Joy can feel a little soft, or a little touchy-feely, but helping people find joy is a catalyst for positive change. This week’s guest is all about helping teachers and educators with professional development that focuses not on a list of things to do, but rather helps them re-discover their joy and passion for teaching and learning. The best part? This episode applies to anyone who is making a difference, pushing for change, and looking for joy. About Darcy: Darcy is the Founder of The Educators' Lab USA and a board member of The Educators’ Lab Global. After more than a decade in the classroom teaching English and theatre, Darcy now creates the type of PD she always wanted, driving change in education and empowering teachers as changemakers. Through her work, teachers reconnect with their purpose, rekindle their spark for teaching, and reignite the JOY of teaching and learning. She specializes in professional development design and implementation, interactive strategies for the classroom, meaningful tech integration, and building relationships with students. Darcy holds a Master’s of Secondary Education, is an ISTE Certified Educator, an experienced international presenter, and believer in the power of education. She lives in Fargo, ND with her husband Jeff, and triplets, Kurt, Ben, and Cora. In this episode, we cover:

• The inspiration for the Joy Lab

• Why AI isn’t going to replace teachers

• How helping teachers find JOY is so important

• Why competition and “good enough” can be antithetical to positive change 

Links + Resources Mentioned: The Educators' Lab The Teacher Empowerment Incubator Joy Labs   Small-Town Shout-Out! This week we’re shouting out Julia McCray and The Market Village in Tionesta, Pennsylvania. The Market Village is a seasonal shopping pop-up “village” that has become an incubator for new small businesses, made even better by being made “cute af,” in Julia’s words. It’s a creative solution to several problems, is prettier and more interesting than a vacant lot, and serves the community well. We love it! 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]

 

Subscribe + Review

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Growing Small Towns Show! If the information in our conversations and interviews has helped you in your small town, head out to Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver relevant, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more small-town trailblazers just like you!

Awhile back, we were having a conversation with Brodie on the podcast and he mentioned that he hires based on a “vibe check,” and given his success not only hiring but keeping long-term employees (many of whom are Gen Z *gasp*) we needed to bring him on to hear more about just what what means. This episode is all about how to hire and lead well for small businesses in our small towns and why culture is important, even when it’s not formalized with a mission statement on a wall. About Brodie: Brodie Mueller is a longtime Friend of the Pod and is our podcast producer and editor! He also happens to be the owner of Market on the Plaza in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Brodie has lived in Aberdeen for the past 8 years and owns the downtown business Dakota Territory Brewing Company.  Dakota Territory is the first and oldest brewery ever in Aberdeen and services the community by creating small-batch craft beer, root beer, and cold brew coffee.  Brodie has a Masters Degree in social work and has been involved in community building both downtown and city-wide through different groups and projects. The brewery is involved with various community projects and fundraisers throughout the year, gaining a reputation as a business that supports the community.  As a fellow downtown business owner, Brodie is committed to making downtown better by supporting new ventures and The Market on the Plaza is a shining example of bringing new and innovative services to the neighborhood.

In this episode, we cover:

• How Brodie uses a vibe check when hiring new employees (and what that even means)

• Why we can’t expect employees to love a small business as much as an owner or founder–and why they don’t need to in order to love the work

• How to give employees ownership and inspire buy-in

• Babysitting vs. management

Links + Resources Mentioned: Brodie’s past episodes: Episode 127, Episode 82, Episode 72 and Episode 146The Market on the Plaza website: https://themarketontheplaza.com/ The Market on the Plaza Instagram: @themarketontheplaza The “Posing with Coffee Like Men Pose with Fish" Reel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFLIOHYuMI7/

  Small-Town Shout-Out! This week, we’re high-fiving Chris Border and his entire community in Hope, Kansas. Chris is a new resident of the town, and he told us that despite living there for only two years and having no previous ties to the community, that little 200-person town welcomed him with open arms and made him feel like he belongs. This is a big deal because we know more often than not that in small towns, you can live there for years and still be “new,” which doesn’t exactly make people feel like they’re home. Thank you, Hope, Kansas and Chris Border, for giving us all more hope! 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]

Subscribe + Review Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Growing Small Towns Show! If the information in our conversations and interviews has helped you in your small town, head out to Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver relevant, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more small-town trailblazers just like you!

 

It feels like you can’t go five minutes without hearing about AI–and often for good reason! We’re back with our favorite AI expert to talk about a “Hope over fear” approach for integrating AI into how we do life and business. We often face a skills and resource deficit in small towns, and AI can be an incredibly useful and powerful tool for bridging that gap, helping us work smarter, not harder, and even outsourcing tasks that we don’t love so we can spend more time on the things that make us light up. About Scott: Scott Meyer (@MrScottMeyer) is an entrepreneur and former professor working to scale and democratize education.

 

His experience founding the digital marketing agency 9 Clouds and launch an entrepreneurship center and accelerated learning program in higher education sparked his interest in combining education and web3 - what he calls ed3. He recently launched Ed3.gg - a consultancy working to scale education. Subscribe to learn more (http://digest.ed3.gg). In this episode, we cover:

• Where AI can fill core needs for people in small towns

• Replacing tasks vs. jobs

• AI as an idea machine and action catalyst

• Examples of tasks and applications for AI 

Links + Resources Mentioned: CHIPP Website: https://www.chipp.ai/CHIPP Substack: https://substack.com/@chipp?utm_source=about-page Episode 96 with Scott: https://www.growingsmalltowns.org/post/episode96 Small-Town Shout-Out! This week’s shout-out is for the city of Wilmer, Minnesota. They’ve just recently completed their first comprehensive plan for their community since 2009. The cool part? It’s the first time in the city’s history that community engagement is a priority in their plan. The way they discovered they needed that for their small town was by intentionally including diverse groups of people in the plan’s development. That’s how you create more engagement, more relevant and interesting output, and more interesting and diverse voices at the table: you invite them and include their perspective. Wahoo, Wilmer, Minnesota!   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]

Subscribe + Review Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Growing Small Towns Show! If the information in our conversations and interviews has helped you in your small town, head out to Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver relevant, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more small-town trailblazers just like you!

 

It feels like you can’t go five minutes without hearing about AI–and often for good reason! We’re back with our favorite AI expert to talk about a “Hope over fear” approach for integrating AI into how we do life and business. We often face a skills and resource deficit in small towns, and AI can be an incredibly useful and powerful tool for bridging that gap, helping us work smarter, not harder, and even outsourcing tasks that we don’t love so we can spend more time on the things that make us light up. About Scott: Scott Meyer (@MrScottMeyer) is an entrepreneur and former professor working to scale and democratize education.

His experience founding the digital marketing agency 9 Clouds and launch an entrepreneurship center and accelerated learning program in higher education sparked his interest in combining education and web3 - what he calls ed3. He recently launched Ed3.gg - a consultancy working to scale education. Subscribe to learn more (http://digest.ed3.gg).

In this episode, we cover:

• Where AI can fill core needs for people in small towns

• Replacing tasks vs. jobs

• AI as an idea machine and action catalyst

• Examples of tasks and applications for AI 

Links + Resources Mentioned: CHIPP Website: https://www.chipp.ai/CHIPP Substack: https://substack.com/@chipp?utm_source=about-page Episode 96 with Scott: https://www.growingsmalltowns.org/post/episode96 Small-Town Shout-Out! This week’s shout-out is for the city of Wilmer, Minnesota. They’ve just recently completed their first comprehensive plan for their community since 2009. The cool part? It’s the first time in the city’s history that community engagement is a priority in their plan. The way they discovered they needed that for their small town was by intentionally including diverse groups of people in the plan’s development. That’s how you create more engagement, more relevant and interesting output, and more interesting and diverse voices at the table: you invite them and include their perspective. Wahoo, Wilmer, Minnesota!   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]

Subscribe + Review Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Growing Small Towns Show! If the information in our conversations and interviews has helped you in your small town, head out to Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver relevant, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more small-town trailblazers just like you!

 

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]

Subscribe + Review Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Growing Small Towns Show! If the information in our conversations and interviews has helped you in your small town, head out to Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver relevant, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more small-town trailblazers just like you!

 

One of our favorite things is the impact of great employers on individuals, small towns, and the overall culture of the communities they operate within, and this episode is all about what happens when an amazing work culture fosters amazing things outside of the workplace. Amanda Gregory and Joe House both work for a manufacturing company called Design Ready Controls and co-founded MAKE (Manufacturing, a Kid’s Experience) in 2023 as a way to foster awareness about and interest in manufacturing in a way kids can understand. MAKE is about showing kids what kinds of possibilities exist in the manufacturing space and helping parents who work in manufacturing share what they do with their days in a kid-friendly way. Although entirely separate from their “day job,” the collaborative, open culture of Design Ready Controls directly influenced Amanda and Joe’s efforts and takes workforce development and passion to a whole new level, and we’re here for it. About MAKE: MAKE was founded in 2023 by Amanda Gregory and Joe House to educate children about manufacturing. The MAKE platform began with sharing stories about manufacturing through Blake Explores Manufacturing. Now with a monthly newsletter, Future Makers, they continue to inspire through building activities and manufacturing tours & experiences. About Joe: Joe started with Design Ready Controls in 2022 as Chief Commercial Officer, working alongside sales, marketing, and supply chain teams to strengthen our industry-leading customer and supplier partnerships. Prior to joining the team, Joe spent 9 years in sales leadership at an electrical distributor, where he worked as both a supplier and customer of Design Ready Controls. Joe graduated from the University of Saint Thomas in 2013 with degrees in Mathematical Economics and Business Management. About Amanda: Amanda joined the Design Ready Controls team in 2015, starting in office management and 5S initiatives. She quickly advanced to take on leadership roles in marketing and now leads marketing, sales development, internal communications, and office management. Amanda earned a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communication with a minor in Marketing from Winona State University. Her professional background includes account and project management, as well as marketing experience in the produce and manufacturing industries.

In this episode, we cover:

• What MAKE is and how it started

• The culture at Design Ready Controls and how it relates to MAKE

• Why supporting passion is so important in cultivating the next generation

• How a company’s culture can completely change the perception of its industry

Links + Resources Mentioned MAKE Website where you can learn more, subscribe to Future Makers or purchase Blake Explores Manufacturing: www.makepublishing.comMAKE on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/makepublishingllc MAKE on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/make_publishing MAKE on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/make-publishing/ Community Venture Network: https://brookshireco.com/services/community-venture-network/ 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]

Subscribe + Review Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Growing Small Towns Show! If the information in our conversations and interviews has helped you in your small town, head out to Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver relevant, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more small-town trailblazers just like you!

 

Friends and neighbors (virtual and IRL): we are so excited to share this episode with you. Now, we know we say that every week, and what can we say, we’re excitable folks. But we’re *extra* excited for this one because it’s the first podcast of the rest of our lives, and we’re introducing the new format and components of this show, and giving you a peek behind the curtain into the behind-the-scenes and the future of Growing Small Towns. Instead of a guest, we have a guest host interviewing Rebecca about the changes in the podcast and the renewed vision and clarity for Growing Small Towns. Our guest host is Winona Dimeo-Ediger, who is not only one of our beloved past guests but also a GST board member. We love her and think you will too! This episode is an honest take on the work we and so many of you are undertaking, and we can’t wait to for you to hear it. About Winona: Winona has been a digital content creator for nearly a decade, writing about culture, travel, and politics for publications like National Geographic, Rolling Stone, and NPR. For the past few years, she’s been able to dig into her love of place marketing and talent attraction content as the editor-in-chief of Livability.com. She’s a lover of bookstores, vintage boots, dive bars, and bad jokes. The number of times she’s seen Celine Dion in concert may disturb you.

In this episode, we cover:

• The new format and new segments of the show

• The behind-the-scenes work that’s been happening over the last year

• Why having the right support is critical (and what that means)

• Where GST is headed and what work we’ll be doing

• Our very first small-town shout-out! 

Links + Resources Mentioned

Ep. 92 with Winona and Tim: https://www.growingsmalltowns.org/post/episode92 Fresh Air - This Anti-Social American Life: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1tpFsNrlrRcP0kXbuP5aj5?si=Fq-DzwM5SYes59qX24yA4w Plain English - The Anti-Social Century: America’s Epidemic of Solitude–And How to Fix It: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0FaZtbkN0wOz1zjtYJNQeq?si=-35pYo_FR7SwlzEKjAIZTA 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]

 

Subscribe + Review Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Growing Small Towns Show! If the information in our conversations and interviews has helped you in your small town, head out to Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver relevant, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more small-town trailblazers just like you!

 

Our last Moments of Growth episode is about another event that will become at flagship bit of programming for Growing Small Towns: the Rural Mastermind.    The first Mastermind group was inspired, in part, by Rebecca’s own experience with a Mastermind. Really good Mastermind groups can be pivotal and life-changing, and she wanted to bring that same experience to entrepreneurs and small business owners in Oakes. This episode features perspectives from all sides: one of our beloved coaches, several of our participants, and two of the participants’ mothers.    Masterminds bring all kinds of people together to learn and grow. As the participants will tell you, the magic is in having a group of like-minded people in different stages of their business who are doing the dang thing, and the result is really, really cool.    In this episode, we hear from: 

• Kim Nagle, author, entrepreneur, and coach
• Haley Moen - Hearthside Vineyard and Winery
• Addison Magill - Addison K Creative Co.
• Kim and Kausha - mamas to two Mastermind participants ()
• Jake Kubela - Kubela Hedging
• Brittney Harty - The Bakery Shoppe Oakes

  Links and Resources Mentioned: Kim Nagle’s Website: https://www.damnplan.com/ Hearthside Vineyard and Winery: https://www.hearthsidewinery.com/ Addison K Creative Co.: https://www.addisonkdesign.com/ Kubela Hedging: https://www.kubelahedging.com/ The Bakery Shoppe Oakes: https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Bakery-Shoppe-Oakes-100088962675005/ FitBar (run by Kim’s son, Chris, who was a Mastermind participant): https://www.fitbargym.com/ Episode 130 with Kim Nagle: https://www.growingsmalltowns.org/post/episode130 Episode 131 with Kausha Magill: https://www.growingsmalltowns.org/post/episode131 Episode 118 with Haley Moen: https://www.growingsmalltowns.org/post/episode118 Episode 129 with Haley Moen: https://www.growingsmalltowns.org/post/episode129   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 that 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 your messages!

When we were thinking about the kinds of people we wanted to talk to for this Moments of Growth series, we knew we needed to include people who have been impacted in some way by the work we do at Growing Small Towns.    Some of these guests use Growing Small Towns in an official capacity—they have a formal role in economic or community development, or something similar, and have utilized our programming professionally. Others are members of our local school board, have engaged with us on a personal level, or for a small business. However their involvement, though, we treasure these thoughts and words from the people we serve, and we hope you’ll enjoy this episode!    In this episode, we hear from: 

• Anna Sell - Superintendent of Oakes Public School
• Sonia Meehl - former Oakes Public School board member
• Matt Marshall - Member Services, Rates & Economic Development Manager at Minnkota
• Ashley Berg - owner of Main Street Boutique in Rugby, ND 
• Bob Wurl - board member for Southern Valley Economic Development Association
• Justin Meidinger - Director, Ellendale Opera House
• Dawn Mandt - Executive Director of Red River Regional Council
• Justin Neppl - former Economic Development Director for Southern Valley Economic Development Association
• Roberta Forward - board member for North Dakota Grapegrower's Association, Riding for Dreams, and Oakes PTO Chapter 
• Jeremy Nelson - founder, Arthur Market
• Melissa Beach - Economic Development Administrator, Minnkota

  Links and Resources Mentioned: Oakes Public School: https://www.oakes.k12.nd.us/ Minnkota Power Cooperative: https://www.minnkota.com/ Main Street Boutique in Rugby, ND: https://mainstreetboutiquerugby.com/ Southern Valley Economic Development Association: https://www.facebook.com/Southernvalleyeda/ Ellendale Opera House: http://www.ellendaleoperahouse.com/ Red River Regional Council: https://redriverrc.com/ North Dakota Grapegrower's Association: https://www.ndgwa.org/ Riding For Dream: https://www.ridingfordreams.com/ Oakes PTO: https://www.oakes.k12.nd.us/families/parent-teacher-organization Arthur Market: https://www.thearthurmarketnd.com/ Episode 21 with Ashley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f503Im7Q3i4 Episode 135 with Jeremy: https://www.growingsmalltowns.org/post/episode135

This Moments of Growth installment features some of the businesses/organizations and the people in them who are aligned with our beliefs and our hopes for GST.   These are people without whom we could not do this work, and we want you to know them!    This work can feel very lonely and so gathering up people who are passionate about the same things makes it feel less so. The links to all of their organizations are below, and if you are someone doing things in your small town, reach out to them! We all need partners, and these are some of the best.    In this episode, we hear from: 

• Jordan DeGree - Co-Founder and Executive Director, Rural Ideas Network 
• Mike Knutson - Learning Network Orchestrator and Community Coach, Dakota Resources
• Paula Jensen - VP of Program Development and Community Coach, Dakota Resources
• Nick Fosheim - Client Relationship Director and Community Coach, Dakota Resources
• Shane Akers and Jon Pedersen - Principals with Hometown Housing
• Christy Dauer - Executive Director, North Dakota Women's Business Center
• Jasmin Fosheim and Cassidy Blade - Realizing Rural

  Links and Resources Mentioned: Rural Ideas Network: https://www.ruralideas.net/ Dakota Resources: https://dakotaresources.org/ North Dakota Women’s Business Center: https://ndwbc.com/ Realizing Rural: https://www.realizingrural.com/ Episode 69 with Jordan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFpYytI5MlU Episode 123 with Realizing Rural: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rs73PTv-kU Episode 143 with Mike: https://www.growingsmalltowns.org/post/episode143