Bike tourists. Photo by Baker County Tourism

Have you got a “coming soon” biking trail? Or a biking trail that is not completely finished yet? Well, don’t keep it a secret!

A couple of places I’ve visited lately, I’ve heard about trails that are in the partially-finished stage. Some segments of the trail have been improved, others are still rough.

“Once the trail is finished,” people say, “we’ll promote it.” 

“When it’s done, we’ll see a lot more visitors.” 

But why are you waiting? If people can ride or bike on even part of t now legally, then it’s ready enough to tell the world. Even if there are parts that are unimproved.

Not all bike riders are looking for perfectly smooth easy rides. There are plenty of riders out there who are thrilled by a challenging ride. You could be attracting all kinds of riders now, matching them up to the kinds of rides they can expect to find.

People who start coming to enjoy your trail now will feel like they’re discovering something new, a hidden gem. They’ll have a sense of investment as they come back year after year and see improvements. They’ll talk about you to other riders, gaining some status from being in the know.

Start talking about your not-quite-finished trail as an “emerging” trail. One that’s partly ready now and steadily improving.

Put it on trail listings and online maps as “partly improved.” (Just search your state name and “bike trails” or ask bikers where to list it.) Clearly mark which parts are improved and which aren’t. Be scrupulously honest about current conditions, so people know which segments are right for them. 

Bonus points: Include a link in your new listing for the donation page where people can help fund improvements.

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With some pride, I tell you that my hometown owns and runs a very excellent retirement community for the people who can still live independently. It is called the Homestead Retirement Community.

Since the economic downturn, our little town has been seeking ways to cut costs. Some short sighted people have been campaigning to sell The Homestead. They want to take it out of the public sector (where it is run for the good of the occupants and the community) and sell it to some for-profit corporation or LLC (which must, because that is the duty of a for-profit group, run it with the sole desired outcome of making money–as much as possible). Now, the City Fathers have actually taken that very, fateful step: the Homestead is for sale.

So, being me, I dragged out my soap box, dusted it off, climbed aboard, sharpened my “pen” and fired off a letter to my local paper.

I think it is horrendous that the City is trying to sell the Homestead.

It may be “good business” but it creates a lousy perception of what “society” (as in the social fabric of the community) is in Alva!

If memory serves me correctly, Alva voted for the Homestead because there was a lack of adult living space for those citizens who were not in need of rest home care but who were concerned to keep living alone. [I have, since this letter was published in the local paper, been set straight by a very highly placed source: “citizens did not vote; there was a survey with overwhelming positive results.”]

The creation of such a facility in Alva would enhance the community. It would show that the people of Alva valued ALL members of the community. It would allow more people to stay active in Alva, longer. It was to be a contract Alva made with its citizens.

Enid, Wichita, Oklahoma City [all places considered within driving distance] offered the type of facility that the Homestead became, but they require a BIG buy-in that is forfeited when the residents moved out. In addition, those other places are not Alva and Alva residents are in Alva because they want to be–their friends are here, their church is here.

I have taken several of my friends from out of town to see the Homestead. People from the Dallas-Ft Worth Metroplex, the Boston area, the Denver locale, the San Francisco region, all rave about how wonderful the place is. When I tell them there is no buy-in they all really do a double take in amazement. They bemoan the fact that there is nothing similar in their own geographic area or in the area where their aging parents live.

Alva could certainly do a better job of advertising the Homestead. Also, if residents could bring their pet–say one small dog or one cat or one bird–more would move to the Homestead earlier, at a younger age. Someone bringing a pet could pay more of a “cleaning deposit” than others; they could pay a little more each month for the pet. I am sure some set of rules could be worked out.

I really, firmly believe that Alva should re-think this business of selling such a fantastic asset as the Homestead. Finally, since the oil and gas boom has come to town, surely Alva can find the money to continue offering this jewel to our older citizens.

I have received some emails in response to my blog bemoaning the selling of the Homestead. I thought you might be interested.

While neither of these people are residents of Alva, they did get a very positive impression of Alva just from seeing the Homestead. I fear by selling, Alva not only loses a great community asset, but also gains some very negative opinion around the area.

I am going to leave-off the names as I have not asked and these people have not given me permission to use their names.

Dallas-Ft Worth Metroplex:

Holy S***!  I love that place.  When you took [my son] and I there, it was amazing.  I am so mad too!  Why can’t people just live without thinking they need to make more money!

Greater St. Louis Area:

So…Tell me what is happening now with Homestead? What is happening locally to keep it going…? PETS are a must-have. The folks sit there languishing in their homes, yet their pets give them pleasure, make life worth living, give them a companion.

By Shirley Bloomfield

Broadband discussion table at the Midwest Rural Assembly

It’s been called today’s “essential service,” with the transformative power of electricity and the telephone. High speed broadband Internet access (“broadband”) has already altered the way Americans live, work and play-and new applications for our daily lives emerge constantly. Broadband’s benefit to businesses, particularly small businesses, is clear, and while broadband can improve the lives of all consumers, access is especially important for those living and working in rural America.

Broadband access is critical for rural communities because it levels the playing field with urban areas. It helps rural-based businesses compete locally, nationally and globally, which aids economic development in small towns. Consider the farmer who monitors weather patterns online, or the rancher that can buy and sell livestock in markets far beyond his traditional geographic boundaries. Small business owners with limited human and financial resources can easily expand their customer reach through online advertising and transactions. As connected businesses expand their market presence, they can grow and create more jobs.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. As the speed of online services increases, applications will continue to improve and be used more extensively by businesses and consumers. Innovation encourages more innovation, and small businesses are among those best equipped to capitalize on the potential of online commerce.

Put simply, faster Internet speeds save businesses time and money. Broadband connections enable the processing of high volumes of online transactions-at rates that are considerably more efficient and cost effective than with slower speeds such as provided by dial-up access. Broadband makes online training and telecommuting possible, which can attract potential employees and keep shareholders informed. In some cases, communities with broadband access can develop a pool of online workers which could attract information technology-based businesses like software development firms. All of these things contribute to the competitive edge of rural and small town communities, giving them a competitive edge in attracting and retaining business, which is absolutely essential to their continued viability.

Community-based telecommunications companies provide this critical broadband connection to rural consumers, businesses, governments, and anchor institutions like hospitals, schools and libraries. Small businesses themselves-originally established to bring communications service to areas deemed unprofitable by the larger telecom providers, local telcos have a vested interest in the economic development of their communities. They partner with other local businesses and civic entities to enhance the lives of local residents, or undertake such projects themselves.

Take Spring Grove Communications in Minnesota, for example. The telco recently built a stadium-style, 200-seat 3-D capable cinema that includes a stage for theatre presentations, public meetings, and other forums. The facility also has 900 square feet of office space. In addition to the movie offerings, the cinema has been the site of training seminars, a regional economic development authority meeting and online gaming contests. Located on the town’s main street, the cinema has become a hub for activity and attracted interest to the area. In addition, the telco in 2004 purchased a blighted property next to its existing office and built a new headquarters building. But the facility houses much more than the telco offices, it is also home to the Spring Grove Public Library, a 24-hour fitness center (owned and operated by the telco) two community meeting rooms and three offices for local businesses.

Local telcos are also actively engaged in their communities’ public safety, telemedicine, and education initiatives. Grand River Mutual Telephone in Missouri teamed up with a local police department to combat crime by installing a system that allows law enforcement officers to monitor strategically-placed security cameras virtually anywhere in the telco’s service area-all made possible via a broadband connection, which Grand River provides free to member communities with a full-time city office. The company has been approached by several local business owners and farmers interested in placing cameras outside their own establishments to monitor the premises.

In the health care arena, Madison Telephone in Illinois recently initiated a community partnership with Community Memorial Hospital, which was experiencing extreme latency issues in data transmission due to an Internet connection it shared with other public facilities. Madison worked with the hospital to install a fiber optic network that provides an unlimited potential for bandwidth-rich applications like those needed to expedite the analysis and transfer of medial diagnostic information to larger hospitals and clinics in the region. Timely readings and diagnoses increase the effectiveness of the hospital’s treatment and ultimately improve the quality of life of patients.

The telco also collaborated with a local school district to provide a fiber connection which delivered enhanced data services enabling the school to pursue online education opportunities for students residing throughout its challenging rural environment. The design was even promoted by the Illinois Telephone Association as an example of how its members can create effective public-private partnerships to address community needs. SkyLine Membership Corporation in North Carolina also demonstrated a commitment to education in its community with the awarding of $55,000 in grants funding SMART Board Interactive white board systems which help teachers bring more interactivity and collaboration into the classroom. The telco has been praised by its community’s students, teachers and school administrators for helping to transform its schools into 21st century learning environments.

Despite the many challenges of serving these areas-notably the extreme high-cost of deploying network infrastructure over sparsely populated and often rugged terrain-local telcos are committed to delivering the reliable, high-quality broadband at affordable rates. To do this, small telcos rely on a proven system of cost-recovery mechanisms to ensure they are able to recoup the large financial investment necessary to build and maintain the networks that connect rural communities to each other and to the world.

A federal plan to expand broadband access to all Americans, known as the national broadband plan, threatens that cost recovery system and undermines small telcos’ own efforts to make broadband available throughout their service territories-and to continue the initiatives that create jobs and improve the economic standing of rural communities. The national broadband plan puts rural businesses at the risk of an extreme competitive disadvantage. As written, the plan dismantles the cost recovery mechanisms that rural telcos rely on to build and maintain their broadband-capable networks. It also proposes to fund broadband speeds in rural areas that are 25 times slower than those in urban areas. Small businesses that rely on affordable high-speed broadband should support their local communications provider’s efforts to alter the course of the national broadband plan. Doing so will help ensure businesses receive the broadband services they need to keep rural America a vital engine for innovation and prosperity.

Shirley Bloomfield is Chief Executive Officer of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, which represents more than 560 locally owned and controlled telecommunications cooperatives and commercial companies throughout rural and small-town America. Reach her at sbloomfield@ntca.org.

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He started with the story of a road trip with a big city friend. As they reached a particularly empty stretch of land, the friend asked, should we turn back?

Turn back? Victor asked, why would we turn back?

The friend said, there’s no buildings and no one around. What if we break down or have a problem?

Victor knew that someone would stop and help if they needed it. And that’s the essence of rural life; we depend on each other.

Broadband
Broadband is not just technology, Vasquez said. Broadband is also what it will do. What it will do that is the most important is change the education for children with few opportunities. It will change their education and how they view the world, he said.

Rural Industry
As the American auto industry suffered major losses, the USDA looked at the potential impact on rural communities, he said.

“In rural America, we are participating in the supply chain of major corporations,” Vasquez said.

Census Rural Data
Vasquez also participated in a round table discussion, answering questions from participants. One person pointed out that the latest Census did not collect income data for all communities. Many programs, especially through USDA, previously relied on Census poverty data. Most small towns that are covered by the less comprehensive American Community Survey will include projections based on a much smaller sample.

USDA and the Private Sector
When asked about the USDA’s role with private sector businesses, Vasquez pointed out the Office for Women and Minority Business, which is mostly focused on procurement.

Vasquez also brought up an idea that he seems to have spent quite a bit of time thinking about. In order for smaller businesses to compete for larger government contracts, they could use a cooperative model.

He gave an example of a large multi year auditing contract. While no one CPA firm in, for example, the Texas-Mexico border region could handle that contract alone, there are hundreds of qualified CPAs in the region. If a group of them could form a cooperative, they could compete for that auditing contract. The goal of achieving 20% of government procurement from rural areas would be easier to achieve if smaller firms could band together in this way.

“We need to explore policies that explore that rural-urban connection,” Vasquez said. “We have more similarities than differences.” 

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You might not have known but we had a Federal election here on Saturday. The outcome hangs in the balance (although I don’t think there are any hanging chads), with the likelihood of a hung Parliament – current Labor gov 73 seats, current opposition conservative coalition 73, give or take one or two, and the balance of power in the hands of three independents from rural or regional (ie not big city) electorates. One of them at least is from Central Casting as the rural eccentric, cowboy hat and all – Bob Katter. But crazy like a fox. (video)

A single-minded representative. A couple of pundits have said that Bob (member for the electorate of Kennedy) has 3 issues – Kennedy, Kennedy, and Kennedy.

The electorate of Kennedy is one third of the land mass of the State of Queensland and covers some 357,784 square miles.

The three independents have suddenly acquired a whole bunch of powerful friends who wouldn’t have given them the time of day last week.

In the election campaign the gov said they’d spend $43 billion on the new National Broadband Network (fiber all over this big country) and the Opposition said they’d do a $6 billion job and leave it to the private sector to sort out the details – wireless, satellite, yada yada yada. Lots of ignorance and fibs on both sides.

So guess what one of the key issues and thus bargaining chips is for the three blokes from the bush? Broadband!

Should be interesting.

Read more of the story in The Australian.

Des
–
Des Walsh
Business mentor coach & social media strategist
Manager, PitchEngine Australia & New Zealand

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The problem is the remaining 5.5 million households, almost assuredly rural. They are not included in the plan, and there is no “phase 2” or second plan or goal to get anything to those households above the “minimum” 4mbps goal. So the urban and suburban households get the 100 mpbs; the rural households get 4 mpbs. Should we really be happy with that 25x difference?

Right now, approximately 14 million US homes do not have access to high-speed Internet at all. Here’s a map of rural broadband availability in the south, created by Southern Business and Development based on data provided by the state economic development agencies.

Also, pay attention to the debate over proposed changes to the USF, Universal Service Fund. 

For an in depth look at rural broadband, from the perspective of an independent broadband provider, head to Daily Yonder for The Battle For Broadband.

“The best result for rural communities is to have locally-owned and operated broadband networks. The telephone and cable duopoly has a different vision of the future.”

What action are you taking to support equitable rural broadband?
For those outside the US, how is your country approaching the issues around rural broadband?

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By the Broadband for America Coalition

Not so long ago, broadband access to the Internet was reserved for the largest corporations, the most expensive colleges and universities, and the government. Since then broadband has gone from “can’t have” to “nice to have” to “must have.”

In urban areas, broadband is easily obtained from a variety of sources. For many people, they can choose between a high speed connection from their cable company or from the phone company though a fiber connection.

For those in a rural area the choices may be … zero, and too often are.

We all understand the economics of cable service. If you live out of town, it is likely that the population density is too low to make stringing a cable to your home economically feasible. If you live on a farm, you might not even have cellular service until you get closer to town, so even mobile access to the internet is not possible.

In today’s world of high-intensity graphics on websites – photos, drawings, and videos – a dial-up connection is simply not a good option. If your children need to use the internet to do research for school, they are at a disadvantage to their peers in town who have a high-speed connection. First of all, dial-up access makes page loading frustratingly slow; second, if you have more than one child, then you already know the unpleasantness which can result from one “hogging” the telephone line, whether for the Internet or for talking with friends.

The Federal Communications Commission recently published its long-awaited National Broadband Plan. The central theory of that plan is that broadband should be available to every household and every business in America.

Just saying broadband “should be available” is not the whole story. The rest of that goal is that broadband should be available to every home and business in the United States at an affordable price.

Early in the 20th century, it was decided that electricity was so important, that power companies would be subsidized to bring service to areas which were otherwise unprofitable. The same thought brought about telephone service to every household – even if, earlier in the century, the best service available was a “party line.” Try to explain that concept to your kids some day.

Rural communities have a willing ear in their State capitals and in Washington in bringing broadband service to their residents. But a willing ear has to hear a plausible request.

Local Chambers of Commerce have begun to work together to urge better broadband availability. If you are in agribusiness, then your local farm organization is probably looking at the same issues.

Every business has an association. These are generally hierarchical – a local or county organization is associated with a state organization which is affiliated with a national group.

If broadband access to the Internet is important to your business – and it is – you need to get involved with the appropriate organizations and lend your voice, your pen, and your checkbook to making certain that in 2010 no community is forced to function with the technology of 1930.

Broadband for America is a coalition made up of over 200 organizations ranging from independent consumer advocacy groups, to content and application providers, to the companies which build and maintain the internet.  Their mission is to make broadband access to the Internet available to every household in the nation; to provide data transfer speeds to make that broadband experience valuable to users; and to provide the bandwidth necessary for content providers to continue to make the Internet a cultural, societal, and economic engine for growth.

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The project was dreamed up at a pre-Christmas dinner party of political activists. And the campaign is seemingly everywhere. It has spread by social networks, and while I was in Dallas this week, I saw it on the local news.

Your local banks are important your community. The people who work there volunteer in your community. You see them in the homecoming parade. (When was the last time you saw your international mega-bank in your small town parade?)

Jack Schultz has reminded us that “too big to fail” should come with additional capital reserve requirements. I listen to Jack on banking issues because he serves on his local bank’s board of directors. He also points out, in an Sept 30, 2008 issue of the AgUrban newsletter, that the big problem for local banks is the huge burden of regulation that is out-scale for small banks. Also read the Nov. 18, 2008 issue, and the reader reactions in the Oct. 7, 2008 issue.

 So, what’s your take on the bank local initiative?

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I just leased a 2300 seat concert hall in Hutch for all of 2010. Gonna see if we can liven Hutchinson, Kansas, up a little. Thoughts?

No, really, I want your thoughts!

I love my hometown, but just like my kids, I know there is room for improvement.

Will the readers of Small Biz Survival help me with thoughts/discussion/ideas on what we can do with this new venture to improve on a great little town (population 40,000) in the middle of Kansas?

1. What kind of events should we pursue? Don’t come back with local community concerts, we already got those. Gimme something I haven’t thought of?

2. How do we get a younger crowd involved in community events?Short of booking Kenny Chesney (little short of being able to pay his fees?!?!?)

3. How do we use this facility to actually improve the economic situation of our community? (It’s in the dead middle of our downtown, this is a baited question!)

4. Becky McCray rocks and if she doesn’t include this on this blog post I will sue her for infringing on my copyright with unapproved editing. [I paid Cody $20 to put that in there. ;) -Becky]

Our site is at http://www.hutchhall.com kinda bare now. But its there.


Cody Heitschmidt
http://www.twitter.com/codyks
www.codytalks.com
www.whatsuphutch.com

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He showered us with ideas and examples gathered from 250 community visits, a literature review and the Michigan “Cool Cities Initiative” survey of young professionals. He grouped his results into success themes.

1. Strong engagement between citizens, community organizations, and government.
St. Joseph, MI, approx. 8000 pop, does neighborhood town hall gatherings of 75-120 people, in backyards all across town. They also produce a unified community calendar and hand-deliver it to residents.

Marshall (I think in Michigan) did an amazing community-wide visioning process. They created a “meeting in a box” to involve a big swath of the public. The result was a whole different data set of what was important to residents than the usual results from having the same ten people involved.

I loved how Coopersville, MI, uses their town entry sign to salute a different nonprofit, business person, and teacher each quarter.

2. Local Entrepreneurial Investment
Ivan said this is often initiated by a local entrepreneur, and that then served as a tipping point to get others to invest.

In New Carlisle, IN, Bill Owens expanded a floral shop into gifts, a furniture store, and transformed the community into a regional destination.

This can also be a community initiative, such as economic gardening to grow entrepreneurs, where you may have village staff used to make things work for business.

Ord, NE, is a ranching town. They developed a wealth transfer plan to strategically fund their community economic development initiatives. By asking people to give 5% of their estate back to the community, they now have $8.5 million in hand or in pledges.

Ivan also praised Fairfield, IA, the “Silicorn Valley” mentality that has a mentoring program, local angel and venture capital funds.

3. Willingness to Change
This may be the hardest part for many towns.

These new opportunities may require changes in all sorts of local laws, including zoning. Suttons Bay MI, was one of the first towns in North America to adopt form-based zoning.

Having dealt a bit with municipal zoning issues, I think this may be one of the biggest hurdles.

4. Actively pursues cultural elements to Economic Development
The most common cultural elements include the arts. Ivan mentioned many arts incubators and arts districts.

Bellow Falls, Vermont, used state housing rehab dollars to renovate an old building into an artist live-work facility.

This approach may not suit every town. Conservative, traditional towns may have conflict with creative artists. In Three Oaks, MI, the creatives are working to integrate with the existing parades and local celebrations. So it can work.

5. Cultural efforts reach out to community youth
New York Mills, Minnesota, established a cultural center that capitalizes on the natural amenities. Each artist to spend time in their space must participate in an outreach project, mostly with the school system. The local superintendent raved about the quality of artists brought in with this program, Ivan said.

6. A deliberate effort to engage youth
There is a continuum of efforts to involve youth. You can do things to youth, or do for youth, or do with youth, Ivan said. It can be tough to get a town moved along the continuum.

One idea was to provide disposable cameras to the youth. Ask them to take pictures of what they like and dislike about the town, and have them present it at a future meeting. Can you imagine the impact this could have?

7. Retaining Youth and Attracting Families
Create economic choices that are appealing to youth. Ord, NE, for example, has a youth entrepreneurship program starting in grade schools.

Brookfield gave kids a mailbox with their name on it. “Brookfield is always going to be your home town. Go out, explore, learn, but come home.”

8. Conviction that in the long run you have to do it yourself.
Cool small towns are not waiting for an outside savior.

Argonia, KS, lost their grocery store. But they built a community convenience and grocery store. They are now doing spec houses to sell at COST to new families. And if you enroll kids in the school, Argonia will even cover your closing costs.

The mayor of St. Joseph, Ill, said, “We’re always looking for projects we can’t afford.” That’s a great development attitude!

While I was live-tweeting this session, Grant Griffiths of Kansas asked about implementation. “Ideas are great and we have to have them. But how do we get them implemented in our rural towns?”

Ivan’s short answer on implementation was strong leadership. And don’t let the CAVE people (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) define the community.

The best advice for all small towns wanting to be “cool” maybe a quote from President Theodore Roosevelt. “Do what you can with what you have where you are.”

You can download Ivan’s presentation, “Can Small Towns Be Cool?”

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