Small ideas, groups can yield great successes – Published in the Sept. 3-9 edition of the Johnston County Sentinel

By drivendigital | September 16, 2020

This is a great article from Deb Brown with SaveYour.Town:

“You’ve seen the press – urbanites are looking at rural areas to move to. Lower cost of living, better schools, more space to live, work and play and the big one being touted: work from home.

Some town officials are spending big money on recruiting those folks to move to their communities. Some economic development folks are trying to recruit a big company/business to come to your town.

Then there are the Idea Friendly people, like you. You realize that there’s a missing piece in this puzzle. It does sound great to have more people live in our towns. But but but … what do you have to do to make them happy?

Involve the people who already live in your town. Get into action now. Stop waiting for someone to call a meeting, write a process or tell you what to do. Here’s just a few ideas:

  • make a list of recreational places in your area 
    • send it to everyone: Chamber, city, social media
  • ask your Facebook friends who the artists are in town and create a Pinterest page showcasing them
  • make crack art 
    • not kidding here – take some paint and dress up the cracks in your sidewalks
  • start a hashtag for your town and share it with everyone to use
  • pull weeds from public flower beds
  • ask people what they want in town
    • then share our newsletters that tell the stories of other towns

Encourage people to talk about what they’re doing! Get your locals involved. Start making your town the place locals love. Begin with the small steps.

If your locals love your town and are open to new ideas, other people will want to live there.”

So what is it that you would like to see here in Johnston County? What small steps are you taking? Are you being an Idea Friendly person, or a formal meeting and processes person? Either is okay, but it’s more fun to chat and discuss over coffee than in a board room. Join us for Women’s Biz Connection on September 29th at noon or send a Facebook message to ask for help. You don’t need money or permission to get started – you can make this community a better place no matter where you’re starting from or how many people you get involved. Small ideas and groups can yield great successes or small failures. Share those with us either way!

Welcome to the Chamber, Edward Jones – Brooke Tidwell, Financial Advisory and Blue River Nutrition!

-Jordyn Frazier, JCCC Executive Director

Posted in Member News