Name: Caleb Pollard

Full-time job: Executive Director of Valley County Economic Development & the Ord Area Chamber of Commerce

City you’re blogging from: City? I’m located in the sweet spot of the Nebraska Sandhills: Ord, Neb.

1. What is the name, subject and URL of your blog?

Name: Ord Sunshine Pumpers

Subject: Community, economic and entrepreneurship development in rural Nebraska.

URL: ordsunshinepumpers.wordpress.com. As a side note, we will be moving to www.ordnebraska.com/blog when our new website is completed.

2. Why do you blog?

I blog for three reasons:

• One, because I love to write.
• Two, to communicate our story about a small slice of rural living.
• Three, to disseminate usable information to my local businesses community through social media.

3. How long have you been blogging and what blogging software do you use?

I’ve been blogging on/off again for about six years. I prefer Wordpress, but have also used Blogger and Movable Type in the past.

4. What’s your favorite blog (besides your own)?

I have two: first for all matters for rural development, the Daily Yonder. Second, for personal reasons, I love reading Tim Ferriss’ blog: fourhourworkweek.com/blog.

5. What do you think the state of the blogosphere is in our region?

I think it’s growing both in sophistication and customization, but I believe we have a handful hurdles to overcome when grooming a truly connected Prairie Blogosphere. SPN has gone a long way to push this to reality, yet smaller communities have yet to connect to this trend for a variety of reasons. Bringing a few of the progressive communities along, with their entrepreneurial community, is essential to the overall health of the prairie entrepreneurial ecosystem.