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Building an Ecosystem of Entrepreneurs in North Country - New York
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On April 25th, Deb Markley had the opportunity to lead the day-long North Country Symposium on the campus of St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. This symposium, supported by a generous endowment from North Country residents - the Burt family - is designed to bring together residents from across the seven-county North Country region to talk about ways to create a more prosperous future. The Center was invited to design and facilitate this year's gathering, which focused on understanding the many faces of entrepreneurship and the community's role in building a more supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem. The day was organized to give people a chance to mix with others from across the region and to dig in with people from their own rural places. There was tremendous energy in the room and the symposium steering committee committed to support that energy by sharing ideas generated throughout the day with participants in the weeks ahead.
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Deb Markley challenged attendees to envision creating an ecosystem of entrepreneurs. Photo: Tara Freeman/St. Lawrence University
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North Country Public Radio provided great coverage of the event and you can hear more by listening to these stories:
To see more of what we shared, including data to get the conversation started, we've posted a pdf of the presentation slides here. To learn more about this event - and building an entrepreneurial ecosystem that is rooted in communities - contact Deb Markley at deb@e2mail.org.
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Other Center News
We are excited to begin a new Transfer of Wealth™ Opportunity Analysis for Mississippi and its 82 counties, supported by the Mississippi Association of Grantmakers (MAG) - see Partner of the Month. Preliminary research in support of the Endow Mississippi Initiative will be available in early summer 2016 and the full analysis by this fall.We wrapped up a very successful Growing Entrepreneurial Communities summit in Kansas City on May 4-5. Watch this newsletter and the associated web page for more observations and insights from the summit in the weeks and months ahead!
Check out the Center's new Get Started Tools. Learn more on the Get Started page of our website.
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Field News
Applications for the 2017 Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge are NOW OPEN! This program is a valuable initiative started by the American Farm Bureau Federation to strengthen rural America. Don't miss your chance to compete for $145,000 in startup funds to help kick start your business.
Excellent research tool from Headwaters Economics: Populations at Risk. If you are trying to understand residents who might be living or working on the economic margins, this resource is a great start to deeper understanding. Like Headwaters' other profile resources, you can generate these profiles very quickly online. Earlier this year, the National Association of Counties released detailed county analysis related to how U.S. counties have recovered or not recovered from the Great Recession. Check out NACo for more information on this powerful and useful resource. Check out this new report from Good Jobs First on where economic development dollars are spent - on large vs. small businesses. A timely report for those working in local/regional food systems: a national review of kitchen incubators. Find the report here. A reminder about the Heartland Center's annual Helping Small Towns Succeed conference coming up in October. For more information, click here. Watch this newsletter for more information on this year's fall Economic Gardening Certification Training scheduled for October 11 - October 14, 2016. Registration will open on June 28th.
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On the Road
Deb Markley will be in...
- Washington, D.C. May 9-10 to participate in a focus group and a Rural Economic Vitality panel at a rural housing policy forum sponsored by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
- Asheville, NC May 24-25 to participate in the inaugural gathering of the social enterprise advisory committee to the One Foundation
- Raleigh, NC June 6-7 to present on asset-based development to a meeting of Methodist churches and the Duke Endowment
- Red Cloud, NE May 26-27 for a Community Foundation annual event and Heritage Tourism work
- Los Cruces, NM May 29-June 4 to conduct an e2 Institute for New Mexico State University
- Minot, ND June 13-15 for leadership succession planning with Vision West North Dakota
Don Macke & Deb Markley will be in...
- Eastern Kentucky May 17-20 to conduct two trainings for the SOAR Community Development Philanthropy Initiative supported by the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky through a USDA grant
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New Video
Watch Center leaders Don Macke and Deb Markley describe how they help communities get started in this short video. Join our YouTube channel after watching to get our newest videos!
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The Mississippi Association of Grantmakers (MAG) is a relatively new organization focused on advancing philanthropy throughout Mississippi. MAG is supported by its fiscal entity, the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation and MAG's philanthropic members have been instrumental in bringing the organization to life. MAG's goal is to be an important philanthropic "voice" in the state, particularly around the priority areas of interest: education, health, economic/community development, and arts/culture.
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Board Spotlight
Steve Virgil, Professor and Director of the Community Law & Business Clinic for Wake Forest University, is the most recent addition to the Center's Board. Steve has practiced law for nearly 20 years with an emphasis on sustainable community economic development and the nonprofit sector. He's been a partner with the Center on the Ford Foundation supported WealthWorks initiative and brings an important set of skills to the Center's board. We're excited to have him "on board"!
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