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.

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 last August 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. 

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 addition to my role as director of Fab Lab ICC, I have a volunteer role in an entity we how call Montgomery County E-Community (MEC) In the next column, I’ll fill in some of the details about now MEC has impacted local and area businesses for the last 10 years or so. 

Before we can totally understand the impact of Montgomery County E-Community we need an introduction into the state-wide initiative of Network Kansas. Its programming in support of entrepreneurship and gap financing for small businesses, is unique in the United States. In my view, the overwhelming success of Network Kansas comes about because Steve Radley, President and CEO, and Erik Pedersen, VP of Entrepreneurship are both themselves entrepreneurs, having partnered in both successful and unsuccessful businesses. You can’t really design a program to help entrepreneurs unless you, yourself have struggled to make payroll and pay the bills. I’ve asked my good friend Erik to summarize the start of Network Kansas and the E-Community initiative. 

Kansas Hires Two Entrepreneurs to Run a State Program 

“In May 2005, Steve Radley and I were hired to open the Kansas Center for Entrepreneurship. We were fortunate to have great partners provide us with office space as we got our feet on the ground, including Wichita State University and Butler Community College. Our first charter was to create a referral center, a one-stop shop to connect entrepreneurs to a network of resource partners. This part of NetWork Kansas has grown to over 500 resource partners and we receive 250 - 300 inbound leads each month on our toll-free hotline (1-877-521-8600) or email (info@networkkansas.com). 

Startup Kansas Launched to Provide Matching Loans 

“In 2006, we launched Startup Kansas, a statewide program to provide matching loans to businesses in rural communities or distressed geographical areas of urban communities. This ability to impact Kansas businesses with gap financing, and the realization that a deeper relationship with our resource partners could impact rural communities at a greater level, provided a clear path to the rollout of the Entrepreneurship (E-) Community Partnership in late 2007. An E-Community is a partnership in which NetWork Kansas allocates an amount of loan funds to each of 64 Kansas E-Communities (defined as a town, a cluster of towns or a county). The loan fund is intended as gap financing that the community has local decision-making control over which businesses to provide matching loans to. This loan fund has proven to be a game-changer. Over 11 years, the E-Community network has approved 637 loans to 608 businesses (some have come back more than once), totaling $20.5 million. Remember when I said it's supposed to be gap financing? It's proving out to be - this $20.5 million is only 18% of the money that has gone into those 637 loans, leveraging another $94.6 million of public and private capital. To understand the significant impact these gap financing funds have had in rural Kansas, you only need to look at the fact that 42% of the loans are to startups and 34% are to expansions; one in four are retail, one in five are restaurant, and almost half of the loans have taken place in towns with a population under 5,000.  

E-Community Evolves into Additional Programs for Small Business 

“In addition to having local oversight of the loan fund, the E-Community leadership teams work with a NetWork Kansas E-Community coach to engage in strategic planning, initiate activities and introduce entrepreneurship programming to generate statewide development. Just like each community is unique, each team is unique, and they chart their own path. As the team decides to focus their efforts in a specific area (entrepreneurship mindset, generating startups, perhaps engaging youth), the E-Community coach will introduce programming options such as: Ice House entrepreneurial mindset, Destination Boot Camp and Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge. Sometimes, the local team wants to focus on an area in which a programming option isn't readily available. In those instances, by asking "what if..." and "what would it look like if we did this...", the coach and team can create an idea for a pilot program. Some of the best ideas bubble-up from those one-off conversations. 

New Programs Sometimes Come from Local E-Communities 

“There are countless examples of innovative ideas coming out of our E-Communities and E-Communities themselves leading us down new paths. Montgomery County fits that description well. Coffeyville became an E-Community in 2010. Northern Montgomery County joined the partnership in 2012. The two merged a couple years ago to become Montgomery County E-Community. Not long after, we were introduced to the Fab Lab at Independence Community College. (I've known Jim Correll, Director Fab Lab ICC, for 10+ years, and I hold him in very high regard, so the fact he created this space to design, create and build wasn't a surprise). When the NetWork Kansas staff was able to experience it, touch it, feel it, and see the difference a place like this could make in rural Kansas communities, it was a no-brainer for us to ask "how can we share this model with others". Jim and Tim Haynes (Fab Lab Manager) took that question and ran with it. The result is Maker Space Boot Camp, a 2 1/2 day training for communities who want to learn how to create an entrepreneurial mindset and maker space in their community to enhance community revitalization efforts. The following blog explains it as well as I could. 

https://www.networkkansas.com/ecommunities/news/ntks-blog/2019/11/04/a-unique-experience-at-maker-space-boot-camp 

Sixty-four E-Communities Produce Great Results 

“When people ask about the E-Community partnership, I always tell them the loan funds are the carrot that gives our staff a seat at the table with the local leadership team. And it's at the table where we form relationships and strategically discuss how we can help create a flourishing entrepreneurial environment in that community. The E-Community partnership, in Montgomery County, and the other 63 exceptional communities, is producing great results.  

Last time, we introduced Gary Schoeniger, founder of what is now the Ice House Entrepreneurship program in a company called the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative. He had started small in building a successful gutter cleaning business that evolved into a multi-million-dollar construction management company. He also helped his near-drop-out son start a construction site cleaning business while still in high school. Jason went on to be graduated from high school and college and become a Marine seeing combat action.

Two Start-ups Started Small

These two start-ups, starting small without much money and without special business education were in extreme contrast with the way our society has portrayed entrepreneurship and the implied need of big money and special education for a start-up.

In search of a better way to educate aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners, Schoeniger became involved with an initiative supported by Cisco Systems to conduct video interviews with entrepreneurs from all over the United States to try to figure out if there were common traits in their thinking that made them successful. Cisco had discovered that entrepreneurs can't consciously describe how they think, let alone write it down, but if you get them to tell their story about how they started, you can begin to see these common traits.

Gary was in the process of traveling all over the United States, interviewing, on camera, all kinds of entrepreneurs that had become successful. Nearly all had started out with very little money and little formal business education. Many weren't even subject matter experts in the areas of business in which they found themselves.

Schoeniger Interviews Taulbert

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gary had finished the planned interview by about lunch time with a flight that didn't leave until the next day. Asking the people he met for suggestions about who else he might try to interview while in Tulsa, someone suggested Clifton Taulbert. Taulbert had lived in Tulsa for several years and was involved and a co-founder of the company that marketed the original "Stairmaster" exercise machine. Clifton was available and, indeed, the interview took place that afternoon in Clifton's office on Lewis Avenue in Tulsa.

Not Only Entrepreneur But Also International Speaker and Author

Clifton's story was quite a find for Schoeniger. The "Stairmaster" piece was only a small part; he had been a shareholder in one of Tulsa's banks and had become, and still is, an international speaker and author, having been nominated for the Pulitzer for his "Last Train North." His first book "Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored" has been in print for thirty years after he struggled to find the first publisher who told him that a run of 5,000 copies would be enough for a lifetime. There have been multiple reprints since then and the book became so popular that the United States State Department asked for a copy of the book to have on Nelson Mandela's desk when he was finally released from prison.

It was the story of Clifton's upbringing and his introduction to entrepreneurship (before we stole that term from the French) that really caught Schoeniger's attention.

Taulbert's Upbringing Is the Real Story

In the segregated South of the late 1950's, Clifton grew up on the Mississippi delta in the small town of Glen Allan. Life was difficult for all African Americans there. Nearly all teenaged and adult males worked in the cotton fields; females were primarily domestic help in the white and Jewish homes. All were for meager wages. The one exception was Clifton's Uncle Cleve Mormon. He owned the only ice house in town--that was before wide-spread refrigeration--everyone bought ice. This most unlikely of entrepreneurs, Uncle Cleve had little money, little formal education and certainly no power or political clout. Yet somehow, he built his own business in this small town and everyone, no matter what ethnicity, bought ice from him. He asked Clifton to help him in his business a couple of high-school summers instead of working in the cotton fields. Today, Taulbert says that's where he really learned the lessons of entrepreneurship.

Ice House Entrepreneurship Program Evolves

Over the months after the interview the two, Schoeniger and Taulbert, had many conversations and co-authored a book "Who Owns the Ice House?" In it, each chapter is a piece of Clifton's story relating back to his upbringing and work with Uncle Cleve followed by commentary from Gary relating why that part of the story is relevant to today's entrepreneurial thinking. After that, the whole entrepreneurship education initiative was changed to revolve around the "Ice House" book and its eight life's lessons from an unlikely entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurial Thinking is for Everyone

Since then, we've learned that those life's lessons really are for everyone, not just those wanting to own businesses. The lessons are about problem solving, taking action, continual search for knowledge and persistence. That's why you'll see and hear me talking about the "Ice House" way so much and for so many people. It represents the idea of always learning new ways to use small experiments in the search of solutions to big problems. The results of each experiment either validate an assumption or point out the need to try something else. Entrepreneurial thinking is not just about starting a business. It's about becoming better at solving the problems we encounter in our personal, academic and career life situations.

The next "Entrepreneurial Mindset" class featuring the "Ice House Entrepreneurship Program" starts in August 12 on Thursday nights from 6 to 8 PM through September 30. It is different than any other class with no heavy reading or testing. Most say it's inspiring; some, life changing. Learn more at www.fablabicc.org. (Registration discount is available through July 31.)

Many people within our network of contacts here locally, around Kansas and across the country are familiar with "Ice House Entrepreneurship." We use the term frequently when we speak of "Ice House" concepts or the "Ice House" way. It must sound very strange to people that don't know the origin of the term. For many of us, the "Ice House" way represents not only the way we should be starting new businesses, but the way we should all be thinking in how we solve the problems in our career, academic and personal lives.

Most businesses start small and grow

Most new businesses do not start as have been portrayed by our society. The impression we've had all these years was that businesses are started by people with business degrees from the top business schools with detailed business plans and projections. The plan is pitched and after receiving startup capital from venture capitalists, an all-or-nothing gamble takes place. I've not seen much evidence of those kinds of start-ups in the various areas of Kansas in which I've lived.

Then, in 2011, I learned of a statistic that ninety-eight percent of the Fortune 500 businesses were started with less than $10,000 in start-up capital. Even the mighty Walmart started out as a small store owned and operated by Sam Walton. Amazon was started in a garage with a few computers and doors converted to desks by adding 4 x 4 legs. (When I did my hard time as an area manager at the now defunct Coffeyville Amazon fulfillment center, that's what we still used for desks; a door on 4 x 4 legs.)

Introduction to the "Ice House" way

This revelation came to me at a conference in Oregon in October of 2011 when I heard, for the first time, Ohio business man, Gary Schoeniger and international speaker and Pulitzer nominated author Clifton Taulbert speak of a book titled "Who Owns the Ice House?"

From gutter cleaning to construction management

Schoeniger, without a business degree and with little money, started a small business cleaning roof gutters. He recognized that homeowners had a problem; they knew their gutters needed to be cleaned, but didn't want to do the work themselves. Although he didn't like ladders either, he went door to door offering to clean gutters for a fee. One customer asked if he could fix her garage door opener. He told her he'd have to check and, in the era preceding Google, he went to the library to find a resource to help him figure out how garage door openers work.

One thing led to another as Gary tweaked his business model, always looking for new problems he could solve for his customers. A few years later, he owned and operated a multi-million dollar construction management firm.

From flunk-out to another family business

At the time Gary was a single father with a teenaged son living with him. The son had a friend named Jason whose personal life was a train wreck. Jason was about to flunk out of high school seeing no relevance in the subject matter. Again, one thing led to another and Schoeniger ended up adopting Jason. With no special training in helping a teenager with Jason's background Gary first set about finding something constructive for Jason to do after school. In his construction management business, Gary knew that most contractors don't like to clean up their sites (we all know this too) so the two went to garage sales picking up bargain tools and supplies that could be used in construction site cleanup. They designed some flyers and business cards and Jason became the proprietor of a construction site cleaning business. He became well known for his reliability and ability to use a calendar to do the work for his customers when and where needed without reminders. Jason operated the successful business until he was graduated from high school and enlisted in the Marine Corp. The business made him see the relevance in much of the subject matter in school and his grades improved greatly.

Gary Schoeniger and adopted son, Jason Campbell, both started businesses with no special education and very little money. The businesses flourished as they both learned to solve problems for their customers.

Changing how we grow entrepreneurs

Gary saw the discrepancy between what we've been led to believe is required to start a business and his own experience, along with that of son Jason. He set about to change the way we educate people in starting businesses by studying the way successful entrepreneurs and business owners think in terms of solving problems for others. There was a huge challenge in this undertaking since most successful entrepreneurs can't verbalize how they think, let alone write it down.

Next time; how it became "Ice House"

In the next column, we'll explore how Schoeniger solved this problem and how he met Clifton Taulbert and co-authored the book "Who Owns the Ice House?" with him to become the center of what we now call the "Ice House Entrepreneurship" program.

The next "Entrepreneurial Mindset" class featuring the "Ice House Entrepreneurship Program" starts in August 12 on Thursday nights from 6 to 8 PM through September 30. It is different than any other class with no heavy reading or testing. Most say it's inspiring; some, life changing. Learn more at www.fablabicc.org. (Registration discount is available through July 31.)

Update/Context: The article "How to Stop the Shrink," published in November 2021, remains highly relevant today as rural communities still face challenges related to population decline. In 2024, the issues of urban dissatisfaction, housing shortages, and opportunities for small-town growth are more pronounced than ever. The article's suggestions—inviting family members back, changing the narrative for youth, and fostering local entrepreneurship—continue to offer valuable strategies for revitalizing rural areas. Communities aiming for sustainable growth can still benefit from these ideas by embracing local resources and attracting residents disillusioned with urban life.

Rural American communities have been shrinking in population for decades. It’s not just the alure of the city with shiny lights and activities that have caused the slide. For those same decades, we’ve been telling our youth that there are few job opportunities in our communities and that the real opportunities are somewhere else, and you must go away to find them. For the most part, our youth have bought the story and left our communities while we sit around tables in community meetings trying to figure out what has happened to our youth and ways to bring them back. Fortunately for us, big cities and big city leaders are doing their part to reverse the trend. Many big cities aren’t shiny, and some are even dangerous. We’re seeing more and more of our youth returning to our area after finding that big city life did not turn out to be as satisfying as they thought it would be.

2020 Census: Is the Shrink all its cranked up to be?

The 2020 census paints a dire picture for our county and area, showing drastic declines in population. I’m not sure the census results paint a totally accurate picture. No doubt, there are serious implications of lower census numbers in terms of the way congressional districts are defined and the amount of federal funding returning to our area.

Gathering data for an accurate census, every ten years as specified in the constitution, has always been a challenge. Last year was worse than ever. We were in the very worst part of the pandemic when it was time to collect data. There were all manner of advertising and public relations campaigns urging people to respond to the census, but in the confusion of it all, I have to believe we missed a lot of people, exacerbating the shrinking problem.

Also, I don’t believe there’s any way, from the once-every-ten-years data, to tell whether the shrinking is as bad today as it was at the beginning of this last period in 2010. We don’t know if we’re still on a downward trend or if we bottomed out and are maintaining or perhaps growing again. 

People are moving into our area, and they range in age from young professional families to retired people looking for an escape from the hub bub, crime, and politics of the big city. I spoke with a real estate agent a couple of months ago with 15 properties scheduled for closing. Real estate in our area is hot right now.

Stopping the Shrink

Area politicians are talking a lot about the shrink. They will have to deal with it in the form of drawing new state congressional districts. Some of them talk about what the government can do to help stop the shrink, but really, other than trying to provide a business-friendly environment, the government is not going to be able to do much to stop the shrink.

(Former) Kansas Attorney General, Derek Schmidt, visited one of my classes years ago when he was a state senator. He said at the time he didn’t think the communities in our county, and state, had done enough to be great places to live. I think his point was that we were spending too much time, effort and money trying to attract white-knight industry to come to our towns while not having enough housing inventory and local business.

Keep Doing What We’re Doing

Since the AG’s class visit, things have changed, for the better. We have strong chambers, main street, reawakening and community betterment groups working to improve our communities. We have a stronger retail business presence than I can remember in the twenty years I’ve been in the area. Many local businesses are growing and despite challenges, several businesses I know are having record years and a few even had record years last year during the pandemic. We have lots of entertainment opportunities and there are efforts underway to alleviate our housing shortages. Continuing these efforts will go a long way to stopping the shrink.

A Couple of Things to Add

In addition, there are a couple of things we can do more of. First, we all need to issue open invitations to our family members who live elsewhere to return, especially those that may want to start a business. Second, we need to change the message to our youth and quit telling them that their opportunities for a successful future are all somewhere else. There are opportunities right here in this area, especially to start businesses filling in the local market gaps.

In recent history, there has never been so much dissatisfaction by so many city dwellers across the United States in the conditions of their cities and their disability to continue living there. Many, fed up with big city crime and other problems are ready to try life in smaller, rural communities. If we keep doing what we’re doing, invite our family members to return and change the message to our youth, we have a shot at attracting more people to come, or stay, and live in our small corner of the Midwest.