Hamilton, MO vs. Lander, WY
Welcome to this first round match-up in the fifth annual Strongest Town Competition! In this round, 16 towns are facing off, and eight will advance to the next segment of the contest based on your votes. We invite you to read the answers that representatives from these two towns provided to questions about economic resilience, citizen involvement, land use and more, then vote for the strongest.
Can’t decide? If you’re looking for inspiration, check out how we describe the Strong Towns approach, or maybe take a look at the questions that make up our Strong Towns Strength Test.
You may vote once per day in each match-up. Round 1 voting closes at 12pm CDT on Thursday, March 12st.
Note: All entries are lightly edited for clarity and readability.
HAMILTON, MO
Entry submitted by: Bob Hughes, Christa Horne, Traci Flynn, Jacob Farnsworth, Jenn Klein, Dakota Redford, Stephanie Williams, Jean VanIperen, Ryan Redford, Bud Motsinger, Keith Gilbert
What is your favorite thing about your town?
The people of Hamilton are the town’s biggest asset. People have come together to both identify the needs and problems of the community, and then work to find solutions. In the past two years, Hamilton has added over 20 new businesses, most of them homegrown. Current projects include a quilt museum, a butterfly park, a new visitor's center, and much, much more. None of this would have been possible without caring and dedicated people. Hamilton epitomizes what small town, rural America is all about.
What is the biggest challenge your town faces, and what are you doing to address it?
Hamilton is dependent upon tourism for its survival. The home of Missouri Star Quilt Company, Hamilton has over 100,000 visitors annually. This is our greatest asset and at the same time our greatest liability. No town can survive when it becomes dependent upon one business or industry. Our challenge is how to take advantage of all the tourists and at the same time inoculate ourselves from the inevitable downturn in the interest in quilting.
Several years ago, we formed a group (Hamilton Community Alliance or HCA) to begin addressing these issues. We are developing attractions and activities that encourage visitors to stay longer (thus spending more money); provide attractions/events that attract people other than quilters; prompt people to come back more often; and to enhance the "Disneyland Experience" for the visitors we do have. These efforts have created new businesses and jobs; added new attractions such as the butterfly park and quilt museum; have grown established events such as J.C. Penney Days and the Christmas Expo; and have helped create new events such as the Butterfly Festival, the one-tenth K marathon, the Pothole Festival and the Missouri Makers Craft Festival.
We are working on community wide clean-up and beautification projects, getting the youth of the community involved, and more. We are also addressing larger projects such as adding more housing (both affordable and upscale), bringing in high speed, fiber optic Internet service, and transportation and community health and wellness issues.
What transportation options exist in your town for people of varying ages, abilities, and means? How easy is it to live in your town without regular access to a car? What transportation investments has your town recently made or is it in the process of making?
Like most rural communities, the major mode of transportation is by car or truck (though our local high school does promote a Drive Your Tractor to School Day). Many people have golf carts or ATVs that serve as their preferred in-town method of transportation. HCA has a work group that is focusing on developing a series of interconnecting walking/bicycle trails. The area has a large Amish population, so hitching posts and watering troughs are included in our transportation planning. The City of Hamilton recently commissioned an engineering study of the streets in town and, following a series of public meetings, adopted a comprehensive street and sidewalk improvement plan. One of our new businesses is a shuttle service, and we are working to add a shuttle bus, buggy rides, and a golf cart Uber (Goober) business. And being a small, caring community, if someone needs a ride, there is always someone available to take them.
Tell us about your community's local economy. Who are the key players, big and small, and how do they help your town to be financially strong and resilient? What local businesses are you most proud of?
Hamilton is the home of Missouri Star Quilt Company (MSQC). MSQC is the area's largest employer with over 300 employees. In addition to a large shipping business (MSQC is the world's largest shipper of precut fabric) the company operates 12 different quilt shops which attract over 100,000 visitors annually. Known as Quilt Town USA, Hamilton is currently dependent upon MSQC as the main economic engine. The annual visitors help support local shops, restaurants, specialty shops, and numerous bed and breakfasts.
Two new and rapidly growing businesses are Let’s Make Art, which offers online classes and painting kits, and Grand River Mushroom Company which raises and distributes organic mushrooms to restaurants, grocery stores and health food stores. The Missouri Quilt Museum, located in the 100-year-old former high school building will eventually employ up to 20 people and Butterfly Park is projected to attract 25,000+ visitors annually at full build-out. The Quilt Museum is currently home of the Worlds Tallest Spool of Thread, the Worlds Largest Toy Sewing Machine Collection, and soon the Worlds Largest Thimble Collection. Hamilton is also the birthplace of J.C. Penney and features the J.C. Penney Museum and the Penney Boyhood Home as attractions.
If we took a walking tour through your town, what would we see? How does your community use its land productively to promote long-term financial resilience?
First stop is the Hamilton Butterfly Park. The park is a former city dump that is being developed into a wildflower and pollinator park that will take advantage of the 20+ species of butterflies that migrate thru Western Missouri. The park is projected to attract 25,000+ visitors annually. New welcome signs will greet you as you enter Hamilton. You will walk by the City Park. The park is now used by our youth sports teams, but a new sports park is being planned and City Park will become a traditional city park, complete with flower beds, a gazebo and shelter houses. Arriving downtown, you will be struck by the amazing murals that adorn the sides of buildings. You will be welcomed at our new visitors center which is adjacent to the J.C. Penney Boyhood Home, both of which are in the J.C. Penney Park. There may be one or more tour buses at the visitors center, where you can meet people from around the country and the world.
Looking up and down the main street, you will see the 12 quilt shops operated by MSQC, a good selection of eating places, numerous shops, a bakery and a candy store. Various vendors may be in the park selling Amish-baked goods and an area specialty, Amish handheld fried pies. One or more food trucks are across the street from the park. If you are thirsty, you might want to duck into Levi Garrison & Sons, our local craft brewery. Further up the street you will find the J. C. Penney Museum, and a few blocks from there the Missouri Quilt Museum (MQM). On the corner by MQM you will see the Worlds Largest Spool of Thread. The museum itself offers various quilt galleries as well as exhibits of toy sewing machines, antique sewing machines, SAD irons, quilt art and more. Side tours might include the city lake and golf course or the Steam & Gas Engine grounds.
How easy is it to become an entrepreneur or a small-scale developer in your town? What kinds of support are available for a resident who wants to open a business or build on a small vacant lot?
It is very easy. Most of the new businesses that have opened in Hamilton are homegrown. There is an area organization, the North Central Missouri Business Facilitation, that works with entrepreneurs and new business startups to help them get up and running. The Hamilton Area Chamber of Commerce offers a wide variety of assistance to entrepreneurs and new businesses and the City is user-friendly.
At Strong Towns we believe that financial solvency is a prerequisite for long-term prosperity. What steps has your community taken to ensure its financial security? Do local leaders adequately do the math on new investments proposed in your town to ensure that they’ll be able to afford them now and afford their maintenance in the future?
The City itself has adopted longterm growth plans based on financial stability. The city has commissioned studies on things such as streets, land use, and water. Plans have been adopted based on the recommendation of these studies along with community input. The city also works from a pay-as-you-go position and not incurring additional debt while paying down existing debt. Large scale developers are required by ordinance to pay for their own infrastructure costs. At the same time, the City works closely with the Chamber of Commerce and the Hamilton Community Alliance to bring new businesses to town and to increase both the sales tax and property tax bases. These groups are also working to develop investment in the community through the establishment of a growing number of public/private foundations and trusts. To date these include Missouri Star Cares, the J.C. Penney Trust, the Hamilton Foundation and VisitHamiltonMO, Inc. which join existing groups such as the Hamilton Development Corporation, the Wallace Foundation, and the Caldwell County Foundation. Collectively, these groups will provide resources to new and growing businesses and projects.
At Strong Towns, we believe that local government is a platform for strong citizens to collaboratively build a prosperous place. How are residents in your town involved in shaping its future? How do residents’ experiences, struggles, and concerns directly inform the projects undertaken by local government? Provide one or more examples.
The Hamilton Community Alliance hosts quarterly town hall meetings were residents can gather to voice their concerns. HCA also administers a Facebook Page where citizens can either publicly or privately raise issues and concerns and these are then forwarded to the correct agency or person. In addition, the city council has instituted a public comment agenda item to council meetings.
LANDER, WY
Entry submitted by: Trey Warren, Mary Greene, RaJean Fossen
What is your favorite thing about your town?
The diversity of our population's interests, jobs, and hobbies. Our community is full of hard-working, innovative, friendly, and caring people. We have worked together to take care of each other in a myriad of ways including supporting families who have suffered devastating losses, raising over $1.2 million to rebuild our burned down community center, and supporting over 45 nonprofits missions. The lack of wind and winter sun helps too!
What is the biggest challenge your town faces, and what are you doing to address it?
There are a couple of challenges Lander faces currently. Our biggest challenge from the city perspective is the aging infrastructure. After the mining bust in the late 1980s, when many citizens left town, city maintenance was deferred because there simply was not enough money in the city's budget to take care of basic city needs—sewer, water, and road conditions. The city had to sell equipment and any work that needed to be done was contracted out to local small businesses. Today we see the effects of those decisions because we have multi-million dollar projects and upgrades to be done and not enough money to complete them all. Another challenge is connectivity. If we could provide more up-to-date infrastructure including faster connectivity, we could be a more desirable choice for businesses and employees who work remotely to stay and work in Lander for the long-haul.
What transportation options exist in your town for people of varying ages, abilities, and means? How easy is it to live in your town without regular access to a car? What transportation investments has your town recently made or is it in the process of making?
Lander provides Wind River Transportation (WRTA) buses to and from Lander and the Wind River Indian Reservation, Riverton (the closest commercial airport, 35 miles away), and Casper. In 2019, WRTA had 70,000 riders, most of whom were going to education opportunities or a job. We have a senior van available for seniors and disabled citizens. There are many people who walk and ride bikes around town as well. If you live close to the town center where the majority of the businesses and jobs are located, then you really don't need a car. There was a 2017 study on bike and pedestrian safety on the Main Street corridor which culminated in a five-year plan for implementing safer bike lanes, routes, policy, and education. Another recent study concentrated on safe routes to schools that are walkable and bikeable, and a master motorized transportation plan with the goal of creating a Lander Master Transportation plan to be adopted by Lander City Council in the spring of 2020.
Tell us about your community's local economy. Who are the key players, big and small, and how do they help your town to be financially strong and resilient? What local businesses are you most proud of?
After the uranium and steel mines closed in the 1980s, it seemed like everything died. There were some small businesses that were able to stick it out—like City Plumbing, which is 75 years old—but most businesses shut down. Fast-forward to the late 1980s and early '90s and new construction was taking place and businesses were beginning to bloom in Lander. LEADER formed by businesses and individuals pitching in $1,000 each as a form of capital investment to loan folks starting a new business. Not all of these ventures made it but many did. One success story is Eagle Bronze: http://www.eaglebronze.com. In 2013, LEADER transitioned into LEDA: http://www.landereda.org/.
If we took a walking tour through your town, what would we see? How does your community use its land productively to promote long-term financial resilience?
You would see the east side of the majestic Wind River Mountain range. (Lander sits in the foothills.) You would encounter friendly, smiling faces of all generations. There are more than 45 nonprofits including the state office of The Nature Conservancy, The Wyoming Outdoor Council, and Wyoming Wildlife Federation, which are all conservation organizations. We have offices of state agencies including the BLM, USFS, and the Wyoming Game & Fish Department. We have two very busy bicycle and ski stores on Main Street. The local education institutes—Central Wyoming College (CWC) and the Wyoming Catholic College (WCC)—have students and professors sauntering around town between classes held at various buildings in town. There are two successful outdoor gear and clothing businesses providing everything one needs to camp, climb, hunt, and fish. There are a variety of eateries and coffee shops as well. We have a local printing business, two hardware stores, Fremont frameworks, multiple art galleries, and a movie theatre.
The nonprofits, businesses, and state agencies work collaboratively to find the best use of our surrounding land in order to both protect it and to find ways for tourists and citizens to use the land for economic growth and sustainability. They do this through promoting the International Climber's Festival, RiverFest, Fremont Area Road Tour, Jurassic Classic, Brewfest, and LanderLIVE concert series in the summer.
How easy is it to become an entrepreneur or a small-scale developer in your town? What kinds of support are available for a resident who wants to open a business or build on a small vacant lot?
While we do have work to do here, the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (wyoming.sbdc.org) has a representative here in the Lander Chamber of Commerce, which allows efficient and direct communication between the Chamber and the SBDC. CWC offers entrepreneurial classes in finance, social media, and Quickbooks among others.
At Strong Towns we believe that financial solvency is a prerequisite for long-term prosperity. What steps has your community taken to ensure its financial security? Do local leaders adequately do the math on new investments proposed in your town to ensure that they’ll be able to afford them now and afford their maintenance in the future?
For water and sewer, the City has participated in Federal USDA and Wyoming State Land Investment Board (SLIB) loan and grant programs. In 2012 the water rates were restructured for a three-year tiered increase to pay for the long-term loans. The City looks at the water rates bi-annually to assess the coverage of all new investments. The water and sewer improvements since 2015 have exceeded $10 million.
The 1% Optional tax was first passed in 2012. In order for the tax to pass the six municipalities and one county government all passed the same resolution that the funds would only be used on streets and infrastructure with the slogan FOR (“For Our Roads”). This tax generates about $1.4 million in revenue per year for Lander. The funds have been used for engineering analysis of the streets and direct construction projects. The 1% funds have also been used as match funds to leverage other Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) grant and loan programs, resulting in over $5 million expenditures on streets. The 1% tax is up for revote in November 2020.
At Strong Towns, we believe that local government is a platform for strong citizens to collaboratively build a prosperous place. How are residents in your town involved in shaping its future? How do residents’ experiences, struggles, and concerns directly inform the projects undertaken by local government? Provide one or more examples.
Two examples of the City and the citizens shaping our future:
1. The community center burned to the ground in 2012. The City got insurance funds, state SLIB loans and grants to build a new one. Local businesses and individuals donated an additional $1.1 million dollars to furnish our new 19,000+ square-foot, $5.2 million-dollar, first-class facility that opened in 2014. The Center now brings in an average of 96 events a year, many of which are local government and statewide conferences that generate primary dollars in the community.
2. In 2017 the city authorized an Assisted Living Task Force. This group of volunteers were committed to providing adding an assisted living facility to provide the continuum of care in the health industry to keep our aging family member close to home. They raised over $25,000 in funding to pay for a feasibility study and market analysis for a facility. They are now entering into discussions with a developer/operator and seeking equity investors for the interested entity. With any luck, Lander will see a 35-bed assisted living facility under construction within three years.
It is evident that our community members care for the well-being of Lander and economic viability of the town. We use our voices and communicate effectively with our city councilmen and councilwomen, provide opportunities to nonprofits so they can grow and do their important work in Lander, work hard to make changes where we, the citizens, don’t agree with a decision. The Lander Chamber has made a name for itself in promoting our town as a beautiful, fun, interesting, and promising town to move to and live in.