It's difficult to flip through dated photographs of Kimball and not wonder what happened.

Yellowing black and white images show a proud community--small, but busy with shops, restaurants, distractions for young adults and more. Remember Marty's Drive In? Kimball Clothing? Morgan Oil? the Ben Franklin store? Chestnut Street bustled in recent memory.

Small towns across the region and the country have experienced the same decline.  And, in hopes of spurring an economic renewal, they've resorted to everything from building warehouses to lure businesses to opening wineries in an effort to draw tourists. Flat River, Missouri, even changed its name to Park Hills, hoping to sound more attractive.

Over the past few weeks we've looked at the data, the trends and the possible solutions. In this final installment on small town survival, we asked local leaders to pick one to two things--ideas, business plans, companies or whatever--that could help Kimball rebound and fill the empty storefronts.

No single spark will ignite a recovery, of course. But, the thoughts of local business and political leaders are important. After all, explains Brad Lubben, an assistant professor and policy specialist at the University of Nebraska, small town survival depends upon both "kings" and "kingmakers," meaning those who either elect or influence the leaders.

"Kingmakers," he adds, "make things happen."

Susie Abramson owner Classical Cuts and a participant in Kimball Economic Growth and Sustainability (KEGS) meetings, understands the impediments to small town vitality. Ease of travel allows consumers to speed to Sidney or Cheyenne. The nation's economy--the banking crisis in particular--makes borrowing more difficult. And, she says, our zeal for legal action adds liability fears to any measure taken by a city.

"That probably hurts leadership," she points out. "They have to tread lightly."

Still, Abramson believes the community should focus on small business development, though in a subtle way.

"Our weakest part is the jobs market," she says. Just adding one or two employers, would start a little snowball effect. The opportunity for decent work "would give young families a reason to stay, and that would give other a reason to open small businesses."

Bob Jenner, an agent for FirsTier Insurance Services, focuses more specifically on small firms. "Getting the rail spur completed and the drag strip will be revenue builders," he says. But survival depends on the little guy.

"We're not talking about Walmart or Sam's," he concludes, "but companies that need ten or 20 employees--that we could support."

There is some reason for hope in that regard, though it's mostly theoretical at this point. "There are jobs that can be performed from almost anywhere," explains Don Stenberg, Nebraska's state treasurer and candidate for U.S. Senate. "There are advantages to small towns; they need to develop internally or recruit entrepreneurial types who can run their business in Kimball as well as they can in Omaha."

But Kimball faces stiff competition for such companies from the likes of Sidney and Scottsbluff. Nearby Wyoming dangles the no state income tax lure. Much of the Panhandle region has lost population over the past decade.

Circumstances force Kimball mayor James Schnell to be a realist in the matter. Yes, Kimball had a vibrant period, years ago. Yes, it's possible to attract both established firms and entrepreneurs today. The two facts are, in an odd way, interrelated.

"We have to get out of being caught up in the past," Schnell says. "We should learn from it, but we can't dwell on it.

"We need to look outside the box."

Larissa Thomas of Keep Kimball Beautiful and another KEGS participant likewise considers the past problematic. "Kimball has had things handed to it," she explains, ticking off the boom-bust cycle driven by oil, missiles and military over the constant of farming. Now, she continues, "we need to work, to buckle down and decide what's best for the community."

To her mind, the city must break through the fear of change so common to human nature--and break through as a town.

"Unification is necessary in the community and so is leadership," she says. "Kimball has so much going for it, so many opportunities."

Thomas worries that, as occurs elsewhere, many residents concerned for the future and committed to betterment also work long hours and have family responsibilities causing them to shy away from participating in city and county government and all the related meetings.

Ultimately, she decides, "People need to invest in their city."