This invited presentation illustrates the value of small business digital marketing through a number of case studies executed over a five year period in the Kentucky River Area Development District (KRADD). The final case studies were developed after travels and observations of the HandMade in America trails in Western North Carolina to advance travel and tourism through a series of “persona travelers” based on Kentucky tourism research of how and where to spend 36 hours in the KRADD region. This presentation was for the KRADD monthly meeting on October 24th, 2012 in Whitesburg, KY.

1. Social Media as a Tool for Building an
Alternative Economy in KRADD Communities:
A project among students, community
partners and faculty
Peter H. Hackbert
Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program
Berea College, Berea KY
KRADD Monthly Meeting
Whitesburg, Kentucky
October 24, 2012

2. Small Rural Appalachian Community
Economic Development (CED)
Traditional ED Strategy / Tool Direct, Short-term
• Industrial development Economic
• Business retention / expansion Outcomes
• Workforce development • jobs
• Tourism • firms
Economic Development • prosperity
• wealth
Approaches
Alternative ED Strategy / Tool
• Entrepreneurship 1. Recruit firms from the outside
• Downtown development 2. Strengthen/expand existing firms
• Arts / Creative economy 3. Promote development of new firms
•
•
Cluster-based development
Residential development
Other
Outcomes
• social
• civic
• environmental
CD Capacity Building Strategy /
Tool
Indirect, Long-term
• Transportation
• Broadband / Internet / Social Media
• ED finance
• Philanthropy
• Strategic planning
• Leadership development
• Organizational development

3. EPG Small Rural Appalachian Community
Economic Development Model
Traditional ED Strategy / Tool Direct, Short-term
Economic
• Tourism
Outcomes
• jobs
Economic Development • firms
Approaches
e
Alternative ED Strategy / Tool 1. Strengthen/expand
• Entrepreneurship economy
existing firms
• Cluster-based development
• Residential development 2. Promote new firms Other
Outcomes
• social / civic
CD Capacity Building Strategy / • environmental
Tool
Indirect, Long-term
• Transportation
• Broadband / Internet /
Social Media

4. 23M Small Businesses in the USA
• 90 percent of the businesses in the Commonwealth
have fewer than 50 employees.
• In 2008, small businesses totaled 339,747 .
• 69,175 were employers, and they accounted for 49.2%
of private-sector jobs in the state.
• Small firms (less than 500 employees or no employees)
made up 96.7% of the state’s employers.

5. “Uneven Ground”
UK Professor of
History: Ronald Eller
www.google.com/images

6. The growing popularity of ecotourism and
heritage tourism…contained the potential for
building an alternative economy, one that
promised greater monetary returns for local
residents, the preservation of rural traditions,
and the protection of sensitive natural
resources.
- Ronald D. Eller, Uneven Ground, The University of
Kentucky Press, 2008: 256.

7. EPG Service Area 2010 County Business
Patterns – Total Establishments
Madison 1,559
Breathitt 211
Lee 98
Leslie 113
Letcher 702
Knott 189
Owsley 44
Perry 702
Wolf 84

8. Key Question
Can Social Media be a digital tool to
develop an alternative economy in
Appalachian communities?

9. Case 1
They asked us.

10. Berea, Kentucky -
500 Cultural Assets

13. Case 2
They asked us to find out

14. Research Team

15. Total Expenditures for the 4,000
Out-of-Towners Knott County Trail
Riders
Items Expenditures
Entrance fees $19,492
Food and Beverage 162,435
Retail Shops 207,916
Private Auto and Other Expenses 259,896
Total $649,740

16. Case 3
They asked us.

17. Along come
cell phones

18. Cultural Heritage Cell Phone Tour

20. Case 4
They asked us

21. Peer to Peer KRADD Workshops

22. Case 5
They told us

23. Small Rural Town Program
Rural Populations
1,602
357
175
1,764
747
1,081

24. Case 6
We listened

25. Small Business Using Social Media in
North Carolina
The Blue Ridge Soap Shed

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