Page 238 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

Energizing Entrepreneurs: Lessons from the Field 227

The research laid the groundwork for a new initiative starting at the Rural
Center, but which now embraces development partners, including the state
government, higher education, and local communities.
From the ground up, North Carolina is building an entrepreneurial de-
velopment system based on lessons learned from across the nation dur-
ing the past twenty to thirty years. Impressive progress has been made,
but this is an emergent effort with more to come over time (Bauer 2003).
North Carolina has proven that there is considerable community interest
in entrepreneurship. They have trained hundreds of community leaders
and developers. They have seeded innovative initiatives, allowing com-
munities to experiment with possible strategies. It is still too early to
document bottom line impacts, but the early adopters are building
strategies and capacity. Another year should begin to show evidence of
impact in North Carolina.

Fairfield, Iowa’s Entrepreneurs Association
Fairfield, Iowa (pop. 9,500), is a small regional trade center community
located in southeastern Iowa with corn, hogs, and manufacturing repre-
senting the economic mainstays. An informal group of local entrepreneurs
started the Fairfield Entrepreneurs Association (FEA) in the early 1990s
(Chojnowski 2006).
The FEA has created an informal but strategic support system for area
entrepreneurs based mainly on networking. Many factors have con-
tributed to Fairfield’s success in becoming the “entrepreneurial capital of
Iowa,” but this networked approach to identifying and matching entre-
preneurs to mentors, peer groups, and resources has realized significant
development (Bauer 2004a). FEA does not offer established entrepre-
neurship programs; rather, it has built a “networked environment” where
entrepreneurs can find other entrepreneurs with insight, answers, and re-
sources.
Fairfield is like a large family with much business expertise. Want to go
into business? Do not bother to go to a state workshop; instead find some-
one in the family with the right expertise to help you down this path. En-
trepreneur forums foster learning on key topics such as marketing, but,
more importantly, they allow folks to become acquainted and build their
own resource networks.
Obviously, many other innovative, promising, and emergent entrepre-
neurial initiatives exist throughout North America and the world. In fact,
there are too many for the small RUPRI research team to even track, let
alone document, in the time available. Those interested in exploring entre-
preneurship further should take the time to not only research these historic
and promising initiatives but also visit some of these places. Often, only