The Growing Small Towns Show

One of the most common concerns we hear from small-town leaders and residents is the idea of the "brain drain," or the fear that young people will leave and never return. This is a very valid fear, but there is so much we can do about it! We are so excited to welcome one of our very own, Jaci Praska, who grew up in our small town of Oakes, ND, to talk to us about just how we get to keep people lik...

We've heard it, and you probably have too: "People don't want to move to rural communities." Or, "Talented people don't want to live in small towns."  Well, we're happy to say we know that's not true, and so does Alissa Henriksen. This episode is all about attracting talent to our small towns, how not to write people off, and why sometimes it's good for a business to run on vibes.  About Alissa: A...

Housing development is a key focus for many small towns, and for good reason: we need places for people to live! But, sometimes development can bring gentrification and sameness, which is not what we want for our small towns. Dylan Cinti combines construction with stewardship to restore and update small-town properties while keeping their heart and charm. About Dylan: Dylan Cinti is co-founder and...

We are kicking off the second part of Season 5 with a bang and sharing one of the coolest programs we've had the pleasure of learning about: Cardinal Manufacturing. Led by our guests, Craig and Tyson, Cardinal Manufacturing is a high school class *and* a full-fledged business that allows students to not only do actual work but learn the skills involved in running a business, from how to walk throu...

This is a first on the podcast and a great ending to the first part of Season 5 (we'll be back in September with more episodes!) One of Rebecca's children joined us for the funnest episode ever about small towns through the eyes of a kid: what he loves, what he'd like to see, and the frustrations he experiences as a kid in a small town. About Carter: Carter is Rebecca's 13-year-old son, the middle...

This episode is about the rural lawyer shortage, why it's happening, why it matters, and what we can do about it. This is a new-to-us topic, and we're so excited to share it with you because it's way more important and impactful than we realized. Lawyers have a crucial place in our small communities, from providing essential government services like prosecution to supporting small businesses and h...

We focus a lot on belonging here at Growing Small Towns, and one of the most important groups (that sometimes gets neglected by traditional community development) is youth. Kids need to feel at home and welcome in our small towns, too, and when our young people are engaged, active, and have good places to hang out with their friends, the effect is like a shockwave in the best way. Today's episode...

When we think of politics, I think a lot of us feel intimidated or like there isn't room for us in the process–we're not "political," or we don't have time, or we're not the right kind of person. Today's guest shows that being an unlikely politician may actually be the best thing, and why we need more real people in politics (yes, that means you!) About Erin: Erin Oban is a lifelong North Dakotan...

Meredith is easily one of the most interesting and unusual people we've ever had on the podcast, and her story is a testament to just how much small-town living appeals to all kinds of people, even people that you may not expect. This episode is all about how Meredith–a Marin County, California native–found herself in rural South Dakota, and what we can do to make our small towns more welcoming fo...

This episode is a listener-submitted Small Town People Problem, and it's one we hear a lot: What do we do about local negativity? How do we deal with it when the people in the town are the ones being the Negative Nancies (or Negative Normans), and what can we do about it? We are joined by the amazing Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer, who, as it happens, is someone who knows quite a lot about local apathy and...

We underestimate the power of love–or maybe limit the places where we deem it appropriate–but that's silly because love is the most powerful motivator on the planet. We believe that love can actually be the key to unlocking the answers to some of our biggest questions and challenges in small towns. In this episode, Rebecca talks about all the ways that love can make our communities better places a...

Each season, we're going to have a few episodes that directly address *your* small-town people problems. For our first one, we're starting off with a question from a listener about one of the most common difficulties in small towns: what to do when the neighboring towns treat each other as competition instead of working together. Sometimes we'll bring in a guest, sometimes it'll be a solocast with...

The "Returner" phenomenon is a very real thing: people leave their small towns as young people and come back later when they're ready to settle down, and there is a huge opportunity for both the returners and the small towns they're coming back to–but we're not always open to these boomerangs. This episode is about inviting people back, creating spaces, and growing as communities so they everyone...

Deb Brown is one of our favorite people in the world, and we're so glad to have her on the show with us to share her words, her new book (!!!) and all the work she's doing to help small-town dreamers just like you. This episode is all about approaching big problems in small towns in idea-friendly ways and starting small to build big. About Deb: Deb Brown is a dynamic small-town advocate and commun...

Joy can feel a little soft, or a little touchy-feely, but helping people find joy is a catalyst for positive change. This week's guest is all about helping teachers and educators with professional development that focuses not on a list of things to do, but rather helps them re-discover their joy and passion for teaching and learning. The best part? This episode applies to anyone who is making a di...

Awhile back, we were having a conversation with Brodie on the podcast and he mentioned that he hires based on a "vibe check," and given his success not only hiring but keeping long-term employees (many of whom are Gen Z *gasp*) we needed to bring him on to hear more about just what what means. This episode is all about how to hire and lead well for small businesses in our small towns and why cultu...

It feels like you can't go five minutes without hearing about AI–and often for good reason! We're back with our favorite AI expert to talk about a "Hope over fear" approach for integrating AI into how we do life and business. We often face a skills and resource deficit in small towns, and AI can be an incredibly useful and powerful tool for bridging that gap, helping us work smarter, not harder, a...

Our small towns are ours to save–no one is coming to do that for us! However, sometimes it can feel nearly impossible to make changes in our small towns. Our guest this week has a different approach, and it's different than The Way We've Always Done It but it really works, and is more accessible to small-town changemakers who want to get things done.  About Becky:  Becky McCray believes small town...

One of our favorite things is the impact of great employers on individuals, small towns, and the overall culture of the communities they operate within, and this episode is all about what happens when an amazing work culture fosters amazing things outside of the workplace. Amanda Gregory and Joe House both work for a manufacturing company called Design Ready Controls and co-founded MAKE (Manufactu...

Friends and neighbors (virtual and IRL): we are so excited to share this episode with you. Now, we know we say that every week, and what can we say, we're excitable folks. But we're *extra* excited for this one because it's the first podcast of the rest of our lives, and we're introducing the new format and components of this show, and giving you a peek behind the curtain into the behind-the-scene...

  Our last Moments of Growth episode is about another event that will become at flagship bit of programming for Growing Small Towns: the Rural Mastermind.    The first Mastermind group was inspired, in part, by Rebecca's own experience with a Mastermind. Really good Mastermind groups can be pivotal and life-changing, and she wanted to bring that same experience to entrepreneurs and small business...

When we were thinking about the kinds of people we wanted to talk to for this Moments of Growth series, we knew we needed to include people who have been impacted in some way by the work we do at Growing Small Towns.    Some of these guests use Growing Small Towns in an official capacity—they have a formal role in economic or community development, or something similar, and have utilized our progr...

This Moments of Growth installment features some of the businesses/organizations and the people in them who are aligned with our beliefs and our hopes for GST.   These are people without whom we could not do this work, and we want you to know them!    This work can feel very lonely and so gathering up people who are passionate about the same things makes it feel less so. The links to all of their...

When we first launched Growing Small Towns, we did it with a bus tour. We loaded a bunch of business professionals from the Fargo-Moorhead area onto a bus and held them hostage for eight ours (okay, not really, they were completely willing participants!) and we did a tour of the area, visited local businesses and our building, and had such a ball that a bus trip of some sort has become a repeat ev...

This episode of the Growing Small Town Show features three humans that have, in some way, shape, or form, partnered or funded some of the work that we do here at Growing Small Towns. Because we're a nonprofit, we are always looking for partners who believe in this work as much as we do to help make it happen.    Our philosophy is "Work with the willing and love the rest," because we don't believe...