These upper floor murals were painted by the community members of Webster City, Iowa. It’s part of the bonus trend from this article. Photo by Michael Hansen, used by permission.

Who knows what trends will affect small and rural communities in 2022 and beyond?

Not many trends pieces cover rural places. These trends are specifically about rural and small towns.

I’ve been following rural trends and writing about them since 2009. My trends reports have been commissioned or quoted by Main Street America, Emergent Research, the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky, Farm Bureau’s Rural Community Building, Small Business Trends and the George H.W. Bush Points of Light Foundation.

There’s a lot of uncertainty right now. These are larger scale trends that will be in play for years, not super micro trends that are already obvious or so small they’re subject to change next week.

Top 5 Rural and Small Town Trends for 2022 and beyond

1. New residents arriving.

After saying for years that remote work would bring more people to choose a rural residence, here we are: Zoom Towns!

The real trend isn’t an explosive exodus from major tech and population centers, but the more subtle diffusion of opportunities to a broader swath of places.

We’re seeing the convergence of multiple factors:

• a pandemic that forced a major adoption of remote work
• pent up demand for rural living
• improving rural broadband
• the great resignation and re-evaluation of life choices
• climate and disasters shifting relocation decisions
• increased rural tourism through the boom in road trips

Bonus trend: People are eager to belong.

With more people relocating, expect an increase in deliberate community building, reaching across polarizing divides.

Watch for projects in:

• Neighboring
• Beautification
• Belonging

2. Natural environment regenerating.

The shift from simple awareness or protection of the environment to deliberately trying to make things around you better.

Innovative farmers and ranchers are being better stewards, improving the land and environment with each successive season.

Indigenous People and Native Tribes are gaining control of more of their traditional lands, fostering regeneration and advocating environmental policy improvements.

Natural resources are changing, and new sustainable natural resources booms are coming that make sense in rural places including:

• timber and lignin
• mushroom and other natural fiber materials
• dirt, clay and earthen buildings
• renewable and greener energy

3. Leadership and power shifting.

Much like the surge in new residents, the shift in leadership started a long time ago. In 2015, we developed our Idea Friendly Method to help you understand and adapt to the shift from the formal to informal, from centralized to community, from control to chaos.

Awareness of the change is finally percolating up, even to the World Economic Forum. And it’s also percolating down, to the level of local organizations and officials in small towns.

Watch for:

• Less emphasis on joining boards or committees to talk about change
• More emphasis on joining activities you enjoy to take action

4. Rural healthcare reimagined.

Pressured by financial crises, closures and staff shortages before the pandemic, rural health care is due for reimagining. Between improving telemedicine and rapid advances in smart everything, will we still need general hospitals in small towns in 10 years? Do we really need them now? We’re already seeing rural communities come up with innovative answers that improve health care without focusing so much on the building.

Keep an eye on:

• Community involvement in health care facilities and futures
• Smart use of technology to improve people’s health

5. Economic barriers falling.

Equitable economic development is the buzzword of the moment in grants, programs and planning. For small towns, it’s really about making entrepreneurship easier for more people and creating a fairer economy.

Small towns are the testing grounds for the future, and rural people innovate. Want to be resilient in the next big crisis? Tap our innovative spirit.

Focus now on developing:

• Local supply chain
• Small makers
• Artisans
• Tiny manufacturers

Free video report:

Watch Deb Brown and me present these trends more in depth at SaveYour.Town: 2022 Rural Trends.

Watch the free video

This article cited by:

• Forbes – Research and Insights on Why Millennials and Gen Z Will Drive Small Town Entrepreneurship by Bernhard Schroeder
• Mendimi – Pse Millennials dhe Gen Z do të nxisin sipërmarrjen e qyteteve të vogla? Albania
• Bank of I.D.E.A.S. by Peter Kenyon, Community and Economic Development Matters Newsletter, April 13, 2022, Australia
• Wetzel-Tyler Chamber of Commerce newsletter

Seth Godin took on the role of technology in changing the role of geography, in Sovereignty and the new world–the end of nations?

Technology has allowed us to move both information and goods in ways that completely changed long established business patterns. In addition to the changes in communication, look at the changes in containerized intermodals and consumer shipping, for example. Both have changed the meaning of geography.

Godin says governments are losing the battle for control, and that multi-national corporations will have the upper hand. He points to the spread of ideas and the importance of long-term horizons (another small town rule), and even better lawyers.

Taking that one step further, “local” matters more than ever before. That puts an advantage into the hands of local organizations (business, personal, nonprofit).

The savvy multinationals that grasp the importance of local connections will quite possibly have the biggest advantage of all.

Photo: National currencies. Photo by Becky McCray. 

Each week, I collect the 10 best posts that I’ve read and share them with you here.

These posts focus on small business solutions or resources online (or both!).

Enjoy!

Each week, I collect the 10 best posts that I’ve read and share them with you here.

These posts focus on small business solutions or resources online (or both!).

Enjoy!

Seven Ways to Engage Customers on Your Website
Link: http://www.pbsmartessentials.com/2011/07/seven-ways-to-engage-customers-on-your-website/
My Take: Getting people to your site is only part of the equation for success. The other two parts are engagement and conversion. This article has some solid tips on engagement.

The Startup’s Toolkit [Infographic]
Link: http://www.socialmeblog.com/2011/07/26/the-startups-toolkit-infographic/
My Take: These guys did a survey on what tools startups are using these days and then presented the results in an easy-to-read image. Themes, trends, and more are revealed!

44 Useful Mobile Apps for Social Media Marketers
Link: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/44-useful-mobile-apps-for-social-media-marketers/
My Take: A long, long list of new and shiny toys to play with this weekend. Enjoy!

5 Ways To Use Google+ With Your Internal Teams
Link: http://www.openforum.com/articles/5-ways-to-use-google-with-your-internal-teams
My Take: I love articles which describe ways to use online tools and social media within an organization. This one’s has some handy internal uses for Google+.

29 Tips to Make Your Video Marketing Easy
Link: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/29-tips-to-make-your-video-marketing-easy/
My Take: Great tips on using video online from 29 separate folks who have done so successfully.

Marketing Must Change: A Q&A with Michael Stelzner
Link: http://www.mpdailyfix.com/marketing-must-change-a-qa-with-michael-stelzner
My Take: I really enjoyed this conversation about the new role of content in marketing.

Social Media Fatigue
Link: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/fatigue/
My Take: A call to reflect on how you are using social media if you feel it’s getting stale.

Is Better Task Management on Your To-Do List?
Link: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/is-better-task-management-on-your-to-do-list/
My Take: Some handy tools to stay on top of your tasks.

Upgrade Your Online Presence — in 5 Days or Less
Link: http://www.bnet.com/blog/small-biz-advice/upgrade-your-online-presence-8212-in-5-days-or-less/3596
My Take: Straightforward tips for assuring you present yourself well online.

Three of Our Favorite Trend Sources
Link: http://www.smallbizlabs.com/2011/07/three-of-our-favorite-trends-sites.html
My Take: Love these links! Wanna’ stay on top of business and social trends? You will, too!

Matt Mansfield is the Head Tour Guide at Matt About Business (http://www.mattaboutbusiness.com) where he helps entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies use the web to manage and market their business by connecting online strategies and tactics with real-world results.

The new Village Post Office

Hopeton, Oklahoma 73746 Already slated for closure.

The Postal Service will be looking for these small stores to contract with, including groceries, pharmacies and other retailers. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe made the announcement, along with the closure study list, this week.

“Many of these general stores are hanging on for dear life out there,” Donahoe said. “They can take the money we give them to pay the rent and pay the light bill. We think it’s a real win-win proposal.”

The contracted stores will be in charge of staffing and hours, and their services will be limited. For example, they are not expected to be able to provide certified mail or ship odd sized packages, CNN Money reported.

The original village Post Office
All of this reminds me of Haltom’s store in Hopeton, Oklahoma. When I was a kid in the 1970’s, Haltom’s was the general store and post office. Everett Haltom was the grocer, and Leora was the postmaster. The current Hopeton Post Office is a modular building. It makes no sense as a stand-alone entity. It has already been marked for closure, even before this week’s announcement. Hopeton doesn’t have a store anymore, but we do have a bank, and I would give real money for them to put a “village post office” in there.

A small town business opportunity?
Can small town retailers make a Village Post Office into a profitable sideline? It would take a certain minimum of traffic and population to make it work. There is no indication of how a business would go about volunteering. The process of Federal Government Contracting is never simple. If you’re possibly interested, I recommend you find your state or regional government bid assistance or contracting assistance service to help you with the process.

Thanks to Miss Dazey for prompting me to write about this.

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Each week, I collect the 10 best posts that I’ve read and share them with you here.

These posts focus on either choosing, or using, small business solutions online (or both!).

Enjoy!

Each week, I collect the 10 best posts that I’ve read and share them with you here.

These posts focus on either choosing, or using, small business solutions online (or both!).

Enjoy!
Matt Mansfield

Small Businesses That Understand Social Media
Link: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/small-businesses-that-understand-social-media/
My Take: Real-world examples rock! Here are two inspirational stories to kick-start your social media efforts.

61 Google Plus Tips, Thoughts, and Requests
Link: http://www.bloggingbookshelf.com/marketing/google-plus-tips-requests/
My Take: A very thorough look at Google+ uses, tips and more.

How to Embed Twitter Testimonials on Your Website
Link: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-embed-twitter-testimonials-on-your-website/
My Take: A how-to with step-by-step details.

The Linkedin Profile – Infographic
Link: http://blog.lab42.com/the-linkedin-profile
My Take: How are folks using their LinkedIn profiles? Find out with this infographic.

Save time by automating daily customer communications tasks
Link: http://www.pbsmartessentials.com/2011/05/save-more-time-by-automating-daily-customer-communications-tasks/
My Take: Communication is the key to engagement and automation is the key to communicating effectively to all of your customers.

How To Accept Credit Cards From Your Mobile Phone (Video)
Link: http://gearsofbiz.com/all/how-to-accept-credit-cards-from-your-mobile-phone/
My Take: Need to accept credit card payments while at client offices, art fairs or any other times you are on the road? Here is a step-by-step how-to video.

23 Ways to Leverage a Blog Post for Content for Marketing Success
Link: http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/23-ways-to-leverage-a-blog-post-for-content-for-marketing-success-043227
My Take: Make the most of the content you create with these methods for repurposing a blog post.

5 Steps to Establishing Yourself as an Expert Online and Off
Link: http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/07/establishing-yourself-as-expert.html
My Take: Establishing your authority as an expert is key – here’s how.

5 Great Tools for Social Media Teams
Link: http://socialmediatoday.com/leo-widrich/318151/5-great-tools-social-media-people-working-teams
My Take: I’m always looking for better ways to manage my social media efforts; here are 5.

Each week, I collect the 10 best posts that I’ve read and share them with you here. These posts focus on either choosing, or using, small business solutions online (or both!).

Enjoy!

Each week, I collect the 10 best posts that I’ve read and share them with you here. These posts focus on either choosing, or using, small business solutions online (or both!).

Enjoy!
Matt Mansfield
If you need a website, consider getting a free consult with Matt: Think Outside the Browser because your website should do more than sit there and look pretty. 

Each week, I collect the 10 best posts that I’ve read and share them with you here. These posts focus on either choosing, or using, small business solutions online (or both!).