Rural entrepreneurship in Western North Carolina Monday, March 10, 2003 To survive and grow, rural economies need stronger entrepreneurial networks. Luckily, there are a lot of good examples of regions working in this direction. Let's start out by looking at what is happening in Western North Carolina, where business leaders are making some big strides in building entrepreneurial networks. AdvantageWest, the western North Carolina public/private economic development partnership, has launched the Mountain Council for Entrepreneurial Development. AdvantageWest modeled the Mountain Council after the successful Council for Entrepreneurial Development, a Research Triangle group that has received national recognition for nurturing entrepreneurs. MCEC is headed by Jim Roberts, a veteran of several previous entrepreneurial networking efforts in North Carolina. Roberts believes the western part of North Carolina is very attractive to Generation X workers, the creators of the tech revolution, because it offers a laid-back, hip mountain culture. "I want to explain the potential of western North Carolina to people who just think it's a tourist destination," he says. MCED works closely with the Blue Ridge Angels Investor Network, or BRAIN, (www.blueridgeangels.org), the region's universities and colleges, private firms and local entrepreneurs. MCED also partners with the Small Business and Technology Development Center (www.sbtdc.org), the Mountain Microenterprise Fund (www.mtnmicro.org), and local chambers of commerce to enhance entrepreneurial efforts already underway. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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