A Little About Me
I have been doing rural economic development for 17 years in Texas. I am passionate about saving, developing, and bringing innovation to small communities.
Every community needs someone driving development. If you aren’t the one doing it, who will? If you aren’t bringing resources to your town, who is?
Resources are available, but they are not coming to your town all by themselves. In order to get them, someone has to actively be showing up, knocking on doors, building relations and letting people know you exist. Otherwise, little towns get overlooked.
Working in a small community can sometimes feel like you are rolling a giant ball uphill all alone. I am here to help you flatten the hill. I will do this by adding tools (resources) to your toolbox, help you build collaborations and partnerships, help inspire innovative ideas, and help you navigate tricky situations.
I understand a variety of political climates having worked with city and county governments, boards of directors, and 501c3 organizations.
I have done several things such as ...
- Business recruitment, retention, and expansion projects
- Worked with businesses from start-ups to well-seasoned
- Built and managed revolving loan funds and incentive programs
- Written and managed a variety of grants to promote community development
- Worked to build and recruit workforce
- Built and run community leadership programs
- Created public/private partnerships
- And, I love marketing and leveraging social media platforms to market my communities as well as teaching local businesses how to market themselves.
I have a passion to help other practitioners, especially those who are new to this profession and in rural communities. The work can be daunting and it is important to have someone who understands what you are going through.
My hope is to keep practitioners moving forward and keep them from burning out and giving up. I am here to encourage, teach, and help propel people to the next level professionally.
If you are passionate about your community or trying to figure out what on earth you should be doing in this profession, I am here to help!
