Companion Resources

This site contains companion resources for our book, Energizing Entrepreneurs: Charting a Course for Rural Communities (www.heartlandcenter.info/publications.htm). The core content is organized around the points of the Compass.

Are you new to rural development? Start by going to Working in Rural America and Economic Development Today.

Are you new to entrepreneurial development? We suggest starting with Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurship – your market.

Are you interested in building support for entrepreneurial development in your community? You might want to explore the material on Making the Case.

How do you know if your community is ready for entrepreneurship development? Click on Readiness for tools and an approach to readiness assessment.

If your community is ready for entrepreneurship, what are the next steps? Under Assessment you will find assessment tools and information on how to use them to craft your community’s strategy for energizing entrepreneurs.

What strategies for energizing entrepreneurs might work in your community? In Strategy Building, we’ll provide insights to help you build a strategy that is appropriate and tailored to your rural community’s assets and development goals.

Are you interested in building your community’s capacity to support entrepreneurs? Under Capacity, we discuss ways to assess, build and sustain community capacity.

How do you measure success? The Evaluation section includes creative ways to measure progress and report results to your community.

What policies are needed to support entrepreneurs? Under Policy, we’ll help you connect your work to local policymakers so that the strategies you develop can become part of your community’s culture and institutions.