ANDREW DAVIS Author, Town Inc. Phone: 617-290-0480 Email: adavis@monumentalshift.com What services have you provided to small towns? Today, I don’t consult anymore. I just write books and speak all over the world. If you were a town or city, the kinds of things I do do are come and help you frame the big ideas… Continue Reading Staking your claim to fame
Archive | Experts
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Using creativity to power community development
BETH FLOWERS Director AIR Institute of Berea College Phone: 859-985-3220 Email: bflowers@airinstitute.org What is the AIR Shift workshop? The AIR Institute of Berea College is a new program of Berea College, and our AIR Shift workshop is a workshop that is all about getting artists and business people and community members together to… Continue Reading Using creativity to power community development
Using small businesses to boost the health of your community
LESLIE SCHLENDER Economic Development Director Town of Elkin, N.C. Email: lschlender@elkinnc.org Phone: (336) 794-6468 Tell us about the “STEP for Small Business” program. The North Carolina Rural Center started a “STEP for Small Business” program, and we’re one of the first seven towns to go through the program. Its goal is to increase… Continue Reading Using small businesses to boost the health of your community
Making your town hospitable to small businesses
JACK MEADOWS Director of Planning and Community Development Town of Siler City, N.C. Email: jmeadows@silercity.org Phone: (919) 742-2323 How long have you been involved in the Rural Center’s pilot program to grow and develop small businesses? We’ve been partners with the Rural Center since 2010. We were an NC STEP town – it… Continue Reading Making your town hospitable to small businesses
Attracting younger generations is a key for small-town success
DENNIS TRACZ Board of Directors NC Rural Center Email: dtracz@gmail.com What kind of support and help do you give to small towns? We work with towns, counties, other organizations all around the state mostly on economic development but also leadership training. Our primary effort is called REDI, which is Rural Economic Development Institute,… Continue Reading Attracting younger generations is a key for small-town success
Seeking support from a regional council
MATTHEW DOLGE Executive director Piedmont Triad Regional Council Email: mdolge@ptrc.org Phone: 336-904-0300 What does the Piedmont Triad Regional Council do? We provide support in our membership organization for small towns and counties across North Carolina. There’s 16 in North Carolina and we have the Triad region. I’ve been a small town manager in two… Continue Reading Seeking support from a regional council
Get engaged with your local Economic Development District
HILLARY SHERMAN N.C. Economic Development Representative U.S. Economic Development Administration Email: hsherman@eda.gov Phone: 404-730-3013 Do you provide assistance to small towns? Through EDA, I do a lot of assistance to regional planning organizations, states—the state of North Carolina obviously—localities, which could include municipalities, it could include small towns, it could include larger towns.… Continue Reading Get engaged with your local Economic Development District
Recognizing arts and culture as community assets
AMY BROOKS Program director Roadside Theater (division of Appalshop) Phone: 937-901-9205 Email: amy@roadside.org Do you intersect with small towns in the course of your work? I live in Big Stone Gap, which is a very small town that some of you might have heard in Southwest Virginia. I work just up the road in… Continue Reading Recognizing arts and culture as community assets
Describing the heart of Appalachia
JO ALLISON Mystery author Retired professor of economics, Emory & Henry College (as Linda Dobkins) Email: lhdobkins@gmail.com What does “heart of Appalachia” mean to you? Well, place is always distinctive. Right now, I’m retired and I’m a writer, but originally, I have a degree from Virginia Tech, I have a Ph.D. in economics and… Continue Reading Describing the heart of Appalachia
Use the power of storytelling to achieve your goals
JIMMY NEIL SMITH Founder, International Storytelling Center Email: jns@partnershipforabetterfuture.net Jonesborough would be way different without storytelling — do you think you could make a case that storytelling saved Jonesborough? I want to tell you a little story about Jonesborough in the 1950s. My grandfather gave me a three-day-old calf to raise, but I… Continue Reading Use the power of storytelling to achieve your goals
