Update/Context: Since published previously in May of 2021, business succession remains a challenge. The concepts of this article remain valid today.

The topic of business succession planning, or a general lack thereof, always comes up in discussions about helping rural American small towns prosper.  No one likes to see established businesses simply close down instead of transitioning to new owners.  There has only been limited success in promoting and facilitating business succession planning.  I think we’ve made the concept too complicated, thinking it’s all about what the accounts, lawyers and consultants need to do.  Those people are necessary, but there are several things that need to be done before getting the heavy-hitter professionals involved.  After several years of observation and my involvement in a few transition efforts, here’s my top 10 list of things business owners should do to set up a smooth transition to a new owner. 

• Give yourself some time.  Businesses generally don’t transition within a few months.  Allow a year or two to find the right prospect and situation.  Don’t wait until you’re 3 months from total burn-out. 

• Keep up appearances.  Keep the store nice and updated.  Repaint, remodel and rearrange over the years.  This not only makes the business worth more at transition time, but your current customers will come more often if they know you’re always making changes and improvements. 

• Keep up with the changing times and markets.  Markets are changing and changing fast.  You’ll have a much better chance at transition success if you’re products and services have been updated to be in demand now, not what was in demand five or ten years ago. 

• Create your “cook book”—how you do things.  Well documented procedures of how you do things will open up the transition market to people that aren’t necessarily experts in your trade if you can point to a book and say “Here’s how we do things here.” 

• Separate real estate.  We counsel entrepreneurs and potential small business owners not to buy the building that goes along with a store, unless they want to be in the real estate business.  Be prepared to keep the building and lease it to your new business owner. 

• Be prepared to finance.  As a rule, it’s very difficult for the buyer to obtain full financing to buy a business for any more than the assets are worth.  Most of the time, current owners have to be willing to finance a part of the purchase. 

• Consider your income tax strategy.  Serious prospects, eventually, will want to see your tax returns to verify the business is performing as you say.  Be aware that a tax strategy to minimize profits will also minimize the profits the prospect sees in reviewing your returns. 

• Where will the money go?  Assuming you’ll have a successful transition, be thinking about where you want to proceeds from the transition to go.  This would be a good thing to discuss with your financial planner. 

• Contact your accountant and attorney.  Finally, after all the above have been considered and done, consult your accountant and attorney.  Consider making up a transition team of your financial planner, accountant and attorney. 

• Contact a business broker—maybe.  There are plenty of people that will be eager to confidentially help you find a buyer, without charging you a commission.  These include representatives of Network Kansas and the Kansas Small Business Development Centers.  We know who to contact in both of these organizations.  Don’t forget your banker. 

Selling a business is somewhat like selling a house.  Keeping it updated and in good repair over the years is not only more beneficial to you, but makes it worth much more when it’s time to transition to someone else. 

Since I started working with entrepreneurs and small business owners in 2006, the idea of business incubation has seen ebb and flow popularity. When I first heard of it, the idea was to set up small spaces where start-ups could start and grow to a point they’d be ready to move out of the incubator to their own space. Some incubators have time limits. If you’re a new business, you may only have a year or two before you have to move out. Once, in those early days, I toured an incubator at a university that was essentially a room partitioned off into maybe a dozen cubicles. Although there was a certain electricity in the air, once seated in your cubicle, you were pretty much isolated from the others working to grow their businesses. 

Reduced Cost in Launching a Business 

The idea of the incubator was—and is—to make it easier and less expensive to launch and grow a business. A sliding rent scale over the first year or two, sometimes starting at no rent for a few months, ramping up to full rent after the first year or two, was supposed to be the incentive to inspire people to start businesses. There are a lot of expenses and other considerations to starting a business and reduced rent, while being a nice incentive, did not make people run out and start new businesses. 

More than Just Low-price Rent 

For retail businesses, the incubator is only good if the location is good for the business. We were involved in a good partnership with the city of Independence to use the iMall at 325 N. Penn as a business incubator a few years ago. The city rehabilitated the building and we offered the sliding rent scale to new businesses. While I’m not sure we attracted many people to start businesses, the arrangement was very helpful for several tenants that had already just started their businesses. A couple of years ago, some of the tenants went together and purchased the building. Today, although no longer an incubator, all spaces are rented and there is likely more foot traffic into the iMall than just about any other building in downtown Independence. 

A More Holistic Approach to Starting a Business 

Our newest effort at business incubation will be in the expansion building at Fab Lab ICC. (We hope to be ready for move-in during October 2018.) This time, we’ll be using a class, Entrepreneurial Mindset, to help aspiring business owners develop and validate their market solutions and use Fab Lab ICC for prototyping and promotional materials. Individual business coaching will continue to be offered and for those that need space or a place to come and work on their businesses. On becoming a Fab Lab member, business owners can elect to become part of our Growth Accelerator, a collection of tools and coaching to help grow their businesses. Growth Accelerator members will have come and go access to the Bull Pen free of charge.  

Bull Pen Allows for Prep to Enter the Game of the Marketplace 

Those needing a more permanent work space, cubicle or even office can rent space to keep their stuff on a sliding scale. The analogy comes from the fact that in baseball, pitchers prepare and warm up for the game in the bull pen. In our Bull Pen, entrepreneurs will prepare and warm up for their entry into the marketplace. 

The physical Bull Pen will feature an open collaboration design. We believe there are big advantages in the ways various members can network and collaborate with each other while working on their own businesses.  

Inspiring people to start new businesses comes down to inspiring a change in mindset and self-empowerment. That’s what we’re doing with the Entrepreneurial Mindset class and the Fab Lab experience. The new Entrepreneurs Bullpen, coming in October of 2018, will extend that mindset change to a physical collaborative space for those that are ready to move their new business into this special location thus reclaiming their dining room tables, spare bedrooms and/or garages.  

Building a winning team was not part of a strategic plan of building Fab Lab ICC. Indeed, there was no strategic plan, however there has been and still are "planning-on-the-go."  

Yet, we've ended up with a great team; growing in number and learning to work together more effectively every week. As I look back over the last three and one-half years, I believe I can see some things that happened that have led to this winning team we have at Fab Lab ICC right now. Some of it was done intentionally, much just happened and some is being learned as we move forward. This method has not involved looking at a single resume, yet I would put our results up against the most regimented hiring best practices. 

Started With the Why 

First, we always try to convey our "why," inspired by Simon Sinek's TED Talk (You Tube: Simon Sinek, Why). In the beginning, our "why" was to help people learn to make something. After the first few months, we started to see the increase in people's self-efficacy (a psychological term for a special kind of self-confidence.) Today, our "why" is simply to increase the self-efficacy of everyone involved in Fab Lab ICC. This includes people of all ages, from all walks of life and in all stages of life. The Fab Lab experience seems to affect nearly everyone in a positive way. Our team members share this "why" and I believe it is an important factor in making our team work well together. 

The Team Grew Organically Along With Our Needs 

One day in July of 2014, in the ICC library, I spoke with Tim Haynes, who I didn't know very well. He was excited to show me an Internet story about some people that were building bicycles out of bamboo. I knew right then and there that he was the one I wanted to come on board as the Lab manger.  

Activity and opportunities exploded over the first couple of years of operation until we worked hard to get another staff position approved; one we would call "Program Developer." I had worked near the ICC instruction office early-on in my time at ICC and had seen how Laura Schaid worked in that office. When I found out she might be available to transition to the Lab, I knew she would be a good fit.  

Melissa Ashford, officially a faculty, not Lab staff member, knows of the magic of experiential learning, a key benefit of a maker environment and part of our "why." She believes in the "why" so strongly that she has moved into our domain and will conduct most all of her computer and technology classes in our buildings and will incorporate making and doing in all of them. As a side benefit, she's also turned her love of sewing into the beginnings of "Sew Fab", a fabric division of Fab Lab ICC. 

The Team Now Includes Contract Vendors and Volunteers 

In addition, we've incorporated contract vendors such as Joanne Smith and Miranda Eastwood, dba Fab Creative services. Fab Creative is helping us administer and manage two grant programs that we would not be able to take on without help. 

We've cultivated a growing network of volunteers who help us keep the lab open with extended hours for our members. Some are working full-time in their careers, some are retired. They all share our "why" and are willing to give of their time to help. 

As we build the team, we struggle to put structure and documentation into place, including written and video operating procedures to minimize the learning curve when new staff, volunteers, members and students want to learn to accomplish tasks of make things. The team is constantly evolving and changing in response to new conditions and opportunities. We trust each other and we cover for each other as we work to build programs and experiences for our members, students and community members.  

 We've been conditioned over the years to believe that starting new businesses always requires a formal business education (MBA, etc.) and a lot of start-up capital.  Media outlets have supported this idea by honing in on a select few entrepreneurs that are flamboyant and appear to be high-rollers will to place big bets on their business ideas causing devastating losses when some of those ideas inevitably fail. 

What I've learned over the last 4 or 5 years, through studying interviews with entrepreneurs from around the world and listening to our local and area entrepreneurs as they visit my classes is very different than what we've been led to believe.  Research from the Kauffman Foundation (a global leader in supporting entrepreneurship) shows that less than 3% of all new businesses receive equity investment from non-family investors.  And less than 1% receive venture capital at inception. 

So, how do the other 97% of businesses manage to get off the ground without so-called "adequate" financing?  "Bootstrapping".  Google "bootstrapping" and you'll see many definitions.  The one I like is "get (oneself or something) into or out of a situation using existing resources".  For us, bootstrapping a new business means starting out small enough that existing personal and family finance can get the business started in order to make sure that customers will buy what the entrepreneur has to offer.  Many times, no matter how much planning and research we do, we don't get the product or service offering quite right in the very beginning.  Starting small allows for course corrections and tweaks as we learn what customers really want.  Even if the new venture doesn't fly at all, starting small is much less devastating to personal and family finances.  

The time to consider conventional or venture capital financing to support the growth of the new business is after the tweaks are made and the sales start coming in.  Many venture capitalists (VC's) realize now that most businesses are better off starting small, then finding venture capital after customers start buying and the business starts to grow.  VC's Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom have written a book about this, "Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation". 

We have many examples of this type of entrepreneurship in Southeast Kansas.  One is Bret Chilcott of AgEagle in Neodesha.  A few years ago, he bootstrapped his way into the agricultural unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)—now almost all of us use the military vernacular "drone"—market.  Bret went from concept to production in just under two years.  AgEagle is now the global leader in the agricultural drone market.  Although he says he may have waited a little longer than he should have to seek additional capital to support the growing business, he would say that the bootstrapping, with its inherent constrained resources, made him a better innovator and is a primary reason he was able to enter the market in such a short time. 

Occasionally, someone will call me and say something to the effect of "I have this great idea and all I need is funding to launch.  Can you help me find $100,000 in capital?"  That is the time to share the bootstrapping concept and the stories of the many entrepreneurs in our network that have bootstrapped their way to success. 

Fab Lab ICC manager Tim Haynes and I recently visited with a couple of research scientists at Pittsburg State University (PSU) to learn about some of their research that could lead to several new products to bring to the marketplace.  The research involves big ideas and the potential products that could be developed from their research could have global implications and indeed, a global market for them. 

I mentioned the main two areas of focus, "green" rechargeable batteries at a lower cost and new flame retardants that render coated surfaces nonflammable, to a Fab Lab ICC member.  He said, something to the effect of "Wow, if PSU is doing that kind of research just imagine what the really big universities are doing." This comment points out the ill-conceived and persistent notion that all the really big opportunities are somewhere else besides here in Southeast Kansas. 

The research scientists at PSU are world-class and collaborate with the other leading scientists in their fields around the globe.  Of course, the Internet has made such collaboration possible.  Did you know that the memory foam, so common in today's mattresses, pillows and upholstery, was invented at PSU?  The potential for global innovations from Southeast Kansas has existed for many years, we just haven't really figured out how to leverage these innovations.  For example, we developed memory foam technology in Southeast Kansas, but there's not much of it manufactured here.  That's where the Fab Lab ICC culture of innovation, prototyping and entrepreneurship can help. 

This Fab Lab culture represents the advent of a disruption in the way new products are brought to market.  Gone are the days of products undergoing years of development in formal research and development departments and the hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs.  In the world of Fab Lab ICC, we measure development time in months and costs in the low thousands to barely tens of thousands.  There's no reason we can't keep the manufacturing of these new products in Southeast Kansas. That would bring money from the global marketplace into Southeast Kansas. That would be good for all of us. 

There have been no products developed from this battery and flame retardant research so it's too early to expect an existing manufacturer to become involved.  We believe Fab Lab ICC can bridge the gap between the scientific research and the entrepreneur that can bring the resulting new products to market.  Because we deal mostly with regional entrepreneurs we have a much better chance of keeping the eventual manufacturing within the region. 

Over the coming months, we'll be working to make prototypes based on the research; perhaps a rechargeable battery for the Fab Lab ICC drone that weighs half as much as the current lithium-ion battery.  Maybe also a flame-proofing coating applied to a table-top or support beam.  At the same time, we'll be recruiting from our growing network of entrepreneurs one or more of them interested in taking the products from prototype to market. 

Update/Context: The advantages of becoming a destination remain as relevant today as ever. However, a few things have changed since this topic was first discussed in early 2017. Schallert's Boot Camps are now held in Denver, not Longmont, with the next two sessions scheduled for September 18-20 and October 22-24, 2024. Since 2017, around 25 local business owners have participated, and nearly all reported significant benefits. We still have funding available to help cover the cost of registration and even some travel expenses, making this opportunity more accessible.

Debbie Carter, owner of Carter Automotive, which has locations in Coffeyville, Fredonia, Oswego, and Sedan, shares a similar sentiment: "The inspiration I received from Jon Schallert and the marketing experts at Destination BootCamp gave me renewed enthusiasm for the success of my company. The opportunity to brainstorm with other business leaders was a game-changer and inspired me to make several impactful changes at Carter Auto Parts. Now, with a vibrant new building exterior and a refreshed retail area, our customers and employees are more engaged than ever."

Use my contact information below to inquire for details.

A growing number of retail businesses know about becoming a destination. Being a destination means that something about a business is so unique, exceptional and/or compelling that people will go beyond normal efforts to go to the business. Efforts to become destinations should not be limited just to retail businesses. Our businesses, organizations, attractions, hospitals, and schools should all strive to become destinations. As more and more entities become destinations, a “critical mass” occurs and cities within a region and indeed, the region itself, becomes a destination. As people come to the destination, they bring with them dollars to spend and thus economic prosperity for the region. 

If you normally spend up to fifteen minutes getting to your usual restaurants, perhaps there is one restaurant that is so good you’re willing to travel for up to one or even two hours to get there.  That would be considered a destination restaurant for you. A destination restaurant has figured out a way to do something extraordinary to be worth your extra effort.  Most of the time, this requires more than just good food. 

Becoming a destination has to do with the way people; i.e. customers, clients, patients, citizens, students, and visitors are treated as they seek solutions for their problems and needs. Each entity has to figure out exceptional ways to meet those needs in ways so much better than the competition that people will go out of their way to purchase the solutions. This is where innovation comes in. Sometimes innovation can be a totally new product or service, but many times innovation can be changing an existing product or service to provide new and better ways of solving people’s problems and meeting their needs. 

What is required to become a destination varies widely based on the type of entity.  Helping businesses and entities become destinations is an important component of the Growth Accelerator Program at Fab Lab ICC.  We’ve partnered with E-Community, a Network Kansas initiative to promote and facilitate the help of an internationally recognized destination expert, Jon Schallert, and his “Destination Boot Camp (DBC)” where participants spend 2 ½ days with Jon in Longmont, Colorado learning  “how to reinvent their businesses and marketplaces.”  Jon spent 10 years in marketing at Hallmark before starting his own business in 1996, launching Destination Boot Camp in 2002.  During this time, he’s helped thousands of business owners and other leaders figure out how to make their entities destinations.  We have funds available to help businesses and entities participate in Camp sessions in Longmont, CO. 

Camps are held several times each year, including early April, 2017.  There will be an informational lunch about Destination Boot Camp in downtown Independence on February 13.  There are no geographic limits regarding who in Southeast Kansas can participate.  Promoting our businesses, cities and other entities to be innovative in becoming destinations in their own right, will help our region become a destination for customers, visitors, entrepreneurs and businesses.

Update/Contest: Two years after the original publication on November 2, 2016, Bret Chilcott took his company, AgEagle Aerial Systems, public. The company continued to steer clear of the commodity trap by focusing on innovation. AgEagle, founded in 2010, initially specialized in agricultural drone solutions but later expanded into defense and other industries. They went public in 2018, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under "UAVS." For more information, search online for “Drone Life” and “Ag Eagle Aerial Systems, Inc.”

Many small businesses get caught up in the commodity trap, selling a product viewed as a commodity by consumers.  The small business owner engages in a race to the bottom, competing with other small businesses or the dreaded “box” stores to offer the lowest prices.  It’s very, very difficult to win the race to the bottom without eventually going out of business.  Overhead costs of providing the products at the lowest prices are just too high. 

In a timeless business curve, new innovations eventually become commodities as more and more people in the market begin to use the products or services.  The desk top personal computer serves as a good example.  I became an early adopter of personal computers when I purchased a machine called the Apple II C in the mid-1980’s.  It did not come from what we now call a “box” store.  The period was pre-Internet so it didn’t come from an online company.  Personal computers were purchased from small retailers who specialized in either just computers or electronics with computers as a new product line.   

Over time, personal computers began to become commodities meaning one brand wasn’t distinguished from another and as prices came down, people started to make the buying decision based on price.  Many, many of the small computer specialty shops are gone.  The owners couldn’t compete on price in selling a product that was viewed as a commodity by the average consumer. 

In the past, American communities of all sizes have engaged in a race to the bottom to offer the lowest wages, highest tax incentives and even free land to attract companies to come to an area.  It’s difficult to win that race to the bottom too.  Some other community is nearly always willing to go lower and give away more.  It’s a commodity trap. 

How do we avoid the commodity trap?  We move ourselves back toward the beginning of the business curve by using innovation to distinguish what we’re doing so we’re not viewed as a commodity.  Then, every time our products and services begin to move toward the commodity side of the business curve, we innovate again and then again. 

In 1992, the rebuilding of fuel controls for medium-sized jets was viewed as a commodity by the market.  Vendors providing the work all had to have the proper inspections and approvals so quality in the work was a given.  The innovation that Curtis Lavine provided with his start-up, Kansas Aviation, was turn-around time.  The standard turn-around time in the industry was 30 – 60 days.  Kansas Aviation could provide the same service in 7 – 10 days. 

In 2008, Brian Hight and Ryan McDiarmid built what is now Magnolia Scents by Design in the commoditized candle market. Their laser focus on the positive customer experience has been their innovation. 

In 2010, Bret Chilcott of Neodesha noticed that his emerging vacuum injection mold business was in a commoditized market.  He used his interest in aviation to pivot his efforts and became a world leader in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) used for agricultural.  His company, Ag Eagle is still riding on the innovation part of the curve, selling UAV’s all over the world. 

These three companies know that they have to continuously innovate in order to avoid the dreaded commodity trap.  Innovation, by definition, can never become a commodity.  We should all strive to move back to the innovation side of the business curve. 

Update/Context: When this column was first published a few years ago, urban challenges were already noticeable but compared to the current conditions in many major cities, those earlier concerns now seem minor. Over the past 60 years, rural populations in America have steadily declined, making it an opportune time to invite urban residents to consider the advantages of rural living. With the rising appeal of safer, more peaceful lifestyles, we should start by engaging young people with rural roots, and then broaden our efforts to attract others who are seeking a higher quality of life outside the city.

 A step in the right direction is the recently launched 'Love, Kansas' boomerang campaign to attract former residents back, emphasizing the opportunities for those willing to engage in new ventures. This underscores the growing need for environments where individuals are empowered to take control of their own learning, creativity, and entrepreneurial endeavors.

We've Told Them To Leave

It’s a common question at community and economic development meetings. It’s usually prefaced with discussion about the general decline in population in rural areas of Kansas. And then someone says, “Why are our young people leaving?” The answer is that the youth are doing just what we’ve told them to do. For at least the last 60 years, we’ve told them to leave. The message, from our families, our schools, our peers, indeed, all of society has been that the opportunities are all “out there somewhere” and to be successful in life, you’ll have to go somewhere else. That part of the message has been very direct. A more subtle part of the message is the implication that if you come back to your hometown, it means you couldn’t “cut it” in the city. So, off they’ve gone for generations, many never to return and we wonder why they have gone.

How do we change this? 

Here are three things we should be doing. 1.) Change the message; 2.) As they leave to find fame, fortune or education, tell them they are always welcome to return and 3.) Invite those already “out there” to return.

1.)Change the message to one that says opportunities lie within finding solutions to the problems of others, and that you can solve problems for others as an employee of a company or as an entrepreneur and small business owner. There are problems, hence, opportunities everywhere.

2.)At 18 – 20 years old, most youth want to see their hometowns in the rear-view mirror--that’s natural. We need to encourage them to “go out into the world” and find their way to a happy and fulfilling life by solving problems for others. However, we need to also say that their hometown is part of the “world” and there are plenty of problems here that need to be solved, and, that they are always welcome to come home. Humboldt, Kansas gives each graduating senior a personalized mailbox as a symbolic invitation to return at any time.

3.)Every small town should have a process for inviting the home-town youth to return. This effort would include a database of youth identities and locations discovered through inquiries with local family members and class reunion organizers. Then, systematically, young people are invited to return. Of course, everyone won’t be interested in coming home, but even a success rate of 10% would be impressive.

I’ve noticed that the best and brightest young people returning to the area as entrepreneurs and professionals are coming back to be close to family. We should do everything we can to encourage them to come back to their families and that there are opportunities everywhere, especially in their hometowns.

Update/Context: Since this article was written in 2021, the importance of buying local has only grown, especially as small businesses adapt to post-pandemic challenges and increasing online competition. Consumers continue to prioritize convenience, but the desire for personalized service and community impact is driving a renewed focus on supporting local businesses. Additionally, shifting economic conditions, supply chain disruptions, and evolving consumer preferences have reinforced the value of local economies. The principles of excellence in both business and public institutions remain key differentiators, emphasizing that a strong local experience—not just logic or price—continues to be the best reason to shop and invest in one’s own community.

When we buy local, we support small business owners, many of whom are great community supporters, always giving back in helping with local causes. The sales tax collected from local purchases comes back to the community and, theoretically at least, reduces the amounts of other kinds of taxes needed to operate our government entities; schools, cities, and counties. Also, there's the axiom we've heard for years that every dollar spent locally will circulate five or six times in the community. All in all, buying locally is good for the economy and sets our communities up for healthy growth. These are all viable, compelling, and rational reasons to buy local but are not really the reasons a majority of consumers would choose to buy local instead of from big box stores or the Internet.

People Don't Buy Based on Reason

The challenge is that most people don't make purchase decisions based on viable, compelling, and rational reasons. People make purchasing decisions based on emotions that even the experts don't totally understand. Preaching--i.e., appealing to people's reasoning--to buy local is not enough. In fact, it's a turn-off to some people. I estimate that only 10% to 15% of the population will buy local just for the sake of buying local. 

Some People Buy Only Based on Price

Many, but certainly not all, think price is the only thing that matters. In her 2004 country hit "Red Neck Woman," Gretchen Wilson sings "…Victoria's Secret, well their stuff's real nice. Oh, but I can buy the same damn thing on a Walmart shelf half price…" Most of the "Red Neck Women" in the world are not going to buy local from the mom-and-pop shops. Even though Victoria’s Secret is not a mom-and-pop shop, it represents the idea of a smaller, specialty shop as opposed to the big box store.

Incidentally, Victoria’s Secret has had their own problems staying relevant to all women, not just the Red Neck ones. The planned public offering in August, 2021 of “Victoria’s Secret & Co” is the attempt to become relevant again in the minds of today’s women. I rarely go to malls and have little interest in keeping up with the news of a company like Victoria’s Secret, so I don’t really know how the new company is doing today.

While buying at the local Walmart is not considered "buying locally" by some, at least the sales taxes generated stay local. So, if you're going to buy from Walmart, better in your hometown than somewhere else. BTW, Walmart does not necessarily have the lowest prices on everything, but they've spent a gazillion dollars over the years advertising that they do. It's a hard myth to bust.

People Want Excellence in Shopping

So, what is it that makes some small, mom-and-pop stores survive and thrive even in a global economy and even after a global pandemic, with the dreaded box stores everywhere and competition from every possible kind of Internet sources? Excellence. Excellence in the goods and services offered and in the way they are presented. People want to be treated with kindness. They want to receive what they expected for the price paid. Being surprised by receiving more than they expected keeps them coming back again and again. People want a positive experience they can't get anywhere else. Most of the box stores and Internet outlets are horrible at providing a positive experience.

People Want Excellence in Public Institutions

In a broader sense, the principles of "buying local" apply to our public institutions as well as small retail businesses. We all expect a certain level of competency from our local and county governments, our schools and hospitals. But once those basic competency levels are met, what determines where people want to live, go to school or go when they are sick? They will go where they get the most attention and the most positive experience.

There are programs and initiatives that help businesses and public entities sharpen their skills at offering a positive and excellent experience. We have access to some of them, but it starts with an awareness of what people really want and a desire to provide an excellent experience. It's the interactive experience with all entities in a community, and whether it's excellent or not, that determines where people want to live, work and shop.

Update/Context: Network Kansas continues to grow, providing essential programming and funding for Montgomery County E-Community (MEC.) As of July, 2024, just under $2 million in gap financing loans have been made to entrepreneurs and small businesses in the county.

In a previous article, my good friend and VP of Entrepreneurship for Network Kansas summarized the beginnings of Network Kansas (NK) aka Kansas Center for Entrepreneurship. The journey started for NK in 2005 with what has grown to be 500 resource partners across the state to aid entrepreneurs. Soon after the start of the Successful Entrepreneur Program at ICC in 2006 we applied for and became one of those resource partners. In 2006, NK initiated Start Up Kansas, a statewide program of gap financing for small business start-ups. This evolved into the addition of local Entrepreneurial Communities (E-Communities) around the state that also provide gap financing loans and other programming with loan decision-making at a local board level. 

Local E-Community Started in Coffeyville 

Happening in the same timeframe, in 2007, I was a founding board member of Downtown Coffeyville, part of the now defunct, but soon to be reinvigorated Kansas Main Street program. We hired Shelley Paasch as executive director. In 2010, we applied for and became a NK E-Community for Coffeyville and the surrounding area. 

Meanwhile, sometime in 2009, after the recession of 2008, there was a community meeting in Independence to brainstorm ways to revitalize Independence. I can’t remember the exact date or what it was called, but local banker Chuck Goad facilitated the gathering of about 100 people. In groups, we circulated among tables, each with a different economic development theme writing our related big ideas on large sticky notes. All the sticky notes were put on a wall in their appropriate categories. One of the ideas was to create an entity to help start and incubate small businesses. 

IBRC Started in 2009 

I found an email from July of 2009 I sent to organize the first meeting of an unnamed business institute that would help entrepreneurs and develop a business incubation program. The group would be made up of a volunteer board of business owners. I became the volunteer executive director; ICC has always supported my volunteer work in area economic development. There would be no paid staff with our initial resource of $5,000. That came from Independence Action Partnership. We wrangled over a name for several meetings. The first name was Independence Business Resource Center, but by the next meeting, the board did not want to limit its scope to just Independence, so we became Innovative Business Resource Center (IBRC). 

Montgomery County E-Community Merges Two  

In 2012, we applied for and became North Montgomery County E-Community. I had to explain to Network Kansas that the time wasn’t right to attempt to combine this new E-Community with the one in Coffeyville. Both E-Communities in the county co-existed for a couple of years. With the dissolution of the Kansas Main Street program and eventually the Downtown Coffeyville group (BTW, Shelley Paasch has since become the Network Kansas manager for rural entrepreneurship), conditions became right for combining the E-Communities and in middle of 2017, we became Montgomery County E-Community with IBRC the local partner entity. 

Network Kansas provides a dashboard for us each month showing a summary of all loans credited to the original two E-Community groups, now one. Counting one or two of the Start Up Kansas loans made to Montgomery County business earlier in 2009 and 2010, Network Kansas and E-Community have made possible nearly $1 million in gap financing loans. Montgomery County E-Community currently has no delinquencies or failed loans. We’ve also provided nearly $25,000 in scholarships to aid businesses in programs such as Destination Boot Camp, a two- and one-half-day camp during which businesses learn a 14-point program to draw customers from a wider area. 

County-Wide Collaboration 

Although completely separate entities, we work in conjunction with Montgomery County Action Council (MCAC has its own long history of working toward county-wide economic development) in putting together loan packages for businesses throughout the county. 

Every county has their own methods of promoting economic development. For Montgomery County, Kansas the Montgomery County E-Community, the fabrication, prototyping, marketing tools and coaching of Fab Lab ICC, the overall economic development efforts of Montgomery County Action Council and the work of the Chambers, Main Street and city and county governments, make for a powerful combination in helping entrepreneurs and small businesses grow and thrive amid an uncertain global marketplace.