Rural Business HQ

The American Rescue Plan set aside $7.5 Billion in relief funds for rural healthcare providers. Even as the money was made available, however, many towns across the U.S. were rejecting this and other Federal Relief Funds, “because they couldn't think of a way to spend it.” Others knew how they wanted to spend it, but […] The post Episode 45: Rural Strategies for Utilizing Federal Funding appeared first on Rural Business.

Scott McReynolds is the executive director of the Housing Development Alliance (HDA) in Hazard, Ky. The HDA's programs have helped more than 2,900 low-income people in rural southeastern Kentucky become new homeowners, make home-improving repairs, and break free of debt. The organization builds homes, provides housing counseling to prepare people for homeownership, offers home repair, […] The post Episode 44: Housing Development Alliance appeared first on Rural Business.

Meredith Gernigin is an independent lead generation strategist focused on building small and mid-cap businesses into legacy assets. How? She creates demand with curated, done-for-you marketing tailored to each client's geographical needs. Her goal? To make businesses worth selling (or passing down) by increasing project leads so they can book and charge more. In the […] The post Episode 43: Rural Marketing appeared first on Rural Business.

Brad Fourby is the Founder of Leafy Green Farms based in Pittsburg, Kansas. The farm uses shipping containers and vertical hydroponics to deliver hyperlocal vegetables and herbs to area businesses and residents. The farm grows and harvests weekly all year long. Climate does not affect the farm as it grows many specialty herbs and vegetables […] The post Episode 41: Leafy Green Farms appeared first on Rural Business.

Elizabeth Philbrick co-owns EsoTerra Cider with her husband Jared Scott in Dolores, Colorado, population 825. The business crafts hard cider using apples from historic local orchards. Just two years old, the company is finding a foothold reviving what they say was once rural America's drink of choice. Like with many small businesses, the pandemic created […] The post Episode 40: Building a Cider Business in Rural Colorado appeared first on Rural Business.

A rural developer is building a town square from scratch in the small town of Mapleton, North Dakota. Justin Forde recently completed the first building in the Maple River Town Square development. The six-acre project is selling commercial space to businesses looking to serve the town, which has seen its population double over the last […] The post Episode 39: Rural Commercial Real Estate appeared first on Rural Business.

Community Heart & Soul is a resident-driven process that engages the entire population of a town in identifying what they love most about their community, what future they want for it, and how to achieve it. Developed and field-tested over a decade in partnership with more than 90 small cities and towns across America, Community […] The post Episode 38: Community Heart & Soul appeared first on Rural Business.

In 2006, Kansas State held listening sessions across the state aimed at identifying challenges facing rural communities.  During these sessions, the need to support rural grocery stores rose to the top.  Supporting rural grocery stores is important because they: Provide jobs and contribute to the local tax base. Act as community hubs for residents to […] The post Episode 37: Rural Grocery Initiative appeared first on Rural Business.

Matt Dunne is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI). The Center is bringing together a network of innovation hubs across rural America through a team of experts. The organization focuses on digital economic development, rural opportunity zones, entrepreneurial investment, and broadband expansion. Dunne has an extensive background in rural […] The post Episode 36: The Future of Rural Work appeared first on Rural Business.

Is the common view of rural America outdated? Are the strategies needed to build today’s rural economies actually being implemented? Hanna Love, with the Brookings Institution and Mike Powe, with the National Main Street Center, recently collaborated on a five-part research series on rural revitalization. They argue that our attention should not be focused on […] The post Episode 35: Resilient Strategies for Rural Economies appeared first on Rural Business.

Deb Brown offers programs on various small-town challenges and has traveled extensively through rural America helping communities on their path to vitality. Her keynotes, webinars and workshops help small towns figure out what to do with empty buildings, improve marketing and economic development, and overall become more innovative and idea-friendly. She has helped all kinds […] The post Episode 34: Building Possibility appeared first on Rural Business.

Michelle Rathman is the founder of Impact! Communications based in Geneva, Illinois. She started her business in 1989 as a Chicago-area public relations, advertising, and marketing firm. The company represented clients from a variety of industries and provided high-level PR services. This included booking published authors on national television shows, like the Oprah Winfrey Show. […] The post Episode 33: Overcoming Challenges in Rural Healthcare appeared first on Rural Business.

Nisan Trotter is an entrepreneur, public speaker, author and owner of TROTFITNESS in Lewisburg, Penn. (population: 5,730). Trotter was raised in Silverhill, Ala. (population: 997), where he was brought up by a loving support group of family and friends. He said he cut his teeth on the pews of the local church and learned about […] The post Episode 32: TROTFITNESS appeared first on Rural Business.

Duivenvoorden Farms is a third-generation family-owned dairy farm in northern California. Originally started by partners Jerry and Rita Duivenvoorden, and John and Nel DeJong, Duivenvoorden Farms has been operating for over 50 years. Owners Marc and Lori Duivenvoorden took over the farm in 1993 – doing everything from custom farming, running a beef herd, raising […] The post Episode 31: Duivenvoorden Farms appeared first on Rural Business.

Heath Guinn is an entrepreneur, community advocate and strategist based in Northeast Tennessee. Guinn has launched multiple successful companies and his most recent project is Sync.Space, an entrepreneur center with accelerator programs geared toward startups considering Northeast Tennessee as a place to grow or expand their business. The idea is to connect innovative companies with […] The post Episode 30: Sync.Space appeared first on Rural Business.

Community newspapers have served rural areas for hundreds of years, providing news and useful information to small-town residents. Local editors and reporters attend meetings, sporting events, and other community gatherings and provide an ongoing account of what’s happening in their town. Most papers are mainly supported by advertising dollars, but with economic struggles in many […] The post Episode 29: Rural Journalism appeared first on Rural Business.

Grace Pshigoda and her husband Ashley have worked hard to renovate a historic building in their hometown of Spearman, Texas. They turned the top floor of the 100-year-old structure into a three-room bed and breakfast and are opening the main floor for community meetings and events. The process wasn’t easy as the couple was told […] The post Episode 28: Renovating a Small Town Building appeared first on Rural Business.

Rachel Granstra is a young mom and business owner living with her husband, Brennan, and twin daughters in northwest Iowa. She’s been in the region her whole life, benefiting from growing up in a tight-knit rural setting in a faith-centered home. She always knew she wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps and be able […] The post Episode 27: Little House on the Feedlot appeared first on Rural Business.

Kristin Thompson’s passion for plants and the empowerment of growing her own food started from a young age and has been calling her ever since. She believes it is one of the most grounding and self-empowering things a person can do for themselves and wants to share it with others through highly nutritious organic produce. […] The post Episode 26: A ‘Tuttie Fruttie’ Farm appeared first on Rural Business.