rural business

Here are a few interesting blogs and online articles published this week that relate to Rural Small Business, ending March 14, 2009:

With all the talk about tough times these days, it’s interesting to note what products are doing well, and what some small rural towns and business owners are doing to keep things going.

American Popcorn, the makers of Jolly Time, survived the Great Depression and many other economic changes. But apparently one thing that is always up in a down economy is popcorn.

“The entire microwave popcorn category and home consumption of popcorn is up and it’s up because people are staying home and they’re entertaining themselves at home and when they do, they do entertain themselves with popcorn,” said Smith.

Smith says sales have gone up 10-percent overall from this time last year. And since their “Healthy Pop” was recently endorsed by Weight Watchers, sales of that kind of popcorn have jumped by 40-percent.

“Weight Watcher consumers are very loyal consumers so we’re really excited about this and we’ve seen healthy pop sales go up dramatically the last two months,” said Smith.

Maine Town Offers Small Business Loans

In this time of recession, many small businesses around the country are having difficulty getting start-up loans, or lines of credit to keep going. Not so in Madison, Maine, where the Town of Madison has come up with an unusual effort aimed at keeping local residents employed and perhaps even attracting a few new businesses.

“Madison economic development officer Joy Hickel, a former commercial banker, dreamed up the so-called Economic Development Incentive Program. Its funding comes from tax increment financing targeted for economic development. The loan is interest free, but must be paid back in six months. But there’s another incentive attached. Hickel says at the end of six months, the loan is credited $600 for every job created or retained for a Madison resident and $300 dollars for each employee who lives outside of town.

As far as anyone knows, it’s the first town in the state to offer loans to its small businesses. “I did want to make a difference in a business and I was looking at what potential we could do for actually developing the downtown area,” Hickel says. “I also, when I developed this program, was hoping that it would be enticing for some professional person that didn’t have quite enough funds to start up, maybe an optometrist or something like that, to come to Madison to see that their business would grow.”

The community role of small business continues during times of economic stress. Businesses are working hard just to keep their doors open, but it’s also a challenge to entertain customers and give them a reason to come back. In rural upstate South Carolina, small business owners rise to that challenge day after day by becoming involved in their community as described in “Small entertainment-based businesses are the heart and souls of communities:”

“The town of Anderson and the Upstate of South Carolina have always been a haven for the small business. While chain stores are and always will be the queen ants of the mound, the small, entertainment-driven businesses are the workers, striving to better themselves and the community.

It’s local helping local and that is what every community has to rely on now.

During an economic downturn like the entire country (and world) is going through now, many small business owners believe it is shops like theirs that will keep things going and keep people sane. After all, entertainment is what distracts us from the doldrums of daily life, and if we can get away from that life for a few hours, all the better.

“You go to a local business to meet and support friends,” said Mark Harris, 36, a Pendleton-area resident. “When you meet the owner and get to know them and their family, you want to make sure they are there when you want to go back again.”

The legacy of family business continues even when the next generation has no interest in continuing it, as described in “Business owner finds joy in running family store.”

“Like her mother before her, Betty McCall Smith hasn’t let advancing age stand in the way of her work.

Smith, 81, owns and operates McCalls, a shop at Reynolda Village that sells fine linens, gifts, maternity clothes, and baby and children’s wear. Despite heart problems that led to surgery two years ago, Smith works full time, six days a week. Her father, William McCall, founded the shop in downtown Winston-Salem in 1925.

The Winston-Salem Journal reported that Smith took full responsibility for McCalls in 1994, when her 89-year-old mother stepped down.

She greets her customers like old friends - and many of them are. When new customers come in, if they stay long enough, she finds out all about them.

Sandy Adair, a nurse clinician who met her when Smith had her heart surgery, said that Smith’s love for people and love for life comes through to everyone.”She treats everybody she meets - all of her customers - as if they are the most important people.” Adair, whose connection with Smith runs deep, has tried without success to keep Smith from working so hard. Adair has seen Smith in action at her shop.”

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