to volunteer.
• Look for businesses that aren’t using all of their space.
• Maybe an insurance company has some open space up front.
• Maybe an attorney has an extra office they don’t use.
• What about the church fellowship hall or youth center? Would they accept folks for coworking?

As you share your lists of alternative work spots, you’ll be starting to build your remote work community.

Bonus: Nature offices

Working where you have a view of nature makes you more productive. Small towns and rural communities have easy access to nature. Put that together and your town can make nature offices an advantage for your remote workers.

There are plenty of options for creating nature offices.

Start with the public parks. Make sure there’s wifi coverage, then look for picnic tables, shelters or other places someone could plop down a laptop and start working. Add electrical outlet access as a bonus.

Local businesses could set up tiny offices. Those could be in tiny houses, attractive work sheds, or tiny mobile office trailers. Add power and satellite internet access. Put them in natural settings, rural locations or park-like areas in a small town.

Put several tiny offices together for a mini-co-working community with a nature view.

Coworking groups and clubs can provide that sense of community remote workers need. Photo by Sheila Scarborough.

3. A sense of community

Find a co-working group or make one.

Even small towns can support simple co-working groups. Just take your laptops to a local eatery or the library and spend Friday afternoons together. Even 2 or 3 people together can make your week more interactive.

Remote worker and artist Andrea Cook said, “Today’s social revolution is in need of a reality check and the independent professional is in desperate need of true community.”

Andrea helped pioneer Jelly Week events to support co-working and independent workers in her community.

Attend other in-person events in town.

Join the chamber of commerce. Invite friends for networking. Become part of a group. Attend all kinds of performances and events locally just to get out of the house.

More local chambers are actively reaching out to home-based businesses and independent professionals, and that includes remote workers. Some chambers, like the one in Caldwell, Kansas, do report more home-based businesses joining as members, but they don’t participate in events and activities.

Chambers and other organizations can do more to create the projects, events and activities that connect with what remote workers want and need. Start by listening to remote workers to find out what those are.

Practical steps for Zoom Towns and becoming remote work ready

Find more practical steps you can take in our video Remote Work Ready: Zoom Towns. Everything you’ll learn is do-able, affordable and scaled for small towns.

Is your town remote work ready? Get practical steps in SaveYour.Town’s Zoom Towns video

Pew Research released a major rural vs urban study, and the headlines missed the best bits.

Pew Research’s new social trends study has shown up in a lot of news stories with widely varying headlines. Pew themselves titled it “Americans Are Less Likely Than Before COVID-19 To Want To Live in Cities, More Likely To Prefer Suburbs.”

There’s a lot more interesting rural conclusions to be drawn from this new data comparing people’s living preferences from 2018 to 2021. Most of the positive trends for rural places are being overlooked in the headlines. 

Way more people prefer rural than prefer urban

Right in the very first chart, there are several headline-worthy points that are worth noticing about where people would prefer to live.

More people prefer rural than urban, and the gap is increasing.

More people said they preferred to live in a rural place than an urban place. The gap was 13 percentage points in 2018, and the gap increased to 16 percentage points in 2021. The preference for rural over urban holds true in all age groups except the youngest, ages 18 to 29 in this study.

Way more people prefer rural than actually live in rural areas now.

While 35% say they prefer rural, around 17% of the total US population lives in rural places. Allowing for differences in the definitions of rural, and the survey question’s exclusion of those with no preference, it seems likely that a lot more people prefer rural than live rural right now. This implies there’s pent up demand for rural living. 

This aligns with previous studies of the number of people who would live rural if they had their choice. In 2018, Gallup asked people where they preferred to live, offering six different levels of urbanization to ruralization. Rural came out on top for all age groups, except for 18-29 year olds, where rural came in a surprising second out of the six choices. Trulia research in 2015 showed 7% more people wanted to live in rural places than did at the time.

From 2015 to 2018 to 2021 from three different research groups, that’s been a consistent finding: more people would prefer to live in rural places if they had a choice.

City people want to move to the suburbs. Suburbanites want to move to rural. Rural people want to stay put.

Only 25% of rural people who want to move say they would move to a different type of community if they could, compared to 35% of suburban and 43% of urban people. The percentage of urban people who said they wanted to move showed a big increase, from 37% in 2018 to 43% in 2021.

Rural people are most likely to say that if they moved, they’d stay in the same community type: 47% of rural people who want to move would stay rural, compared to 37% of suburbanites who’d stay in the suburbs and only 28% of urbanites who would stay urban.

43% of suburbanites and 23% of urbanites who want to move said they would like to move to rural places.

The pandemic didn’t increase preference for rural living, but it did increase motivation.

Daily Yonder pointed out that the number who preferred rural areas didn’t increase with the pandemic, despite apparent increases in the number of people moving into rural communities. People didn’t have to suddenly develop a preference for rural places, because the preference was already there.

What the pandemic changed was some people’s motivation to move because of perceived risk and some people’s ability to move with the rapid adoption of remote work. That’s what changed the demand and sent some rural real estate prices higher.

Rural vs. Urban challenges: city people feel worse

You may know that we run the Survey of Rural Challenges every other year, and I’m very interested in what people say their challenges are. Here’s what Pew found about challenges.

More urban people rated the pandemic effects as major.

Many more city people said the health and economic effects of the pandemic were major problems in their community than rural or suburban people. There was a 10 percentage point difference in each measure.

Urban and rural people are equally pessimistic about how long it will take to get back to normal, and suburban residents are a shade more optimistic there.

Urban people worried more about housing and drug abuse.

On most of the challenges the Pew survey listed, it appears that urban residents were more concerned about it than rural or suburban people.

Housing was a major problem to 63% of urban, but only 46% of suburban and 40% of rural people.

Drug addiction was a major problem in their area for 49% of urban, but only 40% of rural, 29% of suburban people.

Despite the differences, these percentages show a LOT of people facing major challenges.

Rural people were more likely to say access to doctors and hospitals and high speed internet access were major problems in their communities.

On healthcare, 22% of rural people rated it a major problem, but only 20% or fewer for urban and suburban people.

For high speed internet, it was 26% of rural people calling it a major problem in their communities versus 20% or fewer for urban and suburban.

Rural to urban, we want the same things in a community

What people said they consider important in a community hasn’t changed much compared to 2018. 

Most of the factors people wanted in their community scored similarly among rural, suburban and urban people.  We have these in common. 

The number one ranked factor is a community that is a good place to raise children. Rural-favoring factors that showed an increase in support between 2018 and 2021 included a community with access to recreational and outdoor activities and a place with a strong sense of community.

This also aligns with what rural people said in a 2021 Montana Extension survey. They selected some of the most remote and challenged rural communities to go find and talk to a few newcomers in their town. New residents said they were pulled to their new community because they want to raise their kids like they were raised, to be closer to nature, to have a slower pace of life and a lower cost of living. Being part of a small community and friendly people were the top things they loved about their new towns. 

Positive rural trends

Overall, the Pew Research study brought out some positive points for rural places to consider and largely agreed with previous studies of rural preferences. Society may realign significantly as work is increasingly decoupled from place.

Read the whole study at Pew: Americans Are Less Likely Than Before COVID-19 To Want To Live in Cities, More Likely To Prefer Suburbs

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments or by email.

Top photo: Happiness mural in Colfax, Washington (population 2800) photo by Sarah McKnight.

Graphs: Pew Research

By Paula Jensen

Have you ever experienced a time when you could envision what needs to happen but had no idea what to stop doing in order to reach the point of success?

Here is a simple example: This year at Santa Day in my community someone asked, “Why do we give away turkeys to families during this event – it seems like a waste of funds and fundraising time?” My immediate thought was – it’s a long-standing tradition. In my community we have always collected money from local businesses to give away turkeys on Santa Day. Over the decades the number of volunteers hosting Santa Day has decreased along with the number of businesses, so now businesses and individuals generously donate to our local community group to provide turkey donations for Santa Day. The truth is raising money isn’t hard in our community, but no one has ever asked the question, “Do people really want a turkey for Christmas?” How do we continue the tradition of generosity, but do it without the turkey?

Sometimes we get stuck in a cycle that loses the real purpose of why we started something. Communities often just do what they’ve always done and honestly, it is frequently good work. But when that good work stops having a purpose or producing results because our world has shifted, people really can’t understand why. This is where conflict can begin. A good question to ask each other at times like this is — What should our community stop doing to reach our fullest potential? 

The Stop Doing List can be an important conversation for any community, and it should include its companion the Do Differently List. Together they offer an innovative path toward your fullest potential. What could your community stop doing in 2020 that would brighten your future?

Below is my short list of things communities could stop doing and replace with new ways of leading and doing.

1. Stop having meetings. So often we sit in unproductive meetings that go off track, last too long and never produce results. It really makes people not want to be involved. Try setting a purpose for your meeting in advance, ask people to co-create the agenda and then set time limits for each agenda item to keep you on track.
2. Stop saying “rural is dying”. The truth is, if you’re not trying, you’re dying! In the past decade, the communities who are collaborating regionally and actively working on housing, community and economic development will likely see an uptick in population in the 2020 Census. They are trying! You can check https://factfinder.census.gov/ for population estimates in your town or county.
3. Stop relying on elected leaders. While many communities have excellent leaders, others struggle to fill important community positions, contributing to a wide divergence of capacity. Believe in yourself and cultivate the leader within you. Then cultivate leadership in those around you to develop local vision, community approaches to problem solving and generate funding for projects. We all can contribute to local success.
4. Stop believing more jobs is the answer. Entrepreneurship is the key to creating jobs and retaining young residents in small towns. Creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem strengthens communities and regions by building partnerships among education, industry, and financial sectors.

Now it’s your turn — What else would you add to your community’s Stop Doing List that could help reach its fullest potential? 

How one town got the city council to change the rules and enabled a great new event to bloom. Photo via Deb Brown.

By Deb Brown

When I was Chamber of Commerce Director in Webster City, Iowa, one of our big events was Junquefest, a three day event where vendors come to town and sell all kinds of junque.

We wanted to close the streets and let the vendors park their trailers by their booths. That was illegal, but we went before the city council and asked could we do that just for this event. The prior two years we held this event in the park and with no trailers allowed. We did have some vendors build a set up on site so it looked like a little store. Now we had an example of how they did it before and how having trailers onsite would make sense. The council said yes. 

Our pilot was still officially against the rules, but by allowing this small step, the council got good information about how it could work if they did change the rules. 

Get people on your side in advance

In another example, our Farmer’s Market is now downtown on a side street just off the main drag. They wanted to close the streets Saturdays from 7:30 to 11 a.m. Again, that’s against the rules. The Farmer’s Market people got their ducks in a row first, then went to the city to suspend the rules. 

There are two businesses on the street they wanted to close. The farmer’s market people talked to the coffee shop people, and they thought it was a good idea. It was, too. More people buy coffee. The other place on the street is a hair salon that has clients to serve on Saturday mornings. The salon owner worked with another business that has a parking lot nearby to allow her clients to park there are Saturday morning. 

Since both businesses involved had already agreed, it was easier for the council to say yes to a rule change.

How to do this in your town

Come up with a small pilot project as a test, before you ask for a big rule change. Then you have some evidence to take back to the council.

When you do your real-world test, be sure the council is invited. There’s nothing like the practical experience of being there to help them make a positive decision!

Go in advance and talk to anyone who will be affected by your plans. Don’t let them be surprised by a news story or a post on Facebook.

New video: Against the Rules

We’ve partnered with SaveYour.Town to bring you a video with 8+ practical ways to get your idea done no matter what the “rule enthusiasts” say. Learn more about it at: SaveYour.Town Against the Rules

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

And what topics rural people most want help with

Wouldn’t it be great if the people who say they want to help rural people would actually listen to rural people’s own challenges?! That’s why we created this survey!

We use the results to create practical steps that help you shape a better future for your town. Your responses also get shared out to others who work with rural communities through articles and media stories.

Using these survey results, we developed a free video of action steps you can take to shape the future of your town or the towns you serve.

Get the Action Steps Video

Surprise! Stereotypes didn’t hold up

The survey asks rural people what challenges they most want help with and what actions they are taking to address them. The results don’t match the common themes in media coverage and policy conversation around rural communities.

• Are rural people focused on well-publicized crises like opioid addiction or poverty? No, other challenges were selected much more often. Crime and drug abuse ranked in the bottom five of the standard choices. In their own words, fewer than a dozen people each mentioned drug abuse or poverty. Three times as many mentioned negative or angry people as a top challenge they’d like help with. 
• Are most rural communities devastated by lost factories, closing mines or damaging natural disasters? No, “our town has suffered a terrible blow” remains one of the least chosen options on all three rounds of the survey in 2015, 2017 and 2019. 
• Is the lack of small business lending a big challenge in small towns? Needing a business loan did not made it into the list of top 5 challenges chosen. More than twice as many people selected the lack of good employees as a challenge.  

Rural Community Challenges

Top five concerns at the community-wide level this year are very similar to the results from 2017 and 2015.

1. Losing young people
2. Downtown is dead
3. Not enough good housing
4. Need new residents
5. No one shops in town

“Losing young people” and “Downtown is dead” have dominated the top 2 spots in 2015, 2017 and 2019. “Not enough good housing” is a new entry that wasn’t included as a choice in the 2017 or 2015 surveys. “No one shops in town” also appears in the top 5 in all three rounds of the survey.

Here is a graph of all the choices offered on the 2019 survey ranked in order of how often people chose them. (Click to see it larger)

Small-town Business Owner Challenges

Almost ½ of those surveyed identified themselves as current or prospective small business owners. Here are the top five challenges they chose.

1. Can’t find good employees
2. Marketing isn’t working
3. People buy from online competitors
4. Tried opening later hours without success
5. Need a business idea

A new choice, “Can’t find good employees” was chosen by over 50% of respondents making it the number one challenge. It replaced a previous choice, “Need help but cannot hire,” in the top 5.

“Marketing isn’t working” has been consistently in the second spot, and “Opening later hours without success” remains in the top 5 on all three surveys. Online competition moved up to 3rd this year from 6th in 2017 and 2015. Needing a business idea returned to the top 5 after dropping to 9th in 2017.

Here is a graph of all the choices offered on the 2019 survey ranked in order of how often people chose them. (Click to see it larger)

What’s working

A new question in 2019 asked people what they or their community are trying to address their challenges. The four choices ranked in this order.

1. Traditional economic development groups
2. Informal idea copying
3. Formal programs
4. Other things

Traditional economic development was the clear top choice with over 75%, and informal copying of ideas was chosen in over 50% of the responses.

In their own words

When offered the opportunity to share more in their own words about challenges, what is working, or anything else, 389 people shared more. Their responses can be grouped into these general categories with both positive and negative themed responses.

1. Government, leadership or officials
2. Business and economy issues
3. Community teamwork, volunteers and engagement
4. Non-government programs such as Main Street, Chamber of Commerce and many others
5. Workforce, employees or jobs

Here are some of the individual responses.

• Team work is what is working and working best. What isn’t working is thinking that the money pool is the [economic development group] or Chamber [of Commerce]
• There is a group of us that are willing to try new things and looking for ideas. There are some in town who are stuck in the old way of doing things. We are starting small and I think the big will come. With each idea, it seems like more ideas are starting to happen.
• The empty building tour worked well. We will be planning another one for the Fall. Getting everyone working together is not working well.
• After losing some major employers, some people have opened businesses, also some spin-offs related to remaining businesses. Landing the “big one”, outside employer, has not been successful.
• A group of progressive minded “young” (30 to 55) leaders have joined together to celebrate what is right about our community and to make some fun things happen.

Each community is different, and different people from within a single community can see the challenges and opportunities differently.

Diversity in rural people and communities

How diverse were survey respondents? An open-ended question invited people to say if there were ways they considered themselves diverse, and 278 people chose to answer. Some answered with their own personal diversity, but most answered about their community at large.

More rated their communities as diverse than not

Over fifty percent more people said their communities were diverse than the number of people who said their communities were not diverse. Over 70 people said their community was diverse now or increasingly diverse. Another 43 responded with average or not sure; and 42 said no, not diverse or not applicable.

The top 5 most common descriptive answers were grouped into these rough categories.

1. Color, race, ethnicity or cultural origin
2. Age
3. Education, skills or technology use
4. Businesses, professions or commerce
5. Cultures, ideas and ways of thinking

The grouping of cultures and ways of thinking includes common perspective divides such as new vs. longtime residents, farm vs. town, city/urban vs. rural/small town, and full time vs. part time residents.

Gender spectrum and LGBTQIA diversity featured in over 50 of the responses. Diversity in income or class, disability, family makeup, religion, political views and military service were also mentioned.

What next? Action steps you can take

Using these survey results, Becky McCray and Deb Brown developed a special video of action steps you can take to shape the future of your town or the towns you serve. There is no charge.

Get the Action Steps Video

Press and Media Information

You’ll find more information on the methodology, talking points for media and links to prior surveys at our Survey page.

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

Get ready for a dozen ideas for making a better third place. Pictured is Gathering Grounds coffee shop in Avon, Minnesota. Photo by Deb Brown.

At the Main Street Now conference, I sat in on a session about coffee shops. I wrote down bunches of ideas that the audience shared. I thought you might know a coffee shop person, or you might think of ways to use these with other types of small town businesses.

• Hold trivia nights or allow groups to meet in your space to drive more business
• Start a book club in your place
• Tell your story online. How were you founded? What is your history?
• Leverage your relationships with other businesses to put together a tour of businesses, or an experience that includes more than just your business
• Host readings, where customers can come in and share their writings
• Host adult coloring groups or game nights to bring in more evening customers
• Find out more about the people who work from your space, the people who bring in their laptops and work. What is their business? Is there potential to connect with them?
• Display coffee mugs from all the different businesses in town
• Provide vegetarian and vegan choices on the menu
• Support local causes and share about them
• Promote the chance to make friends, especially for new residents
• Reach out to new residents to make them aware of your place (You can find them through real estate agents.)
• Promote how people can connect with people not necessarily like them, how you play a role in strengthening community ties across groups in town.

Do you have any small town coffee shop ideas to add? When I asked in my newsletter, here are some ideas that readers shared.

“Whenever you get a new coffee, take an air pot around to all the business near you and give samples out.”
George M. Wurtzel

“Invite a well known Barista to run a Barista course at your coffee shop. Funding could be obtained from employment groups etc. Following on from that conduct a series of classes teaching people how to make simple things like vanilla slice and lamingtons. [an Australian cake specialty] This will follow on to your clients asking you to run classes on what they want to learn.”
Graham Reid

“Our trail organization co-hosts a #coffeeoutside gathering in a park each Thursday morning with a local bike shop. It is an opportunity to walk, bike or drive to share a relaxed social hour together. It is a great way to meet neighbors and solve the world’s problems. It could just as easily be set up outside a coffee shop. The point is: get outside, drink coffee, meet neighbors. We always have one type of coffee already made up, but invite roasters, shops and individuals to roast a pot on a camping set-up.”
Beth Nobles

Here’s the Coffee Outside website.

“We are test driving a coffee shop here in downtown Paulding, Ohio as a result of Deb Brown’s visit here a couple of weeks ago. The test is Tuesday and Thursday mornings through the month of May. First two days this week have been phenomenally successful. Using volunteer ‘baristas,’ the community support has been exceptional.
“Thank you Becky & Deb for all the idea sharing and leadership that you provide to our many small communities!
David Burtch

“All these ideas about coffee shops can be modified and apply to wineries. I say ‘modified’ because of the alcohol restrictions. We have been doing many of these practices at our winery in Knoxville, IA. Tonight I am hosting a fashion show with 5 women business owners in my community. It’s the first time doing this and I hope it works well. I reached out to our business owners that had fashions or a tangent business. I know a jewelry designer that will match her product with the clothes from the boutiques. A local photographer will take photos of the models and the event. A fabric designer that makes her own jackets will model her creations. I charged $5 advance tickets (available online or at the shops) and $10 at the door. The first beverage is free, so there is very little ‘risk’ to the guests, but allows me to gauge interest and attendance. You can see our story on our website NearWoodWinery.com. I think I have a pretty good origin story on the About Us page.”

Joann Schissel

Of course, I asked how the fashion show went, and Joann shared more:

“I think the fashion show went well. We had 15 models (includes kids) and friends/relatives were in the audience. I am focused on ‘gathering my tribe’ strategy and catering to established groups of people that have their own tribe. I loved working with the women business owners and promoting their products.
“Thank you for your great advice to help small towns. I think you and Deb fill a real need for our rural communities as mentors, strategists and cheer leaders!”

What other ideas do you have for coffee shops and other community gathering businesses?

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

Photo by Becky McCray.

Small businesses form the cornerstone of local economies.

In larger cities they are important, but in rural areas, they are crucial, not only economically but for the variety of products and services they provide.

To begin with, the economic impact of the small business is sizable. Research shows that for every $100 spent, $68 dollars spent at a small business stays in the local community as opposed to $43 for larger retailers.

Next, they are the typically the job creators for the community. Thus, their economic impact goes beyond the direct dollar impact. It includes jobs and the creation of other businesses that may support another business or want to locate in an area with a strong economy.

Small businesses offer much more to our local economy. Small retailers can provide special services such as offering unique and local items. They also can special order those one-of a kind items. And with today’s shipping options, you can have that item tomorrow.

Small-businesses owners tend to give back to the community in a variety of ways. They usually are key financial supporters of local schools and clubs. Owners often are involved in civic organizations and serve in elected and appointed positions. Small-business owners view their involvement as being a good neighbor.

Local businesses also form a part of a community’s identity. When you hear a community’s name mentioned, you often think about one or two stores you enjoyed the last time you were there. For those communities, the store name is a brand that helps form their identity.

Small businesses are attracted to communities that show local support for such businesses. This relationship builds on the local sense of community.

Having a variety of local businesses builds community and helps all businesses. Small businesses help keep people in town, they form a part of community pride and they make the community a destination.

Strong small businesses and strong communities go hand-in-hand.

So what do you see when you walk into or drive by your local small businesses?

If you are like many of us, you see a place that offers you goods and services, a place you can go to and get what you want.

Some also may see the economics surrounding the business. Small businesses mean contributions to the local economy and jobs. In many rural areas, new businesses may mean an empty space in a struggling downtown is filled.

Yet they mean so much more. They often form the cornerstone of local communities.

What this means is that small businesses are one of the first in line to support local projects. They do this through donations. How many youth projects depend on local businesses as a key contributor to their activities in your community?

Not only do they donate money, but the business owners contribute time by working at special events or fundraisers. You also will find them as coaches, drivers, maintenance crew and cheerleaders at events. They are there before the event, during the event and long after the event has ended.

The owners aren’t the only ones, however. Business owners commonly allow their employees time to get involved in these local activities as well.

But it doesn’t stop there. Local business owners and their employees are involved in leadership roles, formal and informal, elected and volunteer, private and nonprofit, throughout our community.

In practically all communities, small-business owners and their employees also form a key part of the emergency response teams: fire, ambulance, and disaster response.

Watch when the fire whistle goes off. The person checking you out may let someone else finish the job so he or she could turn into a fireman.

Small-business owners recognize the community is their home and don’t hesitate to step up with support.

During Small Business Week, take the time to stop by your local businesses and say “thanks” for all they do. Not only are they there for you during the day but the middle of the night may find them coming to the store to help you out or on an emergency ambulance run.

Small businesses support the community in so many ways. Remember that by supporting them.