“Entrepreneurship” has long been recognized as a spirit of exploration, innovation, and hard work. Anita Roddick, founder of Body Shop, once said that “Nobody talks about entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking. Running that first shop taught me business is not financial science; it’s about trading, buying, and selling,” Roddick reminds us that we are all potential entrepreneurs as long as we have the motivation and right approaches to moving ahead. Broadly speaking, entrepreneurship is not only achievement for individuals; it brings prosperity to local economies. We hope that some of the following resources can contribute to boosting your local economy.

• Entrepreneurship and innovation go hand in hand. Check here for a PowerPoint presentation to learn about their joint contribution to regional economic development.
• Focusing on community-based entrepreneurship is a change from the traditional economic development approach of relying almost solely on large manufacturers. Small enterprises have turned out to be engines for local economy.
• The role of small business is usually more visible in reviving small and rural economies. This previous blog has a collection of innovative ways that small and rural communities can adopt to develop their economy.
• Although the effects of entrepreneurship on economic progress are widely recognized, we still need to figure out the paths to prosperity. Authors of this paper prescribe a series of key activities and policies that leaders can leverage to promote entrepreneurship and create job growth.
• Technology can be an effective way to help entrepreneurs start, run, and grow businesses. To better understand your community’s business development potential, you might find this eCourse for technology entrepreneurs helpful. icma.org/Documents/Document/Document/101452
• Some local governments have taken the initiative to facilitate and promote entrepreneurship. Successful stories from the Coconino County, Arizona; the village of Howard, Wisconsin can inspire city managers to make the best use of entrepreneurship to enhance local prosperity.

Would you like to get more information related to entrepreneurship and its interaction with the local economy? Do you have some interesting stories to share about the success of entrepreneurial enterprises in your community? If so, please comment and share below.

Knowledge Network, Intern

Yalan Qin