The Volunteer Roadmap

Arch Trimble
  • 5.0 (4)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Most business advice assumes you're operating in a market of millions. But when your entire customer base is 15,000 people, that advice falls flat. What works in Nashville won't work in Elizabethton. What works in Memphis won't work in Cookeville. So where do you find strategies that actually work for your Tennessee community? From the leaders who've already cracked the code. In each episode, host Arch Trimble visits one Tennessee town and talks to the business owner or community leader who's figured it out. Then he breaks down the real pattern behind their success, so you can see what's holding YOU back. New episodes every other Monday. Subscribe now and let's hit the road. The Volunteer Roadmap: Mapping what works for Tennessee businesses.

Episodes

  1. 5D AGO

    How Rural Counties Can Beat Urban Cities | Rhea County

    Rural counties across Tennessee look at the big cities and ask: "Why can't we have that?" Alex Green from Rhea County Economic Development used to ask the same thing.  He was jealous of West Tennessee's Blue Oval plant, but then he realized he was chasing the wrong opportunity. Rural counties can't win by copying urban playbooks. They can't compete on scale. But Rhea County has something other places don't:  Established businesses that are invested in expanding locally  A tourism economy that brings 40,000 visitors in one week to a county of 35,000 Residents so passionate about education they voted to raise their own taxes In this episode, I visit Dayton to see what happens when a county stops trying to be something it's not and starts leveraging what it actually is. Then I break down the framework so you can apply it to your county or business.   00:00 - Why Rural Counties Are Beating Urban Cities 01:30 - Meet Alex Green: Executive Director of Rhea County ECD 05:40 - Living Between Two Nuclear Plants (And Why That's Good) 11:31 - Why Dayton is Called Monkey Town: The Real Story 15:48 - The Bootstrap Mentality & Looking Ahead 17:13 - Manufacturing’s Misconception 18:58 - Why are young men not working? 24:52 - NIMBYism is Costing You Growth 32:40 - Chasing Every Deal Is Killing Your Town 39:36 - Tourism & The Infrastructure Investment That Paid Off 42:50 - Stackable Credentials: The Future of Workforce Development 48:15 - What La-Z-Boy's Expansion Really Means 56:36 - The Studio Debrief: Is Your Town Competing With the Wrong Places?   Have a Tennessee story worth mapping out? Reach out at archabouttn.com

    1 hr

  2. JAN 26

    Why Your Downtown Businesses Keep Closing (Even When They Look Busy) | Fayetteville

    The downtown square is packed on First Friday. The annual festival brought in a record number of tourists. New businesses keep opening.  By every metric, downtown is thriving. But somehow... half of the businesses close within 18 months? Most small Tennessee towns are focused on getting people downtown, but Fayetteville Main Street stopped asking "How do we get more people downtown?" and started asking "How do we help the businesses that are here actually survive?" The answer wasn't more festivals. It was controversial sidewalks, AI-powered foot traffic data, and creating a physical space for businesses to get the support they need. In this episode, I visit Fayetteville to see what they're doing differently, then break down the framework so you can apply it to your town or business.   (00:00) - Why We're Heading to Fayetteville First (02:33) - Meet Aimee Byrd - the Executive Director of Fayetteville Main Street (05:25) - The Tourism Tax Strategy Nobody Talks About (06:58) - Anyone Can Open a Business. That's Actually the Problem. (08:23) - From 650 Square Feet to a Small Business Farm System (11:47) - The Data That Changed Everything (16:33) - "We're Not Going After Chain Restaurants Anymore" (22:47) - Why Local Dollars Keep Your Property Taxes Down (29:40) - The Sidewalk Fight That Proved 46% Growth (33:00) - The Four Pillars Every Downtown Needs (40:48) - $330 Million Leaving Lincoln County Every Year (43:12) - The Real Reason Your Taxes Keep Going Up (47:18) - Where Tennessee's Next 20 Years of Growth Is Coming From (52:30) - What Actually Replaced the Anchor Store Everyone Misses (54:55) - Building a Town Your Kids Come Back To (57:33) - The Studio Debrief: What Makes Fayetteville's Approach Different   Have a Tennessee story worth mapping out? Reach out at archabouttn.com

    1 hr

  3. JAN 12

    Welcome to The Volunteer Roadmap!

    Most business advice assumes you're operating in a market of millions. But when your entire customer base is 15,000 people, that advice falls flat. What works in Nashville won't work in Elizabethton. What works in Memphis won't work in Cookeville. So where do you find strategies that actually work for your Tennessee community? From the leaders who've already cracked the code. In each episode, I visit one Tennessee town and talk to the business owner or community leader who's figured it out. Then I break down the real pattern behind their success, so you can see what's holding YOU back. New episodes every other Monday. Subscribe now and let's hit the road.

    2 min

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Most business advice assumes you're operating in a market of millions. But when your entire customer base is 15,000 people, that advice falls flat. What works in Nashville won't work in Elizabethton. What works in Memphis won't work in Cookeville. So where do you find strategies that actually work for your Tennessee community? From the leaders who've already cracked the code. In each episode, host Arch Trimble visits one Tennessee town and talks to the business owner or community leader who's figured it out. Then he breaks down the real pattern behind their success, so you can see what's holding YOU back. New episodes every other Monday. Subscribe now and let's hit the road. The Volunteer Roadmap: Mapping what works for Tennessee businesses.

Information

  • Creator
    Arch Trimble
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    3
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Volunteer Roadmap