Pathways to Rural Prosperity with Don Macke

In this edition of Pathways to Rural Prosperity podcast, Don Macke with e2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems explores one of the most significant trends driving urban America to rural communities.   Urban America is Filling Up – Opportunities for Rural America provides illustrations of the motivations that are causing urban residents to relocate to more rural areas ranging from small cities to very small rural villages. Don also addresses what your community should be doing to tap into this development opportunity and trend.

This episode is Part 1 of a four-part series focusing on e2’s Development Framework. In this episode Shelley and Don explore the keys to community readiness needed for engagement in entrepreneur-focused development and entrepreneurial ecosystem building. They also explore the foundations for organizing a community to undertake this work. Shelley draws from her NetWork Kansas experiences where she is an entrepreneurial community coach and Don provides insight from work throughout North America.

This episode puts a spotlight on the development success of Ord, Nebraska and Valley County. Don Macke interviews his guest, David Iaquinta, sociologist and college professor at Nebraska Wesleyan University, about what he found during his extensive story capture work regarding the role of leadership in Ord’s development journey.

Shelley and Don share examples of economic crashes rooted in single industry economies. They focus on stories where rural communities that pursued entrepreneur-led development and diversification after a crash experienced quicker recovery and greater prosperity. 

Our guests, Deb Markley, LOCUS Impact Investing, and Dan Vorisek, Rural Action, describe the background, purpose, process, and outcomes of this region’s three-year entrepreneurship initiative seeded by the Appalachian Regional Commission’s POWER grant. This work is captured into a collection of impact stories, some of which Deb and Dan highlight during this episode.

Don Macke interviews Peter Creticos, President and Executive Director of the Institute for Work & the Economy, a not-for-profit policy research collaborative that recognizes emerging workforce issues and develops novel solutions for problems facing local and regional economies. In this podcast, Peter addresses some of the policy issues and themes related to work during the 2020 pandemic year and the pandemic’s impact on entrepreneurship. 

Don Macke and Shelley Paasch talk about some of the top trends that smart community leaders can explore as potential development opportunities.

Don Macke describes e2’s Rural Community Prosperity Development Framework and explains why entrepreneurship is so foundational within the model and for community vitality.

Steve Radley, President and CEO with NetWork Kansas describes the organization’s journey to becoming one of the most robust and longest running, statewide, rural entrepreneurial ecosystems. Steve and Don provide examples of how NetWork Kansas has been responsive during the Pandemic and plans for future support of entrepreneurs.

Our premiere episode focuses on likely development opportunities created by the Pandemic Recession. While most rural communities are focusing on just getting through the Pandemic, it is not too soon to begin to prepare for a post-Pandemic Recession world.

Featuring: Hosted by Don Macke, e2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Mathew Passy