P1246990926TGpAB

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STIMULATING RURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Presenters Marty Romitti, MERIC Wendy
Harrington, University of Missouri, BRIDG Sharon
Gulick, University of Missouri,
ExCEED Session Stimulating Rural
Entrepreneurship Thursday, June 4, 2009 400 pm
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Chasing Cheetahs Lessons From Missouris Fastest
Growing Firms
Presenters Marty Romitti, MERIC Wendy
Harrington, University of Missouri, BRIDG
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The Growth of Cheetahs in Missouri
Cheetahs have produced impressive employment
growth, with nearly 130,000 new positions added
over the last 5 years.
This is job growth exceeding 250 percent when the
statewide job growth rate for the period managed
just over 2 percent.
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Distribution of Cheetahs in Missouri
The concentration of Cheetah firms relative to
total businesses in the three study areas (St.
Louis region, Kansas City region, and Balance of
State) is roughly equal.
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Distribution of Cheetahs by Industry
Construction Retail Trade Professional,
Scientific, and Technical Services and Health
Care and Social Assistance industry sectors
constitute half of the Cheetah firms in Missouri.
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Why Cheetahs Locate in Missouri
The majority of Cheetah firms chose their current
location because it was their home town.
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Reasons for Cheetah Success
Missouris fastest growing firms largely
attribute their rapid expansion to internal
factors like human capital external factors
like customer demand.
Conversely, Cheetah firms do not find
governmental services and policies as being
helpful to their employment growth.
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Reasons for Cheetah Success
Cheetahs specifically attribute their growth to
their excellent customer service and work ethic.
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Challenges Come with Success
The top three issues that Missouris fastest
growing firms are faced with due to their rapid
growth are (1) finding and retaining qualified
workers, (2) increased administrative duties, and
(3) higher healthcare costs and payroll.
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Keeping up Cheetah Speed
Over forty percent of Cheetah firms state that
the top two issues that they face in terms of
remaining competitive in their industry are
keeping costs down and finding and retaining
qualified workers.
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Cheetah Education
Better than two-thirds of Cheetah firms in
Missouri think that having training in business
management, accounting, and organizational
management are important for running a successful
business.
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Ways to Assist Cheetahs
Half of Cheetah respondents indicated that
government could best assist them via regulatory
reform, changing business tax structure, and
reducing the costs of healthcare.
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Assisting Cheetahs in their Success
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ExCEED Community Economic and Entrepreneurial
Development
c2er 49th Annual Conference June 4, 2009
Kansas City
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ExCEEDs Purpose

• Engagement with communities
• Collaboration across the university and
  disciplines

• Re-energize and build sustainable economies
• Based on regional strengths and assets
• Community economic development focused on
  entrepreneurship and enhancing quality of life

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Economic Development Today

• Is broad and comprehensive
• Applies to attracting new enterprises,
  goods-producing and knowledge-based
• In contrast to industrial recruitment, it is
  based on knowledge workers and a culture of
  innovation rather than cheap land and labor
• Includes attracting business anchors such as
  senior housing, educational enterprises, and
  visitors and retirees less traditional, but
  effective, ways of increasing the flow of
  external resources into the local economy.

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Economic Development in Rural Communities

• Traditional ED approaches are not working.
• ED programs tend to focus on natural resource
  industries and industrial recruitment.
• Growing awareness that this approach doesnt work
  for rural communities.
• Growing number of communities are intentionally
  focusing on entrepreneurship development.

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Why Entrepreneurship?

• Once ignored because impacts where small and
  diffused, today entrepreneurship is thought of as
  economic gardening rather than hunting
  (industrial recruitment).
• Business growth and sustaining health of existing
  businesses is an important component in this
  contemporary approach to economic development.

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Why Entrepreneurship Fits Rural America

• Critical Drives local/national economies
• Appropriate Offers scale of activity better
  suited to smaller communities
• Achievable Better able to match skills and
  resources with unique market opportunities
• Relevant Rural economies are essentially
  composed of small enterprises
• Positive Locates untapped opportunity and
  focuses on community assets

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Challenges for RuralEntrepreneurs and
Practitioners

• Economies of scale hard to achieve
• Poor connections to markets
• Limited opportunities for networking
• Multiple causes of limited participation in new
  economy
• Increasing consolidation trend
• Lack of capital

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Reconstructing the Economic Development Pyramid
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ExCEED Regional Projects
NW MO
NE MO RBOG
Brookfield
Chariton County
Old Trails
Show Me E!
MRH
Lake Region
All Natural
Ozark Heritage
SMEDA
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Common Community Issues

• Leadership capacity
• Collaboration building
• Access to capital (adults youth)
• Downtown revitalization
• School system engagement
• Research, evaluation analysis

• Foster more entrepreneurs
• Focus on youth
• Capture community wealth
• Involve more residents in entrepreneurial
  community

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ExCEED Program Outcomes
Data represents FY07 FY08
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Community Assistance

• Economic Development Strategic Planning
• Focus entrepreneurship, leadership development,
  youth and community asset development
• Training
• Fundamentals of Economic Development
• Know Your Region (EDA)
• Growing Entrepreneurs From the Ground Up
• Tourism

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Sharon Gulick, Director ExCEED Program University
of Missouri Extension 222 Gentry Hall Columbia,
MO 65211 Phone [phone] Email
GulickS_at_missouri.edu Web http//extension.missou
ri.edu/ceed/