Growing Local Companies and Supporting Entrepreneurs
1. Growing Local Companies and
Supporting Entrepreneurs
Becky McCray
http://tourismcurrents.com/lcra
2. By 2015,
¼ of all rural workers
will be
self-employed
Source: Stephan J. Goetz, Self-Employment in Rural America: The New Economic Reality, 2008. PDF
3. “More small firms
means more jobs.”
Source: Harvard Business Review, Glaeser and Kerr, “The Secret to Job Growth: Think Small.” 2010
4. “More small firms means more jobs.”
“Regional economic growth is highly correlated with the
presence of many small, entrepreneurial employers--not a
few big ones.”
“Industries with smaller firms and more startups enjoyed
faster employment growth than other industries in the same
city and than the same industry in other cities.”
“Cities relying on only a few large firms for employment
experienced slower subsequent job growth than cities with
an abundance of small firms.”
Source: Harvard Business Review, Glaeser and Kerr, “The Secret to Job Growth: Think Small.” 2010
7. Warm up your entrepreneurial
climate
http://tourismcurrents.com/lcra
8. Entrepreneurial Climate:
Value, celebrate, grow and plan for them
Value entrepreneurs
• Listen to them
• Find out their challenges
• Measure activity: http://youreconomy.org/
Celebrate entrepreneurs
• Public recognition
• Awards
9. Entrepreneurial Climate:
Value, celebrate, grow and plan for them
Grow entrepreneurs
• Education
• Training
Plan for entrepreneurs
• Integrate entrepreneurship into your
plans
14. Entrepreneur Infrastructure:
Access to capital and financing
Community
Locally-focused
Community banks Development
angel investors
Loan Funds: CDFIs
Community
Crowdfunding Slow money
capital
Direct Public Local stock
Cooperatives
Offerings exchanges
Source: Locavesting by Amy Cortese
17. Entrepreneur Support:
Organizations and community partners
Chamber of Economic
Library
Commerce development
City and
Colleges and
Main Street county
universities
government
News Media
Local
and Social
organizations
Media
18. Entrepreneur Support:
Help entrepreneurs support each other
Entrepreneurs will support each other better than you can.
• “Research shows that once entrepreneurship gets established, it tends to be self-
perpetuating.” Glaeser and Kerr, Harvard Business Review
Events:
• Networking
• Business fairs
Places:
• Coworking spaces
• Third places
• Online
Cooperative marketing
• Small business partnerships
19. Entrepreneur Support:
Youth entrepreneurship resources
Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship
NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation
Junior Achievement
Future Business Leaders of America-PBL
4-H
Source: Dave Shideler, Youth Entrepreneurship: Building a Pipeline PDF
21. “Tourism is a traded
business just as much
as manufacturing.”
Source: Ed Morrison, Economic Development expert
22. Tourism attractiveness = easier recruiting
“If people think it’s a nice
place to visit, they think
it’s a nice place to live.”
Source: Cynthia Reid, Vice President, Marketing, Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce
23. Think “Main Street” all over town
Organization
Promotion
Design
Economic Restructuring
Source: Main Street Four-Point Approach.
24. C-I-S Model Resources
Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
• Guide for County Leaders
• Entrepreneur Coaching
Dave Shideler, OSU Ag Econ
• Building Entrepreneurial Communities (3 webinars)
Texas Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
• Entrepreneur Ready Community Certification
