Posts Tagged ‘Gen Y’

Symbols of Entrepreneurial Spirit

February 26th, 2010

I believe in the power of symbols.  The wind turbines we put up in Miner County back in 2001 served as a symbol of inspiration as we “reimagined” the future of our rural community.  They became a powerful visible reminder of the work we were trying to accomplish.

I was reminded of the power of symbols yesterday during two presentations at the Launch10, an entrepreneurship conference by Dakota Wesleyan University.  The first reminder came from keynote speaker Sheena Lindahl, and the second came from three young South Dakota entrepreneurs, Matt Douglas, Matt Smart, and Lezlie Kaitfors.  Both presentation offered symbols of entrepreneurship and success for the largely college-aged crowd in attendance — but in very different ways.

Sheena’s presentation revolved around taking limited resources and turning them into something big.  To make her point, she drew on her personal story of growing up in poverty in rural New Hampshire (or Vermont, I forget which). 

Sheena described herself as an average high school student who always wanted to go to New York City, despite being afraid of it.  Facing her fears (a common theme throughout the day), Sheena enrolled at New York University and hopped on the bus for NYC - even though she didn’t have the money to pay for the semester.  Through determination and hard work, she consistently overcame every obstacle put in her path.  Today she’s a Gen Y entrepreneur rock star. She’s definitely someone every young person in the audience can aspire to become.

While a symbol herself, what struck me most about her presentation was how NYC served as the symbol that inspired her.  She was going to “make it” in New York City, and that thought drove her.  

Although unintentional, I’m afraid that young people in the audience may also interpreted NYC as a symbol for success.  In other words, they have to go off to the big city to achieve their dreams of entrepreneurial success.  Maybe that’s just my interpretation, and I know Sheena didn’t intend it.  But as a rural community fanatic, I worry about the constant messaging that preaches this idea.

Personally, I was more inspired by the round table involving the young South Dakota entrepreneurs.  After briefly highlighting their personal stories, the session turned into a question and answer period.  In contrast to other speakers during the day, these three entrepreneurs were not polished presenters who made their living telling others how to become entrepreneurs.  They shared an authentic and inspirational message about what it’s like to be young South Dakotan entrepreneurs. 

I was particularly struck by how well they answered a question about what South Dakota high schools should be doing to help develop future entrepreneurs.  I want to share their responses with you:

Through these and other answers, the three reminded the audience that young people don’t have to go out of state to be successful entrepreneurs.  That’s a message that excited me!

But what’s more powerful?  Images of NYC or stories of young people?  I’m afraid that NYC’s visibility is naturally more powerful.  I guess that’s where Sheena’s message of overcoming adversity comes back into play.  Those of us with a passion for South Dakota have a responsibility to share stories of successful South Dakota entrepreneurs. 

In the future, we’ll try to do a better job of that here at ReImagine Rural.

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Nurturing an Entrepreneurial Generation

January 18th, 2010

We know that Gen Y is an entrepreneurial generation.  But what can we do to take advantage of this opportunity in our rural communities?    

While thinking about the above, I felt inspired to compile a list of 5 Thoughts about Entrepreneurship, as it applies to young people.  While not particularly profound, I think the value of the list is that it speaks to the importance of events like Launch ‘10 that connect entrepreneurship, education, and community involvement:

Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, SD created the Launch Conference five years ago with the goals of accomplishing much of what I’ve described in the list above.  This year, their one-day conference features keynote addresses from Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour (EET) co-founder Sheena Lindahl and EET facilitator Arel Moodie (two highly accomplished young entrepreneurs); and Dr. Kay Palan, the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Iowa State University.

One of the things I like about the conference is that it brings together entrepreneurs, faculty, and community development professionals.  It fits well with the Rural Learning Center’s guiding principle that “It’s all connected.”

I have the date of this year’s conference (Feb 25th) marked on my calendar.  If you’d like to learn more or register for the conference, I’d encourage you to check out the conference website by clicking here or by clicking on the advertisement in the right sidebar.

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Reinventing restaurants (and rural communities)

January 13th, 2010

There’s no doubt that good restaurants are important to rural communities.  They make rural communities more attractive places to live.  They often serve as “informal meeting places where community is built” (e.g., third places).  And they often improve the local economy by giving people a place to spend their money locally. 

My guess is that Reuben Wentz must appreciate the importance of a good restaurant.  The 93-year-old retired farmer recently gave $500,000 to his hometown of Napoleon, North Dakota (pop. 857) to create a new community-owned restaurant.   

The restaurant replaces the old, deteriorating building that housed the community’s previous community-owned restaurant.  It sounds like they’ve got a good thing going with the restaurant.  Its features include:

It’s also home to the Logan County Economic Development Offices, which set up the foundation that manages the restaurant.  I bet many of Napoleon’s neighboring communities are envious.

It’s important to attract people

It sounds like the community is excited about the restaurant.  The Bismarck Tribune quotes foundation board member Jennifer Schumacher:

“It was such a moment of joy. I thought - I think we all thought - this is such a turning point for Napoleon,” she said. Without much debt to service, the new venture should succeed, she said.

“We have a new drug store, young people are moving in and wind towers are going up. With such a beautiful restaurant here in Napoleon, we can do it,” Schumacher said. (source: Lauren Donovan, “Napoleon benefactor builds restaurant for community” Bismark Tribune, 12-2-09) 

That’s economic development

Any community seeking to attract young people (Gen Y) has to evaluate the availability of local food services.  It’s something they look for when choosing a community to call home. 

With this in mind, I’ve been thinking about how the Napoleon might leverage this restaurant effort for further economic development.  Two thoughts have emerged:

First, what can be done to foster a true “third place” atmosphere, making it a place where people of all ages and backgrounds meet for conversation?  We know that conversation between people of varying backgrounds in third places can lead to greater community trust (e.g. bridging social capital).  But third places don’t magically emerge.  They take thoughtful consideration and effort.

Second, could the community-owned restaurant be leveraged to create a local foods initiative?  Perhaps, they could make a commitment to buying locally raised foods.  The kitchen could also be a “shared use kitchen” that helps entrepreneurs develop new food products. 

Both of those ideas will take more effort and possibly more financial capital.  They may or may not be right for Napoleon.  But rural communities need to think like this to maximize their economic development efforts. 

Small towns also need people like Reuben Wentz who are willing to invest in their community’s future. 

Note:  Thanks to John Crabtree of the Center for Rural Affairs for making me aware of this story in their January newsletter.   Readers may also be interested in past ReImagine Rural stories about community owned grocery stores. 

Photo Credit:  FreeWine - Flickr  

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Can we turn a desert into an oasis?

January 12th, 2010

At ReImagine Rural, we talk a lot about the transformation of rural communities because we believe that our rural economies have to be something different than they were in the ‘50s and 60’s.  We often  focus our energy  around how we can turn our rural communities into places where young people want to live. And sometimes, we look to urban resources to learn what’s most attractive.  

But while working on another project, I was recently reminded that there are dangers lurking for communities who try to become something they are not.  In her book, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, Kathleen Norris writes:  

Making the Plains a home means accepting its limitation and not, as many townspeople do even in drought years, watering a lawn to country club perfection.  Making this all we need means accepting that we are living in an arid plains of western South Dakota, not in Connecticut (which has the rainfall to sustain such greenery) or Palm Springs (which doesn’t but has the money to pretend other otherwise).”

As Norris explains, we once tried to become something we were not by transforming the unbroken sod of the Great Plains into 160 acre farms, which the reality of our arid climate would never sustain. It’s a lesson in geography that more community leaders need to understand if they hope to lead wisely. 

But does that mean small, rural communities can’t change?  By trying to learn from urban principles that are popular with young people, are we trying to turn a desert into an oasis?

I don’t think so, and I don’t believe that’s what Norris implies.  Change is possible, but we must first understand ourselves as well as the places we call home.  Otherwise, we’ll end up as something that conflicts with the realities of our cultural geography. 

And that’s part of what Norris’ book can help us accomplish.  Norris taps into her experience as a newcomer to the small, rural community of Lemmon, SD to write this book.  In it, she provides insights into how small rural communities operate that often get missed by those who have lived in small towns their whole lives.  It’s something we can all learn from. 

Photo Credit:  Larry Page - Flickr (Al’s Oasis in Chamberlain is South Dakota’s most famous oasis.)

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5 Ways Rural Communities can get ready for Gen Y

December 11th, 2009

This is the 3rd in a series of posts offering my thoughts about an article Gwendolyn Bounds wrote for the Wall Street Journal titled “Green Acres is the Place to be.” Her article highlights a small but hopefully growing trend of young people moving to rural places.  When I started writing, I only intended one article.  But the story continues to garnish my attention. (You can read previous post here and here.)           

The people highlighted in the Bounds’ article all purchased small tracts of land in Rural America. They are raising animals, growing crops, and hunting animals for food. It’s interesting to me that none decided to live in a town or hamlet. 

I think I understand why these young people, called Gen Y, are attracted to purchasing a house and land in the countryside, and I think it’s a good thing - at least in the Midwest, where the countryside has been depopulated.  I do recognize the potential problems around urban sprawl and the conflict between hobby farms and production agriculture.  But in general, I think the positives outweigh the negatives in my part of the country. 

I also think there’s an opportunity for small, rural towns to position themselves as places where Gen Y wants to move. Previously, I’ve written about that subject in a series of posts tagged “attracting college educated.” Regardless of whether they live in town or outside, however, I think there are things that rural communities can do to prepare for and maximize the movement of younger people to Rural America.   And I’d like to share my thoughts on that subject below.

 

5 tips for preparing your community for a Gen Y

Following the theme of understanding the characteristics of Gen Y, I’d recommend rural communities consider the following activities:

1) Help create economic opportunities. Yesterday, I highlighted that individuals moving to rural places were seeking a variety of opportunities. The subject is mute if economic opportunities for the rural transplants don’t exist. To some people that means rural communities need to recruit businesses for new job growth. And that’s good strategy for some communities. But I’ve long been a fan of entrepreneurship training programs, like economic gardening. Developing and marketing a good entrepreneurship program could be a boon for attracting Gen Y. After all, Gen Y is known to be very entrepreneurial. (Read more about Gen Y’s entrepreneurial tendencies here and here.) 

2) Make sure your community has third places that help introduce newcomers. We’ve talked previously about the importance of pubs, coffee shops, cafes, and community centers that function as “informal meeting places where community is built.” (Ray Oldenburg, The Great Good Place) If you don’t believe me, check out this blog produced by Gwendolyn Bounds about a little pub in Garrison, NY. Bounds credits the sense of community she experienced while visiting the pub as part of the reason she moved to the region from NYC. 

3) Develop good broadband internet capacities and wi-fi hot spots. No doubt about it; Gen Y is very techy. In fact, some experts say young people look at technology like cell phones and other wireless devices as extensions of themselves. That’s hard concept for many older people to grasp, but not having good Internet access in your rural community will drive young people crazy - and possibly somewhere else.

4) Help young people figure out “What am I going to do in this town?” In case you haven’t noticed, Gen Y is very social. Granted, some of that social activity is on-line, but they love to get together for a good time as well. That’s what led college student Morgan Andenas to write a blog post last summer titled “What am I suppose to do in this town?” in which she recommends inviting young people to be a part of community projects that include social opportunities. Another idea for helping young people fit in can be accomplished by creating Young Professional Groups.

5) Rethink how you “engage” Gen Y in your community. Too often, older generations treat young adults like kids, which is a real turn-off to them. They firmly believe they have something valuable to contribute, and are sometimes offended when you don’t ask them to do so. I still think this post titled “How to Engage Gen Y in Rural Communities” is an excellent guide for any person or organization that wants to make younger people feel a part of their organization or community. Younger people today want to feel valuable.

 

Before wrapping up this post, I’d like to make one more point.  I realize that most small town residents in the Midwest and Great Plains probably don’t believe there’s a significant opportunity to attract Gen Y to rural communities through entrepreneurship, third places, technology and engagement.  I too have some doubts about it growing into a full-fledged movement.  But I do believe we can make our rural communities more attractive to younger people if we are intentional in our efforts.  In fact, I believe that’s something we have to do in order to have a future at all. 

And if you want a proof that intentional efforts of this nature can be successful, take a look at what they are doing at Energize Clinton County in Wilmington, Ohio.  Their efforts are already starting to attract Gen Y.

Photo Credit: Daquella manera - Flickr 

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Gen Y and Rural Living: A natural fit.

December 10th, 2009

Gwendolyn Bounds’ article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Green Acres Is the Place to Be” highlighted a small but hopefully growing trend of young people who are moving to rural places.  I spotlighted Bound’s article here, and I’ve been wondering ever since, “What is really going on here?  What is it that is attracting Gen Y to rural places?  (Note: Bounds’ article focuses on urban residents called “ruralpolitans” who move to rural places, but young people appear to be a major focus of those currently moving. )

First and foremost, we need to recognize that the ruralpolitans Bounds describes are moving to rural places because they sense an opportunity for them. Brandon Peaks speaks directly to this issue in the last paragraph of the WSJ article:

“I can’t tell you how many people at work say, ‘Man, I’d like to do that,’ “Mr. Peak says.  “Everybody is looking for the next opportunity for hope.”

Peaks, an Intel Corp technician in Phoenix, sees opportunity in working with his parents on a dairy operation they recently purchased in Missouri.  It means he will escape the uncertainty of the job market in his industry, and will enable him to move from a city that has seen a major housing market collapse. (Admittedly, most of us Midwesterners probably see dairy farming a risky venture with milk prices as low as they are, but at least Peaks will be able to see his wife and children on a regular basis, something that doesn’t currently happen.)

Other rural transplants see different types of opportunities:

It is easy for urban dwellers to see these opportunities when the urban economy has tanked. Losing one’s life savings and seeing the housing market crash have a funny way of doing that. But I think it goes deeper.  Why is it specifically that Gen Y is recognizing opportunities in rural places?  To answer that I think we have to look at what experts have to say about Gen Y. 

Characteristics of Gen Y

There’s no shortage of social commentators who have created their own lists of Gen Y characteristics.  I’ve written about them myself on several occasions.  (See here and here as examples.)    What I’ve attempted below is to connect these characteristics to why people of this generation might be moving to rural places. 

Looking at the trend in this way suggests to me that the movement is about more than just a reaction to the economy.  The economy may have encouraged young people to rethink their future, but the opportunities in rural places that are attractive to Gen Y have always been there.  Perhaps they just weren’t looking. 

 

Other Resources about Gen Y

Photo Credit:  newagecrap - Flickr

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Look out Rural! Gen Y’s on the move

December 9th, 2009

In an article titled “Green Acres is the Place to Be,” Gwendolyn Bounds of the Wall Street Journal hints that we might expect to see a movement of Gen Y to rural places.  Motivated by an uncertain economy, the young people Bounds describes in her article are jettisoning their hectic urban lives by purchasing small tracts of land in Rural America.  They are, in Bounds’ eyes, the young modern-day equivalent of “Mr. Douglas” of TV’s “Green Acres” fame. 

But what’s really their motivation?  Were they burned out by the fast paced Park Avenue life, like Mr. Douglas? Partly.  Several do admit to aspiring to a slower pace of life. 

But more significantly, many of these rural migrants feel burned by the Park Avenue investors who contributed to our country’s recent economy collapse by turning investment banking into something more akin to investment gambling.  If there is any single factor linking all the rural migrants together, it would have to be fear over how quickly they saw investments disappear in the recent economic recession. 

For that reason, many of the young people Bounds describes are purchasing land in rural places instead.  They see it as a more stable investment than either the stock market or the overinflated urban housing market from which they emerged. And if things go really bad, at least they’ll still be able to grow their own food.

It’s tough to tell if the people highlighted in the article suggest a growing movement or a temporary reaction, soon to reverse course.  Personally, I lean toward thinking it has a real opportunity to grow into a movement.  But then, I’ve always been known as guy who believes “the glass is half full.”

 

Photo Credit: Jakesmome - Flickr

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Don’t Ask, Don’t Care

September 9th, 2009

Have you asked a young person lately what they think of their community or what they’d like to change to make it a more attractive place for young people to live? 

If you haven’t, you are not alone.  According to a study of young people in rural northeast Nebraska, only 29% of the 1,833 students in the study responded that they had been asked questions of this nature.

That begs the question: if we don’t ask, does it mean we don’t care?

I don’t think so.  It’s my observation that rural residents care deeply about the future of their communities and recognize how important young people are to that future.  The problem is that we don’t know any better.

 

But not knowing is not an excuse!

That’s why I’ve been waiting impatiently to read Hollowing out the Middle, ever since I learned about it back in April.  The authors studied the “brain drain” issue in a rural town in Northeast Iowa, and concluded that rural residents play a significant role in driving young people away.   

The book, which was recently released, should arrive on my doorstep by Friday.  (Thank you Amazon.) Even though I’m sure it will offer insights into how we can better retain our young people, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that one of the first steps is to show young people that we care about them.  We may think that young people already know this, but when we don’t ask questions like “what do you want this place to be like?” they tend to forget. 

It may be a few weeks before I’m able to finish Hollowing out the Middle, and I’ll share my insights with you here.  What I haven’t shared with you yet, however, is that there’s more to the story about Nebraska’s youth. 

 

The Rest of the Story

What’s remarkable about the Nebraska youth study is that despite not being asked about the future of their rural communities, most still want to return.  According to the Nebraska Community Foundation (who helped fund the study along with The Connie Fund), 51% of those surveyed could see themselves living in the area in the future if career opportunities are available.  And only 12% felt that their rural community was too small.  (See page 6-7 of the Summer 2009 issue of the Nebraska Community Foundation’s newsletter). 

That news leaves me wondering what the results would be if we started asking young people what they want their communities to be like, and then made  them a part of the effort to achieve it. 

 

See also:  Omaha World Herald article titled “Neb. kids like hometowns.” 

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Gen Y Entrepreneurship in rural communities

August 25th, 2009

The economy is down.  There’s little debate that it has affected both rural and urban communities.  But a recent story in the Sioux Falls Argus leader made me wonder if many rural communities are missing an opportunity to stimulate their local economies by engaging Gen Y entrepreneurs. 

Titled “Daring spirit in dire economy,” the article tells of several Gen Y entrepreneurs who started businesses in Sioux Falls - despite the down economy. 

Several of the individuals started their businesses out of necessity - they lost their jobs.  Several located their businesses in their homes.  Most displayed the confidence and “go-get ‘em” attitude typical of millennials.   And all hope to take advantage of lower start-up costs.

The article also tells us that the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce intends to help these aspiring entrepreneurs by holding a series of round table discussions on financial and legal questions.  What a great idea!

But what are rural communities doing to help young people? 

I’m sure most of us in Rural America can identify one or two millennials who are living in the big city, even though they are either unemployed or underemployed.  And I bet many of us know young people who have experience in businesses that could benefit from the lower start-up costs and living expenses rural communities offer. 

So, what’s stopping us from giving them a call, and letting them know that we both we want them in our communities and that we are willing to offer some assistance to get their venture off the ground? 

If your community is already doing something to reach out to young entrepreneurs, I hope you will share your story.  We can all benefit from a little inspiration.

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Youth: Renewing the Countryside

August 18th, 2009

My roots as a high school teacher draw me towards seeing young people as a big part of the answer for the future for rural communities.  All too often, however, we celebrate young people who succeed in urban areas, while neglecting those who thrive in our own rural communities.  That’s why books such as Youth: Renewing the Countryside are so important. 

Produced in a partnership between Renewing the Countryside and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), the book highlights stories of entrepreneurial young people (under age 35) from all fifty states who are doing something special in their rural communities. 

Jan Joannides of Renewing the Countryside offers a more complete description of the book in the video below.

I picked up a copy of the book at the Midwest Rural Assembly, and quickly fell in love with it.  It’s the type of book that could inspire other young people to see a future for themselves in rural places.

That thought caused me to reflect on work in Howard High School (SD) in the mid-1990s.  Recognizing that young people know more about life in urban areas than in their own communities, we attempted to embed the study of place in our classes.  For instance, one exceptional teacher, Mary Stangohr, used the book Broken Heartland to help students understand how the changing face of agriculture was affecting their lives.  Powerful learning.

After reading Youth:  Renewing the Countryside, I’d recommend it to any innovative high school educator, seeking to inspire their students.  Just reading and discussing it in the classroom would be awesome.  But I could see teachers using it to inspire their students to produce a book of their own with stories from their community or region.  After all, as Jan highlights in the video, Youth was produced by young people.

But barriers, perceived and real, will make this unlikely.  The biggest barrier may very well be cost: where does a teacher find the money to buy books like this in times of ever tightening school budgets?

If you are a high school teacher and would like to engage your students in this type of project, I’d recommend that you make your desires known and then work to make it a reality.  My guess is that if you let enough people know about your desire to inspire young people, someone or some organization will eventually hear and agree with you that this is an important project.  It won’t be easy.  But being a part of the solution for your community will be well worth it.

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