I grew up in Merrickville, Ontario, a village of roughly 1,000 people, where you know who owns the shop on the corner, somebody remembers what used to be in that building twenty years ago, and a business is rarely just a business.

I left, built a career and businesses of my own, and eventually found my way back. After more than 25 years building organizations, raising millions of dollars and working alongside entrepreneurs, I started looking at small-town business differently — and became fascinated by the role entrepreneurship plays in shaping the places where we live.

Because behind the storefronts, studios, farms and businesses that make small towns what they are, there are people taking risks. Building livelihoods. Creating jobs. Carrying traditions forward. And sometimes betting everything on an idea nobody else quite understands yet.

Small Town Stories is my way of finding those people, pulling up a chair and asking them how they built what they built — and what their stories can teach the rest of us about business, community and creating something that lasts.

ENTREPRENEUR · STRATEGIST · SMALL-TOWN STORYTELLER

Host of the Small Town Stories Podcast

Hey neighbour! I'm jan Ditchfield.

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