by Jack Schultz
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| List Price: | $21.95 |
| Amazon Price: | $21.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
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Product Description
This book examines how small towns best prosper by leveraging their resources and working with local and state officials to break through the "one-company town" mindset to attract industry and new business relocations. In the book, Jack Schultz identifies seven and one-half factors that small towns must employ to attract new business relocations or spur new business start-ups, including a collective vision, local support and an entrepreneurial spirit.
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Average Customer Review:
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
 Is Effingham a boomtown though?, 2008-07-09
As Jack Schultz is talking about strategies to economically "pump up" small town rural life, is he considering, locally, the current context Effingham is in? For example, the majority of Effingham, IL city residents voted down the recent proposal for a huge sports complex that would cost millions of dollars, yet may not produce revenue in the end that upkeep and building costs add up too. This is smart thinking on their part. Yet the city council is going ahead with plans in purchasing land and ignoring the vote. What is wrong with this picture? I think Mr. Schultz would do well to consider the public's opinion on this possibly catastrophic mistake, along with the rest of Effingham's leaders. The book may be well-thought out, and yes, owning property may be key to this day's financial success (Mr. Schultz can attest to that), but when the rich minority impress their wishes on the middle-class or poor majority, they might instead do well to listen and adhere to the majority's wants. The book, Boomtown, may be fine in theory & principle, but putting that into practice in an actual town is another story, and I'm not sure if Effingham fits that bill. If Effingham is such a progressive town, I would like to see a rise in higher-paying middle-class, union jobs, rather than minimum-wage or slightly higher jobs that center around the service sector, with less security. America needs to focus on factory and technology driven jobs.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Moving to a small town?, 2007-05-26
The author of this book recently spoke at my college (Monmouth College) where his son attends. I have just moved to this small town (I am a college faculty member) and this book has given me a very different view of life and opportunities that exist in small towns. Very inspirational.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
 For Absolute Beginners in Community-Building, 2006-04-17
Rating: 4 Stars for those just getting started in their quest to reinvent a community; 3 Stars for all others. "Boomtown" is written in very broad strokes, and much of it is common sense; yet, it is the type of common sense worth reiterating to fledgling community-builders.
Perhaps the biggest single contribution this book makes is to demonstrate through hard data that there may very well be a positive payoff to all the visioning, strategic planning, consensus-building and financial investing that a community must engage in while attempting to redefine itself. The comparative data presented justifies the journey. And Schultz's admonition not to pin an agurb's hope on a single white knight - especially a large corporate outsider - is the single best piece of advice that he offers.
As a "starter kit", this book does not discuss the many facets of the municipal growth process that must inevitably be addressed if a strategic plan is to succeed, such as the roles of, and relationships with, a variety of potential planning and funding partners such as a state Main Street organization, USDA, state department of economic development, LISC, etc.; how to find sources of and apply for grants; how best to present initial growth concepts to elected officials and when; how to work with a project developer, etc. It is beyond the scope of "Boomtown" to delve into these matters in any detail, so the reader should be prepared to find answers elsewhere.
The single biggest take-away from "Boomtown" is that the leaders of numerous older communities like yours have dug deep and found sufficient inspiration to create a novel approach to limited growth or stagnation. The author offers numerous examples and anecdotes to make that point. Two or three may strike just the right chord with you and spark a lively discussion in your own backyard.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
DYNAMITE ADVICE TO HELP SMALL TOWNS PROSPER!, 2004-11-23
Schultz is on the cutting edge of America's future. In Boomtown USA he does an extraordinary job of detailing how small towns can find their uniqueness, create jobs, and attract new residents or visitors. This book is a "must read" for any town official or private citizen who wants to make a difference and see their community prosper. And his list of the top 100 "Agurbs" is insightful, thoroughly researched, and invaluable for targeting forward-thinking communities."
Marilyn Ross, author of the forthcoming MICROPOLITAN MOVES: Advice for a Safe and Successful Relocation - or Buying Your Second Home Dream Retreat - in Small Town USA
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Is your town a winning team?, 2004-10-22
Is Your Town a Winning Team?
As a chief executive officer of a company that for 17 years has developed industrial properties in small towns in the Midwest, Jack Schultz is in a unique position to answer the question: What separates the thriving towns from the struggling ones?
In his new book, BoomtownUSA: The 7 ½ Keys to Big Success in Small Towns (NAIOP, $21.95), Schultz has written an inspirational "how-to" guide for leaders of small communities; his central message being that it is possible, using the right tools, to build a team capable of shaping the destiny of its community.
Schultz describes the keys needed for small towns to thrive and grow. He asserts that in small, rural communities, a solid core group of bright, dedicated people working as a team can make a difference. To back up his premise, the author has filled his 167-page book with over one hundred examples and case studies.
The author claims that the third great population shift in America's history, from the suburbs to what Schultz has termed "the agurbs" has begun. The first wave was from farms to urban areas, the second wave from urban areas to the suburbs, and now a dramatic shift back to rural areas. During the 1990s, more than 18 million people moved from metropolitan areas into small communities and rural counties. Why? Lower costs of housing and living, lower crime rates, better schools, shorter commutes and, in general, a more relaxed and less stressful lifestyle.
With the technological advances in the last 20 or so years, Schultz states that there has been no better time in history for small towns to prosper. Thirty-three percent of the American jobs created between 2001 and 2004 went to residents of rural counties with average populations of 40,000. But the success or failure of small communities does not just happen on its own; the prospering small towns in this country have set themselves apart by excelling in the 7 ½ Keys: adopting a can-do attitude, shaping a vision, raising up strong leaders, encouraging an entrepreneurial approach, maintaining local control, building a brand, and embracing the teeter-totter factor (small actions that can make either a negative or positive impact on the entire community).
Success hinges on strong leadership, teamwork, and entrepreneurs. Schultz states that in towns that operate effectively, leadership is spread among a multitude of people; no single hero on a white horse will ride in and save your community. Rely on the collective wisdom, experience, vision and dreams of the committed people already in your community, and "empower the people with passion."
Schultz strongly advocates that communities need to develop leaders for the future, citing examples such as Colville, Washington, which founded the Colville Youth Commission to make recommendations to the city for the purpose of improving the quality of life for area youths.
The author states that prospering small towns can never have too many entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs should be nurtured and given room to operate. "Towns that recognize that the better their entrepreneurs do, the better the better the town will do, generally find themselves on a positive growth curve."
BoomtownUSA is an important book for anyone who has an interest in the future of his or her small town.
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