1. Center for Rural Entrepreneurship Phone: (402) 323-7339 don@e2mail.org www.energizingentrepreneurs.org Don Macke

2. Is Change Possible? Session 1 September 13, 2009

3. Change… Change The world around us is changing and changing at a rapid rate. What young people want today is different than what pervious generations wanted. We must deal with change! Resisting Change It is common for many in our communities to resist change. Fear of the unknown is huge. But successful communities embrace change as they search for success.

4. Visioning… Visioning & Success Research supports the view that communities who actively vision their future do better than those that do not. Heartland Center for Leadership Development, 20 Clues to Rural Community Survival, 2009 Small Visions Communities facing chronic challenges tend to lose their capacity for hope and their ability to dream. They begin to vision ever smaller undermining their very futures. HomeTown Competitiveness, Lessons from the Field, 2009

5. Is Change Possible? Unless enough people in our communities believe we can achieve meaningful change for the better – it will be impossible for progress to achieved. A key to believing desired change (vision) can occur must be rooted in real evidence that it is occurring elsewhere in communities like mine. HomeTown Competitiveness, Lessons from the Field, 2009

6. Case Study – Valley County, Nebraska Meaningful Change

7. Case Study – Valley County About Valley County.... Rural with 4,600 Residents Pretty Isolated Depopulation Rising Poverty Farm and Ranch Dependent Limited Economic Diversification

8. Case Study – Valley County Where They Started.... Initial Assets: – Core Group of Champions – Motivation for Change – Available Civic Capacity Initial Challenges – No Vision – No Economic Development Game Plan – Destructive Community Conflict

9. Case Study – Valley County Valley County Chronology.... 1999 – No Game Plan or Program 2000 – Economic Development Board - Staffing Proposed 2001 – Tax Support Passed 2002 – Joined HTC - Focused Development Goals - Moved Towards Entrepreneurship 2004 – Hired a Business Coach

10. Case Study – Valley County Bottom Line Results.... Entrepreneurial Development System Opportunity Focused 2007/2008: – $110 Million in New Investment – 120 New Jobs – 30+ Business Transition – Linked People Recruitment – Growing Youth Strategy

11. Vision Begins with What If… What if another community could do what Valley County has done? What difference would it possibly make? Action Learning Vision

12. Are Better Futures Possible? Scenarios from Brookfield, Missouri

13. City = 5,000 residents County = 12,000 residents Agriculture – Manufacturing – Trade Center In Decline & Losing People Rural – North Central Missouri

14. Source: Headwaters Economics

22. Investment Package Focus on Youth Attraction & Business Coaching 1% Development Budget Commitment Evidence from the Field Valley County, NE Fairfield, IA Barry County, MI Howard, SD Wisconsin Rapids, WS

23. How Can this Happen? Heartland’s “Clues to Rural Community Survival”  20 Clues are Documented, but… Commitment – Vision – Action – Knowledge But we must aspire for more… Thriving Communities

24. It Happens Because of Leaders The Power of People Like You!

25. 1% Investment Rule of Thumb “What we have learned is that successful communities invest in their development. Those that are investing upwards to 1% of their annual economy are doing better!” RURPI Center Research So what does this really mean?

26. Development at Scale! Community SizeDevelopment Funding 500$100k to $200k 1000$500k to $1m 10,000$2.5 to $5.0m Real investment into the development of our communities.