We have a growing awareness of how important – and fragile – our local small business community is, and that awareness is definitely strong among our oldest residents. That came home to me in a new way when I was asked to talk about local business and local economies with AARP Wisconsin. As I said then,
‘We are seeing an investment, a determination, an understanding of the value and the importance of local businesses, locally owned and operated businesses. Really, what I think we’ve seen is an acceleration of those trends…..’
Rucker said the pandemic is bringing to the fore economic and community issues that have been slowly bubbling up for years, including issues associated with housing affordability and access to secure public spaces. Although recovering from the pandemic is priority No. 1 for local economies, Rucker warned that many of these issues have been around ‘for a long time – long before any of us knew what a COVID was.’
Watch the interview here, and let me know what you’re thinking:
Wise Economy Workshop 