ECD

Community-Supported Entrepreneurship

Yesterday I served as a panelist at a two day entrepreneurship training organized by Maria Marshall from Purdue's Agricultural Economics Department. My remarks were regarding some models for Community-Supported Entrepreneurship. The PowePoint file I used is available for download here.

Rural Philanthropy

The National Center for Responsive Philathropy has released a report titled Rural Philanthropy: Building Dialogue from Within. This W.K. Kellogg Foundation report suggests grantmaking behavior and trends are skewed heavily toward support for urban-based or urban-focused programs. The report explores both real and perceived barriers between rural nonprofits and foundations in urban areas, as well as strategies for overcoming those obstacles. The complete report can be found here.

The Collaboration Continuum

"Collaboration" is a term bandied about a great deal in community work but most of the time, there is little understanding, much less agreement, about what the term means. Defining these terms is a great idea when working with multiple groups that are trying to figure out if and how to work together.

Over the years I've seen several collaboration continuum tools that are helpful. I recently ran across one that I think is a great communications tool. The continuum begins with Networking and ends with Integrating. It also plots how turf and trust play into the relationship. For example, when trust is low and turf issues are high, the best to hope for is probably some information sharing (Networking). When Turf issues are low and trust is high, that is when greater levels of collaboration can occur.

This little model is available in an animated PowerPoint file here. It comes from a youth development organization, ACT for Youth, out of New York but I think it applies to all areas of community work.

Connecting Leaders to Service

For the past two years I have worked with the Valparaiso Area Chamber of Commerce to develop and run a Leadership Academy. This program is designed to complement traditional county/ regional leadership programs in that it has a specific goal of preparing and connecting emerging leaders and young professionals with high level volunteer positions. In short, we connect new blood to boards and commissions at the same time that we train the individuals to be successful in those posts.

The program has worked well so far for a couple of reasons. First, because the planning was initiated through the Chamber to meet an identified community need, businesses are on board and have bought into the program with sponsorship and by sending younger or newer staff as participants.

Second, in order to be accepted into the program, participants commit to finding and serving on a board or high level committee. There is plenty of exposure to organizations with open posts, and participants are held accountable for their progress in finding a post. We had 100% success rate in year one and expect nothing less this year.

Third, the program emphasizes networking and mentorship as part of the curriculum in addition to learning effective board skills. Participants get to meet some prominent community leaders in an intimate learning environment. They also have a chance to expand greatly their knowledge about organizations from the public and nonprofit sectors—what they do and how they fit into the bigger picture. Then, we take the next step and ask participants to envision how they as individuals can connect and lead these organizations.

I know that it can sometimes be a challenge to get alumni from leadership programs to continue to be engaged in the community. It’s even harder to track their engagement. We have found that this model seems to be a good way to make a direct link to service that participants might not get to on their own. And it's fun.

Coming Soon to an Extension Office Near You: Entrepreneurship Business Information Network

Purdue Extension Economic and Community Development is offering a new resource to support entrepreneurship in Indiana. The Economic Gardening model, established in Littleton, Colorado addresses several fundamental barriers faced by those wanting to start and grow a business. One of these big hurdles is access to good business information. Entrepreneurs need to answer some fundamental questions:

• What other products or services are out there that are similar to mine?
• Who are my potential customers, and how do I reach them?
• What are my potential customers like?
• What are the latest trends in my industry?
• What legislative issues could affect my business?

Purdue Extension's new program is designed to help adress this need. e-Bin (Entrepreneurship Business Information Network) can help entrepreneurs find the answers they need. e-Bin is a unique partnership of Purdue Extension Economic and Community Development, the Purdue University Krannert Management and Economics Library (MEL), and the Greater Lafayette Small Business Development Center (SBDC).

MEL subscribes to a vast array of business data resources vital in developing business ideas and launching new businesses. Until now, these resources have only been available to Purdue faculty and students on campus. But through special arrangements, many of these same resources are coming to a select number of Purdue Extension offices.

Entrepreneurs will be able to go to a local Purdue Extension office and use the e-Bin Enterprise Center—a specially designed computer station with access to MEL’s business information resources. In addition to the databases, e-Bin users can also get help, via instant messaging and telephone, from MEL’s specially trained business library staff, who can help point users in the right direction to find the answers they need.

MEL staff will also conduct workshops at the Purdue Extension sites to help entrepreneurs understand the basics of business research and how to use e-Bin. Users can also connect with SBDC, which provides in-depth counseling and support to small business owners.

e-Bin is a project of Indiana WIRED, a North Central Indiana initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Labor through the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. One of Indiana WIRED’s goals is to make North Central Indiana the best place in the Midwest to start and grow a business. e-Bin is one of several projects designed to support entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship.

e-Bin is being piloted first in Frankfort, Indiana at the Purdue Extension’s Clinton County Learning Network (1111 S. Jackson Frankfort). A ribbon cutting is scheduled for sometime during the week of November 5-9, 2007, Indiana Entrepreneurship Week. For now, this program is being rolled out in the 14-county North Central Indiana region. Other's interested in the program should let us know.

To learn more about e-Bin contact Don Koverman.

Beginner's Guide to Grantwriting

Hey Extension Educators! Are you promoting the Purdue Extension ECD Beginner's Guide to Grantwriting workshop? If you are not, you should be. Those of you who are community folks, should look into this as well. Why? This is a great program, one that works. Want proof? Participating organizations across the state have received $5.5 million in funded proposals in the first four years of programming. 

This two-day program will be held on October 10 and November 14, 2007. The workshop is led by experienced grantwriters who are also educators and trainers. Instructors have written grant proposals that have resulted in over $30 million in funding.

A brochure with more specific information, including workshop locations, is available here.

On Local Government: Property Tax Relief and New Local Income Tax Options

It seems like we may be on to something! In June we held our third installment of the On Local Government program. This is an IP Video-delivered program focusing on local government finance issues. Larry DeBoer delivers the content and local officials from all over the state participate via 2-way video. For this last program we had 40 locations and nearly 400 participants. This represents the largest IP Video program Purdue Extension has ever done. The June 18 program focused on Property Tax Relief and New Local Income Tax Options. A handout from the program is available here. You can also view a video-stream archive of the program here and the accompanying PowerPoint presentation here.

If you are wondering just how good this program was, here are some highlights from the program evaluation:

• 92% of attendees rated Larry's remarks as very effective
• 98% of attendees rated the program as very effective or somewhat effective in helping them better understand local government finance
• 98% of attendees thought the program was very effective or somewhat effective in helping them identify potential issues related to their local government budget
• 97% of attendees thought the program provided new knowledge or tools to help them better prepare their budgets
• 100% of attendees would recommend the program to others
• 88% of attendees that what they learned will have an impact on the fiscal well-being of their communities.

For lots more about local government finance, visit Larry's Local Government website (here) and watch for announcements about upcoming video programs.