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USDA Rural Development Awards Grants Totaling $372,000 to Eight Kansas Organizations

by Anne Dewvall | Oct 26, 2011

NetWork Kansas is a founding partner of the Kansas Entrepreneurial Communities Initiative (KECI), one of the organizations that was awarded funds. We are actively engaged with the KECI to facilitate the program's implementation in participating communities. This grant being awarded to the KECI will allow additional Kansas communities to benefit from the program, which focuses on economic development via entrepreneurship. 

 

Topeka, Kan., September 22, 2011 - Patty Clark, USDA Rural Development State Director, announced eight organizations in Kansas are receiving a total of $372,000 in Rural Business Enterprise Grants (RBEG) from USDA Rural Development. 

 

"The Rural Business Enterprise Grant program provides federal funding to organizations that help jump start business creation and expansion in rural communities," stated Clark.  "I am excited to be partnering with entities that are focused on assisting rural entrepreneurs and creating jobs in Kansas."   

 

USDA Rural Development's RBEG program is a key component of the Agency's economic development efforts across America.  The RBEG grants finance and facilitate development of small and emerging rural businesses.

 

Kansas organizations receiving RBEG funds include: 

 

Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

$99,600

Funds will be used to expand the Kansas Entrepreneurial Communities Initiative, which is a collaborative entrepreneur-focused economic development initiative that provides technical assistance to rural businesses. 

 

City of Cherryvale

$70,000

Funds will be used to establish a revolving loan fund to assist small and emerging business enterprises in the City of Cherryvale. 

 

Flint Hills Tourism Coalition  $99,900
Funds will be used to provide technical assistance to the coalition, which plans to enhance tourism and economic development opportunities for businesses and communities throughout the Flint Hills. 

 

Harvey County Economic Development Council

$82,500

Funds will be used to assist in researching and evaluating the market desirability, business viability and technical feasibility of establishing a rural innovation accelerator in south central Kansas.

 

Through the RBEG Program, four Kansas School Districts will receive funding to install a 1.8 kilowatt wind turbine to educate students on the importance of wind as an alternative energy source and to promote rural jobs for the future.  The turbines will offset a small amount of the electric needs at the schools, and will provide a hands-on learning opportunity for students in math and science courses.  The four schools are participating in the Kansas Wind for Schools program, which is administered by KansasState University's Wind Applications Center.   

 

Central Plains USD 112

$5,000

 

Eudora USD 491

$5,000

 

Halstead-Bentley USD 440

$5,000

 

Jefferson West USD 340

$5,000

 

For additional information regarding USDA Rural Development programs, visit the Agency's website http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/KS, or call the Agency's State Office at 785-271-2700.

 

USDA, through its Rural Development mission area, administers and manages housing, business and community infrastructure and facility programs through a national network of state and local offices. Rural Development has an existing portfolio of more than $150 billion in loans and loan guarantees. These programs are designed to improve the economic stability of rural communities, businesses, residents, farmers and ranchers and improve the quality of life in rural America.


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Essentials of Rural Development—Entrepreneurship as a Key Component for Economic and Community Development

In developing its hypothesis that weaker economic performance in rural areas is due in large part to a lack of entrepreneurial activity, the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship in Lincoln, Nebraska stated that a key element to rural revitalization rests with energizing rural entrepreneurs and rural entrepreneurship. 

A key element of energizing rural entrepreneurs and rural entrepreneurship is to provide supportive environments that enable business concepts to be executed.  The foundation for a supportive environment is to ensure that local communities are competitive in order to make it viable in the long run. The Hometown Competitiveness Approach asserts that there are four interrelated strategies necessary:  1)  Leadership :  Building a skilled and increasingly inclusive leadership group with capacity to improve and sustain the community;  2)  Youth :  Retaining and attracting youth and young families that are involved in community leadership; 3)  Capture Wealth :  the capture of a portion of the wealth that will transfer between generations; 4)  Entrepreneurship :  Utilizing the wealth in an entrepreneurial way, not just for playgrounds and pools, but rather to energize and support entrepreneurs. 

In his Public Square approach to community building, Terry Woodbury of Kansas Communities LLC identifies four key strategies for community building:  1) Name and build on community assets; 2) Engage many more citizens than are currently involved; 3) Focus leaders in four sectors (business, education, health/human services, government) on doable, common goals; and 4) Deliver ongoing results via citizen/leader cooperation. 

In both models, it is clear that a vital element to rural development is the development of a process that engages and empowers the community to utilize community and economic development as divergent strategies working towards common goals.

The Mission of NetWork Kansas

The mission of NetWork Kansas is to promote an entrepreneurial environment throughout the State of Kansas by serving as a single point of access that connects entrepreneurs and small business owners with the right resources-Expertise, Education, and Economic-when they are needed most. 

NetWork Kansas is available statewide and has more than 480 partners that provide business building services to entrepreneurs and small business owners who have the vision and potential to succeed.  Entrepreneurs and existing businesses simply call 1.877.521.8600 to speak with a NetWork Kansas Referral Coordinator. The NetWork Kansas counselors conduct a “listen and learn” to assess the needs of the entrepreneur or existing business.  The counselor then identify and connect the business owner with the resources that are available to help with their specific need.

NetWork Kansas is Involved in Community-Oriented Programs to Build Entrepreneurial Capacity: 

Entrepreneurship (E-) Communities

A NetWork Kansas E-Community is a partnership that allows a town, a cluster of towns, or an entire county to raise seed money for local entrepreneurs through donations from individuals or businesses within the community. Selected communities partner with NetWork Kansas to establish their own local loan fund, increase connectivity to resources available to assist entrepreneurs and small businesses, initiate activities to generate entrepreneurial development, and participate in a statewide partnership with other E-Communities. The goal of the E-Community partnership is to increase entrepreneurial activity and develop a self-sustaining ecosystem favorable to long-term entrepreneurial growth.

The E-Community program, now in its fifth year, has grown from six communities in 2007 to thirty in 2011. The NetWork Kansas E-Community partnership allows a town, a cluster of towns, or an entire county to raise seed money for local entrepreneurs through donations from individuals or businesses within the community. During the first four years of the E-Community partnership, more than $4.7 million have been raised. These funds are estimated to generate more than $33 million of investment in rural businesses across Kansas.