Doing More Good

By Dean Whittaker The purpose in sharing this story with you is to show what one small town with limited resources can do to inspire and share their gift with the world. On March 8th of this year, our community hosted a TEDx event. For those of you familiar with...

The Future is Now

By Dean Whittaker Learning can sometimes be painful. One painful lesson I learned this month is that not everyone thinks the same as I do. It was one of those “duh” moments that sticks with us. I have always been fascinated with the future. Growing up, I...

Does Place Matter?

By Dean Whittaker For those of us in the economic development profession, we like to think that place matters. And, I would argue that it does. According to David Houle, in his TEDx Pittsburgh and TEDx Sarasota talks, place shapes who we are. To a degree, it shapes...

On Being Disconnected

By Dean Whittaker In my haste to board Delta flight 458 at the Kansas City International Airport, I inadvertently left my iPhone on the chair next to me in the waiting area. Once on board, I realized my loss and went back to look for it, but it was gone. Suddenly, I...