When Deb Brown hears rural residents resisting change in their communities, she tends to ask a few questions.

Such as:

• You don’t want your kids to move back here and start their own business?
• What didn’t work the last time you tried to change your community?
• What is it that you have liked about your town?

Brown is co-founder of SaveYour.Town, rural experts that specialize in low- or no-cost, practical solutions to help even the smallest of towns.

“Changing a town is not necessarily inviting 2,000 new people to move to your community,” Brown said. “You might just be making the sidewalks a little wider.”

Brown was the featured speaker during the April 4 First Friday e-Call, a monthly online series hosted by K-State Research and Extension that helps to nurture small businesses and inspire entrepreneurship in Kansas. The online discussions, which routinely host dozens of Kansas citizens from the public and private sectors, are available free each month.

When residents have ideas for improving their towns, Brown said, “you need to gather your friends (and) your own crowd. Speak with a lot of people and share your idea..”

Brown recently published a book, titled ‘From Possibilities to Reality: Save Your Small Town with these Uniquely Do-able Ideas, Projects, and Success Stories,’ on simple ways that residents can bring more life to their communities. In the book, she shares stories from communities that were successful, “stories,” she says, “you can take and use in your town.”

“The book is a workbook,” she said. “First of all, it makes you write things down, and it’s also a great way to bring your community together and work toward a common goal or a big idea.”

Brown shares such examples as a home-based photography business in Minnesota asked to display some of his pictures on an empty wall in a coffee shop. Or, a South Dakota community in which two high school students who set up garden sheds, with the help of the shed seller, on an empty lot to create a Christmas shopping village. Two of the temporary businesses eventually turned into full-time local shops.

“These ideas are for anyone who wants to see a brighter community, and anyone who’s willing to try their ideas out,” Brown said. “These are ‘new school’ thinkers, perhaps business owners, chamber of commerce or city officials, retirees, students and others. These are people just like any of us.”

Brown urges those who dream about progress in their community to start small: “Jackson County, Kentucky cleaned up an empty lot and held a pop-up fair for local crafters during the local car show. That’s a small step. You could have young students pair with senior citizens to make snow flakes to decorate empty buildings.”

“These are all small steps that you could go home and start today.”

For more information on her book, interested persons are urged to contact her by email, deb@saveyour.town, or visit her website: www.Building Possibility.com/BuyTheBook

Brown’s full talk and other First Friday presentations are available online from K-State Research and Extension.