• Skip to main content

RuralRISE

Rural Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builders

  • Broadband
  • 2023 Speaker Series
    • 2022 Speaker Series
    • 2021 Speaker Series
    • 2020 Speaker Series
  • Previous Summits
    • Summit 2023
    • Summit 2022
    • 2021 Virtual Summits
      • Summit 2021
      • Broadband Mini-Summit
        • RuralRISE Broadband
    • Summit 2020
    • Summit 2019
    • Summit 2018
  • RuralNOTES Blog
  • Join Us

Sep 01 2020

Rural Roundup: Opportunities and Challenges in the Age of COVID

Unprecedented. It’s the word most likely to be used (and overused) to describe 2020.

For ecosystem builders and entrepreneurs across the globe, this year has presented unique challenges — from health and safety regulations changing the way we operate to economies in recession.

But along with the challenges come new opportunities. Every entrepreneur knows that when the status quo breaks, someone needs to be there to help people transition to what’s next.

That’s why we reached out to some of our favorite rural ecosystem builders and get their take on what’s going on across rural areas in the United States.

We asked them two questions.

  1. What is the biggest opportunity or challenge your organization sees, in this particular moment in time? 
  2. What advice would you give to our communities to help them either take advantage of this opportunity or thrive despite the challenge?

So without further ado, we’ll let four of them take it away.

Melissa Bradley, Co-founder at Ureeka

Melissa Bradley, Co-founder at Ureeka

This likely comes as no surprise, but the biggest challenge we’re seeing right now is the impact of COVID-19 and the need for businesses to pivot. 

While this new reality has greatly affected the small business community, they are resilient and are turning this challenge into an opportunity by redefining their business to not just survive the economic downturn, but thrive during it.

The best action to take during this time is to identify what your ‘gaps’ are. This includes answering questions like:

  • Which parts of the business have been negatively impacted? 
  • Which parts can be maintained or grown? 
  • What challenges do I have with my suppliers? 

When you can identify and understand your ‘gaps’ you can build a plan to fill them. 

A great example of this is pivoting your marketing strategy to align with where your customers are spending more of their time these days – online. If you previously did not have a large web presence, or any web presence, this may be an opportunity to ‘fill the gap’ so you can continue to reach new customers. 

Ureeka hosted a webinar at the beginning of COVID-19 outlining all of this which is still very relevant as businesses are starting to reopen. That recording is available to watch here.

Enoch Elwell, Founder of CO.STARTERS

Enoch Elwell, Founder of CO.STARTERS

We are in a time of transition, where the landscape of business and society is shifting significantly, rapidly, and in an unpredictable way. 

This is both the biggest challenge and opportunity for small business owners and entrepreneur support organizations, as there is a need to rethink and refocus everything from our products and services offered, to our messaging, our customer, and even the foundation of business models. 

Organizations that are slow to adapt or that have little runway to navigate this transition are languishing and dying. But those who are able to connect with the new market needs will be positioned well to thrive throughout this time and beyond.

Do everything you can to manage your mindset to shift from a mental perspective of anxiety and fear toward one of abundance and possibility. The opportunity is there if you look for it! 

Talk with your customers (or the people and orgs that you serve) to find out what their changing needs are. Then start small to find the little things you can do this week to move forward in shifting your model to meet the changing needs of your customers. 

Small achievable steps build motivation and momentum!

CO.STARTERS is also offering a 5-step framework to help small businesses with COVID recovery.

Nathan Ohle, CEO at Rural Community Assistance Partnership

Nathan Ohle, CEO at Rural Community Assistance Partnership

As the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to impact small rural and tribal areas across the country, the importance of small businesses and entrepreneurs has never been clearer. 

In the immediate aftermath of stay-at-home and safer-at-home orders, hundreds of thousands of small businesses closed their doors, some for good. 

For those that were able to move to online ordering, virtual service delivery, and in some cases, use this as an opportunity to build new markets, access to capital was of critical importance. 

In the past decade, rural communities have seen a disproportionate closure of community banks, making access to PPP loans and other capital sources that much harder. This issue will continue to be a driver of inequities for rural communities unless new and innovative sources of capital reach these communities. 

Some of the best stories coming out of COVID in rural areas are Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) who are now in some cases, working collaboratively with one another to serve and fund rural entrepreneurs and small businesses. 

Rural communities in total had not fully made up the losses from the 2008 Recession before COVID hit, and now are faced with a crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime.

Out of this crisis, however, comes great opportunity. 

Rural communities see higher rates of self-employment than the national average, and those businesses are more resilient the smaller the county they reside in. The path to prosperity and opportunity runs directly through small businesses and entrepreneurs. 

There is an opportunity to raise the voice of entrepreneurs into national conversations about the rural recovery from COVID, and to push for a more intentional focus on building capacity in communities and building the framework and ecosystems that allow for small businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive.

As communities start to think about how they might recover and flourish out of the COVID pandemic, it will be imperative to build capacity locally, to create ecosystems that support and attract small businesses. 

Ensuring that quality of life issues like access to water, broadband and other necessities are available is vital to attracting and keeping young leaders in rural areas. 

Understanding that they are not in this alone, and that there are support organizations across the country setting the table for innovators and entrepreneurs to grow and thrive in rural and tribal areas. 

It is time to start thinking creatively about how they drive new business opportunity, and to start telling the story of innovation that lives inside every small community across the country.

Ciara Thyfault, Senior Product Manager for NetWork Kansas

Ciara Thyfault, Senior Product Manager for NetWork Kansas

NetWork Kansas has seen a variety of challenges and even some opportunities. 

Since we provide many loan programs we anticipate a big challenge of ours may be to continue collecting payments in the coming months. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the first thing we did was offer options for loan deferrals as a way to assist with cash flow to our loan recipients. Many other lenders did the same. 

On the other hand, we had the opportunity to work more closely with the Kansas Department of Commerce to provide resources throughout the state. 

Our first program we initiated was the HIRE (Hospitality Industry Relief Emergency) Fund where Commerce allocated $5 million of bridge loans to hospitality businesses across the state of Kansas. NetWork Kansas administered the fund and within 48 hours we approved 346 loans. 

Our next program was Restart Kansas where communities could help us raise tax credits, allocated to us by Commerce. With the money raised, we gave a portion back to the community to establish a local Restart Kansas disaster relief fund and then a community could have the autonomy to approve loans to businesses affected by Covid-19. 

It has been quite a roller coaster ride learning to navigate all the Zoom meetings, learn about all the new resources popping up across the country, and unfortunately dealing with all the negative effects COVID-19 has had on businesses not prepared to adhere to the new rules and regulations or maybe simply didn’t have ability to be technologically advanced to keep up with the changes.

Ask the Ecosystem Builder: What’s Next?

As we enter the half-year mark on this pandemic, it can be hard to focus beyond just getting through the upcoming week. But as these leaders show, there’s opportunity to be found amidst the crisis.

We may not know exactly what’s coming next, but with the resilience and determination inherent to living in a rural area we can pioneer a new path forward, together.

This is the first in a series of interviews — stay tuned for the next installment! And to get involved as the RuralRISE community grows, be sure to sign up for our newsletter and monthly meeting reminders.

Written by Jessica Glendinning · Categorized: Community Voices · Tagged: COVID-19, Ecosystem Builder Interviews, Rural Entrepreneurship, Rural Roundup

Aug 25 2020

Innovation in Rural America: It’s Not an Oxymoron

This post was originally published here.

When someone mentions “rural” America, what’s the first thing you think of?

Maybe it’s cattle, corn, and soy. Maybe it’s idyllic landscapes — mountain views, rushing rivers, and sunsets over an uninterrupted horizon. Or maybe it’s memories of your favorite vacation out in the middle of nowhere, sitting around a campfire and watching the stars.

But chances are, innovation and entrepreneurship aren’t the first words that come to mind.

While it might surprise you, all over the country rural communities are overcoming stereotypes and embracing an entrepreneurial mindset.

When Rural Leaders Gather

In May of 2018, 175 leaders from over 25 states assembled in rural Appalachia to highlight the unique challenges and opportunities facing rural entrepreneurship and ecosystem development.

Over the course of the three days, attendees actively participated in conversations, activities, and exercises that focused on how to support entrepreneurial growth in rural communities.

Conversations during that inaugural RuralRISE Summit centered around the unique challenges and opportunities that come along with being an entrepreneur in a rural area.

If you didn’t get a chance to “sit around the table” during those conversations, here are a few key findings that came out of these conversations:

  • To drive new programs in rural areas, organizations should partner with local, trusted community-based organizations.
  • For many rural communities, access to stable, consistent broadband or wireless connectivity continues to be a challenge.
  • Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, rural communities can identify programs that are already working, and figure out how to scale them.

But above and beyond the conversations about how organizations can build better entrepreneurial ecosystems, there were some surprising insights from the three days.

8 Surprising Truths About Rural Entrepreneurship

While rural America does have a lot of cattle, corn, and soy… that’s hardly the whole story.

Let’s take a look at some of the reasons our nation’s next “big thing” may very well come from a small town you’ve never heard of.

1. Innovation Lives Outside Silicon Valley

By nature, rural communities are innovative. We have to be.

In places like San Francisco, New York City, Tokyo, and London, the tech sector is where innovation thrives. Tech innovation has long dominated the conversation when it comes to disruption and new industry.

But what about innovations in the way our food is produced to cope with changing weather patterns? Or small communities developing new and unusual ways of doing business, because the old models don’t work the way they used to.

Innovation doesn’t necessarily look like the next Facebook or Google.

2. Economic Development is the Name of the Game

Entrepreneurship and small business growth are at the heart of opportunity in rural communities.

When life in your small town is dependent on tourism, and the supply of tourists starts to dry up, what do you do? You might choose to cling to what worked in the past… or maybe your community gets a chance to shift direction and build a new economy.

All across America, there are small towns that have faded into poverty after industry jobs disappeared. And there are also small towns experiencing a revitalization, with small businesses opening up and rural entrepreneurs deciding to put down roots or return to their hometowns.

Opportunity abounds when you shift your viewpoint.

3. Rural Lives Outside the Box

Rural communities have unique opportunities (and challenges) when it comes to entrepreneurship and innovation.

Travelers to rural areas are often caught off guard when they can’t get a cell phone signal. And anyone looking for a broadband internet connection… well, there are entire swaths of our country where 6 mbps is “high speed” internet, and gigabit fiber is something fairytales are made of.

But rather than complain about these challenges, the rural entrepreneur gets a chance to rise above. We get the opportunity to think differently — and to work in creative ways. We focus on the resources we do have, and use them to the best of our ability.

We think outside the box, because we have to.

4. Impact is Measured in People

In a large city, businesses can come and go without many people even noticing they were there in the first place.

But in a rural community, one new small business can have a profound impact on the entire town. Because of close relationships and a commitment to choose local, small communities can be the reason those businesses thrive.

For example: the local daycare center that allows new parents to get back to work without worrying about who’s taking care of their kids. Or the small cidery or craft brewery, where everyone in town hangs out on a Friday night, bringing life back into a downtown area and drawing more new businesses to open.

When your community cares, small businesses win.

5. Metrics Need Different Measurements

In urban areas, “success” is often measured by metrics like the number of new businesses started, and the number of new jobs created.

But how we measure entrepreneurship in rural communities needs to be different than how our urban counterparts are measured. When you’re talking about numbers in the hundreds, rather than tens of thousands, even a few new jobs can have a significant impact.

And unlike the venture capital landscape of Silicon Valley, even small amounts of risk capital can have a big impact. Rural communities are used to making do with very little funding, and small investments go much further in rural areas.

Even small shifts can have a big impact.

6. Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

Okay, so this one isn’t really a surprise for anyone living in the country.

Local relationships are the biggest currency in rural settings, and trust matters. Too often rural communities have witnessed well-intentioned outside organizations attempt to develop and implement new programs and activities, without taking into account the efforts already taking place.

Rather than leveraging pre-existing relationships with the community members, organizations, schools, or faith-based groups who are already operating in the area, these outside organizations see an “opportunity” and end up walking all over the community they want to help.

It’s better to work together, listen to each other, and collaborate in a way that facilitates trust.

7. We’re Better Together

Once you’ve been in business long enough, you learn that nothing great is accomplished alone.

Building rural entrepreneurship demands creating new and innovative partnerships, and being open to learning from what others have done (and are doing). It’s not just neighbors helping neighbors — it’s community coming together to build something bigger than the individual.

After last year’s RuralRISE Summit, there were a number of organizations that took these kinds of relationship-building lessons home with them. From the rural entrepreneurship hub collaborating with local businesses to build stronger partnerships, to the organizations from different states who committed to sharing what’s working, “together” is the name of the game.

In business – and in life – it’s all about who you know.

8. It’s Who You Know

Ever tried to get a program or project off the ground in a new place, where you didn’t know anyone?

It’s true in both urban and rural areas: connection and relationships are key to business and organizational success. The power of the group can often be the difference between failure and success.

Rural entrepreneurial ecosystem building is a community, and creating connections is at the heart of what RuralRISE hopes to accomplish.

Now you might be left wondering: with the opportunities and challenges surrounding rural entrepreneurship, what are the next steps?

You Are Invited

Community. Relationship. Connection.

It’s all well and good to talk the talk. But how can you take action, and take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead for rural communities?

We may be biased, but we believe the RuralRISE Summit is a great place to get started. RuralRISE is a community of organizations that aims to increase opportunities and prosperity for small and rural communities across the United States. 

Recognizing that innovation and entrepreneurship are blind to location, RuralRISE seeks to increase the opportunities, increase accessibility, spotlight innovation, entrepreneurial and start-up activities that work in a rural context.

It’s time to both have the important conversations around rural entrepreneurship, and bring those conversations home. Are you in?

Written by Jessica Glendinning · Categorized: Rural Ecosystem Building · Tagged: Rural Ecosystems, Rural Entrepreneurship

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4

Copyright © 2023