Small Cities Weekly | 09.29.2023
The Small 277, Smucker, & Fractal Farm Land
As part of the work we are doing on the Small City Segment, we send out a brief weekly post of thoughts, links, and research in progress that reflect the week’s work. I’d love to hear from you if you have any thoughts, questions, disagreements, or things to add. Please forward this on to people you think might enjoy reading it.
The Small 277
I’ve spent a lot of time in US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis databases since really digging into the Small City Segment idea. Last week I wrote about the links between population growth and economic measures of success, but had to expand some analysis to small cities that had already been done on the larger ones.
As I’ve dug deeper, I’ve found myself reading a lot of economics, sociology, and urban planning research theorizing on just about every question you can dream up. But one thing they all have in common is almost always choosing “the top 100 cities by population” as their data set. This isn’t for lack of data - almost all use Census Bureau and BEA data sources, which include all metro and micropolitan areas in the US.
Part of me believes you could probably get a research grant just to take all interesting analysis that’s been run on the top 100 cities, and repeat it on the 277 “small cities” to see what holds up and what’s different. Even without the research grant, expect to see more of this from me in the future!
Links
This Company Created a Return-to-Office Plan That Employees Actually Like, Chip Cutter, WSJ
Smucker has adopted a return-to-office strategy that is unusual among U.S. companies. The company expects its roughly 1,300 Orrville-based corporate workers to be on site as little as six days a month, or about 25% of the time, depending on their roles.
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In Orrville, with a population of about 9,000, Smucker is the biggest employer. Locals can spot Smucker employees by the lanyards dangling from their belts.
The front of every Smucker jelly packet still includes “Orrville, Ohio,” in small print—a point of pride.
I wrote a post last week about the myth of the link between population growth and economic measures of success in small cities. I love this article and their approach because it shows a creative way for a company to think about its relationships to both employees and place - and how both can be aligned.
Fractal Launches Investment Platform, Fractal
Unlike traditional investors that compete with farmers for land and lease it back to them, Fractal invests alongside farmers by taking passive, minority stakes in land farmers’ own. Farmers receive needed capital to expand their operations, while investors access high quality farmland managed and owned by farmers to drive higher returns. Additionally, Fractal provides discounts for approved regenerative agriculture practices that enable healthier soils and support the long-term financial health of the farmland.
This is a bit more related to rural areas than small cities (although the two are often linked in may places), but I’m really interested in the underlying mechanism of financing they are using. There could be cool applications of this kind of model for small-scale, incremental developers in small cities - and potentially even a twist on it for the acquisition of small businesses that are at threat of closing due to a lack of succession plans over the next decade or so.
Pulse Points Summer 2023: Weathering Financial Setbacks From Natural Disasters, Financial Health Network
Since insurance offers financial protection in the wake of a natural disaster, we would expect greater uptake of residential insurance among Americans living in states that experience high losses related to natural disasters. Instead, this Pulse Points brief finds the opposite.
We have had the pleasure of knowing the Financial Health Network team for a few years now and their research is always fascinating. Following the theme of climate change, natural disasters, and mitigation, this was an interesting look at the consumer financial implications. We feel pretty strongly that there are a lot of solutions to be built that allow them to better handle these issues, and this research seems to support some of those holes that are yet to be filled.
What I’m Working On
Small City Industry Niches: I wrote my first exploration of this topic a few weeks ago, sharing origin stories of speciality insurance in Fort Wayne, orthopedics in Warsaw, and RVs in Elkhart. I’ve got a few more on the docket, but if you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.
Small City Climate Change & Resilience Data: I’m interested in learning more behind the data being used to define and determine mitigation for climate change and resiliency and how that shows up in smaller cities.
If you…
are interested in building for the small city segment…
are already building for the small city segment…
know someone who might be/should be building for the small city segment…
want to contribute expertise to problem profiles…
or want to help us expand our networks of trust in small cities…
please subscribe and reach out at dustin@invanti.co.