Investing in Entrepreneurs: A Strategic Approach for Strengthening Your Regional and Community Economy

A compelling argument for placing entrepreneurship at the heart of economic development provides a guidebook for how this can be done efficiently, effectively, and equitably.

Investing in Entrepreneurs: A Strategic Approach for Strengthening Your Regional and Community Economy offers a compelling argument for making the support of entrepreneurship the centerpiece of local and regional economic development―and provides a plan to make it happen. The book is organized around a tool, developed by the authors, that permits a community to strategically map and manage its business assets in a way that can transform its economy.

Investing in Entrepreneurs begins with a reflection on the importance of entrepreneurship, a discussion of its diminished place in economic development, and a call for its rise back to prominence. The importance of managing entrepreneurial assets is discussed, followed by a thorough articulation of the author's tool for accomplishing this in a holistic and strategic manner. Examples drawn from the authors' fieldwork illustrate the many ways in which the tool can be utilized to guide economic development efforts. A final chapter discusses possible resistance to this innovation and how that resistance can be successfully addressed.

• A unique tool for mapping and managing entrepreneurial activity in a community or region to permit the identification of the strengths and weaknesses of its economic portfolio

• 50 examples from the field showing the development of entrepreneurial skills, the movement of businesses through lifecycles, and interventions to increase and improve entrepreneurial activity

• Illustrations that explain the concepts graphically

• Appendices with templates, plans, and more

• A comprehensive bibliography of important reference sources in the enterprise development field