Page 237 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

226 Don Macke

Valley County is clearly a leader with respect to the impacts realized
through the HTC Development Framework, but other communities are be-
ginning to see similar results. Typically, an HTC community moves through
the following phases as they build an entrepreneurial economy:

• Discovery and strategy building
• Organizational development, including engagement of stakeholder
groups increased development funding, and expanded professional
staffing
• Early economic development results, including business saves, expan-
sions, and attractions
• Early metrics, including increased business profitability, job cre-
ation, and new investment—eventually, there will be more job cre-
ation, business expansions, macro income growth, and tax base im-
provements.

Georgia’s Entrepreneurial Communities
Rural Georgia is the land of industrial development and attraction, but
one of its greatest entrepreneurial champions is a former Chamber of Com-
merce executive. Don Betts and other leaders have built a remarkable local
and statewide entrepreneurial strategy. At the state level, there is now an Of-
fice of Entrepreneurship and Small Business and regionally there are now a
series of sector-focused innovation centers.
Locally, Georgia has created the “Entrepreneurial Friendly Communities”
program. An economic development transformation is occurring across
Georgia as rural communities and regions add entrepreneurship to their
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portfolio of development tools. Currently, the Georgia effort focuses on in-
creasing community awareness with engaged communities, building strate-
gies and capacity. Over time, indicators of bottom line economic impacts
related to business growth, job creation, tax base expansion, firms moving
to external markets, and business competitiveness will become apparent.

Entrepreneurial Development Network in North Carolina
Parts of North Carolina are booming with the new economy while other
regions continue to struggle with the loss of textile and apparel manufac-
turers. Like most other states, the state is in a profound economic transition.
Rural North Carolina has benefited from a strong partner over the years,
namely the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center (Rural
Center) (see www.ncruralcenter.org). The Rural Center carefully researches
an issue before launching a new initiative as was the case several years ago
when it began to explore entrepreneurship as a rural development strategy.