Community Development through Entrepreneurship: Building Entrepreneurial Communities

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Community Development through EntrepreneurshipBu
ilding Entrepreneurial Communities

• Presentation by
• Tammy Werner, Program Coordinator
• Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute (KECI)

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19 Counties in NE Kentucky
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• The Economic Landscape in Rural Northeastern
  Kentucky
• Decline in old economy industries
• Phasing out of 1 crop burley tobacco quota
  reduced approx. 60 between 1997 and 2000

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• The Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute
  (KECI)
• Objectives
• Encourage the diversification of the economies in
  the 19 county region
• Stimulate small business start-ups and expansions
• Provide local citizens the tools they need to
  become community coaches.
• Strengthen community groups institutions and
  their receptiveness to entrepreneurs
• (Funded by the Kentucky Agricultural
  Development Board)

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• What is the state of entrepreneurship in the
  region?
• Qualitative Data
• Quantitative Data

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• Research Process

Focus Groups and County Council Meetings Met
with approximately 400 people in all 19 counties
38 county visits Focus groups included farmers,
business people, members of chamber of commerce,
extension, school system, local govt. Secondary
Economic Data Sole Proprietor Data ES 202 Data
(unemployment insurance)
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The State of Entrepreneurship Summary

• Entrepreneurship in the region lags behind the
  national benchmark
• A critical mass of entrepreneurs is lacking in
  the region
• The availability of and quality of youth
  entrepreneurship programs varies across the
  region
• Access to entrepreneurial education and training
  is quite limited
• Access to capital is a concern
• New markets and new crops are needed to diversify
  away from tobacco

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Focus Group Findings

• Out-migration of youth
• weve always exported our finest minds
• An uncertain economic future
• its hard to get away from the security we had
  with tobacco. It may not have been much, but it
  was something.
• De-industrialization Feeling the effects
• (Reference to manufactured products) How the
  hell are we going to continue to send our jobs
  south and expect people here without jobs to buy
  them?
• The Psychology of economic uncertainty
• It set us back quite a bit.
• Exurbanization Back to the land?
• (rural youth spend) the first half of your life
  trying to get out, the second half trying to
  return

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• Agricultural Entrepreneurship Possibilities and
  Current Limitations
• Until you change the marketing situation youre
  going to shoot yourself in the foot
• Current Diversification Activities
• Livestock
• Improving quality of herds
• Small herds of goats
• Pleasure horse industry
• Game Farms
• Crops
• Vegetable production
• Orchards, grapes, berries
• Concerns
• Lack of marketing skills
• Fear of risk
• Part-time farming less time to explore new
  markets/crops

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The Promise of Entrepreneurship

• Regional examples of creative entrepreneurs
• Potential for creating an industry?
• The Via Ferrata (Wolfe County)
• Using what youve got
• Nutrition Farm (Wolfe County)
• Manufacturing in the Mountains

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The Via Ferrata
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Nutrition Farm
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• Traditional Development Approaches
• Industrial Recruitment
• Business Retention and Expansion
• Riding the Entrepreneurial Wave
• Entrepreneurship focuses on nurturing
  entrepreneurial activity at the local level
• Tends to involve local civic organizations more
  diverse leadership loyalty to local community
  often more highly skilled (though fewer) jobs

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• Current Economic Development Policies
• Focus on Industrial Recruitment
• Industrial Development Authorities
• Small Business Development Centers
• State Tax and Loan Incentive Programs
• But relatively little support for entrepreneurs

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An Entrepreneurial Coach

• values local knowledge
• respects the individual
• is supportive
• asks the tough questions
• brings out the best in people
• helps entrepreneurs find creative solutions
• clarifies individual and community
  visions/directions
• has a holistic view-embraces the whole person
  (community)
• is action-oriented
• is proactive rather than reactive

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• What are the characteristics of entrepreneurial
  communities?
• a critical mass of entrepreneurs
• a distinct recognizable network of
  entrepreneurs
• a focus on entrepreneurship is reflected in the
  actions of the community
• youth entrepreneurship programs
• entrepreneurship education training
• access to capital
• entrepreneurial coaches or facilitators in the
  community

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Leadership Program Seminars

• Two leadership classes of entrepreneurial coaches
  
• 30 leadership coaches in each class
• 1st class Sept 2004-January 2006
• 2nd class Sept 2005 January 2007
• Those selected receive a Kentucky Entrepreneurial
  Coaches Institute Fellowship valued at 18,000,
  which covers seminar international travel
  expenses
• Seminars (2-3 days each) will be held across the
  Region (with the exception of one international
  seminar)

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Leadership Program Curriculum

• Coaching skills individual and community
  coaching listening skills asking good
  questions goal setting
• Entrepreneurship What does it take? What is an
  entrepreneur? How do you identify E-potential?
  How do you nurture entrepreneurs?
• Understanding your community Where are we?
  Where do we want to go? Community assessment
  tools such as interviewing, asset mapping, gap
  analysis
• Marketing/communication/engagement
• Resource Providers Who are they? Where are
  they? How does it all work?
• Building networks/engaging the community

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The Communitys Role

• Work with the Coaches in your region for
  example, during the community assessment, or
  answering questions the Coach may ask
• Let us know about entrepreneurs and potential
  entrepreneurs in your county both agricultural
  entrepreneurs and those from non-agricultural
  sector.
• Why?
• We want to showcase local entrepreneurs at the
  seminars to show people in the communities as
  well as the Coaches the kinds of creative ideas
  and activities that are already evident in the
  region.
• - We want to encourage community residents with
  business ideas to work with our coaches as they
  go through the training.

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Anticipated Outcomes

• Creation of an entrepreneurial network
• Expanded imagination about the potential of
  entrepreneurship
• Ability to use coaching skills (i.e., asking
  challenging questions helping others to set
  goals)
• Create new self-identity as "entrepreneurial
  coaches" -- not just a teacher, banker or farmer
• Deepen their understanding about nurturing
  entrepreneurs
• Expanded outreach capacity

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and this will lead to

• more entrepreneurial support activity in counties
  and region
• more outreach-focused entrepreneurs
• self-sustaining entrepreneurial network
• stronger entrepreneurial communities
• and, over the long term - more sustainable rural
  communities