~ by Heather Strohm, Regional Extension Educator, Community Development – Purdue University Before the pandemic, a digital media company in Denver with 100 employees, was embarking on an expansion to double its size. On March 11, 2020, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID outbreak a pandemic, the company’s plans were halted and …

~ by Heather Strohm, Regional Extension Educator, Community Development – Purdue University The Pandemic has required instrumental and pivotal business adjustments in the economic landscape of companies. Traditional norms have been abandoned for unknown operational starships that navigate the intricate cyber web of meetings and strategic models once designed for the future. Now these revolutionary …

~ by Heather Strohm, Regional Extension Educator, Community Development – Purdue University COVID-era technology allows workers to accept positions virtually anywhere, and anywhere virtually.  For that reason, individuals can choose to prioritize quality of life over proximity to work. This can be a real threat to communities that haven’t focused on quality of life and …

~ by Heather Strohm, Regional Extension Educator, Community Development – Purdue University As you reflect on 2020 and embark on 2021, consider how you relate to others. How often have you judged an experience or a situation only to arrive at the wrong conclusion or to learn that your opinion was way off? I would …

~ by Heather Strohm, Regional Extension Educator, Community Development – Purdue University Regardless of what industry you are in, the prevailing question now is: How can your company survive the COVID-19 “new normal” we are all operating in? As an individual who has supported and assisted business owners for a couple of decades, I find …

~Heather Strohm, Regional Extension Educator, and Community Development – Purdue University We have always heard that change is good and change brings about new ideas. What happens when an event, business or community fail to change? When change fails to happen the business will ultimately close, the event will cease to occur, and the community …

~ Zuzana Bednarikova, Purdue Extension – Community Development Purdue Center for Regional Development (PCRD) and Purdue Extension – Community Development (CDEXT) want to help small businesses shift toward a digital platform mechanism to support their survival during the COVID-19 pandemic and their growth/development when the situation improves. As a result, PCRD and CDEXT, in collaboration …

~by Heather Strohm, Purdue Extension Regional Educator, and Community Development – Purdue University In the midst of the pandemic, economic environments have shifted significantly. Competitiveness has increased tenfold, businesses are examining how to gain market share as storefronts become ghost towns, and e-commerce activity gains momentum. Striving to keep innovation and modern technology within a …

~by Heather Strohm, Purdue Extension Regional Educator History has a way of repeating itself. Within the world of fashion, mullets have reappeared in adolescents. Men are wearing shorter, tighter shorts as they did in the Magic Johnson era. Home decorating trends and business practices are following the same patterns. Just as the clock ticks along, …

On April 30, when Lt. Governor Crouch announced that 61 communities had received COVID-19 response funds, Blackford County was among them because of the organizing efforts of Community Development Extension. Educator Cheri Brown, new to her 50% CD appointment as of January 2020, convened the meeting with local elected officials, helped to gather the information/specifics …