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Posts Tagged ‘Launch’10’
Symbols of Entrepreneurial Spirit
February 26th, 2010
I believe in the power of symbols. The wind turbines we put up in Miner County back in 2001 served as a symbol of inspiration as we “reimagined” the future of our rural community. They became a powerful visible reminder of the work we were trying to accomplish.
I was reminded of the power of symbols yesterday during two presentations at the Launch10, an entrepreneurship conference by Dakota Wesleyan University. The first reminder came from keynote speaker Sheena Lindahl, and the second came from three young South Dakota entrepreneurs, Matt Douglas, Matt Smart, and Lezlie Kaitfors. Both presentation offered symbols of entrepreneurship and success for the largely college-aged crowd in attendance — but in very different ways.
Sheena’s presentation revolved around taking limited resources and turning them into something big. To make her point, she drew on her personal story of growing up in poverty in rural New Hampshire (or Vermont, I forget which).
Sheena described herself as an average high school student who always wanted to go to New York City, despite being afraid of it. Facing her fears (a common theme throughout the day), Sheena enrolled at New York University and hopped on the bus for NYC – even though she didn’t have the money to pay for the semester. Through determination and hard work, she consistently overcame every obstacle put in her path. Today she’s a Gen Y entrepreneur rock star. She’s definitely someone every young person in the audience can aspire to become.
While a symbol herself, what struck me most about her presentation was how NYC served as the symbol that inspired her. She was going to “make it” in New York City, and that thought drove her.
Although unintentional, I’m afraid that young people in the audience may also interpreted NYC as a symbol for success. In other words, they have to go off to the big city to achieve their dreams of entrepreneurial success. Maybe that’s just my interpretation, and I know Sheena didn’t intend it. But as a rural community fanatic, I worry about the constant messaging that preaches this idea.
Personally, I was more inspired by the round table involving the young South Dakota entrepreneurs. After briefly highlighting their personal stories, the session turned into a question and answer period. In contrast to other speakers during the day, these three entrepreneurs were not polished presenters who made their living telling others how to become entrepreneurs. They shared an authentic and inspirational message about what it’s like to be young South Dakotan entrepreneurs.
I was particularly struck by how well they answered a question about what South Dakota high schools should be doing to help develop future entrepreneurs. I want to share their responses with you:
- Lezlie Kaitfors explained that she thought everyone should take businesses classes because they relate to all aspects of a person’s life. After all, couldn’t every family do a better job of developing and following a budget?
- Matt Douglas wished more educators would help young people realize that owning their own business was a real possibility. Too much emphasis is placed on getting a job, which causes people never consider the entrepreneurial lifestyle.
- Matt Smart recommended that students receive constant exposure and practice in entrepreneurial thinking. For instance, being able to recognize opportunities takes practice, and the process should start at a young age.
Through these and other answers, the three reminded the audience that young people don’t have to go out of state to be successful entrepreneurs. That’s a message that excited me!
But what’s more powerful? Images of NYC or stories of young people? I’m afraid that NYC’s visibility is naturally more powerful. I guess that’s where Sheena’s message of overcoming adversity comes back into play. Those of us with a passion for South Dakota have a responsibility to share stories of successful South Dakota entrepreneurs.
In the future, we’ll try to do a better job of that here at ReImagine Rural.
Tags: entrepreneurship, Gen Y, Launch'10
Posted in Economic Development, Gen Y, Rural | Comments (1)
Still wondering “what if…?”
February 25th, 2010
How do entrepreneurs find the inspiration to start their ventures? And where do entrepreneurs turn to find the resources necessary to grow their businesses. Those are poignant questions for rural community leaders. Obviously there are no simple answers, but I’m hoping to better understand the opportunities surrounding them at the Launch10 Conference at Dakota Wesleyan University today. It’s a conference that brings entrepreneurs, college students, educators, and community members together to talk about their futures.
While talking to Jim Beddow about the Launch10 Conference a couple weeks ago, I learned that fellow Wesleyan alumnus, Eric Pulse is part of new business venture in Kimball, SD (pop. 745). Thinking that he might have an interesting perspective on these questions, I gave Eric a call, and we chatted about his venture, The Original Kimball Popcorn Ball. It turns out he had a lot to share.
I’d really hoped to share the story about the startup of this rural business in greater detail today, but time just hasn’t cooperated. I do, however, want to share one piece of advice Eric had to offer.
Before ending our call, I asked Eric what advice he had for entrepreneurs. He responded, “Don’t be the person who sits back and wonders in ten years, what if…?”
Sage advice. I think it speaks to rural communities as well, which brings us back to why I’m attending the Launch10 conference.
There are lots of models for supporting entrepreneurs. Littleton, CO’s Economic Gardening process and the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship’s E2 model come to mind. But communities leaders, like business leaders, can’t sit back and wait for entrepreneurs to appear and then expect them to be successful on their own. Instead we’ve got to be intention and be prepared to support them. Or else in ten years, we’re going to be the one’s wondering “what if…?”
Tags: Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, Dakota Wesleyan University, Economic Gardening, entrepreneurship, Kimball SD, Launch'10
Posted in Economic Development, Rural, Training and Events | Comments (0)
Nurturing an Entrepreneurial Generation
January 18th, 2010
We know that Gen Y is an entrepreneurial generation. But what can we do to take advantage of this opportunity in our rural communities?
While thinking about the above, I felt inspired to compile a list of 5 Thoughts about Entrepreneurship, as it applies to young people. While not particularly profound, I think the value of the list is that it speaks to the importance of events like Launch ’10 that connect entrepreneurship, education, and community involvement:
- Entrepreneurs are made, not born. While some people may be genetically inclined to be risk takers, entrepreneurship is the culmination of life experiences.
- Educators have a responsibility to teach young people to be entrepreneurial. By this, I don’t mean that educators should try relating their entire curriculum to starting a business. Rather, I think it suggests educators need to inspire young people to ask questions and be inventive. Ideally that starts in the elementary grades, but it’s never too late.
- Communities and educators need to inspire young people to become entrepreneurs, and take risks by starting their own businesses. Inspiration can come from a lot of sources, but I’m always reminded of how I was inspired by the stories of high school students when I was in grade school. Whether it was athletics or music, I wanted to be like them. Are you sharing those stories?
- Communities play important roles in developing and supporting entrepreneurs. Often, rural economic development professionals think supporting entrepreneurs revolves around helping them find the financial resources to start their business. That’s late stage thinking. If communities want to increase the deal flow of new business development, they need start working in the entrepreneurship chain much earlier.
- It’s never too late to become an entrepreneur. Enough said.
Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, SD created the Launch Conference five years ago with the goals of accomplishing much of what I’ve described in the list above. This year, their one-day conference features keynote addresses from Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour (EET) co-founder Sheena Lindahl and EET facilitator Arel Moodie (two highly accomplished young entrepreneurs); and Dr. Kay Palan, the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Iowa State University.
One of the things I like about the conference is that it brings together entrepreneurs, faculty, and community development professionals. It fits well with the Rural Learning Center’s guiding principle that “It’s all connected.”
I have the date of this year’s conference (Feb 25th) marked on my calendar. If you’d like to learn more or register for the conference, I’d encourage you to check out the conference website by clicking here or by clicking on the advertisement in the right sidebar.
Tags: Dakota Wesleyan University, entrepreneurship, Gen Y, Launch'10, Mitchell SD
Posted in Economic Development, Rural | Comments (3)