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Just another typical Millennial
January 20th, 2009 by Mike Knutson
Should we be surprised when a seventeen year-old high school student buys a grocery store in his rural community? We assume all young people just want to get out of town, go to college, and then get a good paying job in the city? But is that really the case?
After watching this CBS News story about Nick Graham, a young entrepreneur from Truman, MN (pop. 1,259 ), I had to stop and rethink that assumption. Hopefully after watching it, you will too.
Before going further, I want to credit the Blog for Rural America for bringing the story to my attention. The video is a year old, and I missed their original post a year ago January. Luckily their latest update caught my attention.
What’s happened in the last year
The Blog for Rural America’s post is worth checking out, but here are a few brief highlights about what’s happened with Nick during the last year. First, Nick purchased two more grocery stores in rural communities. Sounds like things were going well, but he recently sold all three to another grocer who gave him a good offer. Nick has since moved on to a sales career and is currently helping out a struggling daycare center.
While some people probably think Nick is the exception among young people today, I don’t. If we step back and examine the Characteristics of Gen Y, we see that Nick fits the mold of his generation:
- He wants to make a difference, and believes he can. (Nick even has plans for additional business ideas for Truman.)
- He’s tech savvy. (Apparently, he’s written a software program to help the daycare.)
- He thinks like an entrepreneur. (I don’t think any additional comment is needed on this subject.)
So if Nick is not the exception, why aren’t more Millennials jumping into business in our rural communities? And if they have a natural inclination to be entrepreneurs, is there something rural communities can do to encourage them to start businesses in rural communities?
This needs more study
Admittedly, I don’t have the answers to these questions, but I’ve already started digging into some research. I’ll share whatever I find, and I hope you’ll help me out by sharing what you think. Because I can’t stop thinking about it, however, I’m going to throw out some ideas that I have on the subject.
My List of Recommendations
- First, make sure Millennials know that your community needs them. To quote Nick “I’m here hopefully to make a profit, but I’m not here for that in and of itself. I’m here because this community needs me to be here.” (from the CBS video) We hear Millennials are motivated to help change the world. Spread the message that saving the world can begin with saving their hometowns.
- Second, celebrate young entrepreneurs. I’d highly recommend that you forward Nick’s story to every high school teacher and administrator you know. Encourage them to have a conversation with their students about what Nick has done. But don’t just leave it to educators. Take the responsibility yourself to seek out young people in your community and engage them in a conversation. You could be the spark they need.
- Third, be ready to step up to the plate financially. You may not personally be in a situation to help out financially, but someone in the community surely is. In Nick’s case, the Truman Development Corporation lent him $22,000. I’m sure it was scary lending that much money to a 17-year old, but somebody has to do it or there’s no sense in encouraging young people.
I arrived at these ideas without any “deep thinking”, so feel free to criticize or clarify them. Like the topic of “third places,” I believe we need to build a deeper conversation on this subject. I hope you’ll add to this by identifying other ways rural communities can encourage the development of entrepreneurs like Nick. After all, the futures of our rural communities may depend on it.
Other resources on Nick Graham
- “Stocking Shelves, Restoring Hope“ at American Profile
- “17 year old reopens Truman’s Main Street Market“ at The Free Press, Mankato
- “Teen sells Truman store he saved“ at The Free Press, Mankato
- “Graham moves on to other ventures” at The Fairmont Sentinel
Tags: cbs news, entrepreneurship, Gen Y, grocery stores, Localism, millennials, retail, Truman MN, Youth
Posted in Economic Development, Gen Y, In the News, Quality of Life, Rural | Comments (
2 )
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:33 pm
As a school administrator in rural South Dakota I was inspired when I saw this video. Most youth I work with would love to find a way to stay in thier rural communities, but have a hard time finding a way to make that a reality. I believe that we need to listen to the youth and understand how much passion they have for thier communities we can find opportunities for them.
January 23rd, 2009 at 5:58 am
Lori,
Ahhh, Listening to young people! But don’t we know what’s best for them? (sarcasm)