Pathways to Rural Prosperity with Don Macke

Regional development is one of e2’s likely entrepreneurial development opportunities. Areas in rural America with strong regional development organizations are better positioned for successful community economic development. In this episode Shelley and Don explore the importance of e2’s “top-down” and “bottom-up” entrepreneurial ecosystem building strategy with some amazing examples of regional development.  

In this episode Don Macke talks with Robert Stowell. Bob has been a visionary and leader in Ord and Valley County, Nebraska region’s remarkable evolution from challenge and despair in 2000 to one of America’s most thriving rural communities today. This podcast is part of e2’s focus on Ord and the lessons it holds for other rural communities seeking prosperity.

Nearly every rural community has commuters. During this episode Shelley and Don explore the importance of commuters in rural community economic development and how commuters, both physical and electronic or digital commuters, can be a significant source of entrepreneurial talent.

In this episode Shelley Paasch and Don Macke discuss transformative economics. They take listeners through e2’s Hierarchy of Community Economic Development framework using the Ord, Nebraska case story to illustrate how that community transformed its economy. Throughout 2022 e2 will release the entire Ord story collection.

In this episode Don Macke interviews Kat Rutledge, Klamath IDEA executive director. Klamath IDEA is an entrepreneurial community initiative based in rural Klamath Falls in South Central Oregon. Klamath IDEA is demonstrating high-impact outcomes in its work with area entrepreneurs by employing an entrepreneurial concierge, among other strategies. Kat is an inspiring leader and a visionary behind Klamath IDEA.

In this episode of Pathways to Rural Prosperity Podcast Don Macke reviews 2021 and what is ahead for 2022 for e2. This episode is a great summary of past and future resources available through e2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and NetWork Kansas for rural communities interested in entrepreneurship development and support.

For decades the migration pattern in America has been from rural to urban areas. Currently there is a countertrend with some of America’s city residents moving to rural communities. New resident attraction is a development opportunity but also a necessity for many rural communities. In this episode, Shelley Paasch and Don Macke explore the trends and possibilities.

All rural communities have visitor attraction development potential. Many rural communities have destination tourism opportunities. In this episode Don and Shelley explore entrepreneurial opportunities for visitor attraction and how rural communities can diversify their economies through tourism. Additionally, this episode focuses on how to improve tourism to grow stronger ventures and better jobs.

In this edition of Pathways to Rural Prosperity podcast, Don Macke interviews author John O’Duinn, an expert on the topic of distributed teams. In the evolving age of remote work, John addresses how we can “work together while physically being apart.” For rural communities, the implications are huge where people can choose to live in nearly any community, including rural America, throughout the USA and the world. John provides tips for working with distributed teams to improve their effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction.

Embracing all aspects of a community’s diversity is foundational to growing entrepreneurial communities. Dell Gines with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City is one of America’s leading thought leaders in community-centered entrepreneur-led development. He joins Don Macke in a conversation about diversity and entrepreneurship.