Page 59 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

48 Ron Hustedde

county was serious about entrepreneurship, it offered tax abatements for
small business entrepreneurs and created an informal retail incubator
where potential retailers could lease space on a monthly basis to test their
ideas. Those businesses with a viable concept leased permanent space and
started operations. These and other efforts led to their designation as an
“entrepreneurial friendly community” by the Georgia Department of Com-
merce (Greenway 2005).
The IDEA Center Incubator in Tupelo, Mississippi, serves new business
entrepreneurs in manufacturing and professional services. It was developed
after lengthy negotiations and includes more than $1.5 million in funding
from 11 government agencies for construction and first-year operations.
The incubator provides 40 spaces for entrepreneurs with high-speed Inter-
net access, Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol phone service, faxing and copying
services, and customer parking. More importantly, it provides one-stop ser-
vices such as business counseling, training, and networking to help entre-
preneurs successfully launch businesses. The National Business Incubation
Association (NBIA) states that publicly supported incubators create jobs at
a cost of $1,000 each while other job creation incentives cost more than
$10,000 per job created (Averett 2005).

STRATEGY 4. CULTIVATE NETWORKS
FOR ENTREPRENEURS TO THRIVE

An entrepreneurial culture fosters networks for entrepreneurs to prosper.
Both formal and informal networks are essential for information flows and
key linkages (Flora and Flora 1993). It is essential that voices other than tra-
ditional elites be heard in these networks. Diverse leadership, including
men and women, different ethnic backgrounds, and different income lev-
els, must be nurtured during this process. While some people may find it
uncomfortable to be around others unlike themselves, an entrepreneurial
culture needs diversity.
Hispanic-owned businesses increased from 5 percent of the total number
of firms in 1995 to 7.4 percent in 2002 (Headd, Ou, and Clark 2004).
Those in the 55 to 64 age category also increased from 15.9 percent to 19.9
percent of businesses during this period. African Americans and Hispanic
Americans exhibited higher rates of opportunity-based entrepreneurship
than Asian Americans and white Americans. Women continue to represent
about 34 percent of the self-employed.
A community must reach out to these diverse constituencies and include
them in leadership networks to stimulate new social and business ventures.
A noteworthy example is the Rural Enterprise Assistance Project (REAP)