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Full steam ahead at the Center!
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Remember the lazy, hazy days of summer from your youth? Well, for the Center and our partners, summer has been busy! Two efforts are especially noteworthy. In support of the strategic planning process for the Appalachian Regional Commission's next five-year plan, our team has received input from over 3,000 residents in the 13-state region. It's been a positive, opportunity-focused engagement process, and we look forward to the development of the plan as we move into fall.
With other partners, we're wrapping up our engagement in the WealthWorks initiative supported by the Ford Foundation. We are planning the final peer learning gathering in Athens, Ohio in September. And, we've been busy with our NACo partners in supporting regional prosperity summits using the WealthWorks principles. If you haven't visited www.wealthworks.org, there are new tools and videos for you to explore. Take a look! If you'd like to learn more about any of these initiatives - or the other work of the Center - contact deb@e2mail.org.
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Entrepreneurial Communities
Charting Your Course to Greater Prosperity
Entrepreneurial Accelerators.
Funding stakeholders often want to see you make real progress quickly with entrepreneurial development. To address this challenge, Center field research, conducted over 15 years, has identified five accelerators that make a real difference: (1) targeting entrepreneurial talent, (2) deploying business coaching, (3) developing an area resource network, (4) partnering with high value "go to" resources that serve targeted talent, and (5) launching a youth entrepreneurship effort to energize your community. This is the kind of work that we walk you through in our e2 University online resource. Learn more about crafting your optimal entrepreneurship strategy with our Creating an Entrepreneurial Strategy guide.
Tools You Can Use... A key to NetWork Kansas' success is its preparatory work with communities. This month, we are sharing an e2 University resource - our guide on Energizing Your Community. This resource provides insights and tools that you can use to engage your community in support of entrepreneur-focused economic development.
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Community Development Philanthropy
Building Philanthropic Capacity and Resources
Growing Affiliates.
Think of a geographic affiliate as a community foundation within a community foundation. This strategy may be deployed by a foundation like the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, offering services to rural communities in its service area, or an urban foundation serving multiple neighborhoods. The beauty of this arrangement is the cost savings and professional support embedded in the affiliate arrangement. To learn more about geographic affiliates, check out the following resource.
 Tools You Can Use...Community Development Philanthropy Resources. The Center is working as a resource to the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque through a USDA Rural Development RCDI-funded project focused on strengthening community-based philanthropy. One of the trainings we designed with the Foundation focused on Capital Campaigns. Check out our paper on Capital Campaigns and see how it might be useful to your community philanthropy efforts.
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 New Generation Partnerships Engaging with America's Youth
Recruiting Young Entrepreneurial Talent. Center Senior Fellow, Craig Schroeder, is working with Betty Mitchell, Executive Director, and staff at The Highland Center in Highland County, Virginia to build a marketing strategy to attract entrepreneurial talent to this uniquely beautiful place. The work includes a series of focus groups to determine the county's most compelling assets for recruiting entrepreneurs and an online survey of key informants to determine the most vital motivators for successfully recruiting entrepreneurial talent. Ready more in Craig's July Update.
Tools...Development Opportunity Assessments. Creating communities that attract entrepreneurial talent requires involvement of local leaders and investors, young people and entrepreneurs focused on key development priorities. Over the past decade, we have partnered with the Nebraska Community Foundation across Nebraska, and the Heartland Center fo r Leadership Development nationally, in an initiative called, HomeTown Competitiveness® or HTC.
At Noon CT on September 22, 29, October 6 and 13, the Heartland Center for Leadership Development is hosting a four-part webinar series that will prepare local leaders to pursue HTC in their communities. Each session will focus on one of the four pillars with activities to help participants utilize the HTC framework in their communities. For more information and to register for the webinar series, please click here.
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Field News
Check out Brian Dumaine's Fortune article on the changing price competitiveness between U.S. and Chinese manufacturing.
Erik Pages, EntreWorks Consulting and Center Fellow, has an interesting blog post on a new release from OECD on expanding networks for inclusive entrepreneurship. Learn more here. And don't miss his blog post on youth returning to rural home towns.
Two recent reports from the Carsey Institute, one on increasing American diversity and another on women as economic providers, are worth a read. Sign up for their email list while you're on the site!
Check out this story on Canadians' plans to transfer their estates to the next generation.
Don't miss this article by Luxury Daily taking a closer look at the wealth being transferred over the next decade.
Have a look at this new bulletin by USDA's Economic Research Service on foundation giving to rural areas. And don't miss the related article from NonProfit Quarterly, "Rural Philanthropy Still an Underfunded Afterthought."
Always on the lookout for data that can be useful to community decision-making? Check out this report on Las Colonias from the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank.
E.J. Reedy, director of research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation, recently testified before Congress on "5 Ways to Foster Growth." Check out his insights about entrepreneurship here.
The NADO Research Foundation has launched a new online resource of tools to help rural regions and small towns, drawing on their four-year capacity-building role with the Sustainable Communities Learning Network.
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On the Road
Deb Markley will be in...
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Danville, VA August 12 to help facilitate an entrepreneurial ecosystem meeting
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Danville, VA September 3 to help facilitate an entrepreneurial ecosystem meeting
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Athens, OH September 15-17 for a WealthWorks Peer Learning Gathering
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Morganton, NC September 28-29 for a Think Tank with the Carolina Textile District
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Raleigh, NC October 7-8 conducting the kick off training for the NC Rural Center STEP for Small Business initiative
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Somerset, KY October 14-15 for an Appalachian Regional Commission conference
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Kalamazoo, MI November 9-10 for a presentation on Generational Diversity at the Council on Michigan Foundations Conference
Don Macke will be in...
- St. Louis, MO August 4 for a presentation on Transfer of Wealth Opportunity & Community Philanthropy for USDA Rural Development National Training
- Las Vegas, NV September 29 for the first presentation on attracting residents with the Nevada Association of Counties
- Raleigh, NC October 7-8 conducting the kick off training for the NC Rural Center STEP for Small Business initiative
- West Wendover, NV October 15 for the second presentation on attracting residents with the Nevada League of Cities
- Santa Fe, NM October 23 for a presentation on how foundations can best work with rural regions and communities at the Philanthropy Southwest Annual Conference
- Memphis, TN November 13-16 for a workshop on community engagement & entrepreneur-focused economic development hosted by Communities Unlimited
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Visit our store for new resources today!
Our latest e2 University package focused on Outreach, Intake, Screening and Referral is available now! Check out the free information sheet or visit the OISR page on our website to find out more!
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NetWork Kansas is just over a decade old and this highly productive entrepreneurial development system has hit its stride. Although its roots are in rural Kansas, NetWork Kansas is now expanding into metro areas. Check out their recent annual report to see how they effectively share their impact story.
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Community Foundation of Great Dubuque. In 1999, community leaders began exploring the idea of creating a community foundation for Dubuque, Iowa. Two years later, the Community Foundation of Great Dubuque was incorporated. Led by founding President and CEO Nancy Van Milligen, the foundation is a true leader in the field of community philanthropy. Learn more in the Foundation's latest annual report.
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Since 1998, The Highland Center has served as a focal point for community building activities in the Alleghany Highlands region of VA and WV, operating programs focused on business incubation, youth development, local food and agriculture, and community and economic development. Learn more here.
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Youth Engagement
Read our latest youth news, issued monthly! Link
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Meet Our Board
Michelle Decker, Center Board Chair, is CEO of Rural Action, a member-based organization with a mission to foster social, economic and environmental justice in Appalachian Ohio. Learn more about their innovative work in zero waste, watershed restoration and sustainable agriculture/local foods.
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