Making a Case for Entrepreneurship
Posted on | May 21, 2009 | 3 Comments
For the past two days, I’ve been introduced to – and pleasantly overwhelmed with – the range and depth of entrepreneurship information presented by Deb Markley and Karen Dabson of the RUPRI Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship.
The Energizing Entrepreneurs Institute - an in-depth program designed to provide more communities with essential tools and resources to work towards becoming entrepreneurial – has reinforced some of my previous knowledge, and has provided additional key learnings as to how to one might make a case for community entrepreneurship … that is, cultivating reliance from within, as opposed to without.
It’s not rocket science … every community has entrepreneurship potential. The biggest challenge for many communities, however, is engaging people of influence, community champions, and decision makers to care about and recognize the value of cultivating an entrepreneurial community.
And although there exist pockets of successful entrepreneurial activity (check out here, here, and here), there’s no denying that, overall, there are fewer entrepreneurs in rural regions.
It’s time to change.
Entrepreneurship development is a way for communities to fuel their economic growth as well as enhance their ‘quality of place’ which drives long-term community viability and sustainability.
It’s about more than simply helping entrepreneurs start businesses… it’s about creating an inclusive theory or vision for change, supporting that vision with appropriate data, and recruiting validators (especially entrepreneurs!) who can then help communicate that vision to the ‘guardians of the gate’ … those individuals who are able, but usually need to be convinced, to unlock additional resources (be they human, financial or otherwise) to support that vision.
In this way, the seeds of entrepreneurial support are planted … in a concerted effort to cultivate positive change.
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Tags: community > development > Energizing Entrepreneurs > entrepreneur > Leadership > RUPRI Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship > rural > rurban > small business
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Community development, growth and communication in the rural-urban fringe landscape.
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May 21st, 2009 @ 10:51 pm
[...] Read the original post: Making a Case for Entrepreneurship : The Rurban Fringe [...]
September 28th, 2009 @ 9:33 am
[...] is about more than creating strategies and supports for entrepreneurs, it’s about fostering change and creating entrepreneurial communities … which require strength in leadership and a [...]
February 7th, 2011 @ 9:47 am
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