Tuesday, July 9, 2002

CHECK TO BE PRESENTED TO NORTHEAST KANSAS CONSORTIUM
Lt. Governor/Commerce & Housing Secretary Gary Sherrer and officials from the Kansas Department of Commerce & Housing (KDOC&H) will present a $200,000 facsimile check to the Northeast Kansas consortium for Enterprise Facilitation in Holton on July 11.

Check Presentation
Northeast Kansas Enterprise Facilitation Consortium
2:30 p.m.
Thursday, July 11, 2002
Senior Citizens Center
312 Pennsylvania
Holton, Kansas

The Northeast Kansas consortium is sponsored by Jackson County and is comprised of Jackson, Brown, Nemaha, Doniphan, and Atchison counties. This project is designed to strengthen rural economies by providing vital development assistance to entrepreneurial businesses. The project is a part of the KDOC&H’s Enterprise Facilitation initiative.

Another recently announced Enterprise Facilitation demonstration project is the Midwest Entrepreneurial Association (Edwards, Barton, Rice, Russell, and Ellsworth counties). The first three demonstration projects were announced last January. They are the Quad County Enterprise Community (Chautauqua, Elk, Greenwood, and Woodson counties), the Four County Sunflower Region (Harper, Barber, Kiowa, and Pratt counties), and the Western Kansas Enterprise Facilitation Community Consortium (Sherman, Greeley, Wichita, Scott, Lane, and Kearny counties).

First developed in Australia, Enterprise Facilitation has been compared to old-fashioned barn raising. This unique grassroots approach relies on local knowledge and skills to create new jobs by increasing the number of small businesses. It has been highly successful in rural communities in America, Canada, and Australia.

What is Enterprise Facilitation?

Enterprise Facilitation is a concept developed by Dr. Ernesto Sirolli of the Sirolli Institute, which is based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Sirolli is a business and economic development consultant that has traveled the world, from Australia, to Africa, to South Dakota and Oregon, and has helped local officials to shape struggling local economies into prosperous self-sufficient “enterprise communities.” Sirolli believes that it is vitally important for a community to develop from within, using its own resources and nurturing individuals who have a “passion” for a particular business concept.

The Trinity of Business

Sirolli believes that three components, referred to as the "Trinity of Business," must be present in order for a business to be successful. Each business must have an individual or group who has a passion for:

1. The development and production of a product or service;

2. The marketing of the product or service; and

3. The financial management of the product or service.

Without these three components in place, Sirolli believes a business is doomed to failure. It is important that the person(s) who fill each of the three roles have a “passion” for his/her respective role. A mere competency for marketing or financial management does not suffice. A person must love to crunch numbers or meet people or develop product lines, as the role dictates. Sirolli has found that most people have a passion for one, maybe two, of these three roles. However, it is impossible for one person to have an equal passion for all three of these roles.

Sirolli’s ideas have some statistical merit. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), approximately 80 percent of small businesses fail within two years. Additionally, 80 percent of the remaining 20 percent fail within five years. In other words, only four percent of small businesses are successful after five full years of operation!

“Bottom-Up Approach”

Traditional economic development approaches have revolved around a “Top-Down Approach,” that is, developing the necessary infrastructures and tax incentives for local communities and organizations to recruit large businesses into an area. These efforts are very important. They have proven to be successful and should not be abandoned. However, the traditional efforts largely exclude local budding entrepreneurs that can significantly contribute to local economies. Enterprise Facilitation emphasizes a “Bottom-Up Approach” that stresses building an economy from within. Local persons have investments in an area that reach beyond pure economics. “Home grown” entrepreneurs invest in schools, charities, and community organizations because they consider the area their “home.” An economy is likely to be far more stable if it is primarily fueled by those that have vested interests in the community’s growth and development.