Page 61 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

50 Ron Hustedde

Tupelo, Mississippi, is an example of a classical approach to internal and
external entrepreneur networks. Tupelo was the nation’s poorest county in
1940 (Grisham 1999); however, the local newspaper editor, George
McLean, believed that rich and poor alike could work to improve the qual-
ity of life in the community. This social entrepreneur viewed the rural area
around Tupelo as part of the community. His first initiative involved local
businessmen who bought one bull to inseminate dairy cows; that modest
action led to a cluster of small dairy businesses for poor farmers in the
county. In 1948, he persuaded 151 local business leaders to invest in the
Community Development Foundation, which provided the structure for
major changes to occur.
Tupelo’s success was linked to residents who were seen as responsible
for creating new alternatives. The surrounding rural areas were integrated
into the Tupelo initiative; new rural development councils were created
along with business incubators, worker training programs, and an up-
grade of the educational infrastructure. Tupelo’s leaders visited and
learned from other regions that diversified their economies. Equal access
was encouraged for all races prior to Civil Rights legislation, and other ef-
forts were made to find economic alternatives and enterprises that even-
tually led the county to become the second wealthiest county in Missis-
sippi (Grisham 1999).
In essence, an entrepreneurial culture cannot be viewed in isolation from
other parts of a community or region or as distinct from other initiatives.
Systems thinking involves quality networks in which entrepreneurs are
linked with each other as well as outsiders. It is a mind-set that can become
a habitual form of thought in a community.

STRATEGY 5. FOCUS ON ASSETS INSTEAD OF DEFICITS

There are two major approaches to economic development. One is known
as the deficit or needs-based model in which the community is viewed as a
collection of needs or crises (Wade 1989). Under this model, the commu-
nity concentrates on what it lacks and seeks external resources to correct
those needs. Unfortunately, the deficit approach can demoralize residents
because they can often feel overwhelmed with the task at hand.
The alternative approach is known as asset-based community develop-
ment (Kretzmann and McKnight 1993). It is also known as asset mapping
because a community’s assets are mapped, including individuals, organiza-
tions, and other community characteristics. In the asset approach, the pri-
mary building block for entrepreneurship or other community initiatives
includes those community assets most readily available, especially those re-
sources located in and controlled by residents.