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Idea for: People
Small towns need focus and commitment Small towns don't need more ideas. There are lots of ideas floating around. More ideas floating around means more multi-tasking for people who are already wearing lots of hats. What small towns need is focus and commitment. We need folks to settle on one or two ideas that we can really impact and develop team efforts to take the responsibility off the shoulder of a few people and more widely distribute it. So far we have been divided in our efforts and we are being conquered. We have to admit we can't have everything and prioritize our collective efforts even when they don't fit our personal interests for the sake of the community. From Tom Graner of Rolette, ND on 05/11/05
Rating:  While committing to a few achievable goals is key, including participation of a wide cross-section of the people in choosing these priorities is key. I wish I was better at doing this vissioning, when I instead get bogged down putting out daily fires. Only with broad support and many hands do we move forward. It's hard to get all the hidden agendas out on the table and begin pulling the same direction. From James Jencks of Mantorville, MN on 07/15/05 Rating: Probably the only way to start the reviving process. Having put my money where my mouth was, we moved to Wykoff some three years ago and purchased the grocery store and property in that town. It still loses money. Leadership is the key as change is resisted in this demography (pop. 470, 45 miles so. of Rochester). Fear of higher taxes is the biggest obstacle where low wages and fixed incomes are the norm. Generating a successful idea that does not raise the fear of higher property taxes is the goal. From Dan Gleeson of wykoff, MN on 05/26/05 Rating:  One great thing about small towns, it's easier to get people together. Do your planning. Honestly evaluate your options. Then get together behind a couple good ideas and focus on making them happen. From John Shepard of Slayton, MN on 05/24/05 Rating: I believe one of the focus points should be our children and students. If they have good experiences growing up, they may return to their hometown. The definition of good experience is take an interest in the youth. No child can have enough adults in their life. Get to know 1 or 2--especially if you have no children or your children are adults. If you have grandchildren, take an interest in their friends. Support and help the children in what they want to do as adults. Adults are imp.to children From Jan Nygaard of Fergus Falls, MN on 05/15/05 Rating: There are lots of good thoughts in this thread. Communities do need to focus their limited resources to achieve results. Yet, communities are multi-dimensional. Community leaders need to become adept at moving forward more quickly on priorities--more action and less talking. The second issue is to sustain positive efforts; some local (new or existing) organization has to take responsibility for continued efforts or the initiative will quickly fade. From Bill Coleman of Mahtomedi, MN on 05/13/05 Rating:  I agree that small towns need to focus more clearly on what the people of the community want to accomplish. However, small towns seem to get better when there is quality econmic leadership. Without a good economic strategy, I doubt that small towns have a long-range hope of reaching other goals. I've witnessed a flourish if community building efforts followed by long-term inactivity due to stagnant or declining economic growth. From Robert Kutter of Grey Eagle, MN on 05/12/05 Rating:  This idea is great in theory - each community should become more focused and goal-oriented. But, the missing link here is "how". What is the idea to make this happen? Every small town has to address the needs of its citizens, and these needs often times are quite diverse and unable to be "focused" that easily. So, while I applaud the idea in concept form, the practicalities need to be addressed as well. From Michael Corbin of Medford, MN on 05/12/05 Rating: I agree with Karl's comments. That is a more effective way to work towards accomplishing community priorities. From Wayne Hurley of Fergus Falls, MN on 05/11/05 Rating: Tom is correct. We have found it critical at the Initiative Foundation that a community develop a shared vision and focus on just a few prioritized outcomes. Resources, time, and volunteers are limited in small towns. Those resources need to be focused so they do a few things well. From Karl Samp of Brainerd, MN on 05/11/05
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