When the Verso Paper Mill in Bucksport, Maine, closed its doors in 2014, it was a devastating blow to the small community of 5,000. Nestled alongside the Penobscot River on the way to Acadia National Park, Bucksport draws summer tourists, but up until December 2014, it was a paper mill town first and foremost. Bucksport lost 40 percent of its tax base with the closure of the … [Read more...]
New approaches to the rural grocery store
In rural communities around the country, independent grocery stores are at risk. Retiring grocery store owners are struggling to find buyers, while low prices at big box convenience stores add increased pressure to already slim profit margins. In rural Kansas alone, 105 grocery stores shuttered from 2008-18. More than half of those communities are still waiting for a store … [Read more...]
Redefining the ‘Small Town Mentality’: Matt Dunne on Burgeoning Rural Digital Economies
Recession, automation and globalization have created a divide between the economies of urban and rural places. Together these forces have led to population loss and “brain drain” as college graduates strapped with student loan debt moved to bigger towns with more job opportunities. That too becomes a catch-22 — less local talent means less opportunity for entrepreneurship and … [Read more...]
Resilience in rural America: Three towns changing the narrative
A flawed, oversimplified narrative about rural America has taken hold. You’ve probably heard a version of it already: Rural America is poor. It’s white. It depends on factory jobs, agriculture and mining. It’s deteriorating. It needs to be saved. This depiction casts a long shadow over rural places that don’t fit the narrative, and it effectively prevents productive … [Read more...]
A common-sense approach to reinvigorating small-town America
As a small town revitalization expert, Deb Brown is filling vacant storefronts in small towns across America. Her recipe for success is simple: Involve locals, break the rules, talk about ideas, and no matter what, do not form another committee. “Kill the committees! What do you need a committee for? Kill them all. Just go do the work,” Brown told Ben Rowley on the Rural … [Read more...]