The rugged independence of rural life provides a fertile environment for entrepreneurship, but rural economies depend on more than just sheer grit and determination to succeed. Rural areas make extensive use of government programs. Rural broadband is partly made possible by a federal subsidy. More healthcare services are available thanks to a $400 million per year rural … [Read more...]
Episode 10: Role of Government
There are many ways government policies and programs can affect rural businesses - both at the national and local level. In this episode of the Rural Business Show, we explore some of them with two experts. Diane Smith is an entrepreneur, policy expert and writer who lives in Whitefish, Montana. She is the CEO and Founder of American Rural, a coalition seeking to foster … [Read more...]
Rural, and making it: Bringing manufacturing to small towns
He charged companies whatever he wanted as a freelance industrial designer, but he left it all to become part of a rural manufacturing renaissance. It started five years ago, when after 15 years of designing, Jonathan Baker said goodbye to his comfortable career in New England and moved to the Pacific Northwest to design and manufacture his own product in a town of under … [Read more...]
Episode 9: Manufacturing
In this episode, we look at what it takes for a manufacturing business to succeed in rural America. We talk with two experts in Washington state. One is helping rural manufacturers find innovative ways to help their business excel. The other is an entrepreneur who left the big city to start a company that designs and builds all of its products under one 1920s barn roof, in a … [Read more...]
Episode 8: Rural Healthcare
What does it take to keep a rural hospital strong? We explore that question with three experts in Episode 8 of the Rural Business Show. We first head to Linton, Indiana, to talk to Greene County General CEO Brenda Reetz. She has taken that hospital from being millions of dollars in the red to recording a small profit. With very careful budgeting and management, Greene County … [Read more...]