TEDx Talk focuses on how small towns can thrive

The Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance presented a TEDx Talk by former chamber executive and current President and CEO of Trees Forever Kiley Miller.

The TEDx Talk, “How Saving Small Towns Soothes Our Souls” was presented on Jan. 24.

“Here is the coolest thing that I have learned so far at my new job,” said Miller. “Trees communicate and collaborate. They help one another.”

The TEDx Talk was about smaller towns and their ability to thrive or perish.

“There is a metaphor between forests, interconnected and interdependent and communities, counties and regions,” said Miller. “When one of our towns deteriorate, the other towns surrounding it are diminished.”

Miller spoke about the need for communities to be connected in order to thrive, much like a community needs to be connected in order to keep moving on. Some may accept the death of small towns as the inevitable outgrowth of urbanization. Miller spoke about the need to be connected to a community in order for both the community and its population to survive.

“We should, all of us, shout out our love of small towns,” said Miller. “Because small towns have great power and great potential. They anchor us against the disorientating storms of the present. Small towns are a big idea.”

Before becoming president and CEO of Trees Forever, Miller previously led economic organizations in rural Iowa.

A native of Mt. Pleasant, Miller now lives with his wife, Carry, in the Cedar Rapids metro area. Miller is an economic development professional who believes that rural communities are the place to be.

A version of Miller’s TEDx Talk “How Saving Small Towns Soothes Our Souls” can be seen on YouTube.