I attended the American Association of Meat Processors annual convention in Kansas City last week, and along with the learnings and the great exchanges I had at the meeting, I was able to spend part of my post-convention weekend with friends in Weston, Mo., north of the city in Platte County.

The town provided excellent food — top-notch BBQ at Tin Kitchen, Sunday brunch at The Avalon Cafe — and excellent food for thought.

Weston, pop. about 1,800, reminds me a lot of the town I grew up in: surrounded by corn and soybeans, herds of cattle on pasture (and the occasional escapee on the road), the kind of place where a particularly heavy snow could isolate a family for days. Weston has a few advantages most rural small towns don't, including some historic architecture and an especially well-funded school system that draws new residents daily. The town's business base is increasingly upscale with a focus on hospitality, including eateries, a winery and a distillery, and dozens of small, unique gift shops.

Nevertheless, Weston has come up against the pressures that all small rural towns seem to have. Opioids and crystal meth have taken a toll, and substantial jobs that pay a living wage are hard to come by; a growing number of residents commute to jobs on the advancing northern edges of metropolitan Kansas City.

Weston is holding its own amidst these changes. And recent research out of Iowa State University indicates that other, similar communities could be doing better economically, as well, by embracing change, even as — or perhaps as a result of — its population getting smaller.

The Shrink Smarter Project is an effort to more than simply document the economic decline of small towns and rural communities, but to seek out those qualities that allow some towns to remain vibrant even as the population or employment base shrinks. The project is funded by a one-time National Science Foundation planning grant, and involved professors from across disciplines, from architecture to sociology to computer science. In the pilot project, they are collecting data on eight small towns, not more than 10,000 residents, that are both shrinking and thriving. They will then analyze those factors that contribute to so-called smart shrinkage and see how those qualities may be extended to other small towns at risk across the United States.

Research is ongoing, but early indications seem to point to success in communities that focus on providing remaining residents with an attractive quality of life. These include cleaning up the town and investing in its appearance and safety, providing recreational and entertainment locations and programming for residents, and a community foundation or other means of locally funding projects that contribute to quality of life.

Large and small processors often operate in communities that fit the disheartening profile of decline. Most go further than simply providing jobs; they sponsor events and teams and donate provisions to good causes. But look around your community; can you take that involvement to another level? Can you be the nexus around which major upgrades happen to the quality of life in your small hometown? Can you provide the CPR or shot of adrenaline the town needs to survive and thrive into the next century?

How to become an economic 'first responder' for your community

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