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NetWork Kansas Announces 2011 Entrepreneurship Communities

by Anne Dewvall | Nov 14, 2011
Wichita, Kansas, November 14, 2011 --- NetWork Kansas announced today that it has selected six additional Kansas communities to participate in its innovative Entrepreneurship (E-) Community partnership that emphasizes development of community resources to create a flourishing entrepreneurial environment.

NetWork Kansas Announces 2011 Entrepreneurship Communities

Six Kansas Communities Awarded $600,000 in Tax Credits; Funds Raised Will Be Loaned to Local Businesses

Wichita, Kansas, November 14, 2011 --- NetWork Kansas announced today that it has selected six additional Kansas communities to participate in its innovative Entrepreneurship (E-) Community partnership that emphasizes development of community resources to create a flourishing entrepreneurial environment. The following communities were granted $600,000 in tax credits, enabling them to raise $800,000 to be loaned to local businesses in their community. The 2011 E-Communities are: Chautauqua County, Douglas County*, Hoisington, Leavenworth, Norton County, and Stafford County.

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.

NetWork Kansas facilitates the development of a network within participating communities that grows and connects various factors proven to be vital to the establishment of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Some of these factors include availability of financial capital, support by local leadership, and development of educational resources. All of these factors combine to increase entrepreneurial activity in participating towns, leading to increased startup activity, business expansion, job creation, and more. Funding for the establishment of a local loan fund for E-Communities is generated by using Kansas Entrepreneurship Tax Credit allocations, which are then distributed in the form of matching loans and grants to new and expanding businesses through a competitive application process administered by a local leadership team.

“We’ve learned that connectivity to resources is crucial to generating entrepreneurial activity in a community,” said NetWork Kansas Director of E-Communities Erik Pedersen, “Access to capital is only one piece of the puzzle and we hope to assist our E-Communities to build greater awareness and availability of all business resources.”

The E-Community Partnership is based on 2 fundamental principles:  1.)  In order for rural and distressed communities to survive, they must grow from within by fostering local leadership; 2.)  Organizations involved in community development need to empower businesses with the assets they need to succeed, including education, expertise, and economic resources. 

The E-Community selection process begins when applicants assemble a local leadership team to pursue E-Community status. Finalists are chosen based on a detailed written application that is due each August. NetWork Kansas conducts in-person interviews with finalists and prospective E-Communities are rated and approved by the NetWork Kansas board of directors.

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.

During 2011, NetWork Kansas underwent a strategic realignment that resulted in increased attention and resources being placed on the E-Community program as a priority for generating long-term growth in the systems that support entrepreneurial activity at the community level. In addition to the establishment of a local loan fund, Chautauqua County, Douglas County*, Hoisington, Leavenworth, Norton, and Stafford County will complete a series of strategic activities designed to enhance the effectiveness of their local entrepreneurial ecosystem in order to drive long-term economic growth.

Six existing E-Communities also applied for and were awarded additional tax credits during the 2011 E-Community competitive round. Ford County, Finney County, McPherson County, Phillips County, Pottawatomie County, and Sterling/Alden were awarded a total of more than $410,000 in tax credits. These communities have actively used their previously awarded funds to loan to local businesses. Combined, the new and existing E-Communities will raise close to $1.9 million in seed funding for Kansas entrepreneurs this year through the Kansas Entrepreneurship Tax Credit.

Since 2007, NetWork Kansas E-Communities have loaned or granted $1.54 million to businesses in their communities through this funding source and leveraged an additional $9.5 million dollars, for a total investment of more than $11 million dollars into businesses in E-Communities. This funding has spurred the creation or retention of nearly 350 jobs in these same communities and has immeasurable positive effects on the entrepreneurial ecosystems of these participating areas.

To learn more about the E-Community Partnership, Contact:

Erik Pedersen, Director of E-Communities

316.978.7310

epedersen@networkkansas.com

About NetWork Kansas:

NetWork Kansas was established as a component of the Kansas Economic Growth Act of 2004 to further entrepreneurship and small business growth as a priority for economic and community development in the State of Kansas.  Backed by more than 480 partners statewide, the NetWork Kansas service promotes an entrepreneurial environment by connecting entrepreneurs and small business owners with the expertise, education and economic resources they need in order to succeed. For more information about NetWork Kansas, visit www.networkkansas.com, or call 877.521.8600. 

*Due to population restrictions, the Douglas County E-Community includes only the communities of Baldwin City, Eudora, and Lecompton and only businesses in these communities will be eligible to apply for Douglas County E-Community funds. 

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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.