What it takes to build — and keep — a rural business

More than 100 people gathered Thursday night at the Casey Community Building for the Midwest Partnership Economic Development Annual Dinner, an event centered on the challenges, opportunities and realities of building businesses in rural Iowa.

Hosted by Midwest Partnership, which serves Adair and Guthrie counties, the annual dinner brought together business owners, community leaders and residents for a candid conversation about what it takes to start, grow and sustain enterprises in small towns — and why those efforts matter to the long-term health of rural communities.

Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer moderated a panel discussion featuring local small business owners Erin Carney of BC Angus of Adair, Regan Doely of Doe a Deer in Stuart, Brian Fox of Fox Welding in Greenfield, and Taylor and Dustin Teays of Central Iowa Publishing, owners of The Bayard News-Gazette.

Rather than focusing on balance sheets or business plans, the discussion centered on values — what first motivated the panelists to start their businesses and what continues to guide them today.

Dustin Teays said one of the most important lessons he and his wife have learned is that it is impossible to keep everyone happy.

“You can do what you think is right, but there are people who maybe won’t like that,” he said. “At first, I think we struggled with that. We’ve learned that you’re maybe not necessarily doing something wrong — you’re just doing something not everybody is going to like. You have to learn on the fly and change as you have to.”

Other panelists echoed similar themes, pointing to openness, honesty and integrity as foundational principles.

“Most of my basic values were handed down to me,” Fox said. “You want to give somebody the bang for their buck and treat them like they’re your best friend. It’s really worked well for us over the years.”

For Doely, separating personal identity from business feedback was a lesson learned through experience.

“When you start a business, especially when you’re young, it’s hard not to take things personally — to internalize the comments and the feedback and have that really weigh you down,” she said. “It’s important to understand that feedback about a situation or product is not an attack on you personally or your integrity. I’m not for everybody and my business is not for everybody, and that’s OK. You have to find your people.”

As the conversation turned to challenges, panelists shared candid reflections on growth, staffing and sustainability. The Teayses spoke about wishing they had built trust and relationships within their community earlier and about learning to strike a balance between generosity and financial realities while running a small-town newspaper. Fox described the frustration of collections and the difficulty of retaining employees.

“Just as soon as you’d get an employee trained, they were gone,” Fox said. “It’s been a real struggle. Thank God I have my two boys working for me. If something happened to one of them, I don’t know if I could keep my business going.”

Carney emphasized the importance of adaptability and early investment, particularly in technology and people.

“You can’t grow without being willing to change,” she said. “If I were starting today, I would have invested in technology and people sooner. We try to do it all on our own, thinking we know what we’re doing. If we would have reached out to others and embraced technology earlier, we would have been more successful.”

Looking ahead, panelists discussed opportunities in rural economic development, from the appeal of quieter, slower-paced communities to the need to meet changing customer demographics. Carney stressed education as a critical piece of keeping rural Iowa relevant.

“We have to keep educating people — whether it’s technology, math or science — so they can stay up with what’s going on around the world,” she said. “If we don’t do that, we won’t have a future in rural Iowa.” Annual reports and awards

Midwest Partnership Executive Director Brenda Dudley highlighted progress made over the past year in her annual report, noting a focus on membership, communication and hosting meaningful events.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Dudley said, tying that idea to the organization’s long-term approach to economic development.

She acknowledged challenges facing rural communities, including a lack of shovel-ready sites, limited workforce pools and fewer financial incentives.

“What we do have are committed communities, strong businesses and people willing to help,” Dudley said. “We try to use those assets to our advantage.”

Outgoing board members Kathy Rohrig of Orient and Cheryl Marks of Stuart were recognized during the program. Main Street Guthrie Center received the Economic Vitality Award.

Dudley said the evening underscored both the obstacles and the promise facing rural Iowa.

“The panel discussion really resonated with people,” she said earlier this week.

As attendees filtered out of the Casey Community Building, the message was clear: while rural communities may not have every tool larger cities do, they continue to rely on something just as powerful — local entrepreneurs willing to adapt, take risks and keep showing up for the places they call home.