Clicking with Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurial Communities and Place Based Economic Development

1. Clicking with Entrepreneurship:Entrepreneurial Communities and Place Based Economic Development Deborah M. Markley Managing Director and Karen A. Dabson Director of Program Development 2006 CDS Annual International Conference St. Louis, MO June 28, 2006

2. Overview • Importance of Place in Community Development • Entrepreneurship as a Core CD Strategy • Making the Case • Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurship Defined • Communities that Click – Lessons from the Field • Next Steps for Communities RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

3. Why Place Matters • Rural Communities ARE different from their urban and suburban counterparts. • Culture of dependency • Limited access to resources • Isolation, lack of connectedness • No two RURAL communities are alike. • Different characteristics, needs, capacities  no “one size fits all” solutions; community-based approaches most effective. RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

4. What is Place Based Economic Development? • Begin with understanding and appreciation of local assets and context  what are the unique sources of competitive advantage? • Build on those local assets  place based is asset based. • Move away from “waiting to die” or “waiting to be saved” mentality  “building your own.” RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

5. Entrepreneurship as a Core Community Development Strategy • Making the case for entrepreneurship as a place based economic development strategy • Role of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activity in a national and global context. • Role of entrepreneurs in small communities. • Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship defined • Exercises • Elements of successful entrepreneurship practice RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

6. Role of Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship • Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Project – comparative international study concludes: • Positive and significant relationship between entrepreneurial activity and economic growth • No countries with high levels of entrepreneurial activity have low levels of economic growth • National Commission on Entrepreneurship report: • Small entrepreneurs responsible for 67% of inventions and 95% of radical innovations since WWII • Small group of high growth entrepreneurs (5-15% of all firms) created 2/3 of net new jobs in late 1990s • Not all high tech (Jiffy Lube) RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

7. Role of Entrepreneurs in Small Communities • Economy in most small communities is essentially composed of small enterprises … • Main Street businesses • Self-employed • Small manufacturers and other businesses • Microentrepreneurs • Some of these are truly entrepreneurial in their ventures. • National Commission on Entrepreneurship report: • Fewer than 5% of companies achieve high growth • But, high growth companies exist in all regions, in places like Dickinson, ND and Twin Falls, Idaho RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

8. Arguments for Entrepreneurship as a Core CED Strategy • Traditional economic development strategies, i.e., recruitment, aren’t working in most rural places • Scale of economic activity more suited to smaller, rural communities • Greater ability to match assets, limited resources with market opportunities • Bottom Line: Creating an entrepreneur-friendly community/region makes it easier to attract and retain industry and other business. RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

9. Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship Defined • Entrepreneurspeople who create and grow businesses • Entrepreneurshipthe process through which entrepreneurs create and grow businesses • Entrepreneurship Developmentthe infrastructure of public and private policies and practices that foster and support entrepreneurship RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

10. Understanding Entrepreneurial Talent • Potential • Aspiring – Desire to own a business (includes youth) • Start ups – Have taken the first steps to actually start a business • Business Owners • Survival – Create enterprises to supplement family income when options are few • Lifestyle – Pursue a certain lifestyle or personal goal through choosing self-employment • Entrepreneurs • Growth – Proactively expand businesses that result in the creation of jobs and wealth • Serial – “Repeat entrepreneurs” – create several growth businesses throughout their lifetime RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

11. Exercise #1 – Identifying E Talent • Take a few minutes and use the checklist to identify entrepreneurs in your community. • Place them on the E Talent Mapping Worksheet. • Share a really interesting or unique entrepreneur you have identified with the group. RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

12. Targeting Entrepreneurial Talent • Entrepreneurship Development involves creating an infrastructure to support entrepreneurs. • But, with limited resources, most communities must make strategic decisions about what types of talent to target. • Choice based on your “sweet spot” where development goals, capacity and E talent intersect RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

13. The “Sweet Spot” RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

14. Exercise #2 – Targeting E Talent • Look at the Targeting Pros and Cons Checklist  Identifies the benefits and challenges of targeting different types of E talent. • Think about your community’s goals, capacities, and the E talent you identified earlier  Where is your “sweet spot”? • Take a few minutes to fill in the Targeting Worksheet What type of E talent is most strategic for your community to target? RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

15. Elements of Successful Practice • Successful entrepreneurship initiatives … • Focus on entrepreneurs • Build on assets • Encourage collaboration and take a systems approach • Strategically target entrepreneurs • Are rooted in communities but branch out into regions • Engage youth as a means of changing the culture • Celebrate community and entrepreneurial success RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

16. Communities that Click – Lessons from the Field • HomeTown Competitiveness (HTC) • Kellogg EDS recipient • Four pillars • Leadership • Youth engagement • Retaining wealth transfer (charitable assets) • Entrepreneurship • Story of Valley County NE (pop. = 4,647) RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

17. Communities that Click – Lessons from the Field • Georgia’s Entrepreneur Friendly Communities Program • Facilitated by state regional marketing managers but driven by communities. • Steps: • Build a leadership team • Educate community about benefits of entrepreneurship • Enhance links to regional and state resources • Map assets, including identifying and visiting entrepreneurs • Visit from Georgia Tech review team to help develop strategy • 14 communities designated to date • Story of Coffee County (pop. 37, 413) RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

18. Communities that Click – Lessons from the Field • Building a System in Northeast MN • Historical commitment to regional collaboration in economic development • Focus on entrepreneurship, particularly micro, through Northeast Entrepreneur Fund • Commitment to taking a “systems approach” to entrepreneurship development • Story of the Arrowhead Entrepreneurial Development System RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

19. General Themes • Entrepreneur driven • Many and unique partnerships • Utilizing strengths, assets from within • Taking a regional approach • Engaging people not usually invited to the table (youth, minorities, aging) • Sharing and celebrating together RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

20. Next Steps for Communities • Start really listening to entrepreneurs give them a chance to be heard by economic development leaders. • Start visiting community businesses Who are they? What are their plans? • Actively engage youth  expose them to entrepreneurship through business mentors. • Map the assets you have to encourage and support entrepreneurs (include partnerships) Get a copy of Energizing Entrepreneursto help you chart a course. RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

21. Exercise #3 – 5 Things You Will Do When You Get Home • On an index card, write down 5 things you will do when you get back to your community because of the information shared in this workshop. • Share one of your “to do” items with the group. RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

22. Contact Information • RUPRICenter for Rural Entrepreneurship • www.energizingentrepreneurs.org • Deb Markley, Managing Director and Director of Research • deb@e2mail.org • Karen Dabson, Director of Program Development • karen@e2mail.org Thank You! RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship