Posts Tagged ‘Nebraska’

3 Reasons to include Social Media in your People Attraction strategies

May 20th, 2010

Last summer, I met an individual who had moved from California to rural South Dakota.  She was charged with setting up an office in the region for her employer, but the field of potential communities to locate was pretty open. 

So, how did she choose?  Part of the answer rested with a blog she discovered; she felt the blog helped her connect with people of similar interests and values in one community without having to move there first.  But it also provided a more authentic view of the community than possible through a traditional community-based website.  This isn’t a knock on traditional community-based websites.  It simply acknowledges that even at their best, websites only tell part of the story.  And they don’t usually help you meet people.

Is this an isolated incident or does  it happens more often than we think? I don’t have research to validate an answer, but I believe the latter is more accurate.  So until I find that research, I’d offer the following abbreviated list of reasons why I believe communities should include social media in their people attraction strategies. 

1) Markets are conversations.  I like to think of people attraction strategies as a new form of community marketing. But it’s marketing none-the-less. To be successful, we need to pay attention to marketing principles.  For several years now, I’ve been a huge fan of the Cluetrain Manifesto, which advocates that “markets are conversations.” In a nutshell this concept rests on history: markets developed as places where people came together to exchange products and ideas. Conversations (not advertising) preceded every market transaction.

For a brief time in human history, markets moved away from conversations towards one-way communications highlighted by advertising. The authors of the Cluetrain Manifesto, however, argue that the Internet facilitates virtual markets where open conversations about products emerge.

If this is true, as I believe it is, then we need to base our people attraction efforts on building open conversations about our communities. The use of Social Media is a perfect way to make this happen.

2) People look to the Internet when considering community, but they generally don’t trust traditional community based websites as much as their information from their peers.

First, we know from research conducted by the Center for Applied Rural Innovation at the University of Nebraska that people are using the Internet as a key source of information before moving to a community. (source: Rebecca Vogt, “Engaging your Community to Attract and Retain New Residents, #18 ) This research echoes research conducted by the Segmentation Company on how college-educated young adults find information about cities. (source: Segmentation Company, “Attracting College-Educated, Young Adults to Cities,” slide # 9)

Second, we know that people increasingly distrust advertisers and are turning to peer reviews. (One source suggests only 14% of people trust advertisements, while 78% trust peer recommendations - source: Socialnomics, “Social Media Revolution“).

Maybe it’s a leap to say that people don’t trust information on traditional community based websites. But I think it’s fair to say that community websites would be more effective if people perceived them less as an advertisement and more as a conversation. Social media is a step in that direction.

3) Online Social Networks help build face-to-face community.  Until a couple years ago, I thought of Facebook and MySpace users as geeks who wasted time on the computer. In my mind, spending time on a social network came at the expense of face-to-face interaction.

As I migrated into the world of social media, I began to rethink this assumption. But it wasn’t until I read Connected: The Surprising Power of Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives that my attitude completely flipped.

In the book, the authors cite research conducted in a Toronto suburb in which some residents were given access to high speed internet and early social networking tools while other residents were not. Among its findings, the study concluded that people with access and tools were more likely to: (1) know fellow residents by name and talk to them more; (2) visit their neighbor’s homes more often; and (3) stay connected to individuals who had moved away from the community.

There’s a lot to think about in the study’s findings, but one of my take-aways is that people attraction isn’t just about getting people to move to your community. It’s also about helping them stay connected while they are a part of the community. And should someone move away, the opportunity for them to stay connected and to be an advocate for the community is strengthened through social networking tools.

 

 Photo Credit:  lumierefl - Flickr

 

 

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Posted in Community Development, Community Engagement, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (0)

Pumping Sunshine: the Ord, NE way

February 23rd, 2010

Have you been thinking about developing a blog as a part of your community development strategy?  If so, I highly encourage you to check out Ord Pumping Sunshine, a blog published by Caleb Pollard, Executive Director of Valley County Economic Development & the Ord Area Chamber of Commerce.

I’ve never met Caleb in person, but I’ve been familiar with Ord, Nebraska since the late 1990s when both Ord and Howard were active with the Rural School and Community Trust.  Since that time, I’ve been impressed with the community’s entrepreneur support system and continued investment in young people.   There’s no doubt they are one of the rock stars in rural community development. 

Caleb has been the executive director of the chamber and development group for about a year and one-half.  He brings with him experience with sales and marketing in the technology and health care fields, which might explain his zeal for blogging.  Caleb recently answered the following questions for me, which I hope will inspire more rural communities to recognize the value that blogging offers. 

 

What’ the purpose of Ord Sunshine Pumping, and why use a blogging platform?

First, I love to write, especially about issues involving rural development.  It’s my passion and I find blogging is a great way to share a story about rural issues.  I feel we have a great story to share in Ord, because of the tremendous success we’ve had in the last 10 years and blogging is such a great social tool to share it with, like communities facing the same issues we’ve had.  Since we’ve had this great success, blogging makes it easy to take those models, ideas, examples and overall rural economic philosophy and share it with the world.

More importantly, however, is the that the blog allows me a direct conversation with my community, in a dynamic and social way, to weave the “what” of what we are doing with the “why” of its importance.  There is no filter, and with social media like a blog, you can connect it to a greater whole and then you begin to see why the work we accomplish in Ord is so important to all rural communities.

We often hear from community leaders who say they don’t have time for writing on a blog. How do you deal with time issues?

Everyone has time.  Saying they don’t have time is a total cop-out.  Many people don’t like to write, and that’s totally okay.  But using the “I don’t have time” routine is just an easy way out.  As for blogging, I find it is a great outlet for me to tell our story.  But making time is about prioritizing my schedule to make it work.  Plus, blogging cuts down on a ton of extra time I spend with press releases to local and statewide media, along with our monthly, quarterly and annual reporting.  Blogging actually saves me time.  Prioritizing my schedule means something has to lose or it’s delegated to one of my staff.  I’m blessed to have great staff that gives me the ability to dedicate my time to blogging.  Plus, I find when you’re passionate about something, getting it done isn’t too tough.

When did you start the blog and what have you learned about the process of operating a community blog since then?

I’ve been blogging on and off for about 6-7 years now, and our current blog has been in operation for a little over a year.  What have I learned?  First, building a robust conversation about *positive* things is much harder than talking about the negative.  Second, finding local contributors that are willing to take on the workload of actually doing the writing is difficult.  I’d love to have more contributors on our blog and we’re just starting to expand our efforts this year.  I anticipate having 2 additional contributors by year’s end, but like you said above, it’s a time sink.

Finally, I think honesty is appreciated.  While I’m the Chamber dude, and pumping sunshine is part of my modus operandi, being honest about my love for rural communities, especially in Nebraska, has won our blog a lot of fans.  Authenticity counts BIG TIME.

Do you have any stories that exemplify the impact the blog has had on your work?

Yes, two specifically.  First, in Spring of 2009 I wrote an innocuous post about wine tasting in Central Nebraska.  While some of the wine aficionados may bat an eye at this, we really do have some fab wineries in Central Nebraska and their wine is pretty darn competitive to what I’ve had out of Chile or Napa.  Seriously.  This one post here earned us a lot of publicity.  A writer from NPR happened to be driving through the Great Plains and picked up on the blog post and bam!  We had national coverage.  The piece ran on NPR here: 

The other post I would say exemplifies our “what” and “why” would be this post on our 100 new business in Valley County (and Ord) since 2000.  Of those 100, 78 are still in business, lending to the power of dedicated economic gardening.  We spend a lot of time and effort grooming entrepreneurs and building supportive programs to keep their businesses in operation.  To say we’ve seen 100 new businesses in a county of 4500 and a community of 2200 is straight amazing.  That post can be found here.

Photo Description:  The above photo show FFA students from Ord H.S. who participated in a project with the local economic development group and an ethanol plant.  It’s an example of Ord’s continued commitment to engage the youth in their community.

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Posted in Community Development, Community Engagement, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (1)

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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Posted in Community Development, Gen Y, In the News, Rural, Youth | Comments (1)

The “Buffalo Commons” Revisited

June 24th, 2009

The Buffalo Commons, a 1987 article by Frank and Deborah Popper, is a proposal to abandon the Great Plains and return the area to native short-grass prairie. As you might have guessed, the Poppers’ idea has been less than welcomed by residents of the Great Plains. Their idea has recently been challenged by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) study that suggests young people and families are returning to the plains.

UNL undertook their study ( “Today’s Buffalo Commons - Not what you might expect” ) to explain the unexpected population increase in the Nebraskan panhandle. They found that the area had an encouraging influx of new, young inhabitants.

How can we bring this encouragement to other areas? The study not only points out facts, but brings hope to rural areas. There can be in-migration. People will come. However, it is going to take some active recruiting and providing ongoing support for new families once they arrive.

Whatever a community’s views and actions toward newcomers may be, towns need to realize that they need people. Accepting and welcoming new, young people will bring life and vitality to a community. A new generation will thrive in rural areas; they are looking for places to raise families (which is good news for rural schools too).

Small towns can get the entire community involved in the recruitment process. Tell young friends and family all the great things that are going on in your small town. Yes, young people need jobs, but they are looking for a “community” to call home - not just a workplace.

If we were to do a similar study, what would we find about your community? It’s time to tell the Poppers and ourselves that people are coming here to live. Rural life on the plains is flourishing; we just need to think about attracting people in new ways.

 Other resources

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Young Professionals Groups — quick facts

February 20th, 2009

Here are a few quick topics on young professionals groups that you may be interested in:

North Dakota formed a statewide initiative to connect Young Professionals Groups.  I wonder how their efforts have paid off?  

People have developed a lot of creative names for their groups, but the one I like the best is Bowman Young Energetic People.  I think this is a great name because it suggests that anyone can belong (i.e. you don’t have to be a “professional”) and that members are energetic — no coach potatoes allowed.  (The only online source of information I found on this group was with the YP North Dakota Network.)

The Iowa legislature created the Generation Iowa Commission to “advise and assist in the retention and attraction of young adults to Iowa.” They published their research in an on-line pdf that’s worth checking out.   Besides having an interactive website, the commission is made of young people (all under age 35).

If your community is considering the formation of a young professionals group, I’d recommend you check out YP Commons.  In a way they are a virtual young professionals organization.  They offer some networking opportunities and advice on group formation.

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Posted in Community Development, Gen Y, Leadership, Quality of Life, Rural | Comments (3)

What’s entrepreneurship got to do with it?

November 19th, 2008

It’s Day 2 of HomeTown YouthForce.  I have to admit that a two and half day conference is a bit long for me, but this afternoon I was re-energized in a session hosted by Gregg Christensen.  Gregg is the Entrepreneurship and Career Education Specialist State Coordinator for Nebraska.  He introduced what may be the most relevant tool for rural communities around entrepreneurship that I’ve seen. It’s called ESI.

ESI: EntrepreneurShip Investigation is a 4-H curriculum initiative that several organizations in Nebraska have developed for middle school aged children to introduce and develop entrepreneurship skills.  The program includes hands-on activities that encourage experiential learning, community connections, and a CD-Rom application that integrates technology.

What’s most exciting to me is the role this curriculum could play in community development initiatives. What better investment can we make than encouraging our young people to follow their passion, with the understanding that it is something they can do at home?

I’d encourage you to check it out.  I’ve already bought my copy.

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Posted in Community Development, Economic Development, Training and Events, Uncategorized, Youth | Comments (3)

How many youth does it take…

November 18th, 2008

“How many youth does it take to turn a rural community around…” No, this is not an opening line to a joke, but rather a message both about the importance of involving young people in community and understanding your community’s current reality (the facts and figures, so to speak).

As Mike mentioned in an earlier post, I’m at a conference this week called HomeTown YouthForce: Engaging the Entrepreneurial Generation (a training being put on by the Heartland Center for Leadership Development and Center for Rural Entrepreneurship).  The Heartland Center and Center for Rural Entrepreneurship have been doing great work in the community development field for years, and I am excited to be here learning with the best!

One of the most interesting facts of the day was this: 52% of youth in Nebraska picture themselves living in their hometown or the area surrounding it in the future (survey sample size is currently 2,153).  This data comes from a survey that Craig Schroeder, Senior Associate at the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, has developed for high school students.  The survey also inquires about student interest in owning their own business and measures youth satisfaction with his/her community.

52% is a big deal.  What’s perhaps more interesting about this study is that it also defines what Craig calls a “Youth Attraction Formula Benchmark.” This benchmark defines the percentage of young people a community needs to attract or retain to stabilize its population.  These benchmarks vary based on an individual community’s statistical trends, but for many communities, the figure is somewhere between 10 and 15 percent.

So, that’s good news for rural communities.  You don’t have to attract or retain half of your graduating classes each year to stabilize population, you only need 10 or 15%!  It also makes me wonder: if more than half of our students want to return home someday, what in the world are we doing (or not doing) that is resulting in return rates of less than 10 percent in many cases?

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Northeast Housing Initiative Interview

November 12th, 2008

One of the reasons we created the blog was to help people network and learn from each other.  That’s exactly what I did back in 2003.  After hearing about the innovative housing work being done by Northeast Housing Initiative (NEHI) of Nebraska, I gave Linda Kastning, NEHI’s director,  a call.  In a nutshell, NEHI had created a “purchase, rehab, resell” housing program, and I’d heard it had helped a lot of families get into homes.  Linda was extremely gratious with her time and knowledge, and we’ve stayed in periodic contact ever since. 

When some questions about rehab housing in rural communities recently emerged, I instantly decided that the best way to answer those questions was to try to connect Linda to a broader audience.  What you find below is a short interview with her.  I’m sure she’d be willing to answer any questions you have, either on the blog or via the contact information provided below.  I’d also encourage people to share other succussful programs that they are aware of.

 

Please describe what you do at NEHI

NEHI helps people buy their first home through our purchase/rehab/resell program. The buyers find their lender and their house.  NEHI purchases the house, assists the buyer in getting the rehab work done, and then sells the house to the buyer for the cost of the house plus the rehab.  At closing, NEHI comes in with up to 20% of the selling price as down-payment assistance, which means the lender only has to loan 80%.  NEHI’s loan is 0% interest and is due in full 30 days after the buyer 1) pays off the house, 2) sells the house or 3) defaults.  If the buyers live in the house until it is paid off, they have equity in the house to borrow the amount of the loan.

The beauty of this program is that it keeps the buyers’ payments affordable for 30 years so their life can go through the normal ups and downs, and the house’s major systems are in good working order when the buyer moves in.  Our hope is that they will have no major expense for 5-10 years.

Why did you develop the program? 

The main reason Northeast Housing Initiative (NEHI) started was Northeast Nebraska had no ongoing housing programs. Until about 1993, the only housing programs available were through CDBG grants, which were awarded to city and county governments who can prove that at least 51% of their population is below certain income guidelines, and which must be spent within a year or two. Once HUD HOME funds and Nebraska Affordable Housing Trust Funds became available, we could have more continuity to our programs.

The person who started our organization and program saw that in order for a village to keep its school, they needed to attract young families. In order to attract young families, they needed to make buying a home easy. So they started out with a down payment program in the village. But then he saw that in order to run a program efficiently, we needed a population base of at least 20,000 and in order to do that, we needed to be regional. So we started out with three counties and have now expanded to six. We try to take all the legal requirements and simplify them, leading our customers through the maze of buying that first house.

 

How do you finance your program? 

 

Key elements to our program’s success are:

 

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Northeast Housing Initiative - A success story

November 7th, 2008

I’ve been working on an interview with Linda Kastning of Northeast Housing Initiative (NEHI) of Allen, NE.  Until that’s ready, Linda gave me permission to reprint a story from NEHI’s upcoming annual report. 

Since 2000, NEHI, Inc. - Northeast Housing Initiative has been strengthening our communities through the development of affordable housing in our six-county region. NEHI buys houses that need improvements, makes the necessary repairs, and then resells the properties. Prospective first-time homebuyers in the area learn about the responsibilities of homeownership through NEHI affiliated homebuyer education classes and access HUD HOME and Nebraska Affordable Housing Trust funds for down-payment and closing costs for their purchase through NEHI’s programs and the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. 

Local communities and families benefit from NEHI’s work. One example can be found in Wakefield, where Jesse and Jena Kaufman purchased their home. They moved in with their son, Timothy, in December 2007 after a major repair funded by NEHI. In the older, two story home, Jesse completely resided the exterior with vinyl instead of painting and saved enough money to replace the enclosed back porch with a deck, replace the water heater and install a dishwasher. Windows and doors were replaced and code standards were met. “It was a lot of work, but it was worth it,” Jesse said. 

Besides funding the home improvements, NEHI also provided down-payment assistance to help the young family. “We couldn’t have bought a house without NEHI’s help. We didn’t have any experience working with lenders and realtors,” Jena said. “We needed someone to talk to when there were unexpected expenses and decisions to make about the house and the closing. NEHI was there to help us make those decisions.”

You’ll learn more about Northeast Housing Initiative’s work in my future interview with Linda, but I want to lift out two important points from the above story.  First, because NEHI established a code of standards, we know that this family is living in a quality home.  Second, NEHI provided valuable assistance to the homebuyers in the lending process.  My guess is that if we had more organizations like Linda’s, we wouldn’t have this mortgage foreclosure crisis.  Keep up the good work, Linda.

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Posted in Community Development, Housing, Rural Life | Comments (1)