Speaking about small businesses, entrepreneurship and sharing rural stories

Story and photos by Deb Brown

I was invited to speak in Portugal by my friend and business associate Frederico Lucas. My first night in Lisbon I spoke at this event hosted at the coworking space NOW Beato and broadcast live on Facebook. Focused on rural entrepreneurship, the panel had a lively conversation about the possibilities for their rural areas. And meeting the challenges their depopulated communities have.

In today’s global economy, entrepreneurs are always looking for new opportunities to innovate and create value. Small towns and villages are often overlooked and also can be a rich source of local knowledge and expertise. However, engaging with these communities can be challenging for people outside them, especially in areas with low population density and depopulation.

41 Small Villages Network Project in Rural Portugal

Ana Linares, from Novos Povoadores (“New Settlers”), and her team work with a group of small villages, 41 of them. There are very few people living there and few children, so the schools are closed. One town has 17 residents. Low density population is a problem. In the US we would call them ghost towns, in Portugal they call them depopulated.

Ana told us about this project. These 41 villages have created a network to develop tourism, but also to develop the community, and the social aspect of their economics. Because they are very small, if they were alone in trying to implement projects, it would be even more difficult. They started to organize and work together and use their synergies.

If one village has a festival, and another village has a walking trail, they can work together to offer a tourist experience that is more complete. Some towns have places to eat or sleep that can be added to the experience. Once the team connects with some of the few older people still living there, they find the community has great pride in their villages and is very open to innovation and doing new projects.

This initiative comes from the people in the community, not the municipality. As is the case in many small towns, they must start with what they have. The local government will not be the ones to begin the initiative. And the town is depopulated and doesn’t have the resources or people to get started. At least that is their belief. Often, there is no single group that wants to be responsible to start the project. Like in the United States, I’ve heard many people say, “The city ought to fix that.” And the people forget they ARE the city.

Christmas and community made this idea work

A successful example of this kind of project is the Christmas Village that asked for support and started with their own facilities and resources. Eventually the municipality joined in, but it was not quick.

This village is Cabeça, the first eco-sustainable Christmas village in Portugal. Supported by eco-design experts, local communities have engaged in the task of developing Christmas décor by using natural elements, agricultural and forest surplus, as well as wool from the Serra da Estrela Mountain area.

All the streets are ornamented with natural materials, and the town comes together a month or two before and works on all the ornaments and decorations. No plastic, only natural material. There is a large warehouse where all the ladies go to make the ornaments.

Capturing the stories

One inspiring example Ana talked about is the Museum of the Future, a new project in Portugal that captures the stories of people in small villages in video format. These stories have cultural, social, personal, and human dimensions, and can be used to inspire new ideas and products.

Places to work, meet, and celebrate for free

Another project Ana and her team worked on was reinventing and redesigning some small spaces for a handful of artists to work for free. They used circular economy design – where everything was designed and made with the local artisans in mind. Each artisan also has a retail space.

It’s also a space that is open to everyone in the village where you can have meetings and parties. It is a place to bring new people from out of the village. They can have the experience of what it is to live in a place that is open to artisans and community. There are many advantages to living in a place like this!

What does it take to be successful?

Engaging with small communities requires patience, empathy, and a willingness to listen and learn. It also requires a recognition that successful projects are not just about achieving technical goals, but also about building relationships and empowering communities.

One solution they use in Portugal is to adopt a co-creative and collaborative approach. By bringing the community along in every project, entrepreneurs can ensure that their initiatives are relevant, sustainable, and impactful. This approach also recognizes the value of people’s local stories and cultural heritage, which can be turned into resources for younger people to create new products or services, or to reinvent old ways of doing things.

Is this a utopian vision?

No. I don’t think so. Ana and the team at Novos Povoadores shared this remark on their website:

The globalized society is increasingly based on an economy without geography, a fact that allows us to look at the territory in a more inclusive way. In this context, it is possible to reduce the gap of regional disparities with advantages for new residents and for low-density territories. On the one hand, an undeniable increase in the quality of life, and on the other hand, the breaking of a cycle of territorial bleeding.

Photos from the coworking space NOW Beato in Lisbon, Portugal

Where the panel discussion was hosted.

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Starting a business the old way is hard

On an Idea Friendly visit to Jackson County, Kentucky, I visited with a group of artists/entrepreneurs. This group had created a loose organization called the Jackson County KY Creative Community. They wanted to start businesses, but were not ready to get a building and go through the extensive process of starting a business. Some needed to see if their work had a market and value to the customer. They felt stuck. Product and excitement, but no money to get their businesses off the ground.

Smaller steps to try first

We had gathered in an art studio in McKee, KY. There was lots of discussion around taking smaller steps to start your business.

• You could sell online in places like Etsy or eBay.
• You could ask a local business if you could have just one shelf to sell your product on.
• Or showcase your artwork on an empty wall in a place like the bank, or the insurance agents office.
• You could set up a card table at an event and sell from there.

Downtown McKee, KY, car show photo by Anthony Jackson

Try using an empty lot

The group shared there was a car show coming to town soon. How could they piggyback on that event? There was an empty lot right downtown on the main highway, right across from where the cars would be parked. It wasn’t the best looking lot, it needed some attention. There was kudzu climbing the walls of buildings next to it, graffiti on the same buildings and the weeds needed some major whacking.

Ask

Kathy Spurlock owned the empty lot. I had already visited with her. I knew her time was already stretched thin, and her funds were being used for other community projects. Still, there was this empty lot waiting to be filled.

I asked her if the artists in the Jackson County KY Creative Community could possibly use it for a popup.

She said yes

The empty lot pop up was created! One artist’s husband took his weedwhacker and cleaned out an area just big enough for pop-ups. Everyone in the group spread the word a pop up was coming through social media and word of mouth. Other artists were invited. Signs were posted around the county. No one person was in charge, everyone participated as best they could.

Empty Lot Pop Up photo by Greg Lakes

It worked!

There were many entrepreneurs set up with their works displayed. Folks came and bought from them, enjoyed the car show, and ate some food from local vendors. The Jackson County Creative Community added more artists as members too. There were lessons learned.

• You can pop up anywhere.
• It’s a good idea to join in another event and promote them both for more attendees.
• People are looking for something new and unique to do. Your excitement brings them in.
• Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes and offering this kind of small step helps create more businesses in your community.
• Business can be conducted in unusual locations and empty lots are great testing grounds.
• It’s a small step. If it doesn’t work, you haven’t lost anything.

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Photo courtesy of IEDC

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 September of 2023.

The Idea Friendly Method is:

• You gather your crowd with a big idea. 
• You turn that crowd into a capable network through building connections.
• You and the crowd accomplish the big idea through small steps.

What Happened in the Idea Friendly Workshop

Attendees developed their own Idea Friendly Projects after learning what Idea Friendly is and how to use it effectively in rural communities. 

Engaging the audience, we asked what their rural challenges were. Not surprisingly, they aligned with the top 5 rural challenges on our Survey of Rural Challenges results: 

1. Shortage of good housing
2. Downtown is dead
3. Not enough volunteers
4. Losing Young People
5. Lack of Childcare

The attendees broke off into groups and chose a challenge to work on together. Each table had a flipchart sheet and the group worked the challenge through the Idea Friendly Method. The different groups presented their results to the entire room.

Photo courtesy of IEDC

What the Big Ideas were: 

Challenge: Housing

Big Idea: Offsetting public infrastructure to incentivize private development 

This idea brought to light the number of people who wanted help with a 12 unit housing development. The first small step they would take is to work with the economic development organization to find ways to bring the interested parties together for a conversation. 

Challenge: Not enough volunteers

Big Idea: Volunteer engagement and involving the whole community 

Their ideas included helping to promote all the possibilities for volunteering and creating a guide to managing volunteers ensuring any required government protocols are well explained. They created a brilliant tagline: making volunteering painless. 

One attendee said to me, “Friend, I’m just a redneck from Alabama and I never get to meet people from other places. This was awesome!” Attendees came from the continental United States, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Saipan, and Canada.

Challenge: Losing our young people

Big Idea: Helping youth boomerang back 

This group was excited about working with different organizations and people to create a strong publicity campaign. This big idea uses storytelling and sharing the small wins with some catchy promotional pieces. “Wish you were here”, “While you were gone”, and “We’ve grown up” are some of the hooks to use in promoting the community to their audience of young people. 

Big Idea: Downtown is dead

These folks took their big idea to fill the downtown and built out a list of who else wanted to work with them, and then built possible connections that could help get it done. They realized they were not alone and had others in their towns that wanted to help. 

Challenge: Lack of childcare

Big Idea: Create a downtown childcare facility 

After identifying a long list of people and organizations that would want to join this project, the group came up with the idea of playground “playdate” to bring them all together for productive discussion. They were excited to see how a new downtown childcare facility could not only improve the availability of childcare, but also spur downtown revitalization and contribute to positive placemaking. 

Creating Idea Friendly Projects is an easy to use and effective way to address our rural challenges. 

This interactive IEDC session was a great success, and it was inspiring to see the plans the participants came up with to address the challenges they were facing. By working together and using innovative approaches, we can create more vibrant and resilient rural communities that are better equipped to face the challenges of the future.

“Thank you both so much for your preparation and execution of your session today! Sincerely, it was a true pleasure meeting and supporting you today. Your preparation and professionalism was reflected in your session. I appreciate your adaptability as well.”

Alexa Schultz, IEDC

Next steps:

• Reach out to SaveYour.Town about an Idea Friendly Workshop for your community or event
• Read more about the Idea Friendly Method. 
• You can also watch a 24 minute Idea Friendly video for a $5 investment into your community. 
• Don’t forget to sign up for our free weekly newsletter that addresses rural challenges! 

Change can be activated in a society
by way of story.”

from the book Spirit Run

I just returned from Jackson County, Kentucky and the small town of Grayson, Kentucky. There’s a natural beauty in those mountains and winding roads. The people were kind, helpful and want to see their towns thrive. They shared stories of their history, the people and their dreams with me. Some had stories of failure and are working on raising up out of that despair much like the phoenix did. When I’m on an Idea Friendly onsite visit, I look for ways people can take small steps, to volunteer in a small way. I also look for the stories of locals already serving their well-loved communities. The power of story has the ability to change the outcome of a town.

Jackson County

This is a story to be told, often.

I met a couple in Sand Gap, KY who bought The Whistle Stop Express and there was a large building that came with it. They’ve turned it into a community center and the folks in town are welcome there with open arms. There are meals for the hungry, hugs for all, opportunities to belong to a community. There’s been a problem with drugs in town, and several residents are no longer the people they were before drugs ruined their lives. These owners treat everyone with respect and care. But even more than that, they treat them with love. They set an example every day of how to treat our fellow human beings.

Here’s a one day job volunteering that he did willingly.

One gentleman showed up at the community center the day I was there dressed as the Easter Bunny. He had been at the local jail, the community center, the gas station – anywhere that needed some cheering up.

Here’s another short term opportunity to volunteer.

We took a driving tour around Annville, KY and noticed this housing place nestled among the mountains with a babbling brook and park space behind it. Shame on me, my first thought was “why do people keep trash like that outside of their homes?” It was pointed out to me that the grandmother who lives there is raising her grandchildren and doesn’t have the wherewithall or physicality or time to clean up that small mess. The woman giving us the tour stated this would be a great half a day volunteer opportunity for a bunch of ninjas. And said she’ll get right on that. Two other people in the car said they’d help.

Talk to each other

The first evening I was in Jackson County they held a gathering for anyone who wanted to come and hear about ways to save their community. Erik from Backroads of Appalachia made available the small historical site at Big Hill to gather. The image below is just 1/3 of the room. I don’t go to any town, bring a template with some big city idea on it they can dumb down. I ask folks to tell me who they are and what they want in their community. Then we talk about it.

Here’s one story of many folks who volunteered in a small way to help a new business get started.

Kathy pictured in the lower left wants to start her own outdoor business providing items to use to traverse the region. But she only has one side by side. We talked about just getting started with that one item. And one lady offered her canoe for Kathy to use. This started a conversation around the room of how she could start now, using what others offer and they would help her too.

How volunteers can work together in partnership

The couple next to Kathy are farmers, who used to run a dairy. Dairy farming is hard, and they had to try something else. He has converted the dairy barn into a space where he can do woodworking. He also wants to really use that space, and make it available for others to use. We talked about the Old Geezers Club in Akron, Iowa. Several others in the room had ideas for them and wanted to help. There were artists in attendance and were grateful for a space to work on their art, and also sell it. They could also volunteer to be in the space sometimes to help run it.

Your officials need to hear your stories

McKee, KY is the county seat and also has the fastest internet speed in the United States. That’s because the Peoples Rural Telephone Company and their leader Keith Gabbard have made it so. You can read about how that happened in The New Yorker article. This group met and had a lively discussion with me. Keith is the guy on the far left. Tim Truett, the 89th district state representative was there too. He’s also the elementary school principal. Small town folks wear many hats. Many of these folks have been trying to establish a lodging tax. However, a magistrate has to ask the fiscal court to review it. And no magistrate would do that. Funny, you mention the word ‘tax’ and people get nervous. Tim, along with the tourism board, got the fiscal court to look at it at their next meeting!

Talking about what you want can lead to volunteer actions that make small things happen

One gentleman was fed up with the trash and illegal dumping in the area. Another artist in the room proposed using the old cars and create a transformer art exhibit. There were stories of folks who’ve worked in the region making their parks available to all. We found out there are 200 rooms available for visitors to use, but not an updated list of where these Airbnb’s and cabins were located. This week I received a spreadsheet with that updated list! Talking about what they wanted led to volunteer actions making small things happen. The power of sharing your story shines through.

Grayson, KY

You can stop if you want

Grayson was not to be outdone. We started at the Grayson Art Gallery early in the morning. A big tables worth of people showed up at 8 am. They were there to hear what they could do to help their small town. Many of them stayed for the rest of the day, spent with a walking tour of downtown, lunch and a driving tour of the region. The folks in the picture below know how to volunteer.
There’s the local college president, the mayor, a city council person, a couple of business owners, a state senator, a high school student and the Main Street director. We talked about partnerships, taking small steps and getting in action right away. The state senator told us a funny story, well, kind of funny. They used to have a master gardener’s group that was active. But they got older and less willing to do the work. So they created fundraisers … to pay others to do the work! Oh, the irony.

Idea Friendly: kill the committees, get to work and have fun with taking small steps

The mayor kept notes on his phone, but just the notes that pertained to him. (Yes, I gave him assignments.) The Main Street folks plan to set up an Art Trail and involve the artists in town. And the two of them won’t do it all themselves. The artists and building owners will be involved. As we walked around, we got some permissions on places to put murals.

There was a discussion about adding EV stations downtown in a parking lot. One of the attendees will find out how to make that happen. The mayor put on his list to work on lighting up the parking lot at night, so store owners can park there safely instead of in front of their stores. The high school student is going to bring her friends to city council meetings. The mayor thinks adding a nonvoting student to the council is a great idea and will pursue it. There are many opportunities for everyone to volunteer, without setting up committees, in the ways that they want to help.

Volunteering can be easier and with more people, yet make such a big difference in a small way

I started this letter thinking about the importance of telling our stories in our own communities. That change will come when our good reasons why are out there for more people to know about. Then I found a common theme amongst these stories – how volunteering can be easier and with more people, yet make such a big difference in a small way. Many people in small towns are not aware of the various ways they are already volunteering, or the many other ways where volunteers are needed. If only for a few hours.

Telling our stories, sharing our ideas and asking for help make change possible, and sooner.

Thanks to the kind folks in Kentucky for welcoming me with open arms!

Got empty buildings?

Every small town has empty buildings and empty lots. Gowrie is no exception. During my walk around, I took these photos of empty buildings.

My favorite thing to do when you have several empty buildings is to host a Tour of Empty Buildings.

An Empty Buildings Tour is a community event that showcases vacant or underutilized buildings. The goal of the tour is to raise awareness of the issue of vacant buildings and to generate interest in repurposing them. Tours can be organized by local chambers of commerce, economic development agencies, or other community groups. It’s also a great idea for realtors to get together and host a tour!

It can be as simple as adding buildings to a list to be viewed on a given date and time. Create a map and make it available for people to download or pick up. Market it online and offline. I recommend having the owner or realtor on site to answer questions, hand out information and maybe even show them around.

You could have presentations by experts on issues related to vacant buildings, such as real estate development, historic preservation, and economic development. Tours are often followed by networking events or other activities that encourage participants to discuss ways to reuse vacant buildings.

I created and organized the Empty Buildings Tour in Webster City, Iowa. There were 12 buildings on the tour. Ten were filled within 18 months.

SaveYour.Town has created an Empty Buildings Tour Toolkit if you want to host your own tour.

Share Spaces

Coppes Commons, Nappanee, Indiana: An old factory with 100,000 square feet of space had sat empty for years. Made hoover cabinets. There was little chance another big manufacturer would swoop in and fill it all up. So, a local family bought the factory, they’ve opened it up, a little at a time, for smaller uses. There’s retail space, an ice cream shop, all kinds of cool and fun things. They now have 11 businesses, large and small event spaces, and a business center. And they still have a lot more room to grow in the future. Rather than waiting until someone was ready to fill the whole thing, they split it up, and now they have a thriving retail space.

Addison James is a business that sells clothing. They also have a skin care specialist, photographer and graphic designer in their space.

The Drill Barbershop was one of my favorite places to visit. Phil DeCastro is a big fan of disc golf. He’s made it possible for others to participate and provides access to supplies people need. That’s a cool thing about living in a small town, it’s pretty easy to get involved in the things you like to do.

The Picket Fence offered lots of choices in product. They also have a quilter in their space! You can find them often doing Facebook Live at night so you can shop online with them too.

Incubator

When I was the Chamber of Commerce Director in Webster City, I had an idea for an informal incubator project. We had a building owner that had several buildings downtown. I approached them with the incubator project idea. Put your buildings in the program and you offer 3 months free rent and reduced rent the rest of the year. The chamber agreed to help the businesses that went into those buildings with marketing, and the SBDC (Small Business Development Center) came in to help the business with creating a valuable business plan.

Benefits to the owner:

• At the least their utilities were being paid by someone else.
• Every building needs love, and this provided that.
• The business could leave at any time (remember, it’s a way to test out the business idea) or they could stay as long as they wanted!

Did it work? Yes.

Food

The first business was an Italian restaurant. The town loved it! It lasted a year until the husband got a job out of state. No worries though. The Mexican grocery store across the street wanted to open their own restaurant in the back of the store. The owners were saving for a commercial hood. They took advantage of the incubator project and tested their idea out. They tried new recipes and played around with open hours. And got the word out they were going to open a larger spot soon. Which is exactly what they did.

Clothing

Chicago Style rented an incubator spot for a year, then bought a building in the same block and expanded to be 3x times bigger. They’ve also helped three other businesses get started in their new location. Incubators are a great way to test out your idea, build your market, and save money for the next step.

Discussion during my presentation

There are some buildings in Gowrie that would benefit from the shared spaces idea. Take a look at the pictures above from the Empty Buildings Tour Idea. Antiques businesses are often seen sharing space. Another great use is for artists to have studio space and retail space.

The Heartland Community Room at the bank features pictures on their walls of the area, and they are for sale. Shared spaces don’t have to be similar kinds of businesses.

Murals, signs, windows and more

Sign in the local rural telecom building

Signs

In the Webster-Calhoun Cooperative Telephone Association offices they’ve got flipchart size posters that are hand drawn. It’s used to motivate, encourage and to be positive. These are simple and affordable to do. They’re not permanent and can be changed out often. It’s fun too!

Windows

It’s not unusual to see the second story windows boarded over, for a myriad of reasons. I think the owners believe no one is looking at them, and that is not true.

Here’s an idea – paint the boards over the windows. The top part of this building is empty and needs lots and lots of work. The old windows were boarded up and looked awful. The picture below is the building Chicago Style bought.

The community vitality director in Webster City, Iowa found a program involving students at Univ.of Iowa and they created this idea. An artist took large pieces of wood and drew on them, in paint by number style. They were taken out to the fairgrounds and were painted by anyone in town who wanted to help. They feature important people and things in Webster City.

The building on the left is the before, the building on the right is the after.

Murals

The local library in Gowrie has painted a mural on the side of their building. The swimming pool also has a painted mural. Where else could you add art to your community?

Mural on the side of the library

What is that?

There’s a lot right downtown that used to be a car wash. It’s an eyesore, at best. There’s good news for some quick changes you can do! The fence around the lot could be put to good use. Display students’ art, create banners for the area and hang there, have an art contest, and hang the entries there. Loren Ditzler from Warren County, Iowa sent me this picture. Their county courthouse was torn down and left a big empty pit. (They are rebuilding it.) Until it’s finished, they decided to promote their county with banners on their fence.

this used to be a carwash

Warren County banners, photo by Loren Ditzler

Talk to each other.

There are committed people in Gowrie who are excited to make things happen. Lots of people came two nights in a row to hear me talk about their community. It was great to see them talking with each other about their ideas and getting started. Even the County Supervisors came!

Gowrie Annual Dinner folks

Here’s the thing. You want to keep talking, and gathering, and working on your projects. Don’t fall into the trap of meeting to be meeting and not getting work done. You don’t need committees, or big hairy plans, or permission for most of it. You start with your big idea, gather your crowd, the people who think like you and want to see things happen. Then reach out to others that might be able to help, build your connections. Finally, take small steps. Try things out, see if they work. Let everyone participate in small but meaningful ways.

That’s the Idea Friendly Method:

Gather Your Crowd

Build Connections

Take Small Steps

And share your stories, tell folks what you’re doing. Keep the excitement going!

(if no accreditation on the photo, that means Deb Brown took it) 

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The three days were full of opportunities, presentations, stunning views, and the arts. I took notes at the sessions I attended and will attempt to recap for you now.

Alabama Textile Traditions

This panel of women spoke to Alabama’s long history of women working within both the formal and informal economies to provide for their families through sewing.

Fiber arts have long been a source of creativity, a declaration of self-determination, and a cornerstone of care.

photo from Recycled Runway 2023

Bib and Tucker Sew op https://bibandtuckersewop.org/

This business is unique not only in teaching the fiber arts, but being advocates for the industry and women. Recycled Runway is a program for Birmingham Middle and High School students. Their fashion show was in April, all items made from repurposed materials.

The March Quilts began in 2015 to commemorate the march from Selma to Montgomery marches. They decided to repeat it each year. Members  choose a civil or human rights theme and facilitate open sewing sessions and discussion.

Viola Ratcliff, program manager, 205-386-0575 viola@bibandtuckersewop.org

Black Belt Treasures Arts and Culture https://www.blackbelttreasures.com/

This is a nonprofit business in Camden, AL. They began in order to stimulate the economy with heritage arts and culture. They represent over 450 different artists.

One of the things I loved to see was the rehabilitation of an old car dealership where they now hold their classes. It’s a fabulous idea. There are many empty car dealerships in small towns, this is a great way to use the space.

Loretta Bennet https://www.facebook.com/lorettapbennett/

Loretta is an artist who said, “I was quilting before I was born.” She’s one of the quilters of Gee’s Bend. The quilts of Gee’s Bend are internationally renowned hand-made quilts made by a group of women and their ancestors who have lived in the isolated African-American community of Gee’s Bend, Alabama. The residents of Gee’s Bend are direct descendants of enslaved people who worked the cotton plantations of Joseph Gee established in 1816. The quilting tradition in Gee’s Bend goes back beyond the 19th century and some of the quilts have been exhibited at many notable museums.

Loretta shared that she is a participant in Vacation with An Artist Program.  (www.vawaa.com)  You can spend a week with her and sister and they teach the old methods. She shared they do quite a bit of work using old clothes from deceased people to make quilts in remembrance.

Takeaways from the panel:

1. Art, hands on textile art, is important to tourism, there are bus tours from all over the world that come for quilt tours.
2. Creation of this art and turning it into economic development benefits from the Idea Friendly Method.
3. Storytelling is done in many different methods. Quilting is one of those. There are barn quilts with tours in the Midwest, quilt shops that created an entire town in Missouri and it started from a youtube site that simply gave instruction.
4. Creating, quilting, is a good way to bring people together around a common theme. What else can be accomplished at these gatherings?

Small steps for work as a textile artist:

• Find fabric
  • Donated clothing and fabric
  • Work with the culture arts center
• Sell on Etsy
• Work together
  • Packing/shipping together
• Funds from vacation with an artist

Discuss your prices for handmade items:

• Labor
• Time
• Materials
• Love

Remember, it’s art. Price accordingly!

Foodways in Alabama

Sponsored by the Southern Foodways Alliance, this panel features Sarah Rodriguez, Southern Foodways Alliance’s lead oral historian, in conversation with three women who teach, preserve, and document diverse and changing foodways in Alabama.

Southern Foodways Alliance

A major theme at this conference was the importance of telling the stories of folklife in the South. Southern Foodways Alliance is capturing the stories. They are exploring the oral traditions and finding ways we are sharing our food stories. Visit their website, Southernfoodways.org and check out the videos.

Jai Williams, Southern Foodways Alliance

Jai specializes in culinary, travel, and cultural photography and was recently named as a Nathalie Dupree Fellow for the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA.) She’s studying Black land ownership and cultural foodways throughout the South as well as documenting Mississippi’s rich history through visual media.

Again, the theme of telling the stories arises. Another way to do that is through photography.

Contact: Jaithephotog.com @iamjaithephotog

Lauren Murphy, seed saver, Hillfolk Pharmacy

Lauren is a young farmer and a seed saver. She realized while raising her special needs son that there had to be a better way to feed him. Food is medicine after all. She noticed that the seeds she had from the past were not as badly affected by the drought. gut-healing herbalist, soil-steward and traditional foods enthusiast trained in Southern Folk Medicine by Phyllis Light at the Appalachian Center for Natural Health, and in Sociology from Florida State University.

Lauren is a natural teacher and storyteller. You can listen to her on this Native Habitat Podcast session.

Hillfolkfarmacy.com (and Instagram account)

Lauren Richards, Albertville High School Culinary Arts Program

Lauren shared about how her culinary school kids discussed traditions in food, then created fusion meals. They didn’t know that the old rules say you can’t do that. It’s exciting to see what our youth are creating while using the old traditions. Just another way to tell a story!

https://www.facebook.com/ahsculinarydepartment/

Takeaways from the panel:

1. Food is medicine.
2. Food is another avenue to storytelling.
3. ‘If we don’t eat, we don’t meat’ rings true.
4. Food allows us to be daring, to try new (and old) things.
5. Food is a safe place to gather, and to learn our stories.

A quick thank you and good bye to Bill Mansfield

Bill Mansfield, NEA leader National Endowment for the Arts is retiring. He told us he welcomes calls now through end of July for touching base and answering questions.

They gave out 28.8 million in 1,231 grants last year, many to Native Arts and culture. Bill said no one is perfect but keep trying. “I don’t master the work; I master the tools.”.

One of the stories he shared was how Charleston, WV triangle district was wiped out by highways. It was once the center of black music and culture. In 1974 the area was demolished. Thousands were forced to move, because of underlying racism.

Sadly, this is not a singular story. Black Wall Street in Tulsa was the site of a massacre, white on black, and they rebuilt. Then the highways were placed into that area and Black Wall Street was gone. San Francisco neighborhoods in the 1960’s were seized with imminent domain and razed, affecting at least 20,000 people. This federally funded urban renewal movement was not just in big cities either. Greenville, NC, Tupelo, MS, Demopolis, AL were all affected. Read more in this article in the Boston Review.

Bill, may you enjoy retirement and keep on being creative!

Folklife and the Future

Alabama artists and activists Sehoy Thrower, Mary Godfrey, and Susan Walker engaged in conversation around how their present work is shaped by a dynamic vision of their community’s future.

Sehoy Thrower, Poarch Band of Creek Indians

Sehoy spoke of how the Creek were moved out of their homelands. “Our diaspora got changed, against our will.”

They  used the native plants and are trying to bring them back. It’s hard to be optimistic when you look at their land. Biodiversity is plummeting. Rivercane is gone, invasive species bamboo overtook it

Folklife traditions are the thread that never ended

Creek are a people of fire, inner and outer. Creeks have one foot in the past and one in the future.

Quilt (apologies for bad picture)

Mary Godfrey, Lowndes County Community Life Center

Lowndes County worked on the quilt project. They asked, ‘who are your people?’

Mary shared that in the quilting environment “only love [is] there.” Winnie McQueen said in a video “your name will never be forgotten.”

It’s not meant to harm; it is meant to heal, the telling of the stories. Quilters often sing when they sew.

“Happiness is very fleeting – joy lasts.”

Susan Walker, Sew Their Names Project

She restored a church from 1843, that her grandfather owned – along with the slaves. The Sew Their Names Project added the names of the slaves to the quilt they did. It was hard to find the names of slaves, sometimes just used numbers

Susan said, “Can’t have reconciliation without the truth.”

When you view the quilt, look at the left side– it’s happy white people. Then look at the right side – all slavery images.

A traveling exhibit of this quilt is coming and with songs. Then will be permanently displayed in Lowndes County.

Takeaways from this panel:

1. Will we ever learn? The treatment of the natives and the slaves was horrendous. What can we do going forward to rectify this?
2. You can’t have reconciliation without the truth. It begins with telling and hearing the stories.
3. We must take care of our Earth. We simply must, before we can’t.

Panayotis League, fiddler

Panayotis League, fiddler

Panayotis is from Tarpon Springs in Florida, and a Greek. He told of the Greek sponge divers and merchants from the Aegean islands who came to Tarpon Springs FL in 1906.

He shared songs on his fiddle. The melodies are associated with place, Kalimos and Kos. In Mobile AL were the Greeks from Crete. In New Orleans the Greek community were in the New World around 1760

“When my old people started dying was when I woke up to how amazing this music was” Panayotis said.  

Takeaway from Panayotis:

1. After he was done with his session, he went with a young man to a lobby area. He proceeded to teach him how to play his fiddle in the way of the location. In other words, he took a bluegrass song and played it like a Greek song. He was patient, kind, happy to be teaching.
2. He’s not just a fabulous musician, but a storyteller, a teacher and makes one love music even more.
3. The stories matter.

Real Meaning of Dia de Muretos

Day of the Dead altar

Mónica S. Sánchez, from the Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group led this workshop. The Day of the Dead is a celebration of life.

“Music and food make everything better.”

Monica had set up an elaborate altar. The Altar is set up in 7 levels, and she shared what goes on each level.

Takeaway from Monica:

1. Her excitement as a theater person was engaging. Where else can we be that excited in our lives?
2. It’s important to honor the dead, in the way each of us does in our traditions.
3. It’s all about remembering the people and the stories.

Appleshop Short Film Stories

Ethan Payne frightenedmedia.com

He directed the Appleshop films we previewed. I was busy watching the films, and feeling just like I was back in Jackson County, KY. Here’s the description from the agenda:

Appalshop recently completed four short films documenting regional Appalachian traditional artists. This series captures, archives, and amplifies the stories behind the craft. Our focus was in the following mediums: traditional music, storytelling, crafts, woodworking, and foodways. Appalshop’s documentary work has from the beginning told authentic stories of Appalachia, working from within the community to banish stereotypes and misrepresentations. The short films in this series are:

Bright Morning Stars: The Johnsons of Hemphill

That Tree Lives On: A Film About Terry Ratliff

Lady D

Full of Wonder: The Art of Angie DeBord

Takeaway from the films:

1. It’s never too late to make a difference.
2. You are never too young to belong and do things.
3. The stories matter.

Music

I recorded a little bit from the performers I saw.

Greek Fiddle

Panayotis League 

Gary Waldrep Band

Bluegrass

The Gary Waldrep Band performed an hour of traditional bluegrass music. Gary Waldrep, the founder, is from Kilpatrick, Alabama. He has participated in the Alabama State Council on the Arts apprenticeship program and touring arts program.

Gary Waldrep Band – Bluegrass

The Blues

For years, blues artists have not only performed the traditional art of African American Roots music but also utilized the methods of folklorists to preserve and share the Blues People’s narrative. This panel features Alabama’s traditional Blues artists who have participated in apprenticeships, created nonprofit organizations, and more to ensure preservation.

• 

  Blues Performance

  Jock Webb

• DieDra Hurdle-Ruff
• Keithen Ruff

Blues Musicians 

Follow FITS partners on social media and visit the websites for updates:

• South Arts
  • com/southarts
  • Instagram: @southartstradarts and @southartsorg
  • Twitter: @southarts
• Alabama Folklife Association
  • com/AlabamaFolklife
  • Instagram: @alabamafolklife
  • Twitter: @AlabamaFolklife
• Alabama State Council on the Arts
  • com/AlabamaStateCouncilontheArts
  • Instagram: @alabama_arts
  • Twitter: @Alabama_Arts
• American Folklore Society 
  • com/AmericanFolkloreSociety
  • Instagram: @americanfolkloresociety
  • Twitter: @afsfolklorists

Join the next gathering 2023 American Folklore Society Annual Meeting, November 1-4, in Portland, Oregon.

If there is no accreditation on the photo, it means Deb Brown took it.

A local furniture store hosts two temporary businesses for a special shopping event, combining business-in-a-business and pop-ups to benefit everyone. Photo by Becky McCray.

By Deb Brown

The old way of doing business is one building, one business. What if you could test an idea and have a business inside a business?

Anyone of us either knows or can find someone who is making things from their home and selling it.

What if you encouraged already existing home-based businesses to host a trial popup in your store?

These small popups can be short term, over a season or if it works out a permanent addition. Perhaps you’ll let them try their idea out for free for a short time. If it works, you can determine together if they pay rent to you or a commission.

Who do you know that is a:

• Quilt maker
• Artist
• Artisan
• Painter
• Sculptor
• Widget maker
• Baker
• Crafter

Look for those that are doing business from their homes. Maybe they are just beginning to think about making some money with their products.

How can you help them, and your business at the same time?

Invite them to set up in a corner of your shop, as a pop up.

Then try these ideas:

• Meet the artist event
• Have a party announcing your new acquisition
• Create a Facebook event and do something special to announce their arrival

Why does all of this matter?

1. You will be bringing in new people to your store to meet these crafters. Cross promotion is good for business.
2. You’re giving a hand up and not a hand out to a new business person.
3. You’re enlivening your community using local resources.
4. You’re making your store a place where people come for an experience.
5. You’re building community and that strengthens the town for everyone.

More rural economic development tricks

Find out more rural economic development tricks in our latest SaveYour.Town video.

Before you write that plan, why not try a pop-up of your business idea? Even in your own front yard you can learn more than you will staring at a computer screen. Photo courtesy of Shawn’s Kettle Corn, Webster City, Iowa. 

by Deb Brown

At least, the old way of doing them

Writing a business plan is an intense project that takes up a lot of your time. You spend weeks and weeks on it, and you’re not even sure everything in it is correct. Your financial projections are just wild guesses. You’re not even open and they want you to guess how much money you’ll make! You can find out the amount of traffic that goes by your proposed location. But just because 10,000 people travel down that road doesn’t mean any certain percentage of them will be guaranteed to stop. 

What if you waited and wrote your business plan after you’ve run a few tests? 

How do you test out your products and market without having a brick and mortar business? 

Participate in a pop up event or two

Small towns have these kind of events. Car shows, town fairs, three day events for fun, goat eating contests, celebrations and many other kinds of parties. You can set up a table and a covering and sell your product. 

Do track your sales! It’s as easy as counting inventory at the beginning and at the end. Write down if you had to drop the price. Write down suggestions people give you for similar products they’d like. You’ll begin to get an idea of what products people like.

Try a longer pop up.

Does your town do seasonal popups in empty buildings? It’s worth asking the building owner to do that! You could partner with other entrepreneurs and give it a try.  

Again, track sales, price drops and suggestions. If possible, track the  number of people who came in the building. 

Let’s not forget online selling

Etsy, Amazon, eBay, Poshmark, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, eBid, and Ruby Lane are a few places. Be sure to choose the right site(s) for your type of product.

Many of these sites will do the tracking for you! If not, track them yourself.

Shared spaces

Is there a place in your area that has more than one vendor in the location? See if you could join them. This is a shared space, and they are operated in different ways. Some have one cash register, some have each vendor with a cash register. Both have been known to work. Get the details and see if they work for you. 

As you track results, don’t forget to write down your market

Who is buying your product? 

As you are trying these ideas (and making money) pay attention to the people who shop with you. Do they fall into a certain age category? Are they male or female? Of a certain social strata? This is all research for the kind of people who make up your market. 

Where do these people live? What do they look like? How old are they? What gender are they? Are they different nationalities? Where are they shopping for similar products? Are you satisfying a need in the marketplace? 

After this time of tracking sales, places, and people you’re really ready to begin writing a plan.

The difference is you’ll have actual figures and not made up ones. You’ll also want to write about your products, competition and staffing. You’ve already got the answers for these topics too.

You have everything you need for a simple business plan. You can show the banker, if you need one, exactly what you’ve been doing as you build your business. You’re not putting your dreams and wishes on paper. You’re putting facts and figures and proof that your business is working. 

Our next video is Before You Write Your Next Plan and you’ll hear about real people in real towns who are not writing business plans the old way anymore. 

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.

Most chamber events skip over the non-retail businesses. How can foundries, insurance agents and other non-retail businesses promote themselves through events? Photo provided by Deb Brown.

Events that showcase your non-retail small business 

You want people to learn about your business. Events sometimes help with that. You’re just not sure how to create an event for non-retail businesses that people will come to.

Who goes to the insurance agency if they don’t need insurance?

Who goes to the packing plant unless they work there? 

When the chamber of commerce or other groups put on business events, they don’t usually feature non-retail businesses. 

One event that can work is something like A Walk Around Town Event featuring non-retail businesses. The object of the event is to set a time frame for people to visit businesses in town.

We have a Foundry in my town, Webster City, Iowa. They love to do events. The office staff put hard hats, safety glasses and heavy aprons on everyone (and make sure you have closed toe shoes). Then the boss takes the visitors around the plant. I got to see the hot steel being poured and how it turns into a product by the end of the visit. Employees on the floor explain the process and answers questions. Everyone gets a small steel gift.

These backroom kind of tours are fascinating and create a new, fun learning experience for more people to learn about your business.

Imagine if you could combine your backroom tour with several other businesses, so people could tour more than one business in a day? That could be your Walk Around Town event!

This could be tricky to plan by yourself. Mainly because each business involved will have a different outcome in mind. You might be looking or employees. The insurance firm is looking for new customers. The construction company wants referrals. All those outcomes are related – they require people to know more about you first. Having an event to showcase your business is a great way to get started. 

You don’t need the chamber or economic development people to do all the work for you. You don’t need permission to plan an event!

Then how can you create events that people will attend? Here’s the secret: don’t plan it all yourself. Leave it half planned and have room for the other businesses to step up and add to the event. Gather your crowd, ask other non-retail business owners to join you for coffee or a beer. Talk about the big idea – having an event to bring people to your businesses to see what you do. 

Ask each other what kind of things you need to have this event. Can you do it on the same day as a community event? See if  someone has connections to the chamber or others who are doing events so you can check their schedules. Maybe check the school and sports schedules to avoid overlapping an important event there. Do you need a bus to take people around? Someone can find the bus or use their own work bus. This is building connections, and often you might use these connections for other things too.

Finally take some small steps. Not all the business owners will want to be involved. That’s ok. This kind of event works if there’s only a couple of businesses involved. Ask the business owners who are participating to prepare some hands-on activities that tour visitors could do. Remember, you are not doing all the work, they are.  Each non-retail business is responsible for their business. 

Maybe some of these businesses don’t have any idea how to create interesting or exciting activities. Why not ask your employees for ideas? Offer them the opportunity to plan it out and make it happen. A small step could be to tell your Chamber about it and see if they want to help with the marketing part of it. Another small step is to tell your Economic Development folks too. They might have some people in mind they’d like to invite on the tour. You might even want to partner with another business. Are you going to serve coffee and cookies? Is there a business in town that could help with that? 

SaveYour.Town has a video this month that focuses on creating events that people will attend. You’ll get more ideas from events I’ve planned to promote businesses in my community, and how I let go of some control and half planned events in cooperation with others. This video is available for purchase only until September 15, 2019. You’ll get two weeks to watch the video with as many folks and as many times as you want.