Page 56 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

What’s Culture Got to Do with It? 45

6. Build a shared vision about entrepreneurship
7. Foster entrepreneurial leaders and advocates

Each strategy is rooted in theoretical and empirical research about building
an entrepreneurial culture.

STRATEGY 1. CREATE OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN, QUESTION,
AND THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Leaders can create opportunities for people to learn, to question, and to get
out of old ruts. Some scholars argue that an entrepreneurial culture places
a significant value on storytelling (Lounsbury and Glynn 2001). Stories
serve as an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs and also legitimize indi-
vidual entrepreneurs to investors, competitors, and others who make re-
source decisions based on their interpretation of the stories presented to
them. The stories about the ups and downs of entrepreneurship are espe-
cially valuable for understanding the complexities of finance, product de-
velopment, marketing, and management. When aspiring entrepreneurs tell
their stories, they get to the heart of the issues with which they are wrestling.
The metaphors associated with the entrepreneurial stories also provide in-
sights into the entrepreneurs’ own perspectives and aspirations and can in-
spire others in the community (Dodd 2002). The conventional American
metaphors of entrepreneurship as a journey, parenting, building, passion,
race, or war illustrate the multifaceted, even paradoxical, process. Story-
telling provides meaning to the entrepreneurial process; it can be mani-
fested in celebrations, awards, and testimonials.
The Fairfield (Iowa) Entrepreneurs Association (FEA) is a volunteer group
that “taps into the collective wisdom of other businesses” (Chojnowski
2005). A leader of the group asserted that “90 percent of what local entre-
preneurs learn is from other entrepreneurs” (Chojnowski 2005). The FEA
makes use of significant storytelling. Failure is often incorporated into the
entrepreneurial stories because failure is “the compost that supports the
startup of new companies or builds the second generation startups—those
who have had one business failure and started another” (Chojnowski
2005). It does not have the negative stigma one finds in other communities
(Chojnowski 2005).
Like other entrepreneurial-friendly communities, Fairfield celebrates en-
trepreneurs by recognizing success stories with awards ceremonies such as
Entrepreneur of the Year. These entrepreneurial stories and events have stim-
ulated a solid entrepreneurial culture. Since 1990, more than $250 million
has been invested in 50 new Fairfield firms in fields such as software devel-
opment, marketing, financial services, media, and telecommunications.