Creative Economic Development -- Brief Book

Creative Economic Development: Useful Readings
compiled by Erin and Cory Heidelberger
December, 2007

Cultural improvement draw raves, new business
New grants helped a number of projects move towards completion and raised total grant funding to nearly $3 million. When people flocked home from distant corners of the country for the city’s centennial in July they raved about the improvements to the park, the river area, and Main Street. At least one former resident, decided to launch a new business from Mobridge. ("Mobridge and the Entrepreneur," Nov 11, 2007.)

Entrepreneurs challenge communities, demand dialogue and vision from all
The One World story illustrates the challenges that communities can face when they welcome new pioneers. As entrepreneurs and new residents, new pioneers bring new perspectives and personalities that embrace change. Their divided life and allegiances challenge long-held assumptions about the world of work and the nature of our commitments to place. Navigating these tensions requires community leadership, dialogue and vision. ("Mobridge and the Entrepreneur," Nov 11, 2007.)

Switch focus from big corporations to small locals and youth
Jenkins is against the Nebraska state law that provides tax breaks for large companies, such as ConAgra, IBP and Union Pacific. He would rather see more investment in small business owners and more education for young people on running your own company.

“If we can teach home economics and wood working (in schools), we can teach business planning,” Jenkins said, adding that business leaders need to recruit more young people and put them in leadership scenarios to learn about small companies. He said that most of his restaurants managers are young people, and they have the opportunity to watch the creative process in a startup business.

New development relies less on external forces, more on internal entrepreneurship
“Our past is our prologue,” Cleveland said. “This town has always pulled together to grow, as they did in 1905 when they raised $70,000 in four days to bring in the shoe factory. However, as in much of rural America, even though we are very hard working, we’ve grown accustomed to allowing external forces shape our future.”

In their new model of development, growth comes from an internal drive toward entrepreneurship and boosting small businesses.

Local start-ups better bet than "Toyota lottery"
Now Comeau [Chuck, business owner], 51, is trying to spread the word, aiding a nascent effort to bring small business back to small towns. It's part of a fledgling movement in rural America to emphasize homegrown entrepreneurs over imported factories. "The Toyota lottery doesn't work," says John Molinaro, a rural development expert at the Aspen Institute. So a number of states with declining rural populations have launched programs to encourage local start-ups, the kind with roots in their community.

Kansas, for one, recently allocated a few million dollars in the form of tax incentives and incubators for home-spun ventures. A pittance next to money still spent bidding for large factories, but it's a start, says Don Macke, codirector of the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship in Nebraska. The money might also attract outside entrepreneurs to rural towns if they have some local roots there, maybe through a spouse or other relative.

Cultural facilities and programming produce solid local growth
For rural areas, cultural facilities and programming provide a particularly vibrant form of locally oriented growth potential, for several reasons. First, residents may divert expenditures they would have spent on other forms of consumption elsewhere into local purchases that in turn support other local incomes. Second, communities may attract relatively footloose artists who bring their own direct export sales, grant-getting abilities, new ideas, and creativity to the region. Third, if successful in the local market, artists may begin to attract tourists to the locality. Fourth, if located in historic downtowns, their presence may revitalize Main Street and spur other retail investments and arts-unrelated visits. (p. 9)

Cultural development works best downtown:
A culturally based economic development initiative should be tailored to build on existing commercial and industrial economies. A new arts center on the interstate frontage road may not be as good an investment as a downtown refurbished building that brings people into the heart of town and enlivens local cafes and retail businesses. Link a cultural initiative with the notion of arts as amenities, often in tandem with environmental amenities (Lanesboro and Plainview, for instance, are both on gorgeous and well-traveled bike trails). Such amenities help local employers attract and retain good workers and draw artists. (p. 21)

Focus on teaching youth real entrepreneurship
One way to cultivate tomorrow’s community and business leaders is to start with our youth. We must be responsive and work to put tools in the hands of our young people to create the next generation of success stories in our communities. According to a Gallup study, 70 percent of high school students polled would like to start their own businesses. However, 90 percent of those students surveyed rated their personal knowledge of entrepreneurship as very poor to fair.4 The challenge is to help students recognize and develop the skills and tools they need to succeed in business ventures. One way is to help students learn how to run a small business through hands-on experience. At Arthur High School, located in the sandhills of Nebraska, students opened a grocery store to meet that area’s needs. Through firsthand experiences, students learned the challenges entrepreneurs face when starting and running a business. This is true entrepreneurial education; it is not just adding another textbook or new course to the school curriculum. Instead, this educational exercise taught the students at Arthur High School important lessons about ensuring opportunities in our communities. (pp. iii–iv)

Thriving communities need social and human capital, not just dollars and jobs
Unfortunately, economic improvement is not enough to sustain communities. Economic growth is a vital element, but it is not sufficient by itself. Communities that survive and prosper invest not only in business, but also in building social and human capital. Simply having a workforce is not enough for a community to prosper. In order to add true value to a community, highly skilled managers and entrepreneurs need to thrive. Otherwise, the community will simply become a processing facility for the innovations of others. (p. 14)

Young entrepreneurs say independence and community involvement more important than money
The primary motivation of students wanting to start their own business was independence rather than making money. In addition, 70 percent stated that they believed that successful entrepreneurs have an obligation to give back to the community that supported the business. [p. 20, citing Gallup Organization, Inc. and the National Center for Research in Economic Education. Entrepreneurship and Small Business in the United States: A Survey Report on the Views of the General Public, High School Students, and Small Business Owners and Managers. Kansas City: Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, 1994]