OPINION: There’s a recipe for small-town turnarounds

It is sad to see the large number of blighted and depressed small towns across Ohio and other parts of the United States. The reasons for their decay are complex. The good news is that there are some proven methods for turning around the situation.

Last summer while driving through central Colorado, I passed several small towns that were largely deserted. Schools were boarded up. Their downtowns consisted of 10 to 15 commercial buildings, about half of them abandoned or boarded up. Vacant lots with weeds growing through the cracks indicated that the town had once been much larger and healthier. The few remaining businesses displayed hand-lettered signs desperately trying to convince motorists on the highway to stop in.

In some cases, a key industry closed. For example, the main industry in Pueblo, Colo. for most of its history was Colorado Fuel and Iron, a steel mill on the south side of town. The steel-market crash of 1982 led to a large number of employees being laid off. The town's economy suffered.

Some of these small towns give up and continue into a long spiral of decline. Others will seek out a large industry to move in that will help to stimulate and possibly restore the local economy. Other towns or individual businesses will try a publicity stunt to attract new customers to the area.

One successful of the publicity stunt that worked was done by Wall Drug in South Dakota.

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The remote store started offering free ice water back in 1931 when business was slow. Dorothy and Ted Hustead, the owners of Wall Drug, witnessed a quick spike in the number of people who stopped. Many of the visitors purchased other products, and Wall Drug expanded into the popular tourist stop and road-side attraction that is now known around the world.

According to Forrest Miller, in his “One Minute Guide to Economic Development,” a typical small-town turnaround effort will include one or more of these methods:

Recreation and tourism: Small towns often try to develop successful tourist attractions based on what is currently popular. For example, some of the fastest-growing sports include geo-caching, biking, hiking and extreme water sports.

Small startups: Encouraging local entrepreneurs to start businesses can help revive the town's economy.

Quality of living: This is the process of improving the town through better educational facilities, improved community services, walkable downtowns, historic districts or a lower crime rate. This can help attract new business and industry along with increasing the population base.

Outside incomes: Some declining areas try to attract retirees whose incomes come from outside sources but who spend money locally. The category could also include self-employed people who have the option of living anywhere.

Buying local: This is the effort to bolster the internal economy of a community by encouraging local residents to purchase goods and services in the community, rather than taking their dollars elsewhere.

Flexibility and innovation are crucial to any town turnaround plan.

Some of these strategies will work some of the time. There are many small towns in Ohio and throughout the United States that are well worth the effort to rescue.

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Rick Sheridan, one of our regular community contributors, holds a doctorate in communications and is an assistant professor at Wilberforce University.

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