Page 19 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

8 Norman Walzer and Adee Athiyaman

supported by research. Practitioners, on the other hand, may find the schol-
arly literature of little direct application in daily operations since they must
deal with potential business investors interested in immediate results.
This volume tries to link both groups and bridge some gaps in the think-
ing about the role of entrepreneurship in community and economic devel-
opment. Presenting the current thinking about the importance of entrepre-
neurship approaches in local development strategies, especially in rural
areas, can help practitioners evaluate them as a community or economic de-
velopment strategy.
The entrepreneurship literature is huge and ranges from psychological
characteristics of entrepreneurs to a very practical issue of the best way to
help business entrepreneurs finance ventures. It would be naïve to think
that the literature can be summarized in one volume; however, key compo-
nents of successful programs can be distilled to help guide practitioners in
their efforts.
The book is organized into two main sections to accommodate the needs
of both groups. The first section addresses conceptual issues that local de-
velopment practitioners should consider in evaluating entrepreneurship as
a strategy. These chapters review the academic and professional literature
and, in general, make a strong case for entrepreneurship initiatives. The sec-
ond section discusses the role of small businesses in local economic devel-
opment, specific needs for assistance, and successful programs that have
been initiated. The discussion concludes with questions that can guide
practitioners interested in launching a local entrepreneurship effort.
Because creating and implementing a successful entrepreneurship strat-
egy requires involvement and participation by many groups and agencies
within a community, this book contains several broad themes of interest to
local elected officials, volunteers, and community or economic develop-
ment practitioners. The discussions are designed to help community lead-
ers and professionals decide whether, and how, they might incorporate en-
trepreneurship practices into local development strategies.
The treatment in subsequent chapters runs from purely objective analy-
ses of entrepreneurial processes and environments to detailed examples of
how similar concepts have been used successfully in rural areas. The latter
examples have been selected to illustrate how basic principles have been in-
corporated and have led to success. They do not represent an objective eval-
uation of entrepreneurship as a strategy. Rather, they identify important
considerations underlying successes so that practitioners can more readily
implement these principles or practices.
The local development and job creation literature can be confusing in its
use of terms related to entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, small businesses,
and microenterprises, so several definitions are especially important in this
volume.