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Posts Tagged ‘Mitchell SD’
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)
Will Social Networking make “place” more important?
May 28th, 2009
Last week I raised the question; Will Gen Y, with their infatuation for on-line social networking tools, ruin how people develop a sense of belonging to a community? Today, I’d like to share a story suggesting that social networking is actually contributing to an increased desire for local.
Titled “Demographic trends now favor downtown,” the article traces the growing demand for retail space in downtown settings and its connection to the “buy local” movement.
Besides offering the economic causes driving people to the downtown setting, the article identifies how on-line computer activities contribute to the importance of place:
Humans are social beings, and all the time we spend at our computers makes us, if anything, even hungrier for real-world interactions. The Internet, paradoxically, is making place even more important. Marrying great online services with appealing real-world presence will be the secret to success for many a company. So pay attention to where you are and to where your community is going.
If we are hungry for face-to-face interaction, and if a sense of place will become more important for businesses, does it not suggest an opportunity for small rural communities? After all, isn’t “being real” inherent in most small rural communities?
But it also begs the question, what are we doing to take advantage of this growing sentiment? If we are not thoughtful and willing to take action, this opportunity may slip through our fingers.
Note: Readers may also be interested in knowing that I discovered this article through the Main Street Mitchell and Beyond’s Facebook page . It pays to be a part of a social network.
Photo Source: Jordan MacDonald/Flickr (photo of facades in downtown Broken Arrow, OK)
Tags: Buy Local, Mitchell SD, retail, sense of place, social networking, web 2.0
Posted in Economic Development, In the News, Rural | Comments (0)