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Sounding off about Rural Entrepreneurship in the West

The Story Behind the Listening Sessions

Fifty-six million people live and work in rural America. Over 25 million
proprietor-owned businesses operate in rural America, with one fourth of
all part-time and full-time jobs in rural America linked to rural proprietors.
Current data clearly show that small businesses generate the majority of
new jobs in rural America.

Residents value their communities and know they contribute significantly
to the local, state and national economy. Yet most residents, businesses,
government agencies and nonprofit organizations living and working
in rural America feel that their voices and needs are continually being
reduced by state and federal government.

The West’s rural residents are unique for both their diversity and widespread
geographical locations. With 13 states and four U.S. territories in its region,
the Western Rural Development Center (WRDC) http://extension.usu.edu/wrdc/htm/ must consider a wide
variety of perspectives, from entrepreneurs on tribal reservations to small
town business people to farmers and ranchers to those who feel they are
marginalized by their geographical isolation. As will be evident, while
each pocket of people has their own unique experiences and concerns,
common themes emerged among our listening session participants.

Western Entrepreneurial Listening Sessions

The WRDC coordinated Entrepreneurial Listening Sessions throughout the
West in response to the 2004 RFP issued by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
and the Corporation for Enterprise Development. In this request, these
two organizations were soliciting interested parties to create Rural
Entrepreneurship Development Systems.

The overwhelming response to this RFP culminated in Rural Entrepreneurial
Listening Sessions being held across the rural United States with the
facilitation for each session being coordinated by the four Regional Rural
Development Centers.

The WRDC’s Listening Sessions were held throughout the western U.S.,
in an effort to hear from as many entrepreneurs and rural community
development practitioners as possible. Cognizant of the diverse
experiences of Western entrepreneurs, the WRDC felt it necessary to hear
the voices of various populations throughout the region. With this in
mind, our listening sessions were conducted throughout the region, in the
following locations:

Billings, Montana

Bismarck, North Dakota

Coachella, California

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

Espanola, New Mexico

Fresno, California

Price, Utah

Puyallup, Washington

Spokane, Washington

Twin Falls, Idaho

Winslow, Arizona

The WRDC Rural Entrepreneurial Listening Sessions http://extension.usu.edu/wrdc/htm/

Written by
Stephanie Malin
WRDC Graduate Intern

Full Publication: http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/pub__6990608.pdf

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