Growing Rural Economies
Washington’s Department of Commerce’s Growing Rural Economies program focuses on building local economies organically by serving the needs of community-based startups and entrepreneurs. The goal is for rural areas to place an emphasis on “create, not relocate” and increase the number of services available to those wanting to start or grow their business.
Programs encompass five services that entrepreneurs and small businesses consider essential to their success: 1) technical assistance, education and training, access to capital and mentorship and training. Here’s the T.E.A.M. approach in action:
Technical Assistance
This includes how-to articles, connections to work spaces and links to online resources, as well as two publications targeted to startups and small businesses, the Washington Small Business Playbook and a Crisis Planner for Small Businesses. There are two specific tracks: one for entrepreneurs that want to start a business and another for business owners who want to expand their operations.
Education and Training
Occurring at the local level, the goal is to develop an ecosystem whose efforts are driven by partnerships with community colleges, nonprofit organizations, local economic-development leaders and private industry. It includes Startup Centers throughout the state that provide training and education, either in person or via the Internet, as well as online webinars.
Access to Capital
Funding is a big issue for companies, especially in the startup phase. The Department of Commerce has created Startup Wisdom: 27 Strategies to Raising Capital which offers a mix of time-tested methods along with some out-of-the-box ways to finance a business, from loans to crowdsourcing. It also has an extensive listing of investors and grants.
Mentorship & Networking
Learning from others is essential to rapid growth and prototyping. Growing Rural Economies uses a two-pronged approach to mentoring. The first is to expose entrepreneurs and small businesses to best practices via urban business experts who have “been there, done that” in their careers. The second strategy is to utilize mentors at the community level, tapping into the wealth of knowledge in rural communities. These business professionals can help entrepreneurs and startups move more quickly to the next stage while avoiding some of the common pitfalls associated with growth and expansion.
Each November, Commerce coordinates events statewide during the Global Entrepreneurship Month, which brings students, individuals, business leaders, educators, investors and entrepreneurs together to hear new ideas, conduct business-plan competitions and, most importantly, network with one another. Commerce has also developed an online mapping tool of accelerators, incubators, “maker spaces” and co-working places to connect business owners with others who have similar or complementary skills and interests.
Education and Training
Occurring at the local level, the goal is to develop an ecosystem whose efforts are driven by partnerships with community colleges, nonprofit organizations, local economic-development leaders and private industry. It is based on the successful business model of an entrepreneurship program developed by Avista Utilities in concert with the community college which enrolled 75 students and led to 20 businesses being launched. ScaleUp will offer on-site education to help business owners master their finances, improve and streamline operations and improve market share.
All of these services are crucial to encouraging entrepreneurship. Currently, there are 24 million Americans engaged in startup business activity. These numbers signify the tremendous role small business formation plays as a path to economic security. Entrepreneurship fosters more opportunities to retain youth, create jobs, and promote innovation. Creating organic growth at the local level with a state-supported entrepreneurship program by providing startups with the resources they want and need, is the goal of Commerce’s Startup 365 Growing Rural Economies program.