News

In case you’re not aware of it, the little city of Keene, NH, (population 23,000) is gradually becoming quite the hub for entrepreneurship and rural economic development. For example, it’s going to be the site next month of the second annual Radically Rural conference. The focus of the two-day event will be on major challenges, like labor Read more…

Keene’s second annual Radically Rural summit kicks off this fall, exploring the traits that define small-town communities, and the economic patterns since the recession that have disadvantaged their residents and businesses. Mary Ann Kristiansen, Hannah Grimes’ executive director, explains that the backdrop for Radically Rural was a growing trend toward urbanization in the face of Read more…

Rural Americans are confident that major problems facing their local communities can be solved in five years, but most think they cannot be fixed without outside help.  So says the 2018 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJ) study – “Life in Rural America.” The challenges of job losses, scarcity of broadband, and retention of young people Read more…

Monthly radio show, New Hampshire Business Matters, covered an upcoming event next month that puts rural New Hampshire in the spotlight for opportunities and possibilities rural America offers. Tune in at 2:05 pm to WTPL-FM 107.7 on the third Wednesday of the month for New Hampshire Business Matters. Radically Rural is getting noticed; last week it was Read more…

The Keene Sentinel The second annual Radically Rural summit this fall will feature “crazy good” sessions to give attendees resources and tools to help change their communities. The summit is broken into six program tracks: arts and culture, entrepreneurship, journalism, Main Street, renewable energy and working lands. Called the Crazy Good sessions, the third session Read more…

ELF Magazine Entrepreneurship has a powerful impact on creating regional prosperity through job creation and building local companies that support their communities. We see a growing disparity between rural and urban entrepreneurial activity and a corresponding socio-economic gap between the two. The entrepreneurship track offers solutions through three sessions that explore growing Stage 2 businesses, Read more…

Grab your tickets for the Radically Rural Summit now – Early Bird discounted ticket sales end July 5th! Radically Rural is a national two-day summit hosted by the Hannah Grimes Center and Keene Sentinel that focuses on creating vibrant, robust rural communities and the advantages and opportunities of rural living. This year’s summit is offering Read more…

The Keene Sentinel: Business Section The leader of a Missouri-based entrepreneurship foundation is slated to open the second annual Radically Rural summit this fall. Wendy Guillies became the president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in 2015 after more than a decade with the organization. Along with the efforts in its hometown of Read more…

Radically Rural, the annual two-day summit focused on issues and opportunities in small cities and towns, opens Sept. 19 and is expected to attract 800 people from the Monadnock Region, the Northeast and throughout the country. The Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship and The Keene Sentinel partner to present Radically Rural, which provides a uniquely Read more…

Each September, the Hannah Grimes Center hosts the PitchFork Challenge, a pitch competition for local entrepreneurs that offers a $10,000 cash prize for the winning business and a $1,000 cash prize for the winning start-up idea. Selected applicants will experience a great opportunity for professional business pitch coaching and building a valuable network. The final Read more…