Max Chafkin | Inc. magazine

Program Aims to Train Rural Entrepreneurs

 

June 13, 2005--Rural entrepreneurship boosters converged in Nebraska City last week for a teach-in designed to encourage growth in some of the most economically depressed parts of the country.

The program, E2: Energizing Entrepreneurship in Rural America, was sponsored by the Heartland Center for Leadership Development and the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship and ran from July 7-10. Participants included 43 rural community leaders and developers from 10 states. Don Macke, Co-Director of RUPRI said that the 3-year-old program's goal is to "train the trainers" at finding possible growth companies in places where traditional networking is next to impossible because of the large distances separating people.

"It's kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack," said Macke. "There are growth entrepreneurs out there, but we have to go through a lot of groundwork to identify these folks." This includes finding community-minded "informants" who can suggest possible companies to contact. Once identified, these start-ups are matched with angel investors and mentors.

Organizers hope to give a much-needed boost to rural economies reeling from a decline in both farming and manufacturing, including such hits as General Motors' recent decision to cut 25% of its workforce. "The traditional thing was to put up a spec [factory] building and ask somebody to fill it," said Milan Wall, co-director of the Heartland Center. "If you think we can rely on Fortune 500 companies to create all our jobs and solve all our problems then you've got another thing coming."

Wall said that while work needs to be done to encourage entrepreneurship in Nebraska, the efforts of Heartland and RUPRI are picking up steam. Last month the two organizations helped secure a $2 million grant from the Kellogg Foundation to develop models for rural entrepreneurship in the state. "There's a lot happening," added Macke, who cited an Iowa-based firm that has adapted by selling support services to call centers in India as an example of the kind of growth he hopes to encourage. "We really see it as a movement that is beginning to take root."

Senior contributing writer Max Chafkin has profiled companies such as Yelp, Zappos, Twitter, Threadless, and Tesla for the magazine. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. @chafkin