THE RURBAN FRINGE

Why Your Strategic Plan Stinks

If you’re new, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

I don’t have a five-year plan.  There.  I’ve said it.
Hold on a minute, you say, isn’t strategic planning essential stuff these days?  Certainly every organization I know – profit and non-profit alike – claims to have some sort of long-term strategic [...]

Free Land Used to Entice New Residents

In the US, some small towns are giving away land in hopes of attracting new residents. 
“As with the homesteaders of the 1800s, the new pioneers must not be the faint of heart – they can’t be the type to shy away from the trials of building a home from the ground up, or the lack [...]

Tips to Improve Cash Flow for Rural Businesses

All too often, poor cash management skills are the stumbling block that lead to many small business failures. 
Cash, of course, is the money in the bank.  Cash flow, however, is the movement of cash into and out of a business.  If cash inflow exceeds the outflow, then the business has a positive cash flow.  [...]

Betting on the Farm

In the March 21, 2011 publication of Maclean’s magazine, Sarah Elton’s article - Betting the farm – and winning - highlights how farmland, not farming, is providing new opportunities for investors.  Not everyone is exited.
From the article:
“Farmland is food land,” said Kevin Wipf, executive director of the National Farmers’ Union, which authored a report that condemns the trend.  “To have [...]

Community Development Program Expanded

The Government of Canada has made changes to the Community Development Program, Building Rural and Northern Partnerships, an initiative designed to improve the economic opportunities in rural and northern areas.  The addition of a new component to the program will allow rural communities to move forward and actually implement local initiatives and strategic activities.
From the media release:
“Planning [...]

keep looking »