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 towns have a future. She watches the global trends in the economy, technology, and society, then she delivers practical steps rural people can implement right now to shape the future of their town. Her advice is based on her real-world experience as a lifelong entrepreneur and cattle rancher. She makes her home in Hopeton, Oklahoma, a town of 30 people. She doesn’t just talk about rural issues; she lives them.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why we need to empower small communities to save themselves

• Why our solutions have to change with the world around us

• Becky’s “Start Small” approach to community transformation

• How starting small can lead to tackling the big stuff, too

Links + Resources Mentioned: 10 Years of Rural Insights webinar: https://learnto.saveyour.town/10-years-of-rural-insights-webinar SaveYour.Town Website: https://saveyour.town/SmallBizSurvival.com: https://smallbizsurvival.com/Invite Becky to your town or event: https://www.beckymccray.com/Becky’s only current social channel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beckymccray/ Episode 49 with Becky and Deb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMo32Jzm5aM

  Small-Town Shout-Out! This week, we’re celebrating Lander County, Nevada. They’re making the most of a recent boom in gold mining (yes, seriously) and focusing on how to make their community a better place to live by making it easier for people to clean up and improve their own property. They’ve got a unique approach that we love: with funding from the county, everyone in the community gets up to $500 to the local hardware store to get what they need to improve their property, whether it’s paint or weedkiller or something else. We love tailor-made, interesting approaches to small-town improvement so all the confetti for Lander County! New Segment Alert! We think some of the best parts about radio shows and podcasts are listener call-ins, so we’ve decided to make those a part of the Growing Small Towns Podcast. We really, really want to hear from you! We’re introducing two new parts to the show: 

1. “Small town humblebrags”: Call in and tell us about something amazing you did in your small town so we can celebrate with you. No win is too small—we want to hear it all, and we will be excessively enthusiastic about whatever it is! You can call in for your friends, too, because giving shout-outs is one of our favorite things. 

2. “Solving Your Small-Town People Challenges”: Have a tough issue in your community? We want to help. Call in and tell us about your problem, and we’ll solve it on an episode of the podcast. Want to remain anonymous? Totally cool, we can be all secretive and stuff. We’re suave like that. 

If you’ve got a humblebrag or a tricky people problem, call 701-203-3337 and leave a message with the deets. We really can’t wait to hear from you! 

Get In Touch Have an idea for a future episode/guest, have feedback or a question, or just want to chat? Email us at [email protected]

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