Page 161 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

150 Craig Schroeder

Community
Community support of young entrepreneurs can take several forms. One
possibility is as a learning laboratory, working in concert with the local
school (Hinz 1993). For example, an apprenticeship in a business related
to a student’s entrepreneurship class project provides real-world, hands-on
experience that can greatly enhance learning. Another approach is a Youth
Entrepreneur Fair where young entrepreneurs make and sell products and
are recognized by the community for their innovation and achievement.
Young entrepreneurs may also be interested in nonprofit and public sec-
tor projects that address an environmental or social cause they care about.
They may even blend traditional for-profit and nonprofit roles and create
what are sometimes referred to as For Social-Profit Enterprise or Enviropre-
neurship (Stafford and Hartman 1998).
Young civic-oriented entrepreneurs can help local decisionmakers think
outside the box in solving problems and improving the community. One
way to do this is to provide space for youth to participate in local organiza-
tions or on government boards.
These activities are not just a learning experience for youth, however.
Young people have very interesting insights about their community and
what is needed to make it a better place for young people to live. Engaging
young people in community leadership and service roles helps them de-
velop healthy self-esteem and a sense of community ownership through
service to others.
Positive experiences in linking community leaders to entrepreneurship
education may lead more youth to consider returning to the community af-
ter college and/or some career experience. Young entrepreneurs have stated
in focus group discussions that they feel they have a better chance of suc-
ceeding in their hometown where everyone knows them versus a large city
where they are only one of many people competing for customers.
The likelihood of young adults returning to a community may be further
enhanced by connecting young entrepreneurs with specific business oppor-
tunities, either via business start-ups or the purchase of an existing business.
Community leaders working in concert with teachers can open a dialog
with young entrepreneurs to determine career goals and then work to
match local business opportunities with those goals. For example, a young
person interested in owning a contracting business can be made aware that
the community needs such a business and would support it. There may
even be such a business owned by an older owner that the young person
may be able to purchase with the support of the community through a
community loan program or through business succession tools that help
the young buyer acquire the business without excessive debt.