I recently joined Joe Barker on the Rural Strong Podcast to talk about Sitehunt, entrepreneurship, and how AI helps rural and small‑community EDOs compete at scale. We covered how AI tools automate site analysis, RFI responses, and data collection, giving smaller teams analytical firepower that used to require big‑city budgets.
We also talked about why feedback matters more than features, why execution beats ideas every time, and why every community needs a modern website, a plan, and the willingness to pivot.
I shared my path from early‑2000s internet entrepreneur to chamber president in the Sierra Nevada foothills to Texas economic‑development director to startup CEO. Along the way, we dug into the new pillars of competitiveness—child care, housing, and workforce—and how rural leaders can use technology to take back the information advantage from site selectors.
Listen here: Rural Strong Podcast
Ten actionable takeaways for economic developers
- Treat AI like an intern, not an oracle — it needs data and context.
- Launch before you are ready and iterate in public.
- Build a website that sells your community.
- Use LinkedIn as your industry newspaper.
- Start a local podcast as a modern BRE tool.
- Plan, but be willing to pivot quickly.
- Address child care and housing as workforce issues.
- Prioritize execution over ideas.
- Save cash for the long haul.
- Ask for feedback early and often.
If you want to see how Sitehunt applies these ideas to real RFIs, we would love to walk through a demo with your data.
Adapted from an article originally published on Econ Dev Show. Read the original post