This past week Deb Brown of Save Your Town was in Paulding County for an Embedded Community Experience (ECE). While she visited Oakwood, Payne and Antwerp, she wasn’t there to tell people what would “save their town” but to get people to recognize how their town could be unique. Dividing people up into groups for ideas allowed people to come with what are problems and then solutions – such as empty buildings in downtown.
If business is not being conducted in these buildings, then the owner isn’t getting rent. In other words – everybody loses, including the buildings. Residents in these communities may complain they don’t have much they can do, or, that they have to leave town to go shopping.
All of the communities she visited has these issues, and Ms. Brown pointed out to them how they could try and standout and give people a reason to visit from the other areas, but she understands this may be difficult. She highlighted how connecting building owners with business owners is the ideal thing by negotiating what it might take to get the building filled.
The efforts brought in by PCED Director Jerry Zielke was much appreciated by the Chambers and groups that were able to meet with Deb. Jerry had stated that Economic Development had been using a number of her ideas from her book.
Towns looking to increase their business and filling their empty buildings would look well to investigate Deb’s ideas and put them into action!
