Page 44 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

Entrepreneurship as Rural Economic Development Policy 33

in specific sectors such as sustainable agriculture, life sciences, or alternative
energy. Still others saw new technologies as central to connecting entrepre-
neurs and their ideas to markets.
In Kentucky, the Innovation Group, an initiative of the Kentucky Science
and Technology Corporation, manages a network of six Innovation and
Commercialization Centers housed in universities across the state (see Dab-
son 2005b). Three of these centers serve primarily rural regions and assist
entrepreneurs with refining business strategies and commercialization
plans, and they, in turn, are supported by seven regional Innovation Cen-
ters that provide initial assistance to entrepreneurs geared to the special
challenges faced by rural communities in the new economy.
By assisting with the application of appropriate technologies and provid-
ing access to a statewide network of capital, Web-based resources, and tech-
nical guidance, these centers are the first step in fostering entrepreneurial
opportunities. The Innovation Group manages a Rural Innovation Fund de-
signed to help small, rural firms convert their inventions and ideas into
investment-quality ventures and access private equity markets.

Research Agenda

Early in this chapter, reference was made to the importance of aligning en-
trepreneurship research to the policymaking process. From the various pub-
lications and research findings cited, it is possible to assert what is known
and/or agreed about entrepreneurship and what has yet to be evaluated.
There seems to be a large measure of agreement on the following:

• Entrepreneurs are diverse with different levels of education, skill, and
motivation. They can be identified in many different contexts, but the
critical defining characteristic is a willingness and ability to innovate.
• Innovation can be found in many different contexts and is not re-
stricted to high-technology sectors.
• Only one in ten entrepreneurs will succeed in creating enterprises that
will create significant numbers of jobs and wealth but even this small
proportion equates to 750,000 businesses a year.
• It would be unwise from a policy standpoint to attempt to identify
which entrepreneurs will eventually be these job creators, so a prudent
approach is to facilitate the creation of a large and diverse pool of as-
piring and early-stage entrepreneurs.
• The main challenge is to increase the conversion rate from early-stage
entrepreneurs to established business owners through appropriate
policies and supports.
• The broader economic context for entrepreneurship has changed dra-
matically through globalization and related threats and opportunities.