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Posts Tagged ‘Oregon’
Enterprise Facilitation: Another Strategy for supporting entrepreneurs
July 13th, 2011
I’ve advocated previously for economic gardening, as a key strategy for supporting entrepreneurs in rural communities. Another strategy worth consideration is enterprise facilitation.
Developed by Ernesto Sirroli, enterprise facilitation offers one-on-one support to business owners who are trying to start or build a business. Enterprise facilitation programs typically differ from economic gardening programs in a number of ways:
- Enterprise facilitation programs work with businesses of any size, but often focus on new business start-ups, something economic gardening programs typically don’t do.
- Programs typically provide support in all areas of running a business, not just marketing and business intelligence aspects.
- Facilitators serve as connectors, matching a business owner’s weaknesses to resources and mentors who can fill the gaps.
I was reminded of enterprise facilitation while watching the video embedded below titled “Interview with Jeff Deiss – USDA Rural Development.” Deiss is the Business & Cooperative Program Director for USDA Rural Development in Oregon, and he explains how they have helped launch several enterprise facilitation programs in rural Oregon. It’s great to USDA Rural Development engaged in supporting entrepreneurs in this way.
(source: “Interview with Jeff Deiss – USDA Rural Development,” Sirolli Institute, YouTube, Feb. 3, 2009)
I’m aware of only one enterprise facilitation program in South Dakota. Led by Nancy Larsen, the Southeast Enterprise Facilitation Project serves Turner and McCook Counties along with the town of Menno. Nancy has a real passion for helping people. You can learn more about their program and some of the businesses they have helped on their website.
If your community is looking to support early stage businesses, you should look into enterprise facilitation. It might be just what you need.
Tags: enterprise facilitation, Oregon, South Dakota, southeast enterprise facilitation project
Posted in Economic Development, Rural | Comments (0)
Entrepreneurship: What do young people need to hear?
October 4th, 2010
I’ve been on a bit of a kick lately about youth entrepreneurship training programs (read here and here for my recent thoughts). One of the arguments I’ve made is that young people need to hear from entrepreneurs who are living in rural communities. With that in mind, I thought I would share the following video of Mary Stevenson, a former teacher who started a wine bar, restaurant, and art gallery in Baker City, OR (pop 9,860).
The video was produced by the Rural Economy Project, a partnership between several Oregon community development organizations and Oregon Public Broadcasting. You can find more stories about Oregon’s rural entrepreneurs on their blog.
(watch video at bottom of this post)
While listening to Mary’s interview, I was struck by the reasons she started a business in a rural community. A short list includes:
- She grew up in the region and wanted to raise her kids there.
- She wanted to work in an area that she was passionate about.
- The community had a good feel: good people and good downtown buildings (an excellent reason for communities to adopt the Main Street Approach).
- Businesses in the community help each other; while preparing her business, she worked for a competitive business.
As I think back to my time as a high school economics teacher, I wish I’d been able to connect to videos like this. I would have shown them to my students periodically because I think it could have helped young people begin to see entrepreneurship in a rural community as a realistic career option.
What else do you think young people need to hear?
Tags: entrepreneurship, Oregon, Rural Economy Project, Youth
Posted in Community Development, education, Rural | Comments (2)
Hood River Biz Buzz
June 7th, 2010
Last week I wrote a post suggesting rural communities should conduct video interviews of entrepreneurs in their communities as a way of showcasing local businesses and building their community’s brand as a great place for entrepreneurs. A couple days ago I stumbled across a blog that’s doing something very similar.
Hood River Biz Buzzrepresents the community of Hood River, OR (pop. 5831 according to the 2010 Census). The blog’s “About” page offers the following as its purpose:
A big part of what makes Hood River special is the vital business scene. Frustrated with the lack of local media attention to business news, I thought that a blog would be a good first step to share what I learn in my various work and volunteer activities.”
Peruse its posts and you will discover articles featuring local businesses, upcoming community events, and the latest news. It’s a bit more expansive and eclectic than what I was talking about the other day, but I think that’s what makes it so fun and interesting. It definitely leaves me with an impression that Hood River is a place I’d enjoy.
Stu Watson, the blog’s publisher, is a professional journalist with over thirty years of experience. The blog, however, is a volunteer activity and a display of his love for his community.
When I called on people to interview entrepreneurs in their community, I had in mind community volunteers being engaged in the project. After all, that’s who gets the work done in most of the rural communities in our part of the country.
If your community has someone with Stu’s experience, I’d highly recommend you engage him or her in the effort. If not, look for other alternatives.
I like the idea that Rebecca Terk left as a comment on my blog post:
I do think this is the kind of project that community volunteers could pull off with some assistance, but I also think that group of volunteers has to be diverse enough in order to be able to identify different facets of the entrepreneurial efforts in the community.
I wonder if it’s also something that could be accomplished in a media/journalism course (do they still have such courses?) on a high school level if the school had faculty savvy in this area. That ties in young people and what they see as valuable/cool/attractive about a community (the promotion of which could attract more young people to the community).”
I love the idea of youth engagement. I can see the project being a perfect match for a media/journalism course or even a business class for that matter. It’s also an opportunity for community volunteers to contribute their knowledge to young people. I know most educators would welcome a volunteer with knowledge of video production expertise in their classroom.
Whether it’s a blog like Hood River Biz Buzz or a series of video interviews with student involvement, I hope you find a way to lift up entrepreneurs and build a stronger brand for your rural community.
Note: I discovered Hood River Biz Buzz in a blog post by Rural Tourism Marketing, another excellent resource.
Photo Credit: BillFromSpokane – Flickr
Tags: Blogging, branding, entrepreneurship, Hood River OR, marketing, Oregon
Posted in Economic Development, Rural | Comments (0)