Your Hometown

<v Speaker>[Lollipop by the Chrodetts plays] <v Employee C>The whole thing has really added to help other people see that someone could make a <v Employee C>[unclear] and bring something into our small town. <v Jerry Hansen>It's it's good for their community. <v Connie Galey>When the girl says, Connie, those are so cute, you could sell those <v Connie Galey>and it just, a little light went on. <v Connie Galey>And I said, Do you really think so? Who would buy them? <v Employee A>So Connie called and asked if I wanted to work for her. <v Employee A>I said you bet. Needed the money for Christmas and for help supplement the <v Employee A>unemployment we're getting <v Employee C>It really is inspiring. <v Guest>This is a Midwest messenger, it's a farm magazine.

<v Guest>It comes out every two weeks. <v Guest>And here's the sales. <v Guest>There's fifty eight sales and two week period time is <v Guest>difficult. <v Mollie Anderson>It is as it is for them to leave their farm. <v Mollie Anderson>It is equally difficult for them to leave their small towns. <v Nancy Schwede>Some of them choose to remain on the farm. Some of them choose to go seek other kinds of <v Nancy Schwede>employment or retrain for another kind of employment. <v Nancy Schwede>What you gonna be doing is this is a work sample on personnel and labor relations. <v Nancy Schwede>It's going to give you some ideas of what those people do it in that type of work. <v Nancy Schwede>Now, you Last name. <v Lee Carter>I'm not really sure that these kids realize that this is really

<v Lee Carter>a nostalgia trip, because this railtoad is exactly the same as it was laid <v Lee Carter>out in 1877. <v Speaker F>The idea of tourism on Depo Street, I think is a real good one and heartwarming and <v Speaker F>I see more and more tourists coming into the area. <v Speaker F>I think it is building up to future. <v Joan Saliba>Hartwell is is fantastic. <v Host>Your hometown narrated by James Whitmore. <v Narrator>Fairview, Utah, Norfolk, Nebraska, <v Narrator>Hartwell, Georgia, small towns in rural America.

<v Narrator>America itself began as a small town, and that heritage has fostered a <v Narrator>romanticism concerning life in rural America. <v Narrator>Many of us were born in a raised in or would like to return to a small rural <v Narrator>town. Our notion is that life is somehow better. <v Narrator>They're more peaceful, more secure. <v Narrator>Rural America, after all, is a place where good people work, the land where success <v Narrator>grows from individual effort, where a community spirit overcomes any problem. <v Narrator>In rural America, where there's a will, there's a way. <v Narrator>Well, perhaps this was all true once, but rural America has changed <v Narrator>your hometown, the one you were born in, or the one you might like to go back to <v Narrator>is not what it used to be. <v Narrator>Rural America is no longer primarily agricultural, though <v Narrator>most of the rural landscape is in farms, most rural people don't depend <v Narrator>on farming for employment and income. <v Narrator>Today, the principal industries in rural America are services and manufacturing,

<v Narrator>and much of rural America is not growing. <v Narrator>A decline in manufacturing, mining and farming has meant fewer jobs <v Narrator>and lower incomes. <v Narrator>So while many of us think of rural areas as good places to live, many <v Narrator>others are moving from the country back to the city. <v Narrator>And rural America is not isolated anymore. <v Narrator>The rural, national and world economies are now so closely linked that world <v Narrator>events influence what goes on in rural America. <v Narrator>From 1945 to 1970, rural America declined in <v Narrator>jobs and population. <v Narrator>Agriculture had been dominant during those 25 years. <v Narrator>More than five million people quit the farm. <v Narrator>Then came the 1970s. <v Kenneth Deavers>During the 70s, you had three things come together, all at the same time. <v Kenneth Deavers>You had an unprecedented boom in farming, based in <v Kenneth Deavers>part on unique world conditions which haven't been repeated in the

<v Kenneth Deavers>80s, in which very few people think are likely to be replayed repeated anytime soon. <v Kenneth Deavers>You had an increase in the rate of manufacturing decentralization. <v Kenneth Deavers>What had started in the 60s and had led to manufacturing growth in rural areas <v Kenneth Deavers>expanded in the 70s. So there was rapid growth in that manufacturing certain sector. <v Kenneth Deavers>And because manufacturing was growing, a lot of services that are related to that, also <v Kenneth Deavers>we're growing rapidly. So the 70s saw for the first time <v Kenneth Deavers>in this century more people moving to rural areas from urban areas <v Kenneth Deavers>than the reverse first time that had ever happened. <v Kenneth Deavers>[music plays] <v Narrator>Industrial growth in rural America really began in the 1960s. <v Narrator>Rural areas offered manufacturers a haven from urban unrest and the high <v Narrator>cost of doing business in the city. <v Narrator>Most attractive was a skilled, nonunionized, low cost rural labor force <v Narrator>eager for the jobs. A new manufacturing plant would provide.

<v Narrator>During the 1970s, the rural South became the nation's manufacturing <v Narrator>center for textiles, apparel, wood products and shoes. <v Narrator>In the West, mining and gas and oil production were booming. <v Narrator>OPEC embargoes put a premium on domestic energy sources and prices soared. <v Narrator>But the decade of the 1970s now appears to have been a quirk in the history of rural <v Narrator>America. The tremendous growth and rising expectations of that time have <v Narrator>slipped away. For rural industry, the 1980s have been all <v Narrator>downhill. <v Kenneth Deavers>Low wage, low skill manufacturing, which grew in the 60s, grew <v Kenneth Deavers>rapidly in the 70s, has declined mainly because <v Kenneth Deavers>of problems in terms of international markets disappearing competition from third <v Kenneth Deavers>world countries and energy industries, which had a boom <v Kenneth Deavers>in the 70s because of the shortage of energy supplies and the run up of prices <v Kenneth Deavers>with the relative availability of energy being

<v Kenneth Deavers>greater in the 80s. Energy prices have come down and those industries again are <v Kenneth Deavers>in decline. So that job growth in rural areas in all <v Kenneth Deavers>of those industries is now very slow or in fact there's been <v Kenneth Deavers>net job loss. <v Narrator>So your hometown has changed. <v Narrator>Where there used to be a farm, there may now be a factory. <v Narrator>The factory isn't running at full speed. <v Narrator>People are out of work and available jobs may be only part time or beneath <v Narrator>a person's ability. <v Narrator>The average unemployment rate for rural America is now more than nine percent, well <v Narrator>above the national average. <v Narrator>And people are moving away. <v Narrator>Many of those that years ago traded the fast lane for a country road are now moving back <v Narrator>to the city. In 1986, nearly one million people left rural <v Narrator>America and moved to the urban areas. <v Narrator>Your hometown has other problems as land values drop and agricultural <v Narrator>areas as industries decline and unemployment rises, as people leave

<v Narrator>the small towns. The tax base shrinks. <v Narrator>That means local services, schools, fire departments, water treatment. <v Narrator>The police force all suffered across rural America. <v Narrator>Small towns are fighting problems of unemployment, inadequate services and financial <v Narrator>stress. Local communities are responsible for their own economic revitalization, <v Narrator>but they're not alone. Public institutions and state governments can share the <v Narrator>load. But not everyone will survive the hard times. <v Kenneth Deavers>To pretend that everybody who now lives in a small town <v Kenneth Deavers>that's under economic stress, whether it's a farming community or a mining community or <v Kenneth Deavers>manufacturing community, that everybody in that small town is going to have <v Kenneth Deavers>an opportunity to stay in that small town and be productively employed is wrong. <v Kenneth Deavers>What happened? So we have to do two things. <v Kenneth Deavers>I think with public policy, one is to the extent we can, <v Kenneth Deavers>we have to capitalize on the advantages, the comparative advantages, the

<v Kenneth Deavers>unique resources that rural communities have and try to use those effectively <v Kenneth Deavers>to generate jobs for people who want to stay in those communities. <v Kenneth Deavers>At the same time, we need to set up a set of policies that makes the transition for <v Kenneth Deavers>people who don't succeed in those communities who have to leave those communities. <v Kenneth Deavers>That makes that transition smooth and successful and productive for them. <v Narrator>Americans are proud of their pioneer spirit, the determination to overcome <v Narrator>tough times individually and collectively. <v Narrator>The people who still live in rural America are fighters. <v Narrator>Some are planners, some are organizers, some are risk takers. <v Narrator>But they all mean to capture that dream of a better life. <v Narrator>So take a good look around. <v Narrator>This is your hometown. <v Narrator>The enterprises that are going to create new jobs in that community

<v Narrator>are going to come from people who are currently within the community. <v Narrator>Connie Galey makes chocolate candy suckers in Fairview, Utah. <v Narrator>It's not something she'd planned to do. <v Narrator>In fact, not too long ago, Connie Galey didn't even know how to make chocolate candy <v Narrator>suckers, but she learned and her business. <v Narrator>The Suckertree now employs more than 20 people during peak season from <v Narrator>October through April each year. <v Narrator>Connie is an entrepreneur and the risks she took starting her own business <v Narrator>has paid off for her, her family and her neighbors in Fairview, <v Narrator>Utah. <v Narrator>Now, when you think of Utah, you probably think of Salt Lake City or the Mormon temple <v Narrator>or a beautiful, snowcapped mountains. <v Narrator>But in the center of the state is San Pete County, named for the Ute Indian <v Narrator>whose tribe once occupied this fertile valley lying at the base of the Wasatch <v Narrator>Mountain Range. If the name of a small town says something about life

<v Narrator>there, then no. That San Pete County is where you'll find Fontain Green <v Narrator>Freedom. Mount Pleasant and Fairview San Pete <v Narrator>County is agriculture. <v Narrator>Farmers raise cattle, sheep and turkeys or grow barley and corn. <v Narrator>San Pete County, Utah could be a great place for your hometown. <v Narrator>Except for one thing, in a nation where rural unemployment average is nine <v Narrator>percent, the unemployment rate in San Pete County is 22 percent. <v Jerry Hansen>A few years ago we had several plants in Ephraim <v Jerry Hansen>a trader Plant. We had a Spare UNIVAC plant for reasons unknown to us. <v Jerry Hansen>Of course, they've they've moved the coal mine industry. <v Jerry Hansen>A few years ago, back in 80, about 80. <v Jerry Hansen>The early 80s was was really a boom <v Jerry Hansen>that brought an influx of people into the county and the community. <v Jerry Hansen>Now they have they have gone back and many of them have closed

<v Jerry Hansen>down. The major ones are still in operation, but not doing near them. <v Jerry Hansen>The business they did up in eighty three plus the flooding <v Jerry Hansen>in 83 seemed like the highway was cut off <v Jerry Hansen>at Thistle. And since that time, things just haven't changed. <v Jerry Hansen>They've had to remain to be a depressed area. <v Narrator>Now the flooding Jerry Hansen mentioned followed a landslide in 1983 <v Narrator>which buried the highway and rail tracks and destroyed the little town of fissile. <v Narrator>It was almost a year before road travel into the county from the north was restored. <v Narrator>The rail spur from the main line was never rebuilt. <v Narrator>So San Pete County has seen hard times. <v Narrator>It's an agricultural county at a time when the farm economy is not doing very well. <v Narrator>When the Sperry plant and Ephraim's shut down, more than 300 jobs went <v Narrator>with it. The coal mines are running at half speed. <v Narrator>And then came the isolation forced by a landslide and flooding.

<v Narrator>Fairview is a small town in the northern part of San Pete County. <v Narrator>Fewer than 1000 people live in Fairview. <v Narrator>And once you see the bank, the ice cream parlor, <v Narrator>the motel, the grocery store and the restaurant <v Narrator>is what you get. <v Narrator>In 1982, Blair and Connie Galey opened a Chevron service station <v Narrator>on State Street. Blair had been laid off from the coal mine and Connie <v Narrator>was expecting their fourth child within a year. <v Narrator>The landslide shut down most of the traffic through Fairview, and business was tough. <v Narrator>Eventually, the Gael's had to sell out. <v Narrator>Blair went to work for a local car dealer while Connie tried to figure out how to make <v Narrator>ends meet at a church meeting in a nearby town. <v Narrator>Connie learned to make molded chocolate candy suckers. <v Narrator>Soon, the folks back in Fairview wanted a demonstration. <v Narrator>So one night, Connie taught a class at her church.

<v Connie Galey>I was preparing my displays and we have a little craft club that gets together <v Connie Galey>and we were meeting at my house at night so I can get all my stuff ready <v Connie Galey>for church. <v Connie Galey>And one of the girls says, Connie, those are so cute. <v Connie Galey>You could sell those. <v Connie Galey>And it just a little light went on and I said, Do you really think <v Connie Galey>so? Who would buy them? <v Connie Galey>And of course, we envisioned the price being really low, you know, because we didn't have <v Connie Galey>any overhead. <v Connie Galey>But I took one hundred suckers in to <v Connie Galey>this store down here, and before I could get them set on the counter, people were buying <v Connie Galey>them out of the bucket and they just went like hotcakes. <v Employee C>Well, it was exciting. And people coming in and look and they'd say, now, where did this <v Employee C>come from? And they were really cute ones. They were different designs and they were <v Employee C>really cute. And when people would say, you mean they're made here in, <v Employee C>you know, in our area, in our town. And we'd say yes. <v Employee C>Then there were more apt to buy one to try it to see because they wanted to see what it

<v Employee C>was really like. <v Connie Galey>I could see a way to become debt free. <v Connie Galey>And if, you know, that means a lot to my husband and I. <v Connie Galey>As to you know, we don't have a lot of debts per say in our we you know, no car payments <v Connie Galey>and things like that. But just things that have accumulated during this last three or <v Connie Galey>four years that's been so depressed. <v Connie Galey>And we decided that, OK, <v Connie Galey>we would go ahead and just go for it. <v Connie Galey>I figured we'd either do it all the way. We don't do it at all. <v Connie Galey>And so we moved it into the upstairs apartment and we had one girl up first, <v Connie Galey>and then we hired six more and then we hired six more. <v Connie Galey>And it just kept blossoming. <v Narrator>Connie Galey's business blossomed. <v Narrator>But it took a lot of hard work and a bit of good luck. <v Narrator>Within a few months, Connie's suckers could be found in most of the small grocery stores <v Narrator>in San Pete County with their sights on statewide distribution. <v Narrator>Connie set up an appointment with Hanson Brothers, Candy Distributors. <v Narrator>She put on her best dress, her best smile, and took a box of samples to

<v Narrator>the Hanson Brothers office in Provo, Utah. <v Connie Galey>And I had an appointment to talk to Frosti, who was a buyer there. <v Connie Galey>And he's not one of the Hanson boys . <v Connie Galey>But they all just happened to walk in the office when <v Connie Galey>I was there. <v Connie Galey>And everybody just stood around and said, oh, look at those. <v Connie Galey>It says, well, what kind of retail do they have? Oh, you're kidding. <v Connie Galey>We had somebody in here that had those there was twice the retail and they just kept <v Connie Galey>throwing out the ideas. I didn't have a chance to say anything for a long time. <v Narrator>Connie Galey is a classic example of an entrepreneur. <v Narrator>She had a marketable idea. <v Narrator>And equally important, she was willing to take a risk when she went to see <v Narrator>the Hansen's. The most sucker she had ever made in one week was 2000. <v Narrator>But she'd done some research and she knew that big companies need production up <v Narrator>around 10000 a week. <v Connie Galey>So I was ready for that. But Hanson said what happened actually, I said oh between ten <v Connie Galey>and fifteen thousand a week. <v Connie Galey>And it was scary because, you know, I was forging ahead in a territory.

<v Connie Galey>I had no idea that we can even do that. <v Connie Galey>And that first week, we made almost 10000. <v Connie Galey>And the next week we were right up to 15000. <v Narrator>Despite her later success, Connie says getting started was not easy. <v Narrator>Several state banks turned her ten thousand dollar loan application down, <v Narrator>claiming new businesses were not doing well in Utah. <v Narrator>Finally, Connie returned to the Fairview Credit Union, where she had gotten her first <v Narrator>loan. Ten thousand dollars was above the loan limit, so a special <v Narrator>meeting of the board was held. And by six o'clock that evening Connie had <v Narrator>her money, credit union president Rod Koch says the board felt <v Narrator>it was important to give a local person the opportunity to start a business. <v Rod Koch>It's important to me because anytime you can create a job or industry <v Rod Koch>here. That's money in the area. <v Rod Koch>And you just can't survive without it. <v Rod Koch>You know, you got to have some money

<v Rod Koch>turn in changing hands and her getting going, she was <v Rod Koch>hiring ten or eleven women, which helped <v Rod Koch>part of those women. Their husbands were out of work. <v Rod Koch>And so it gave them something, but it gave money to spend back in the <v Rod Koch>community. <v Narrator>Connie Galey started the secretary with no experience or <v Narrator>training in the retail candy business. <v Narrator>She attended a small business clinic offered by Utah State University's extension <v Narrator>service. Mostly, she says, she'd just ask questions. <v Narrator>Her marketing plan targets the gift, novelty and fundraising trades. <v Narrator>Her product line includes molded suckers in a variety of shapes specialty <v Narrator>items like chocolate rose in a vase. <v Narrator>perfect for Mother's Day and box candy, sweets like Cherry cordials and caramel turtles. <v Narrator>The sucker treat candies can be found throughout Utah, as well as Texas, Arkansas, <v Narrator>Oklahoma, Louisiana, Oregon, Washington and Southern California.

<v Narrator>Obviously, for Connie and the women that worked for her. <v Narrator>this is no idle time venture. <v Narrator>Her employees may not be the main breadwinners in their families, but the money they <v Narrator>take home is critical. <v Employee A>We needed it for Bills. We'd gotten behind in our electricity bill and a few of our other <v Employee A>bills that we couldn't catch up with. With our farm income, we needed the money for <v Employee A>Bills. <v Employee B>We've got a lot of bills that we've got behind on and so the income I get here <v Employee B>helps with what we're getting out of time to catch up <v Employee B>on what we got behind on. <v Narrator>The sucker tree is providing more than just jobs and income for families <v Narrator>in Fairview. It's an important source of pride. <v Connie Galey>It's been a boost in morale just to see that somebody can do something here. <v Connie Galey>And, you know, when somebody is willing to take it on. <v Employee B>To me, it means that I can do something else than just clean house and take <v Employee B>care, kids. <v Employee A>When we haven't had the money to pay the bills.

<v Employee A>I felt like, you know, I'm not contributing. <v Employee A>I'm not doing anything now. I feel like, well, I'm doing my share. <v Employee A>I'm doing all I can to help, help to meet the finances. <v Employee A>And it's helped. <v Employee C>The whole thing has really added to help other people see that someone could <v Employee C>make ?inaudible? and bring something into our small town. <v Rod Koch>Any time you see something moving forward, it builds everybody up. <v Rod Koch>It gets them excited and renewed vigor, even in the surrounding <v Rod Koch>businesses, because hey, you know, somebody else's got a little faith. <v Rod Koch>And we're going- maybe things will pick up a little and move forward. <v Narrator>Experts say that a base of local individuals operating small <v Narrator>businesses is better for your hometown than bringing in one large factory. <v Kenneth Deavers>There is much more of a commitment to trying to stay in the community to <v Kenneth Deavers>care about the environment and the community of which they are apart. <v Kenneth Deavers>There's a community spirit involved in entrepreneurship which carries over

<v Kenneth Deavers>to the school system, carries over to bond issues that support infrastructure <v Kenneth Deavers>for the community. <v Kenneth Deavers>To all of those things that undergird whether communities, in fact, <v Kenneth Deavers>have a viable, vital economic development capability. <v Narrator>Officials in small towns can do a lot to promote entrepreneurship. <v Narrator>They can stimulate ideas for new ventures by holding community discussions <v Narrator>or arranging visits from university experts. <v Narrator>They can provide an environment that supports business startups. <v Narrator>This may mean removing barriers like permits or excessive paperwork. <v Narrator>They can use community resources, for example, teach business skills in high <v Narrator>school, and then let the students actually start a business. <v Narrator>And they can help provide financing by offering loans directly or encouraging <v Narrator>the local bank to accept high risk applications. <v Narrator>Entrepreneurship is one way to deal with the unemployment problem in your hometown

<v Narrator>in Fairview, Utah. The Sucker Tree is a good beginning. <v Kenneth Deavers>It's been enormously successful beyond the imaginations of the people who originally <v Kenneth Deavers>started. <v Kenneth Deavers>And while it hasn't solved the unemployment problems of the community, <v Kenneth Deavers>it has certainly created new jobs, has met <v Kenneth Deavers>productive employment for the people who started it, as well as for others. <v Kenneth Deavers>In collectively, several enterprises like that can make a difference. <v Narrator>But, you know, you can't just grow entrepreneurs. <v Narrator>Experts will tell you that an entrepreneur is someone with a marketable idea <v Narrator>who's willing to take risks. <v Narrator>But just listen to Connie Galeyley. <v Narrator>You realize there's something more, a sense of determination, a vision <v Narrator>of how things might be. <v Narrator>A desire to make life a little better. <v Narrator>It's a certain spirit. <v Connie Galey>I just have always been under the impression that if all it takes is work. <v Connie Galey>I can do it.

<v Connie Galey>And let me tell you. 18 hours a day was worth. <v Connie Galey>It's me. And if the Sucker Tree fails, I feel like it's me that would fail. <v Connie Galey>I've had lots of personal success in my home with my children, but I've never had until <v Connie Galey>now any success that gave me self-confidence. <v Connie Galey>As Connie. Not as mom, not as the wife, but as <v Connie Galey>Connie. <v Connie Galey>And it's possible. It's just possible to make a dream come true. <v Kenneth Deavers>We haven't ever figured out whether we have obligations to the people <v Kenneth Deavers>who leave farming as well as to the people who stay in farming. <v Singer>The big boys they all got computers,Got INC.'d too. Me, I just

<v Singer>know how to raise things, that was allI ever knew. Now it all comes down to numbers. Now I'm glad that I have quit. Hopes these days don't do nothing. Searching for- <v Narrator>It's been said that a man is what a man does, <v Narrator>but if you're forced to leave the land, you've farmed all your life. <v Narrator>Then what are you and what do you do? <v Narrator>For many farmers, the 1980s have been severe. <v Narrator>Crop prices are low and land values are down. <v Narrator>Many farmers, after years of rising debt, have been forced to sell their land and quit <v Narrator>farming. Others faced foreclosure, losing virtually everything <v Narrator>they own. Through the first half of this decade. <v Narrator>America lost 220000 farms.

<v Narrator>Several things happened to your home town when a farmer quits farming. <v Narrator>When farmers are unemployed, they buy less. <v Narrator>So the hardware store, the grocery store and the barber shop do less business. <v Narrator>Many farm families leave the community, taking with them the energy, talent <v Narrator>and values a small town needs most. <v Narrator>Your home town really suffers when a man is forced to leave the land he's <v Narrator>farmed all his life. <v Kenneth Deavers>The personal trauma and distress associated <v Kenneth Deavers>with losing an enterprise which may have been in the family <v Kenneth Deavers>for generations causes more turmoil <v Kenneth Deavers>for the individual, more sense of loss of self-worth, <v Kenneth Deavers>more fundamental questioning about whether or not you're a good person <v Kenneth Deavers>than to lose a job in a factory or, you know, in a corner business <v Kenneth Deavers>or something. <v Kenneth Deavers>And so I think that you see a lot more.

<v Kenneth Deavers>A lot more community wide and family wide <v Kenneth Deavers>stress associated with unemployment in farm communities than you <v Kenneth Deavers>do in many other rural communities that are under stress. <v Narrator>Nebraska is a rural agricultural state. <v Narrator>Seventy nine Nebraska counties have a population less than twenty thousand. <v Narrator>There's sixty thousand farms in Nebraska and 64 of the 93 <v Narrator>Nebraska counties are farm dependent. <v Narrator>Through the mid 1980s, Nebraska has lost as many as thirty five <v Narrator>hundred farmers annually. <v Narrator>Officials in Nebraska realize that beyond the personal cost. <v Narrator>Farm failures have a very real cost to the state. <v Mollie Anderson>We are noticing as the ag. Crisis in Nebraska <v Mollie Anderson>has had its effect, that it has an impact upon increasing needs for social services, <v Mollie Anderson>for food stamps, for mental health counseling, for aging services, <v Mollie Anderson>and even on health itself, on the

<v Mollie Anderson>need for additional medical services. <v Mollie Anderson>So there is no question that it has a <v Mollie Anderson>cost factor for Nebraska in terms of of these farmers in need. <v Narrator>If an unemployed farmer can't find a job, eventually he'll pack up the family <v Narrator>and move away for a small town. <v Narrator>That's the worst thing that can happen, because farmers are the kind of people you want <v Narrator>to keep around. <v Mollie Anderson>There's no question our work ethic is is excellent, that they will put <v Mollie Anderson>in a good day's work, that they understand the difficulties of running a business <v Mollie Anderson>and they're extremely loyal individuals, hardworking, all those types of things <v Mollie Anderson>because they have been in farming and a business <v Mollie Anderson>person, they can manage themselves. <v Mollie Anderson>They don't necessarily need a supervisor. <v Mollie Anderson>And the mechanic can that jack of all trades as <v Mollie Anderson>a as a term often used for farmers.

<v Mollie Anderson>It's true. <v Micheal Nolan>Strong family ties spiritual values of hard work, <v Micheal Nolan>of people who are self-starters, who you know, who don't need to have someone to prod <v Micheal Nolan>them to be motivated to set goals themselves and who basically or <v Micheal Nolan>are self-made of honest people. <v Narrator>For Nebraska officials, the situation was pretty clear. <v Narrator>Each year, the farm crisis was forcing thousands of Nebraska farmers off <v Narrator>farm and into the unemployment line. <v Narrator>The impact on small communities was great. <v Narrator>And each time a farm family moved away, the health and future of a small town <v Narrator>suffered. But what to do? <v Narrator>There were no state or federal programs that dealt specifically with displaced farmers. <v Narrator>There was, however, the Job Training Partnership Act, a federal law designed <v Narrator>to help jobless persons regain employment through retraining. <v Narrator>Under the act, states can establish programs for displaced workers and <v Narrator>be funded by the federal government.

<v Narrator>Nebraska took the money and created an innovative program designed <v Narrator>for farmers. <v Mollie Anderson>We try to tell a farmer that our first goal is to keep them in farming. <v Mollie Anderson>And if we're not able to do that, at least to allow them the opportunity to explore some <v Mollie Anderson>other alternatives and hopefully keep them in Nebraska and keep them in their rural <v Mollie Anderson>communities. <v Nancy Schwede>The goal of the AG Action Center is to keep the farmer or the AG related person in the <v Nancy Schwede>place that they want to be, wherever that might be. <v Nancy Schwede>Some of them choose to remain on the farm. Some of them choose to go seek other kinds of <v Nancy Schwede>employment or retrain for another kind of employment. <v Narrator>The Nebraska Farmers Program, called Agriculture in Transition, is tailored <v Narrator>to those it is trying to help. <v Narrator>For example, counselors know farmers think entering a welfare office is an admission <v Narrator>of failure. So agriculture in transition establish six ag action <v Narrator>centers and community colleges across the state. <v Narrator>Program director Molly Anderson calls the center's places to explore options. <v Mollie Anderson>The first thing that happens is a financial evaluation of what their financial

<v Mollie Anderson>status is. And from that, they can determine whether they need to look at other <v Mollie Anderson>alternatives. And we try to again, see if there are ways that we can manage the situation <v Mollie Anderson>differently to maintain them on the farm. <v Mollie Anderson>If that's not possible, then we begin to do some career exploration programs. <v Mollie Anderson>And there we are. We tell them a little bit about what's available in Nebraska, but <v Mollie Anderson>training is required. <v Mollie Anderson>What kind of income they can expect. <v Mollie Anderson>We offer some support programs. <v Mollie Anderson>Sometimes they do need some social service help. <v Mollie Anderson>And then if they decide they want to get out of farming and they make the decision <v Mollie Anderson>themselves, then we start offering some programs to train them and other occupations. <v Mollie Anderson>We offer classroom training where we allow them to go to a community college and we pay <v Mollie Anderson>100 percent of the book's tuition and fees. <v Mollie Anderson>We pay a local employer, hopefully in their hometown area <v Mollie Anderson>that now allows them to work in a community and be trained on the job. <v Narrator>Nancy Schwede runs the AG Action Center in Norfolk, Nebraska, <v Narrator>on the campus of Northeast Technical Community College.

<v Narrator>She says a person leaving the farm carries a lot of emotional baggage <v Narrator>and at first can't focus on career planning. <v Nancy Schwede>Sometimes it takes us a couple, three visits before they're ready to start the job <v Nancy Schwede>seeking skills classes or the career process or whatever <v Nancy Schwede>they're going to go into because they're very emotional at that point and they're only <v Nancy Schwede>seeing seeing the negative aspects. <v Nancy Schwede>So I work on the individual. And what what are the positive aspects of this? <v Nancy Schwede>Know, maybe this is an opportunity rather than financial <v Nancy Schwede>disaster or whatever. <v Narrator>Nancy found out that when a farmer finally begins to think about another career, he <v Narrator>always says the same thing. <v Narrator>And that is all I can do is farm. <v Nancy Schwede>That is the statement I hear over and over and over. <v Nancy Schwede>All I can do is farm. <v Nancy Schwede>I might say, but it's not true. They have a tremendous number of skills <v Nancy Schwede>that they usually have not looked at. <v Gil>I don't know where I stand in this out in the world other than farming.

<v Nancy Schwede>And a farmer doesn't have other kinds of skills, Gil. <v Gil>Oh, I'm sure they do. <v Nancy Schwede>Can you name some of those skills. <v Gil>The skills of farming I guess. <v Nancy Schwede>Have you ever had a sick cow. <v Gil>Yes. <v Nancy Schwede>ever had [unclear] Calf. <v Gil>Yes. <v Nancy Schwede>You kind of think that maybe you have some kind of Vetenary skills to answer. <v Nancy Schwede>Do you call the vet in every time? <v Gil>No, not every time. I don't. <v Gil>I usually get one of my family out there to help. <v Nancy Schwede>So far, we've talked about the fact that you have some vet skills and some researching <v Nancy Schwede>skills. What are the kinds of things that you do? <v Gil>Well, I guess there's things you do around the place that you don't realize that you <v Gil>have. I've done some carpentry around. <v Gil>I remodeled the kitchen. <v Nancy Schwede>So now we have three skills, keep going. <v Gil>A little little electrical wiring in-. <v Nancy Schwede>Four skills. <v Gil>Repair my tractor once in a while-. <v Narrator>A big part of agriculture in transition is the on the job training program.

<v Narrator>After a farmer selects some possible new career. <v Narrator>The AG Action Center teams him up with a local business doing that kind of work. <v Narrator>The farmer learns his new skill on the job and the employer gets reimbursed for <v Narrator>half the employee's wages during the training period. <v Arlen Lutz>And they also screen the people and everything to determine whether <v Arlen Lutz>they're suitable for your type of business. <v Arlen Lutz>And that's pretty valuable because we're not a large enough <v Arlen Lutz>company to have a personnel office or anything of that type. <v Arlen Lutz>And so that just helps us in screening <v Arlen Lutz>people that might be employable in our business. <v Narrator>Frank Kielar is learning tractor repair on the job at the Lutts John <v Narrator>Deere dealership. <v Narrator>He thinks the on the job training program is a good deal. <v Frank Kielar>I think it is. <v Frank Kielar>People can after they get older now. <v Frank Kielar>They don't know what they want to really want to do. They can get into this and find out

<v Frank Kielar>if they really like it and they don't really like it. <v Frank Kielar>After a week or two, they can change over and go into something else. <v Frank Kielar>I was pretty sure I want to work here now, but they had other programs that you could go <v Frank Kielar>into. This was kind of right here. <v Frank Kielar>And I was born and raised on a farm, so I was kind of in my blood a little bit. <v Narrator>Mollie Anderson says Nebraska's agriculture and transition program is <v Narrator>undeniably a success. <v Mollie Anderson>I consider a statistical success, I guess, in that most of <v Mollie Anderson>the farmers who see us stay in farming and that those who have <v Mollie Anderson>to get out of farming are placed. <v Mollie Anderson>About 80 percent of those are placed in jobs so <v Mollie Anderson>that they're not a burden on the tax system, not having to draw a lot of assistance <v Mollie Anderson>type of of programs, but that they're able to work in our small towns, <v Mollie Anderson>earning our wage and putting money back into the community. <v Narrator>Placements, statistics, employment figures and wage scales can be dry stuff, <v Narrator>but they don't speak to the very real success in human terms taking place

<v Narrator>in Nebraska. On a rainy afternoon in Stanton, Nebraska. <v Narrator>Five farmers gathered at a local tavern to talk about being forced off the farm <v Narrator>and to talk about the people in the program that literally saved their lives. <v Speaker A>My thoughts were suicide. <v Speaker A>I didn't know where else to go. That was all my husband's family and I had done for the <v Speaker A>last 14 years. <v Speaker A>We had no other alternative route to take at that time. <v Speaker A>The only training my husband had was being on the farm myself. <v Speaker A>I had worked in nursing homes and as a waitress. <v Speaker A>But that isn't what I had wanted to do the rest of my life. <v Speaker A>So we contacted a friend of mine was going through the same situation in their families <v Speaker A>in bankruptcy also. <v Speaker A>She told me about the AG Action Center and the farmers in transition program and <v Speaker A>after speaking with people there, I had a more positive outlook on things. <v Speaker A>And I started to care about myself and my family again and not <v Speaker A>feel so down. <v Speaker B>When I went in there, I broke down when I talked to Nancy.

<v Speaker B>I mean, I cried is like I didn't have no control, <v Speaker B>Nancy. said now what's your trouble? <v Speaker B>Well, I got depression. <v Speaker B>And that's the first thing she sent me to the doctor. <v Speaker B>And the doctor said physically I was all right. <v Speaker B>It's just your mind is playing tricks. <v Speaker B>She says, now take your problem <v Speaker B>whatever problem. It's the Depression, throw it in the sack. <v Speaker B>So I threw it in. She said, What else is it? <v Speaker B>Well, my friend on the road, he's going down and I can't help it. <v Speaker B>Throw it in there. All these problems, these farm problems, she threw in to sack, <v Speaker B>you know, put every one of them in there. <v Speaker B>You know. She says here there's <v Speaker B>all the problems, I got all the problems you haven't got any. <v Speaker B>So she took my depression away. <v Speaker C>I had the feeling that, gee what would have my <v Speaker C>brothers and sisters think of me, you know, losing the farm. <v Speaker C>It.

<v Speaker C>But at the present time, I have no intentions of leaving the area anymore. <v Speaker C>But I did think of that in my mind. <v Speaker C>But my son is presently going to the Northeast Tech. <v Speaker C>You're taking up Industrial Maintenance. <v Speaker C>And he and I went to this Northeast Tech this career planning <v Speaker C>together. <v Speaker C>And they made me feel as though say I'm OK. <v Speaker C>There's nothing wrong with me, you know? It just made me a different outlook <v Speaker C>on life. It made me feel like I was worth something. <v Speaker D>They've shown me a new direction, a <v Speaker D>way to fit back into society. <v Speaker D>And that way I can get <v Speaker D>an education and go back into another field or <v Speaker D>into a more advanced agricultural field and <v Speaker D>be a credit to society again.

<v Speaker E>They turned me clear around. Sometimes it breaks me up. <v Speaker E>But that crisis center has turned me clear around. <v Speaker E>That I hold them. <v Speaker E>I guess in the palm of my hand, they aren't <v Speaker E>just teachers. There's somebody to be respected and loved. <v Speaker E>This is that important to me. <v Nancy Schwede>And the line that seems to bring more people to <v Nancy Schwede>wanting to partake in our services is you don't understand <v Nancy Schwede>the peace that's going to come. <v Nancy Schwede>After, you know, where you're going to go with the rest of your life. <v Nancy Schwede>And I'm usually on that line. I get tears and they'll say, <v Nancy Schwede>you really think there's going to be peace because they're not having peace doing <v Nancy Schwede>what they're doing or they wouldn't be in here to see me in the first place. <v Nancy Schwede>You know, they're having a lot of nightmares and wake lost nights and sleepless nights.

<v Nancy Schwede>Not wakeless nights, sleepless nights from their concerns and <v Nancy Schwede>so on, teaching people that they can do anything in the world. <v Nancy Schwede>If they only get out of their own way. <v Mollie Anderson>There's a lot of that information that's come out nationally about farmers crying <v Mollie Anderson>and horrible sales and the kid losing his favorite pet and <v Mollie Anderson>etc, etc., and small towns blowing away. <v Mollie Anderson>And I think the alternative message is not told enough that many <v Mollie Anderson>of these people find a solution and they find a way to remain in the farm in a way <v Mollie Anderson>to remain in their community. <v Kenneth Deavers>Probably the first and most important thing the community has to do if it's going to have <v Kenneth Deavers>a sensible strategy for the future is to figure out what assets

<v Kenneth Deavers>they have and how to use those for future development. <v Narrator>If you come to Hartwell, Georgia. Plan to ride the train. <v Narrator>Of course of the residents have anything to do with it. <v Narrator>That's probably why you came to Hartwell in the first place. <v Narrator>A short ride on the railway is a key part. <v Narrator>This small Georgia town's revitalization program, that wasn't the plan <v Narrator>in the beginning. <v Narrator>At first, Hartwell started down a completely different track, trying to recruit new <v Narrator>industry. <v Narrator>But some innovative thinking has created new jobs, refurbishing <v Narrator>a dying part of town and turned Hartwell into a budding tourist attraction. <v Narrator>When Nancy Hart, in the early years of the American Revolution, shot two Tories and <v Narrator>hung three others, she wasn't looking to get a Georgia county named after. <v Narrator>But that's what happened.

<v Narrator>Actually, a county, a city, a lake, a state park and a highway <v Narrator>are all named for this legendary heroine of the American Revolution. <v Narrator>The Tories had forced their way into Nancy's home looking for food and whiskey. <v Narrator>Well, Nancy kept their cups full until she could grab a rifle and then she killed one <v Narrator>and wounded another. And when help arrived, they hung the rest. <v Narrator>And Nancy Hart became a legend. <v Narrator>Today, the people of Hart County seem to carry with them that same grit <v Narrator>and courage she represents. <v Narrator>Hart County, population less than 19000, is a small rural <v Narrator>county in northeast Georgia. <v Narrator>The county seat is Hartwell, a town of 5000, sitting about 10 miles <v Narrator>from the Savannah River and the South Carolina state line. <v Narrator>In the old days, Cotton was king in Hart county and for more than 50 years, <v Narrator>beginning in the late eighteen hundreds, Hartwell's economy depended entirely on

<v Narrator>cotton. Cotton related businesses flourished along Depo Street <v Narrator>and the Hartwell railroad, carried cotton and other farm goods north to Bowersville in <v Narrator>the main rail line. <v Narrator>But in the early nineteen hundreds, things turned sour. <v Narrator>The boll weevil. The invention of rayon and nylon. <v Narrator>The introduction of irrigated cotton in Western states led to the collapse <v Narrator>of the cotton market. <v Narrator>By 1950, many Hartwell businesses had failed and buildings were simply abandoned. <v Narrator>Over the years, Hartwell rebuilt primarily by recruiting small industry <v Narrator>today an auto equipment manufacture, a sporting goods company and a clothing company <v Narrator>provide jobs for area workers. <v Narrator>But recently, the mayor and other community leaders decided Hartwell needed a shot <v Narrator>in the arm. Downtown businesses were not doing well. <v Narrator>Depo Street was an eyesore of abandoned cotton warehouses. <v Narrator>The rail line was losing money and about to go under.

<v Narrator>Young people were growing up in Hartwell, but moving away in search of jobs <v Narrator>and a future. What was needed was economic development, and community <v Narrator>officials hoped that what had worked in the past would work again. <v Paul DeLargy>The basic theme of there with most of the people <v Paul DeLargy>was to get more industries. <v Paul DeLargy>So generally, I would say that the community <v Paul DeLargy>was more interested in industrial development than they were tourism. <v Narrator>But industrial recruitment isn't as easy as it used to be. <v Joan Saliba>Industries wanted to be near the big metropolitan <v Joan Saliba>areas, so it was very difficult to entice new <v Joan Saliba>industries into our location. <v Kenneth Deavers>The Knee-Jerk reaction at the community level, <v Kenneth Deavers>certainly in the south, where manufacturing has been the principal engine <v Kenneth Deavers>of economic growth during the 60s and 70s. <v Kenneth Deavers>Knee-Jerk, reaction is industrial development is the solution in industrial development <v Kenneth Deavers>means branch plants.

<v Kenneth Deavers>Well, we're not locating lots of new branch plants any place in this country at this <v Kenneth Deavers>point in time. Manufacturing sector is a declining <v Kenneth Deavers>share of U.S. employment. <v Kenneth Deavers>That's not new. It has been for 20 some years. <v Kenneth Deavers>So if you hang your star on industrial promotion, <v Kenneth Deavers>you are competing in a shrinking market. <v Narrator>Experts say self development is the best strategy for small towns <v Narrator>rather than building facilities. The focus should be on educating people and building <v Narrator>leaders instead of looking outside the community for new employers. <v Narrator>Towns should identify their own resources and exploit them in a positive way. <v Narrator>There are several advantages to self development. <v Narrator>The businesses created are owned and controlled by local people. <v Narrator>Building from within becomes a continuous process and doesn't stop. <v Narrator>One branch plant shuts down and self development is more than just <v Narrator>providing jobs. It expands the skills and capabilities of workers

<v Narrator>and businesses. <v Narrator>Hartwell, Georgia, was ideally suited for self development. <v Narrator>One major resource not being fully exploited was Hartwell Lake, just <v Narrator>minutes from the town Hartwell Lake was created by the completion of the Hartwell Dam. <v Narrator>In 1963, the lake borders, Georgia and South Carolina <v Narrator>were the shoreline of nine hundred and sixty two miles. <v Narrator>Eleven million people visit the lake each year. <v Narrator>But Hartwell Mayor John Saliba realized few of these people were coming <v Narrator>into Hartwell. <v Joan Saliba>So I figured if eleven million visitors were coming into the area <v Joan Saliba>each year, if you could tap one million of those visitors <v Joan Saliba>and bring them in and each one spent one dollar, can you imagine <v Joan Saliba>the economic impact that you would have? <v Narrator>The mayor met with experts from the University of Georgia and tourism became the <v Narrator>number one goal for Hartwell.

<v Paul DeLargy>We convened meetings with the mayor and we brought people. <v Paul DeLargy>We had breakfasts and we talked about the possibilities of <v Paul DeLargy>tourism and how you go about that and an outgrowth of that, where we've got enough people <v Paul DeLargy>aboard that we're interested in doing it. <v Paul DeLargy>And we started to look at tourism as a number one goal. <v Narrator>Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the Hartwell railway was running out of steam. <v Narrator>The owners of the one hundred and eight year old railway were about to retire, and it <v Narrator>looked as if the rail line would be abandoned. <v Lee Carter>It happened that at the same time, the people from the university was here <v Lee Carter>investigating the possibilities of the tourist <v Lee Carter>industry. So the two coincided <v Lee Carter>and we managed to get several people from the community interested <v Lee Carter>in purchasing control of the railroad to see if we could <v Lee Carter>not develop a tourist industry through that.

<v Narrator>The Hart County Scenic Railway had a bumpy ride at first. <v Narrator>Special licenses were required for passenger service. <v Narrator>Steam engine parts were hard to find, and the first superintendent died unexpectedly. <v Narrator>But the historic spirit of Nancy Hart prevailed. <v Narrator>And the railroad has become the one attraction that regularly brings people to Hartwell <v Narrator>during the school year, youngsters from all over Georgia come to ride the train and <v Narrator>picnic by the water. <v Narrator>The Hartwell train pulled by the steam engine has even been featured in local Georgia <v Narrator>television commercials. <v PayAnyDay Loans>Major purchases are easier with our PayAnyDay Loans. <v PayAnyDay Loans>PayAnyDay. Simple interest at the Georgia Railroad Bank

<v PayAnyDay Loans>for your auto dealer. <v PayAnyDay Loans>I hear It'll do 25 miles an hour. <v Narrator>Hartwell began with a good self development strategy. <v Narrator>But something else was needed. <v Narrator>Visitors to the lake would be attracted to Hartwell by the train. <v Narrator>But how could these tourist dollars be turned into jobs for Hartwell workers? <v Narrator>After several town meetings, it was decided to renovate the street adjacent <v Narrator>to the train depot. The old abandoned warehouses would be perfect for small <v Narrator>shops and restaurants, natural tourist attractions. <v Narrator>Today, you can shop for a locally made crafts and wood carvings, strum a <v Narrator>handmade dulcimer, try on slippers made on the premises, enjoy <v Narrator>a little theater production, get a home cooked meal by one of the last remaining <v Narrator>American made umbrellas, or listen to a bluegrass band. <v Narrator>Here's a sampler of depo Street in Hartwell, Georgia. <v Guest>[music plays] Let's go back to Act 1

<v Band>[Singing] We're glad to see all you new people with us here tonight. <v Band>A lot of faces we have been seeing here on Saturday night. <v Band>We're glad that you've come to be with us here at the Bluegrass Express on Depo Street <v Band>in good old Hartwell [singing] <v Narrator>The future of Hartwell is bright, like its train traveling through the Georgia

<v Narrator>countryside. The town has put itself on the straight track of self development. <v Narrator>Hartwell will never be a north Georgia Disneyland, but it doesn't want to be stately. <v Narrator>Civil war era mansions. <v Narrator>A pleasant country in a beautiful like a tourist railroad. <v Narrator>A street of quaint shops. Hartwell is cozy. <v Narrator>Just the way it wants to be. <v Narrator>But the people aren't complacent. <v Narrator>They still look forward to the future and they're happy in <v Narrator>their hometown. <v Lee Carter>Well, I've always been proud of my community. <v Lee Carter>I like to see the best for it. <v Lee Carter>The fact that we were able to say salvage the railroad and keep it operating. <v Lee Carter>Everybody realized that it would be a bad thing if we lost the one hundred <v Lee Carter>and eight year old industry. <v Lee Carter>That, to me, has been the most rewarding part of it.

<v Speaker F>Hartwell is beginning to come around some as a tourist spot because of the lake and <v Speaker F>the train So hopefully before too long, I'll be able to move into <v Speaker F>the shop on a full time basis and support my family <v Speaker F>and earn a living doing things that I really enjoy. <v Paul DeLargy>I know they have a core leadership that's capable. <v Paul DeLargy>I know they have people that are are willing and able to give time and and <v Paul DeLargy>have made a commitment. And you can tell it by just looking at some of the activities <v Paul DeLargy>they're doing in each year there. <v Paul DeLargy>They seem to be becoming more involved and more involved. <v Joan Saliba>I think the future of Hartwell is is fantastic. <v Joan Saliba>I don't want you to misunderstand by saying that we're going to grow by leaps <v Joan Saliba>and bounds because nobody wants that. <v Joan Saliba>But we're going to have a charming town. <v Narrator>Fairview, Utah, Norfolk, Nebraska, Hartwell, <v Narrator>Georgia. Small towns in rural American towns

<v Narrator>not much different from your hometown. <v Narrator>What they represent each in its own way is success and what they say <v Narrator>best to the rest of rural America is that the essence of small town life <v Narrator>lies within the community. <v Narrator>So the development of solutions to problems must also come from within. <v Narrator>But the future will not be easy. <v Kenneth Deavers>If there's one word to summarize what's going on, <v Kenneth Deavers>it is very difficult economic adjustment <v Kenneth Deavers>because it requires a diverse set of strategies <v Kenneth Deavers>and a different set of strategies and the strategies that community real communities have <v Kenneth Deavers>tried in the past. That makes it much harder because <v Kenneth Deavers>you can't use what you did in the 60s as a model for what you're going to do in the 80s. <v Kenneth Deavers>It's true at the local level is true at the state level. <v Kenneth Deavers>It's true at the federal level. So therefore, I think that <v Kenneth Deavers>the rural economic adjustment to the new set of realities,

<v Kenneth Deavers>both domestically and internationally, is going to be very difficult. <v Narrator>Difficult? Yes. Impossible. <v Narrator>No. If the buildings on Main Street are vacant now with a little luck, <v Narrator>they won't be for long because in small towns all across America, <v Narrator>the problems of unemployment and economic distress are being met with determination, <v Narrator>innovative thinking and teamwork, because in some small way, <v Narrator>life is better there. <v Narrator>So take a good look around. <v Narrator>This is your hometown. <v Host>This program was produced by the Economic Research Service, which is solely

<v Host>responsible for its content.