THIS TOWN IS OUR TOWN: "...The pandemic... has served to shine a spotlight on the grit, resourcefulness, and optimism that thrives at the local level.".

• Author: Studer, Quint
• Position: LIFE IN AMERICA - Studer Community Institute; 2020 Community Resiliency Awards

THE YEAR 2020 was tough, but America's small and mid-size communities have risen to the occasion.

Yes, COVID-19 has handed our cities and towns more than their share of challenges, but the pandemic also has served to shine a spotlight on the grit, resourcefulness, and optimism that thrives at the local level.

Although we may not always hear about it on the news, a lot of communities get a lot of things right. There are plenty of bright spots. Many towns have been working for a while to reinvent themselves. While they have had to put some projects on hold, they have not stopped. In fact, the pandemic has created a new sense of urgency.

As the founder of the Studer Community Institute in Pensacola, Fia.--a nonprofit organization devoted to improving the quality of life in communities--I wanted to recognize and celebrate some of these towns and their bright spots. So, during our 2020 EntreCon conference, we handed out the first annual Community Resiliency Awards.

Leading up to EntreCon, my team and I asked cities and towns of all sizes to share some of the small, incremental steps they are taking to get stronger and more vibrant. Specifically, we asked for ideas and best practices that create a lot of "bang for the buck" and are easy to replicate.

While it is the big glamorous projects that usually get the most attention, I am more impressed by the small but still impactful things communities do to move toward vibrancy. These are the kinds of things that are doable and sustainable.

Here are the EntreCon Community Resiliency Award Winners, along with why each town was selected:

Chillicothe, Ohio. The city's Community Response Team, created at the start of the COVID pandemic, is a unified approach for addressing local needs and collaborating on solutions. The team includes city employees, government agencies, nonprofits, schools, mental health providers, housing authorities, as well as the Chamber of Commerce. By coordinating efforts and getting everyone rowing in the same direction, they are able to tackle quickly emerging problems like hunger, housing, and mental health.

The Community Response team is an ideal model for how stakeholders in a community can collaborate and generate big results. It is not about whose job it is or who gets the credit; it is about creating unity and executing quickly. While created as a system for managing emergencies, it is a blueprint for how communities can break down silos and work together to solve their...