2008 Wachovia NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance
The Wachovia NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance single out and reward Community Development Financial Institutions with exceptional track records and extraordinary potential. Last December, the Opportunity Finance Network awarded $8.35 million and this year the organization will do it again. The deadline for applications is May 30. Please visit http://www.nextawards.org/ to review the eligibility and selection criteria.

From NDE-news (http://www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde)
High-growth businesses are the real drivers of innovation and economic growth in our economy. A recent Ohio State University study makes a similar claim about the role of entrepreneurs in Ohio’s rural economy. The study begins with the basic premise that many self-employment ventures emerge out of necessity, not out of a desire to exploit a business opportunity. As a result, many of these ventures contribute little to region’s economic prosperity. The research finds that increases in self-employment do appear to be contributing to rural job growth in Ohio, but it is not yet clear whether these newly created jobs provide sufficient wages and benefits to improve local quality of life. The report cautions that state and local governments should be cautious before implementing major new initiatives to provide grants or other financing to these new ventures. However, the study does recommend that policymakers act to remove barriers to entrepreneurs and also work to improve the local business climate for new and growing companies. To download the January 2008 study, Growth and Change: Does Enhancing Ohio’s Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs Provide the Key to Growth go to http://www-agecon.ag.ohio-state.edu/programs/Swank/self_employment_2007.pdf.

If you think about key institutions involved in revitalizing rural America, you probably don’t put libraries at the top of your list. Yet, as a new Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs study notes, libraries and librarians are key assets in many rural communities. Public libraries serve as community centers, but they can also contribute to local economic development efforts. This is especially true when it comes to serving local entrepreneurs who can benefit greatly from marketing research and other materials available at local libraries. The study reviews several case studies of effective programs and offers tips for how libraries can be better partners in support of local entrepreneurs and their companies. To download the Winter 2008 Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs Rural Research Report, Public Libraries and Community Economic Development: Partnering for Success go to http://www.iira.org/pubsnew/publications/IIRA_RRR_688.pdf.

Michigan has not received much good economic news over the past several decades, and, if it wants to improve its prospects, Michigan's leaders must be more aggressive in their support of the state's entrepreneurs. According to a new Small Business Association of Michigan report, the Wolverine State has not done enough to nurture the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship among its citizens. Fortunately, things are beginning to improve. Michigan’s performance on key entrepreneurial indicators, such as growth in new firms, is improving. Moving ahead, the report recommends that Michigan continue to support initiatives that place entrepreneurship education offerings at all levels of local school systems, seed local angel and venture investor networks, and continue to strengthen Michigan’s world class higher education and workforce development resources. To access the Small Business Association of Michigan’s 2007-2008 Entrepreneurship Score Card, go to http://www.sbam.org/content.php?id=914.

In recent years, numerous regions have been working to engage colleges and universities in support of local economic development efforts. Building these partnerships has often proved to be challenging, and a new report seeks to offer guidelines on how to improve the process. The Council on Competitiveness study, Cooperate, was prepared for the U.S. Department of Labor’s WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) program. It includes a series of recommendations for how university leaders, business executives and economic developers can build strong long-term partnerships in support of regional transformation. It also includes an interesting series of case studies of exemplary approaches and program models. Featured regions include Danville, VA; St. Louis, MO: South Texas; and North Central Indiana. Download the March 2008 Council on Competitiveness report, Cooperate: A Practitioner’s Guide for the Effective Alignment of Regional Development and Higher Education at http://www.compete.org/images/uploads/File/PDF%20Files/Cooperate%20Final.pdf.


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Trainings and Conferences
(new items are marked with **)

• NBIA’s 22nd International Conference on Business Incubation, San Antonio, Texas, May 4-7, 2008. See http://www.nbia.org/nbia_events/conf2008/index.php.
• CORE FOUR® Business Planning Course - Instructor Training, Anaheim, California, May 19 - 20, 2008. See http://www.entrepreneurfund.org/C4National/ITRegForm.pdf. 
• National Summit on Entrepreneurship, including AEO's first Rural Summit, Anaheim, California, May 20-23, 2008. See http://www.microenterpriseworks.org.
• **Land Grant Youth Entrepreneurship Symposium (Land Grant YES), State College, Pennsylvania, June 4-6, 2008. To register, go to  http://www.nercrd.psu.edu/Entrepreneurship/YESymposiumRegistration.html
• National Economic Gardening Conference, Steamboat Springs, Colorado, June 12-14, 2008. Send e-mail to nmoore1@co.routt.co.us for more information.
• NC REAL Institute, Sunset Beach, North Carolina, June 23-27, 2008. See http://samedisclients.com/ncreal/signup.php?event=jun to register.
• NC REAL Boomerang Institute, Sunset Beach, North Carolina, June 25-27, 2008. See http://samedisclients.com/ncreal/signup.php?event=jun-boomerang to register. 
• CORE FOUR® Business Planning Course - Instructor Training, Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 11-12, 2008. See http://www.entrepreneurfund.org/C4National/ITRegForm.pdf.
• **2008 Rural Philanthropy Conference, Nebraska City, Nebraska, September 10-12, 2008.Contact Sheri Hink at 402-323-7347 or shink@nebcommfound.org for more information. See 2007 conference highlights at http://www.nebcommfound.org/RPC/2007RPC.htm.
• **15th Annual Conference of the National Association of Seed & Venture Funds, Detroit, September 10-12, 2008. Early Bird Registration is open at https://www.dcnteam.com/nasvf/08confreg.nsf/register.
  
  

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New on the Web

Check out the Center's NEW E-of-the-Month Story, Tobacco to Tourism: Kentucky County Changes Economic Base, Outlook on Community Development, at http://www.energizingentrepreneurs.org/content/cr.php?id=2&sel=1.

Social Enterprise and Microenterprise: Understanding the Connection, The Aspen Institute FIELD Funder Guide, Issue 11, March 2008. See http://fieldus.org/Publications/FunderGuide11.pdf.

Creating an Entrepreneurial Appalachian Region: Findings and Lessons from an Evaluation of the ARC’s Entrepreneurship Initiative 1997-2005, Rural Policy Research Institute, April 2008. See http://www.arc.gov/images/reports/2007/entreeval/entre_eval_ARC.pdf.

 

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