ECD

Top 10 Social Networks for Entrepreneurs

In the "old days" what was important was one's resume and formal credentials. Valdis Krebbs who specializes in mapping social networks recently made the following observation: "Don't show me your degree, masthead, card, URL, etc. Show me thh network you are in embedded in." With that in mind, here are the top 10 social networks for entrepreneurs, according to Dan Schawbel.

Economic Gardening: The New Frontier for Economic Development

Actually, "economic gardening" (EG) is NOT a new frontier. It has been around for 20 years....and preliminary results and successes are incredibly encouraging. I believe this approach has much more potential and much less downside than the traditional economic development strategy of industrial recruitment. For a good overveiw of EG and its potential.....as described by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta go to http://www.frbatlanta.org/invoke.cfm?objectid=4AA2C253-5056-9F12-12D9273D84A914EB&method=display_body

The Myth of Who Starts Tech Companies

A new study by the Kauffman Foundation pretty well destroys the notion that most high-tech firms are young hot-shots who have the energy and stamina to survive the grueling early days of a technology start-up. Indeed, most technology firm founders are middle-aged with extensive experience in key business and technology disciplines http://www.kauffman.org/items.cfm?itemID=1054

The Next American Frontier: Excitement Amidst Anarachy

Michael Malone looks into the future and sees a certain type of exciting anarchy: "Entire industries will die almost overnight, laying off thousands, while others will just as suddenly appear, hungry for employees. Continuity and predictability will become the rarest of commodities. And if the entrepreneurial personality honors smart failures, by the same token it has little pity for weakness. That fraction of Americans – 10%, 20% – who still dream of the gold watch or the 30-year pin will suffer the most . . . and unless their needs are somehow met as well, they will remain a perpetually open wound in our society." For his full article in the WSJ go to

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121115437321202233.html

Indiana's Mid-Size Firms: The Key to Our Future

Mid-sized firms, defined as having $5M-$20M in annual sales comprise a mere 3% of Indiana's businesses. However, they generate between 30% of the jobs and more than 40% of the sales. For more information on these types of firms and the role they will play in the future of Indiana's economy go to

http://www.indianachamber.com/midmarket/

Great Article on Economic Gardening from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Economic Gardening" (EG) has been around for 20 years and the results and successes are incredibly encouraging. I believe this approach has much more potential and much less downside than the traditional economic development strategy of industrial recruitment. For a good overveiw of EG and its potential.....as described by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta go to here.

Posted by Sam Cordes

Zoning & Entrepreneurship

Lots of businesses get started out of the home and it's important for home-based entrepreneurs to understand the zoning laws and what to do if they would like for some of those laws to be changed. Here are some suggestions from Entrepreneur Magazine. The entire article can be found here.

If it's illegal to operate a homebased business in your city or county, there's something you can do to change things. Following are some steps you can take to change the zoning laws in your area.

1. Establish a committee of home-based business owners willing to stand up and be counted. Get mentally prepared for criticism from every corner and the chance that your business could be shut down.

2. Find out what the zoning regulations are in neighboring communities, particularly those similar in character and size to yours. If operating a home-based business is legal in these areas, it could lend credence to your arguments. If no communities in your area have enacted such an ordinance, contact a city with characteristics similar to yours that has even if it's not nearby.

3. Contact your zoning department to see if it has received complaints about illegally operated home-based businesses. Depending on your findings, you could use the results to prove that home offices are quiet and don't cause problems or to pinpoint a need to legalize home occupations and free up zoning inspectors to handle more important infractions.

4. Do your research. Get local and national statistics on how many entrepreneurs are working from home; describe who they are and what types of businesses they operate. If possible, find out how many people in your community have business licenses, what their average annual sales are, and how much local, state and federal taxes they pay. This will allow you to present data showing home-based business owners as people contributing to the economic foundation of the city. You might also want to highlight anyone who is the only local provider of a particular service.

5. Once you've assembled a research arsenal, use this information to build a coalition that will support a home occupation ordinance. This committee should include home-based business owners, major corporations that use the services of home-based consultants, government officials, homeowner's associations, labor unions, the head of the county zoning department and anyone else with a vested interest.

6. Remember, your goal is to educate first and then mobilize the community to support home-based entrepreneurs.

Great Economic & Community Development Articles in the Journal of Extension

Submitted by Laura Hoelscher, Editor, Journal of Extension

During his presentation at the ECD Retreat last week, Chuck Hibberd referred Nebraska's Red Carpet Service program. You can read all about, "Red Carpet Service--Linking Rural Communities to Travelers and Tourists" in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of Extension (JOE).

And the April issue of JOE also has a few articles that may interest you, including another article on rural tourism and one on building entrepreneurship and leadership in rural communities. Check it out here.

High-Tech High School Entrepreneurship Program Video

This is the kind of program I would like to see the Purdue Extension ECD program bring to the entire state of Indiana. This was done last year in West Lafayette but it could be done just about any where there in the state where there is a technology park. How can Purdue Extension partner with the Purdue Research Park to get this done. Take a look at the video. You will be impressed. More information about the West Lafayette program is available here. Can anyone else get excited about this?

Chicago's Local Food Initiatives

On March 18, 2008 I attended the 3rd Annual Chicago Food Policy Summit at the Chicago Cultural Center. For the past year I've made multiple trips to Chicago (25 miles away) for inspiration on how a large urban center is able to build stronger communities through healthy, local food initiatives. The city has a number of innovative organizations that integrate urban agriculture as a community and economic development activity. Some of these organizations work with at-risk youth or homeless adults and are teaching them gardening techniques, entrepreneurship, and increasing their self-esteem in the process.

For example, here is the working policy objectives  for the Chicago Food Policy Council.  Also the City of Chicago  Dept. of Planning  & Development is invested in  integrating community food systems in their  plan of action.  Last year they came out with a  report, "Chicago: Eat Local, Live Healthy" that looks at integrating locally grown produce and value added food products into Chicago's neighborhoods.

Overall I've been impressed with how progressive Chicago has been on this issue. Imagine if Indiana's metro areas like Gary, South Bend, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, or Evansville integrated local food systems in their plan of work. What if Purdue Extension was able to think outside of the box and support programs like urban agriculture or community gardening and provide impact to those adults and youth who are at-risk.

What if ECD programs looked at local food systems as a way of developing and supporting community entrepreneurship in our urban areas as well as rural communities. We have a great opportunity to move forward in this new and exciting area. Below are some of the Chicago organizations who are doing urban agriculture in the context of community development. Some helpful links are below. Please share your thoughts with me on this issue. Email me here.Thanks.

• Growing Home
• Growing Power, Chicago
• Green Youth Farm
• Heifer International, urban agriculture
• Advocates for Urban Agriculture
  Article on Urban Agriculture in the US