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

RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship2 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 Entrepreneurship3 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 Entrepreneurship4 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 Entrepreneurship5 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 Entrepreneurship6 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 Entrepreneurship7 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 Entrepreneurship8 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 Entrepreneurship9 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 Entrepreneurship10 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 Entrepreneurship11 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 Entrepreneurship12 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 Entrepreneurship13 The “Sweet Spot”

RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship14 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 Entrepreneurship15 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 Entrepreneurship16 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 Entrepreneurship17 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 Entrepreneurship18 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 Entrepreneurship19 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 Entrepreneurship20 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 Entrepreneurs to help you chart a course.

RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship21 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 Entrepreneurship22 Contact Information RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship  Deb Markley, Managing Director and Director of Research  Karen Dabson, Director of Program Development  Thank You!