Community conversations on entrepreneurship
In the fall of 2005, the University of Missouri Extension, through its Community Enterprise and Entrepreneurial Development (CEED) initiative, engaged in a process to satisfy an important question: Is entrepreneurship a viable economic development strategy for Missouri? CEED, a cross-disciplinary Extension approach to stimulating entrepreneurial communities, in partnership with Regional Planning Commissions, held sixteen Community Conversations across Missouri to look for answers. It also sought to gauge the value of and interest in entrepreneurship for economically disadvantaged communities, especially those in rural regions.
Possibly the most important revelation resulting from the Community Conversations on Entrepreneurship is the communities' willingness to state what they believe they can do to encourage and support entrepreneurship. Many realize that the power to change local economies for the better will come from within each community. Ten recommendations derived from the rich input of these meetings are suggested for both community and state action as detailed below.
- Communities can undertake an agenda for change by supporting entrepreneurship efforts in their areas with the following initiatives:
- Work with local school boards to integrate entrepreneurship education in grades K-12.
- Provide entrepreneurship training, technical assistance, leadership development, and mentoring to community youth and young adults.
- Work with local leadership to develop explicit, local policies supporting entrepreneurial activity, including the formation of accessible capital pools for enterprise financing.
- Create leadership development opportunities for local officials, and other residents, especially in regard to entrepreneurship.
- Improve the social and economic climate for local entrepreneurs and businesses, by valuing them, nurturing networks of entrepreneurs, increasing local collaborations, and celebrating community success.
- Adopt entrepreneurship as a recognized and effective economic development strategy for Missouri, especially in rural areas.
- Focus increased attention on entrepreneurship and leadership development for youth, by supporting existing initiatives more visibly through financial and technical support, and by starting new initiatives as needed.
- Integrate entrepreneurship, as a state-based initiative in collaboration with local efforts, into K-12 curriculum in the public schools; and support related activities, such as teacher training and orientation, and entrepreneurship clubs and organizations for youth.
- Fund training, technical assistance, and financing services for entrepreneurship commensurate with the level of economic activity it represents within the state. Ensure that such services are inclusive and target the most economically distressed areas of the state.
- Establish a Statewide Task Force on Entrepreneurship to review current state policies and practices regarding small business; and to establish new state policies and practices regarding entrepreneurship. Policies should address the ‘asynchronous' issue between the political lifecycle and the entrepreneurship lifecycle. Ensure that all regions are represented and that at least one-third of the task force is composed of entrepreneurs, representing the full range of types of entrepreneurs (See Appendix I).
- Develop a Statewide Entrepreneurship Development System (EDS) that coordinates cross-disciplinary resources (existing and to be developed), provides technical assistance and access to capital for entrepreneurs, and fosters local leadership, resources, and entrepreneurial networks.
- Establish a five-year plan to install and implement high speed internet throughout Missouri. Consider the expansion of small business incubators, and evaluate and plan for basic infrastructure improvements in the neediest of areas.
- Value natural assets, and devise an incentive plan that permits value-added entrepreneurship, but protects natural assets.
- Develop a state-recognized community leadership course for delivery across state that emphasizes entrepreneurship and the generation of local solutions to place-based issues.
Communities are clear that they would like a role to play in a number of the statewide recommendations described. As this report goes on to document, communities value the assets that they have, recognize that they have some serious obstacles to overcome, but generally believe in themselves, their youth, and the culture of their communities as the means to a brighter future, with entrepreneurship as a viable economic strategy that fits their circumstances.
The information presented will give the reader a comprehensive view on how these recommendations were generated. It offers:
- Some background on the origins of the Community Conversations,
- A backdrop to Conversation responses via the socio-economic context in various regions of Missouri;
- A catalog and description of those responses by region, and statewide for consideration; and
- Finally some reflections worth pondering in respect to entrepreneurship and to the many people who participated in the Community Conversations.
All of the recommendations are geared toward exploring a new and different way of viewing and shaping the economic prospects for Missouri's communities.
Updated 6/22/06
