This is a shot of downtown Bangor, Maine (population: 35,473).

These are the streets I grew up on – the streets my parents shopped – the streets where you knew almost every store owner by name.

I remember the creaky wood floor at Bangor Hardware and chasing my father up and down the aisles looking for the nails and screws and tools he would need for that weekend’s project.  How he would linger at that counter (“Are we ready to go yet?” -my 7 year old brain would think), picking up tips and tricks and always heading out with a smile on his face.

We’d stop at the corner store for a couple of things and another 10-minute friendly conversation.

The whole notion of transaction or upselling or customer service not even entering into the equation.

This was life being lived.

People being people.

It didn’t hurt that my dad was the city planner.  Or that my mom wrote for the local newspaper – The Bangor Daily News.  They were naturally social people and enjoyed being out and engaging in activities, banter and commerce.

When you’re raised in an environment like that your DNA molds you into a heat-seeking community-making missile.  You know how good it can be when people help each other.  You understand the ease of social transactions and how much people cherish them.  It’s like you’ve played one video game your entire childhood – Small Town Mayor.  And you pick up points for building a thriving community, a strong business network and lots and lots of friends.

When my dad died a month before my 16th birthday that small town was there for me.  It lifted me up in ways I never understood until I looked back as an adult.  My football coach, Gabby Price, himself a successful small business owner, was instrumental in keeping me on the straight and narrow.  My uncles, who each ran their own law practices, provided paternal support.  I could walk into these men’s businesses and sit down for a talk because they were the boss.  It was their time, not someone else’s.  I just didn’t grow up around too many people who worked for somebody else.

So how does that affect you?

It places within you an instant seed of admiration for the small business owner.

You learn three things about them that are true – for the most part:

1.  They’re tough.

2.  They’re disciplined.

3.  They care about community.

What marketers like me hear from our small business clients all day long, is one thing and one thing only:

“I just want to get people walking in the door.”

And with good reason.

That is where they thrive.

That is their wheelhouse.  You and them face to face.  They will find a way to help you.  They want to create community.  They are naturally drawn to it.  It’s in their genes.

My business partner still lives in Bangor Maine and is someone I have known since I was 5 years old.  He’s one of my best and closest friends in the whole world.

Two other close childhood friends recently returned to Bangor to purchase a local bread baking business.

They are great guys, smart and driven.

We need these people around us.

They make us all better.

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