In Ceredigion, a small county in mid-west Wales, three young entrepreneurs are building thriving rural businesses.  And, as anyone working in rural development can tell you, entrepreneurship is one the biggest drivers of economic success for small communities.  

In Farmers Weekly, Debbie James writes: 

“It’s a typical weekday afternoon in the Sweet household.

Tom is at the computer sifting through the email orders for his curry kits, Lottie is tending to her two reindeer and James is devising recipes for a new fruit drink.

Nothing unusual in that except these three are aged 16, 12 and 10 and haven’t long arrived home from school.”

The eldest sibling, Tom, even turned down an opportunity to be featured on The Apprentice (UK). 

It’s an uplifting read, one that reinforces how support of youth entrepreneurship is a powerful way to retain young people in rural areas.

Click through to read the entire article.

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For my American readers – and particularly those involved in rural entrepreneurship and economic development - your input is being sought as the US Economic Development Authority (EDA), in collaboration with Portland State University, develops a new tool for practitioners and policy-makers to better identify and describe the impacts of their economic development activities. 

Feedback is being asked for so that the new, online tool will be relevant and useful to those working in diverse and uniquely rural places.

Your participation is strongly encouraged!

The survey should take about 15 minutes to complete and can be found by following this link.

Deadline to complete the survey is April 26th, 2011.

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• 2011 GRT Conference Learnings

Within the last few years, the notion of ‘growing’ entrepreneurs within one’s own economy has become mainstream.  There’s ‘economic gardening’ programs (i.e. planting seeds for economic growth by assisting local entrepreneurs), entrepreneurship training options (i.e Energizing Entrepreneurs or GoForth) and even a US Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education.  In Canada, 2011 has been declared the Year of the Entrepreneur. 

Encouraging entrepreneurship makes sense. 

Yet is entrepreneurship something that can be taught?  Or is it something intrinsic that one either has, or not?

Claudia Hepburn, in the Financial Post, provides a good overview of arguments for both sides and offers six strategies to help nurture high-impact entrepreneurs (briefly presented here):

1.  Identify potential early.  By the age of 20, most of us have not taken a lead in a start-up, but many successful entrepreneurs have.

2.  Expose them to role models.  Few young people have the opportunity to meet great leaders.

3.  Teach them the basics.  High-impact entrepreneurs have a toolkit of practical skills (sales, negotiations, establishing value, etc.) and an appreciation for how international events and economic cycles will impact their business opportunities.

4.  Make them practice.  High-impact entrepreneurs are often serial entrepreneurs whose confidence, skills and insight are the result of those many years of practice.

5.  Mentor them.  One caring adult can make all the difference in a young person’s development, and this is as true for budding entrepreneurs as it is for anyone else.

6.  Encourage entrepreneurial networks.  A network of like-minded peers can be the greatest gift of all.

Read the full article here.

Related Posts:

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• Tap Into Post-Retirement Entrepreneurship