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Description of NetWork Kansas E-Communities Essentials of Rural Development—Entrepreneurship as a key component for Economic and Community Development
In developing its hypothesis that weaker economic performance in rural areas is due in large part to a lack of entrepreneurial activity, the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship in Lincoln, Nebraska stated that a key element to rural revitalization rests with energizing rural entrepreneurs and rural entrepreneurship.
A key element of energizing rural entrepreneurs and rural entrepreneurship is to provide supportive environments that enable business concepts to be executed. The foundation for a supportive environment is to ensure that local communities are competitive in order to make it viable in the long run. The Hometown Competitiveness Approach asserts that there are four interrelated strategies necessary: 1) Leadership: Building a skilled and increasingly inclusive leadership group with capacity to improve and sustain the community; 2) Youth: Retaining and attracting youth and young families that are involved in community leadership; 3) Capture Wealth: the capture of a portion of the wealth that will transfer between generations; 4) Entrepreneurship: Utilizing the wealth in an entrepreneurial way, not just for playgrounds and pools, but rather to energize and support entrepreneurs.
In his Public Square approach to community building, Terry Woodberry of Kansas Communities LLC identifies four key strategies for community building: 1) Name and build on community assets; 2) Engage many more citizens than are currently involved; 3) Focus leaders in four sectors (business, education, health/human services, government) on doable, common goals; and 4) Deliver ongoing results via citizen/leader cooperation.
In both models, it is clear that a vital element to rural development is the development of a process that engages and empowers the community to utilize community and economic development as divergent strategies working towards common goals.
The Mission of NetWork Kansas
The mission of NetWork Kansas is to promote an entrepreneurial environment throughout the State of Kansas by serving as a single point of access that connects entrepreneurs and small business owners with the right resources—Expertise, Education, and Economic—when they are needed most.
NetWork Kansas is available statewide and has more than 400 business development organizations and educational institutions that work with entrepreneurs and small business owners who have the vision and potential to succeed. Entrepreneurs and existing businesses simply call 1.877.521.8600 to speak with a NetWork Kansas counselor (or visit our website at www.networkkansas.com). The NetWork Kansas counselors conduct a “listen and learn” to assess the needs of the entrepreneur or existing business. The counselor then identify and connect the business owner with the resources that are available to help with their specific need.
NetWork Kansas E Communities – Empowering Communities to create an Entrepreneurial Environment
A NetWork Kansas E Community is a partnership that enables local communities to invest in businesses in their own community by establishing a partnership with NetWork Kansas. Becoming a NetWork Kansas E community results in the following:
• Through a tax credit grant, a fund would be established for entrepreneurs and small business owners administered at the local level;
• The mapping of assets for local, regional, and state assets available to entrepreneurs and small business owners;
• An assessment of educational and economic needs at the local level;
• A powerful database tracking system to measure business and economic growth;
• A long term partnership with more than 400 resources statewide that assist entrepreneurs and small business to provide a positive impact on the Kansas economy.
Community Requirements
To be considered for NetWork Kansas Entrepreneurship Tax Credits, a community must complete the NetWork Kansas E Community application form and submit it along with a community description. Specific requirements included in the application are:
• The establishment of a local NetWork Kansas E Community Leadership Team to develop the entrepreneurial vision for the community;
• The establishment of a local financial board to review applications and approve/disapprove loans and/or grants, and develop a process for reviewing applications;
• An organization, preferably a NetWork Kansas partner, would be responsible for providing administrative support to the Financial Advisory Board. The administrative support organization will administer the loans and grants and provide the following information to the Kansas Center for Entrepreneurship Board of Directors: 1) A list of the approved businesses and specified loan or grant amounts; 2) The application and scoring system used for approval; 3) The initial information about the business.
• An internal analysis of the community concerning the strengths and weaknesses with regard to providing the 3Es—Expertise/Education/Economic resources.
Application Requirements
The application and selection process is a competitive process. NetWork Kansas E Community selection will be based upon the following criteria:
• Demonstrated community leadership;
• Established local financial board to administer and review loan and grant applications;
• Established process for providing data to the NetWork Kansas BizTrakker Program;
• Enrollment of all local resources that provide assistance to entrepreneurs in NetWork Kansas;
• Connectivity to established community programs at the local, state and federal levels (HTC, Public Square, Kansas Department of Commerce, USDA, etc);
• Connectivity to entrepreneurial education programs at the local and state level;
• Ability to raise local capital through the utilization of Entrepreneurship Tax Credits to establish a fund for entrepreneurs and small businesses;
The goal of the application is for each community to begin the process of strategically planning for its future by focusing on the areas important for it to flourish.
