Compared to some fading rural communities, Sidney is a boomtown. Their main drag--Illinois Street--supports diners, retail shops and a theater. Eighteen-wheel convoys lumber constantly off I-80, sidling into truck stops or cafes.  And their Walmart serves as a destination, drawing shoppers from a 40-mile radius.

The Cheyenne County seat has certain advantages, of course. It was a thriving trailhead frontier town in the wild west era, allowing them now to capitalize on the past. Two rail lines bring freight traffic rumbling through. Then there’s a little operation called Cabela’s, providing employment and name recognition--both critical to a small town’s ability to survive in the modern age.

“We’re blessed to have Cabela’s,” admits Sidney’s City Manager and Economic Development Director Gary Person. Still, he points out, economic success is “a day to day battle.”

Few would suggest that survival is easy, even when a small town is staked to reliable employers, tourist attractions or other steady sources of revenue. A quick glance, however, would likely tell any casual observer that Kimball’s assets are different, if not less adequate, than its neighbor’s.

“I don’t want to sound callous and distant,” says Brad Lubben, assistant professor and policy specialist at the University of Nebraska, “but if a rural community is to figure out a vibrant economy, they have to figure out who they serve.”

It’s not an easy thing to do.

One might, for example, assume the city caters to its residents. Yet when shopping at the Walmart in Sidney, for example, you are likely to bump into several Kimballites pushing carts up and down the aisles.

Location matters. If Kimball were 20 or 30 miles further from Sidney or Scottsbluff, it might be considered a shopping and entertainment destination by those in surrounding communities, explains the Chamber of Commerce’s Rod Horton. As it stands, locals look east or north--or even west toward Cheyenne--when it comes time to stock up.

Other towns serve Kimball residents more effectively, in some ways. And depending upon their market, new retail operations may also battle the likes of Amazon, Netflix and other online havens. Thanks to improvements in transportation and communications over the past 50 years, locals have ready access to distant centers.

“What does rural Nebraska need to survive?” Lubben ponders. “One thing it needs is to do a better job of building capacity--its ability to analyze issues and identify opportunities”

Politicians talk about enabling new business growth, thereby creating jobs--eventually. Development experts understand that successful entrepreneurs study a market thoroughly until they find a comparative advantage. There’s no reason to manufacture a product consumers show no interest in, and there’s no reason to establish operations in one place, when another offers more. Community leaders, they insist, must assume a similar role.

“It’s easy to tell people to be entrepreneurial, to go innovate,” says Sandy Scofield, director of the University of Nebraska’s Rural Initiative. “We don’t know how to do that well as a culture.”

Rural communities, in other words, generally lack the resources and long term commitment to assess economic trends in order to carve out a workable niche for themselves.

Even worse, the experts insist economic growth cannot be forced. Apart from the odd Disneyland, tourist attractions--to use an example--can’t be built out of thin air. Without the real expectation of long haul contracts, to use another, new warehouse space will remain vacant.

Still, the success of some towns prove that to survive--even thrive--in this challenging era is possible.

“A community needs to be who they are, not who they think they ought to be,” Person explains. “It takes good planning and a vision. You realize what your strengths are and invest as a community.”

Part of that investment, everyone agrees, should be in education and in keep young talent--not an easy prospect, either, when better-paying urban jobs (and all the amenities of an urban lifestyle) beckon.

“I think it’s a catch-22,” Horton says. “There’s no compelling reason for young people to stay, so it’s hard to get them involved and prepared.”

The Business Conditions Index--a measure of confidence in the economy and employment opportunities--dropped for the third time in the past four months, with the Midwest yielding particularly disappointing numbers, despite Nebraska’s low unemployment rate. Meanwhile, workers wages and benefits huddle at 57.5 percent of the economy, an all-time low.

Urban centers offer the only hope for many young people.

Still, he points out, the persistence of Larsen’s, Hometown Hardware, Goodhand Theater and other retail/entertainment options bodes well. At the very least, Horton explains, they provide a psychological advantage.

Yet unless some insightful, well-trained, involved young professionals choose to hang in there, small towns risk losing whatever economic gains they’ve made. Leadership, after all, must be passed on from one generation to the next.

“There are always people who don’t want growth,” Person says. “That’s not realistic--you’re dying or you’re growing.”

Next: We examine leadership.