Curt's Corner: The Importance of Embracing Entrepreneurs
By Curtis Nelson, EDC President & CEO
The increased unemployment due to the impact of last year’s flood, as well as the current recession, will no doubt spur the creation of new businesses as workers strive to generate income. Many such individuals will be successful and create the foundations for new vitality. In 2009, the question we need to ask as a community, as a region, and as a state is how will we support these new entrepreneurs?
I can tell you first hand that the work needed to assist new entrepreneurs and help existing high-impact businesses survive and thrive is significant. It is not enough to give simple advice and guidance, provide checklists, or access to resources. Creating new businesses and saving or scaling existing ones requires experienced talent to roll up their sleeves and get involved.
The 2006 Iowa Department of Economic Development Battelle Study outlined the same need for hands-on, highly-experienced talent at both the mentoring and leadership levels. Perhaps Mary Miner, principal at Hadar Manufacturing said it best, “I don’t need answers from people who are sincere, but wrong. I need answers from people who can really get us to where we need to go--to the next level.”
When it comes to the entrepreneurs themselves, many think of folks that are results-oriented to the point of ignoring process or rules. Entrepreneurs are often seen as demanding and unreasonable.
Keep in mind that it is the innate, mental construct and demeanor of an entrepreneur that allows them to take risks to the point of investing every dollar they have. They can empty 401k accounts and run up credit card charges, yet still sleep at night with visions of success. It is this passion, and perseverance despite failures, that causes them to trudge forward in pursuit of their dreams—and end up successful! “Unreasonable” entrepreneurs are necessary because “reasonable” people wouldn’t take the risk. Such entrepreneurs created nearly every business in our country, including the foundational businesses we hold dear in our community, from Art Collins and Rockwell, to Robin Morris at the Coffee Emporium.
As our community tries to figure out how to develop an entrepreneurial culture that can attract and support a high-growth, innovative workforce—it needs to not only tolerate entrepreneurs, it needs to support, endorse, and celebrate them.
From 1980 to 2001, 100% of U.S. job growth was from businesses less than five years old, while older businesses actually lost jobs.* If our region is going to replace the jobs and wealth creation eliminated by the flood, as well as absorb the unemployment and economic impact created by our national economy, we are going to have to invest significantly more than we ever have as a region in our entrepreneurs - financially, politically, and emotionally. We are going to have to embrace the New Economy, get out of our historical boxes and work together as one region, like an “unreasonable” entrepreneur--with a vision that does not allow for failure!
* Source: The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation’s The 2008 State New Economy Index
