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Stimulating Entrepreneurship in Resource Dependent Communities

Stimulating Entrepreneurship in Resource Dependent Communities. Eric Scorsone Ron Hustedde Larry Jones Cooperative Extension Service University of Kentucky. The Setting. KY Tobacco cash receipts have declined from $1 billion to $500-600 million

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Stimulating Entrepreneurship in Resource Dependent Communities

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  1. Stimulating Entrepreneurship in Resource Dependent Communities Eric Scorsone Ron Hustedde Larry Jones Cooperative Extension Service University of Kentucky

  2. The Setting • KY Tobacco cash receipts have declined from $1 billion to $500-600 million • Nearly 45,000 of Kentucky’s 85,000 farms produce tobacco • In northeast KY, 75% of farms are tobacco dependent • Tobacco Settlement money • 50% designated to agricultural diversification • $60 million for 20 years • Tobacco buyout has been proposed and end of federal tobacco marketing system

  3. Problem Statement • Tobacco dependent counties have not, up to now, needed entrepreneurial farmers or communities • Traditional entrepreneurial support mechanisms • Financing • Technical Assistance (Small Bus. Dev Center) • Traditional support system is not geared towards tobacco farmers and rural communities • New support mechanisms are needed

  4. Our hypotheses for working in tobacco dependent counties: • Economic development has to come from within the region • We have to improve the environment and culture in tobacco dependent counties for entrepreneurs to emerge; • Local entrepreneurial coaches and facilitators are important in order to strengthen an entrepreneurial culture; • If you strengthen the knowledge, skills, imagination, attitudes and networking of entrepreneurial coaches, it will lead to more entrepreneurial events and more business starts • If you nurture and train local entrepreneurial coaches and turn them loose, they will become self-sustaining.

  5. Program Mission Statement • Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute (KECI) • This is an entrepreneurship leadership program • “A program designed to stimulate economic diversification and the entrepreneurial culture of 19 tobacco dependent counties in Northeast Kentucky”

  6. Farm Diversification Survey • Surveyed 2,500 farmers in 19 counties of Northeast Kentucky (40% rate) • 24% report some diversification in last three years • Consistent with reports from USDA Agricultural Census • Intention to diversify next year indicates little change in numbers • Enterprises include: vegetables, goats, agritourism, direct marketing

  7. Who are Entrepreneurial Coaches? • Coaches: • Leaders in their communities who will support entrepreneurs and build a culture that is entrepreneurship friendly • Coaches can be: • Chamber of Commerce Directors • Bankers, Lawyers, Accountants • High School teachers • Extension agents • Retirees • Others……. • Anyone interested in the process of counseling and assisting local entrepreneurs

  8. Coaching is: • supportive, • questioning, • encouraging, • about helping people to solve problems; • clarifying individual and community visions/directions; • holistic; embraces the whole person (community) • helps people to set goals and deadlines, • action-oriented, • change, • proactive relationship

  9. Coaches do: • Nurture and encourage entrepreneurs in a variety of activities including: • Idea generation • Business Planning • Financing • Team Building • Marketing • Assist local communities in stimulating entrepreneurial climate and culture • School curriculum activities • Local entrepreneurial fairs or centers • Marketing the benefits of entrepreneurship to the community

  10. Coaches do: • Networking and brokering • Connect entrepreneurs to people • Resource Facilitator • Connect to SBDC and other technical and financial assistance • Industry Content and Trends • Knowledgeable of industry trends and opportunities • Psychology and Self-Awareness • Community Support and Climate

  11. Coaching is not: • teaching, • telling people what to do, • pushing personal agendas on others

  12. Coaches do not: • Conflict with existing business service providers • At the appropriate time, coaches feed entrepreneurs into SBDC system or other provider systems • Provide Business Financing • Coaches direct entrepreneurs to appropriate bank or financial institutions or other private investors • Manage Businesses • Coaches help entrepreneurs find resource providers or build management teams

  13. Leadership Program: Classes • Two classes of entrepreneurial coaches trained • 30 coaches in each class • 1st class: Sept 2004-August 2005 • 2nd class: Sept 2005 – August 2006 • Coaches must apply to program (June 2004, 2005) • program selection committee is KY Agricultural Development Board, Entrepreneurship Committee • Classes meet monthly (2 days a month) • Class participates in international trip

  14. Some Key Trends in Leadership programs: • Leadership programs are growing in popularity because of their need and impact in shaping community life; 2) Personal, business and executive coaching is a new and growing profession because it helps people to solve problems, meet challenges, reach goals and focus and achieve results more quickly.

  15. Anticipated products: • their entrepreneurial support network; • imagination about entrepreneurship potentials; • coaching skills (i.e., asking challenging questions; helping others to set goals) • their self-identity as "entrepreneurial coaches" -- not just a teacher, banker or farmer. • their understanding about nurturing entrepreneurs (ie. best practices; sensitivity to youth, women) • technical skills • outreach capacity --- minimum outreach of 50 per year • reflection on what it means to be an entrepreneurial coach -- lessons learned

  16. and this will lead to: • more entrepreneurial support activity in counties and region; • more outreach-focused entrepreneurs; • self-sustaining entrepreneurial support group • new sense of regional identity and cooperation (not just one county versus another).

  17. Coaching Curriculum I • Seminar 1: Creativity and Idea Generation (Jay Kane) • Seminar 2: Visiting an Entrepreneurial Community (Athens, Ohio) • Seminar 3: Entrepreneurial Coaching • Seminar leaders from Scotland’s Hunter Center for Entrep. University of Strathclyde • Seminar 4: Meeting other entrepreneurship support providers • Seminar 5: Where are the Markets: New Trends in the Regional, National and Global Markets

  18. Coaching Curriculum II • Seminar 6: Building entrepreneurial capacity • Seminar 7: Envisioning a new entrepreneurial support system (Trip to rural Scotland) • Working with Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, John Bryden (University of the Highlands) and many others • Seminar 8: Bringing it all together

  19. Long Term Sustainability • Coaches will be able to maintain membership and network through a Entrepreneurial Coaches Alumni Network and annual meetings • Coaches will participate in activities with other entrepreneurship support providers • Goal is to secure finding for statewide and continued training via KY Agricultural Development Board • Extension agents will also be able to participate in training in future

  20. What will it take to do this in my community? • Strong Community Buy-in • Community and business leaders should be committed to supporting project • In-kind And monetary support • Program marketing assistance (nominating candidates) • An issue that is driving the need for changing in the community or region • Traditional industry or agricultural decline • Community dissatisfaction with status quo • Internal social or demographic changes in community

  21. What you need?..... • A little or lot of money • Program is flexible and can be run on a variety of budgets • National or regional speakers (speaker fees) or conduct in-house training • Field trips? • Overnight or one day seminars (lodging and food expenses) • Transportation to and from seminar sites

  22. What you need?.... • Seminar Participants and Selection Process • Key part of conducting coaching program • Need a strong and widespread marketing campaign to generate interest • Selection committee • Should consist of neutral set of selectors to avoid political or personal conflict of interest • Good excuse for why someone wasn’t selected • Diverse candidate background • Committed candidates

  23. What’s available? • Coaching curriculum is being developed by Kentucky team and available for others to use • Center for Rural Entrepreneurship and others are aware of coaching concept and willing to assist • In the future , a process and outcome evaluation will be available

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