The Sirolli Institute in Leeds

L-R Mike Chitty, Yvonne Fizer, Anne Sherriff (Re'new) and Ernesto Sirolli

Ernesto Sirolli and Yvonne Fizer visited Leeds this week to bring the message of Enterprise Facilitation to the City. As invited guests of Re'new Ernesto and Yvonne spoke for a couple of hours on the importance of responsiveness in economic development as a compliment to the more traditional infrastructure led and strategic approaches to economic and social development.

It is hoped that the interest shown in the message might lead to a project in the City.

Rob Greenland, one of the participants at the meeting, has already blogged on the event. You can read his thoughts here.

If you attended the event or have a view on the appropriateness of Enterprise Facilitation in Leeds then please do leave us a comment.

African aid: Fairport's Kamina Friends

After visit, Kamina Friends decide to help war-torn village thrive:

(November 18, 2007) — When the Rev. Ann Kemper entered the African village of Kamina in 2003, she said it was a spiritual awakening.Villagers were trying to recover from a war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that had left the area impoverished and without a sound economic system.
"It was tremendously eye-opening to all of us," said Kemper, of Covenant United Methodist Church, 1124 Culver Road. "We were the first group (of Americans) to have visited Kamina since the war ended."
Slowly, several small businesses have emerged which Kemper, of Fairport, and others traveling with her from the United States, witnessed upon returning to Kamina in 2005.
A bicycle repair shop was found operating under the shade of a tree. Soap, rice, ground corn and other items were available at a roadside kiosk. A women's sewing cooperative was formed. Problems with roads and other infrastructural issues persist, but commerce is present.
And Kemper, along with the seven other members of Kamina Friends, a Fairport-based nonprofit, have committed to be a financial and business training resource for the village.
Kamina Friends Kemper and Jeff Tyburski, with representatives from other groups, traveled to Kamina in September with a strategy to further bolster the economy. The group hopes to implement an Enterprise Facilitation program developed by the Sirolli Institute, a nonprofit specializing in growing sustainable markets here and abroad.
The model establishes a volunteer board of residents who then train a full-time facilitator to work directly with residents wanting to start businesses.
Kamina Friends would pay the village facilitator's salary for three years until the village could afford to pay it.The Sirolli model has been successful in more than 200 communities, said Tyburski, adding that its effectiveness stems from people taking responsibility for growing their economy from within.
"The philosophy is a very bottom-up, people-centered approach," he said. "We're hoping Kamina is just a pilot study" that will lead to assisting other countries in Africa and other regions.
None of this would have been possible in Kamina, said Kamina Friends members, without the leadership of Bishop Ntambo Nkulu Ntanda, a leader in the United Methodist Church in the Congo; his wife Mama Nshimba; and Kamina's residents. They said the 2006 democratic elections in the Congo further underscored the socio-political changes in the region.
Kamina Friends will hold a community event at 7 p.m. Nov. 29 at Fairport United Methodist Church, 31 W. Church St., Fairport, to educate and train those interested in helping with this project.Special guest Ernesto Sirolli will discuss the Sirolli Institute, and representatives from Kamina are expected to participate as well.
Talks have begun with USAID, the United Methodist Committee on Relief and other groups to secure more resources for Kamina, and address its health care and infrastructural needs. "These relationships are real," Tyburski said."There's no walking away from this."NLEE@DemocratandChronicle.com

Tynedale Progress

Mark Reed, one of the newest Enterprise Facilitators, has just published this piece on our forum:

Hi, just a quick note to say hello to all the forum readers from our facilitation project in Tynedale. For those of you that don't know, Tynedale is situated in the north of England, and it is such a great place that the Scots have been trying to invade and conquer us for hundreds of years. Hadrian had a problem with this so he built a wall between us and our Scots cousins. These days we manage to coexist (mostly) peacefully and Hadrian's wall has become one of our biggest attractions.

We have been running our project since July and are starting to see results for the clients we are working with. One of them, Chris, is running his business from Hexham but has a clientele across the globe. He has been quite successful in getting press cover and you can read about his business using the following link.
http://www.gonomad.com/transports/0710/motor-home-swap.html

We just had our third board meeting and are starting to get a feel for the process. We all realise that we have a long way to go but the momentum we have now built up is tangible.

Feel free to get in touch and pass on your stories of success, failure, laughter and tears, in all aspects of your roles and experience.

My favourite quote this month comes from Banksy, my favourite vandal " A lot of people never use their initiative, because no-one told them to."

Mark.

Glad to see it is going well Mark. Thanks for the post!

Dream team goes to the Extreme for security

DREAM High, an Enterprise Facilitation project helping residents to start their own businesses, has helped three partners with the formation of Extreme Security.

And already the firm has secured several five-figure-sum contracts.

John Elliott, Denzil Estridge and Richard Pickett drew on their experience in the sector to create their own business.

Dream High, which was inspired by the international Sirolli enterprise network, introduced them to funding agencies and recruited the help of existing local businesses through its enterprise facilitator Claire Chang.

Read more from the Liverpool Echo here.

OK Ball Success!

The recent Opportunity Kintyre Ball was a great success - raising funds for the project; raising the profile of the project and giving everyone a great time.

You can read more about it here.

If you were at the Ball and have any photos please share them with us!

Ernesto Back in Oz

Ernesto has recently been back to Australia where much of the early work on Enterprise Facilitation was done more than 20 years ago!

His message was that finding the strengths of a community and the individuals within and encouraging them to work together can drive employment and business success.

FINDING STRENGTHS!

So much of what we see is aimed at redressing the weaknesses - low educational attainment, low self esteem, lack of self confidence. Of course these need to be addressed - but not always head on. Help people to make progress where they can - and to ask for help where they cannot.

If you are working on a project to encourage entrepreneurship are you 'finding the strengths' or shoring up the weaknesses?

Read More Here

Blame is a primitive response - Entrepreneurship is a much better one

"If journalists spent as much time studying the lives of the poor as they do gazing at the rich, it would help us all keep our heads on straight. We would marvel at a world economy strange enough to sustain such gaps. We'd learn not to blame the rich for the poverty of the poor, but we'd also learn not to blame the poor themselves. Blame is a primitive response. Entrepreneurship is a much better one."

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs ,the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University.

The Sirolli Documentary - Available online Now!

The Sirolli Documentary put together by our friends at Westex is available to view online now.

You can view the whole video here!

Or you can watch a sample 7 minute video in the player below.

Ernesto Back in Australia

The West Australian coastal town of Esperance seems an unlikely setting for an economic development program that is being rolled out across the globe.

But the man who pioneered enterprise facilitation in Esperance in 1985, Dr Ernesto Sirolli, told audiences in Maroochydore and Maleny last week that all communities could benefit from the model.

“Every community, and the Sunshine Coast, would be no different to Esperance or any of the 300 communities around the world the Sirolli Institute is working in, has a huge amount of untapped entrepreneurial potential,” he said.

Read More

PEER Recognition!

People Encouraging Enterprise in Rossendale (PEER), has been recognised for its invaluable role in turning the economic fortunes of the borough of Rossendale around by encouraging the creation and growth of businesses and social enterprises throughout the area.

Historically farming and cottage woollen industries formed the backbone of Rossendale’s local economy. Like so many other manufacturing areas before it, the borough experienced sharp economic decline.

By 2002 Rossendale had become an economic backwater with one of the lowest average wage levels in the North West. The Borough Council struggled and was rated as one of the worst performing local authorities in England. Rossendale had the weakest results in East Lancashire for business start-ups, well below the national average. With all this to face, perhaps unsurprisingly, perception surveys at the time recorded that local communities had a very poor self-image, and had become dejected and disengaged.

By early 2002 community leaders had had enough and were eager to stimulate change.
Read the story of how PEER worked with the Sirolli Institute to make a real difference in Rossendale here.

Siroli Chair in UK Named Enterprise Champion

Congratulations to Gary Millar, chair of the Liverpool City Centre Enterprise Facilitation Project - Ripples on the Mersey.

Gary has just been named Liverpool ECHO 2007 Enterprise Champion. Gary has played an important role in helping with the development of Enterprise Facilitation in the City.

South East Enterprise Facilitation Project

Great project website here from an Enterprise Facilitation project in South Dakota.

I especially like the way they provided a page on project funders (over 40 different sponsors contributing to keeping this service running).

The information they provide on results from the project is also great.

Congratulations to all involved with the project and such a great way of communicating to a range of interested parties what you are all about.

A Kansas Success Story

Since 2002, five Kansas projects involving 28 counties have begun using Enterprise Facilitation. The results have been spectacular:

• 94 per cent of the businesses started in these projects are still active in 2007
• each project averages 10 to 15 business startups annually, producing 40 to 60 new jobs each year per project
• all this on an annual budget of $75,000 to $90,000 per project, an average of about $2000 invested per job created
• in 2007, the Kansas state government recognized the success of Enterprise Facilitation by passing legislation providing up to 30 per cent of ongoing annual funding for the five projects
• with over 20 years of proven best practices in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the USA, Enterprise Facilitation projects around the world retain an average of 80 to 90 per cent of new businesses after five years.

Please find out more and download the full case study here.

Opportunity Kintyre Late Summer Ball

Opportunity Kintyre, Scotland’s first Enterprise Facilitation Pilot Project for rural communities, is holding A Late Summer Ball on Saturday 29th. September 2007 to celebrate the talent, style and produce of Kintyre and to set the agenda to re-establish Kintyre’s place in the new economic development of Scotland.

Special Guest for the evening will be Dr. Ernesto Sirolli, the founder of the Sirolli Institute, whose international (not for profit) Company believes “The future of every community lies in capturing the passion, imagination and resources of its people”.

The evening will be a rare opportunity to hear him and enjoy traditional and modern Scottish entertainment.

Music will be provided by The Wild Sarachs, rock band The Twisted Melons and Norman McKay's Ceilidh Experience.

The venue will be Campbeltown Grammar School, Hutcheon Road, Campbeltown, Argyll, PA28 6JS, with the evening commencing at 8 p.m.

Tickets £25 individual. Corporate tables available.

For further information or to book your place, please visit:http://www.opportunitykintyre.org.uk/ballinvitation.pdf

STEPS Celebrates

The Southeast Team for Entrepreneurial Success, or STEPS, celebrated its first anniversary last week with a visit from Ernesto Sirolli, whose Sirolli Institute is providing training to the group.

This is one of four Sirolli projects in New Mexico.

The others are in Deming, Silver City and Taos.

You can read more here.

So What Might We Achieve in the First 6 Months

We recently received the following reflections from Lawrence Holden, Chair of the Enterprise Facilitation project in North Liverpool, UK called ENABLE.

ENABLE North Ltd

1^st Half year – Achievements

Travels in the Kalahari have given me a different perspective of time and space but it has been a delight to sit down with Lynne Jones and consider what has been achieved in her first six months as Enterprise Facilitator.

Thinking about the nature of her work with clients has confirmed my belief that the Sirolli method of Enterprise Facilitation might have been designed for the needs of north Liverpool. As we are a segment of a vibrant, gritty and highly distinctive northern English city going through a process of rebirth, rather than a rural or township we do not appear to be a “typical” Sirolli project. The fact that our project is firmly bedded in a core of five or six community organisations has given us an abnormal pattern of contacts and introductions and a certain focus to our Panel.

Our Panel is not as large as we would like to be. But we have much to celebrate, be positive about and use as a firm base for really strong development ahead.

In order to strengthen our resolve this note will list, in a random order, as many things as I can that I think are good and worthy of celebration: -

• That so many community organisations are firmly bedded into our work
• That we have a good and positive culture and a set of core values that are respected
• That Lynne has a growing and highly diverse band of clients – both existing businesses and new set-ups
• That our belief that there is a strong flow of worth while business ideas awaiting expression in north Liverpool is now supported by evidence
• That the special kind of highly personal support that Lynne can offer is now making a real difference in many cases and is of the kind that is not available elsewhere
• That a significant contribution is being made by the personal connections that Lynne is making between clients and with others.
• That our Panel can repeatedly offer good and relevant ideas for Lynne’s clients in our brainstorming
• That our Panel has a wide spread of talent and is a place where hardnosed business people can engage and interact with community activists and public servants
• That the Panel’s meetings are always accompanied by valuable informal exchanges of information
• That our work is creating and enhancing a genuine “ripple effect” to create a distinctive culture of enterprise amongst people and communities that have long had a culture of dependency
• That we are working in excellent harmony with the adjoining “Dream High” and “Ripples” projects and have an ambitious fundraising programme with them and the two other Merseyside projects.
• That even at this relatively early stage success are emerging that provide good role models and a base for convincing sceptical local businesses and people that the Sirolli methodology works.

We must not be complacent – we have much to do – but these facts are encouraging.

Lawrence Holden

Chair of Panel

3 July 2007

Wonderful to get such positive feedback and a clear indication that the benefits of working with Enterprise Facilitation extend far beyond start up rates!

If you live or work in North Liverpool and would be interested in joining this community project then please do get in touch.

Kevin Koym - Exceptional Entrepreneurship

Thanks to Kevin Koym for his kind words on the Exceptional Entrepreneurship blog. In this post he touches on the role of psychology and philosophy in building entrepreneurial communities.

The Institute for Open Economic Networks

"No small group of people, no matter how gifted, can hope to manage the complexity within our communities. Our prosperity will be built on new patterns of civic leadership. These patterns will be more open and networked than they have in the past. We will find collaborations stretching across both organizational and political boundaries.
The communities and regions that embrace this new approach to civic leadership will prosper. Those that do not will likely fall farther behind."

Institute for Open Economic Networks

Sounds a bit like Enterprise Facilitation?

Well at first glance perhaps. In fact the Institute for Open Networks is arguing for is a different approach to strategic planning - one that is more fluid, more inclusive and definitely more action orientated. They talk about 'strategic doing' rather than 'strategic thinking'. But the intention is the same - to develop and implement strategy.

We would argue that the strategy needs to be to learn to respond to and nurture the talent, passions and skills that are already in the community. Instead of thinking strategically we need to think and act responsively.

Local people, their passions, their skills and their connectivity in pursuit of making the community a better place are the ultimate cluster.

How Many New Starts is Enough?

At the recent Rossendale Open Day one of the key topics for discussion was the number of new starts that the project had managed to facilitate in the first 30 months or so of operation – 100.

• Is this sufficient evidence of success?
• If this rate were replicated elsewhere would it help to achieve objectives for increased entrepreneurship?
• Should we strive for a level of entrepreneurship in a community that planners believe to be sufficient to achieve their economic goals?
• Should we respond effectively and sensitively to enterprising people as they come forward and then use their success to encourage their peers to follow in their footsteps - setting up a feedback loop that inspires local people to achieve more?
• Should we have sufficient belief in local people and their own capacity to grow to set up programmes that respond?
• Do we have the courage, patience and faith to let communities develop an enterprise culture at their own rate or do we believe that is something that has to(and can)be forced?
• Can we identify rates of entrepreneurship that will represent 'success' and then manage a series of interventions to achieve them?

As Schumacher wrote in Small Is Beautiful over 30 years ago - 'If people do not want to better themselves they are best left alone. This should be the first principle of aid.' Schumacher went on to say that there are always people who do want to better themselves - but do not know how. By engaging with this group at their invitation and responding to their needs and aspirations you can change the economic future of a community one person at a time.

The alternative approach is to motivate and incentivise large numbers of people to do something that they would otherwise not be willing to do. And in our experience this is not a recipe for success.

In our experience this is not a difficult choice between two potentially viable approaches.

One of them works consistently to contribute to the re-birth of local economies in a sustainable and cost effective way.

The other does not.

Good Luck to Peer in the Enterprising Britain Awards

The first Enterprise Facilitation in the UK, PEER, has been short-listed for a major national prize - Enterprising Britain for its success in helping with the re-birth of an enterprising culture in the Rossendale Valley.

People Encouraging Enterprise in Rossendale (PEER), the winner of the regional heat of Enterprising Britain 2007 in the Northwest, has been visited by judges from the Social Enterprise Coalition, the Department for Trade and Industry and Enterprise Insight to decide which business deserves the National Enterprising Britain 2007 title.

Enterprising Britain 2007 is the DTI’s search to find the most enterprising town, place, city or area in the UK, and was launched on 29 January 2007. The competition has been run in two phases - a regional stage and a national competition. During the regional stage which took place between 29 January and 31 May 2007 regional winners were selected from across the UK, to go forward to the national final along with twelve other finalists from around the UK.

You can read more here.

A Brief History of Global Development

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/140

This is a great presentation by Hans Rosling on the state of Global Development. An amazing video for anyone interested in economic and social development.

In Praise of the 5 Day Training

A core part of the way we teach communities Enterprise Facilitation is a 5 day training programme taken by the Facilitator and up to 12 of their panel members. The training provides a solid foundation for the practice of Enterprise Facilitation and really helps to build a strong local panel of management.

In the Sirolli folklore the 5 Day Training is sometimes referred to as Bootcamp - making it sound like some sort of militaristic passage of rites. This not the case at all - as I hope this feedback from a recent training makes clear.

"The course was quite simply a joy to participate in as a Panel member. I felt right from the start that Ned set the standards high in a gentle, yet authoritative style with good natured humour which immediately put all of us at ease. I was amazed at how quickly he got all participants to open up so quickly, which is not easy for Scottish people especially the men in the group who were really relaxed with him.

The materials were excellent, well chosen, intelligent and interesting and set the tone of the course with a refreshingly different start which had a remarkable effect on the group. (I watched people reading the materials and I could see their eyes light up as they absorbed the knowledge taking care to get the right meaning across as they prepared their mini lectures). I enjoyed hearing all of the inputs to the day and left day 1 with a new perspective on my own thoughts and although day 2 was a re-hash of all that I had read before – it was amazing how much I learned again by listening in a different way than I had done in the past.

Days 3 and 4 were a great insight into people struggling with their dreams and aspirations and I felt truly humbled by the trust that they gave us – which could not have been easy for them in our close-knit community.

Ned’s skills as a course facilitator were astounding and the back up of the differing styles of Nancy, Linda and Mike – all offering varied insights and their own experience of Enterprise Facilitation worked really well. I liked the team approach with different tasks assigned to each one of them.

I think we would all agree that the Friday was an amazing day – I think we experienced every positive human emotion that is possible to feel – we laughed, we cried and our hearts were deeply touched and what was left was a warm glow of human understanding and a feeling that now –anything is possible. So THANK-YOU all so very much for a wonderful life enhancing experience which I will never forget."

“The training was useful, interesting, and enjoyable. It was a great opportunity to get to know the panel members better and our Facilitator.

My learning style is about active engagement and reflection so I enjoyed the interactive nature of the course. I thought the reading activities were very useful and I’m looking forward to reading the ones I missed and revisiting others. The most memorable quote for me was: “Self interest rightfully understood”, so pertinent.

The practical workshops with clients were great. A truly insightful experience and good for developing understanding of the enterprise Facilitator’s role.

I thought the three trainers were excellent their skills as trainers and facilitation made the week enjoyable as well as valuable. They were effective, yet compassionate; Focused, yet positive; friendly yet still objective.”

“At the start of the week I said that I did not expect to be surprised by the week. That was not to say I would not learn anything, but I did not expect that I would meet anything surprising. Since I encountered Ernesto a couple years back the overriding philosophy of enterprise facilitation has seemed to me to fit perfectly with my belief system.

However, with no business experience myself, I had not expected the strength of feeling that the folks who want to start their own business have.

I have really enjoyed the mixture of activities that we’ve gone through- discussion, reading, practical; well mixed and balanced. I’ve really enjoyed meeting my fellow panel members and getting to know them and it has been a joy to have three such enthusiastic, skilled and relaxed facilitators for one week.”

“The first two days were quite heavy going though I cannot see anyway they could be anything but. The readings were very helpful and helped concentrate the mind on the task of the week. I particularly enjoyed the participative nature of the training. The analytical tools were for me what I had anticipated as being the central issue, But discovered that this is just one part albeit a most important one. I found Ned, Nancy and Linda’s enthusiasm and energy invigorating and they brought fun and joy to the course.

I was a little confused as to why there was so many of us carrying out the training but was sure it would become clear and it did very quickly.

In conclusion, the course has been superb, leading to my understanding of the essence of Sirolli.”

The (course) leaders quickly established a relaxed but controlled environment where participants felt confident to express themselves and unrushed, yet were guided to ensure schedules were adhered to and sessions did not over-run. A group rapport was formed, and the atmosphere was positive and encouraging throughout.
Feedback each morning reinforced the previous day’s learning, allowed participants to give others fresh viewpoints of the material, and to clarify anything they might have felt unsure about on reflection. Although some academic rigor was demanded most of the time, a lighthearted friendly atmosphere was maintained.

The basic concepts of the training were very simple, but were explored through various methods to re-present them from a variety of viewpoints, or in different contexts to draw out the subtleties of their meaning and application.

The choice of material (eg in the readings) and varied activities (reading/interviewing/discussion, etc.) was excellent and kept the participants’ attention level high.

There was a danger that participants would feel “I know it already” and that the ideas were too obvious, but the presentation ensured that the concepts were explored deeply enough to keep up interest either by making participants check the correctness of their prior knowledge, or realize that there were aspects they had not appreciated.

I valued the clear explanation of the objective of the course for panel members, making it clear that my presence was justified, and not just peripheral (to the main purpose of training the facilitator). Although I think I appreciate the main thrust of the various basic points about facilitation, the course gave me time and focused my attention on these so I can not feel more confident and I appreciate them and understand them correctly. On at least some points of course, I think I was guided to a better understanding or even corrected. (for example on the particular intentions of the “brainstorming”.)

My congratulations to the presenting team for their efforts.”

"I liked framing of each day.

Really appreciated the degree of practice and positive feedback.

Appreciated the panel being there.

I liked the pace overall.

I was simply surprised by the panel’s member’s understanding and greatly encouraged by the way everyone was brought along the path.

I started with no questions just an open mind. I feel that I have soaked up so much. I appreciated the “actual experience shared by Ned, Linda, and Nancy. I look forward to connecting with you again.”

"The five day course provided to be a thorough explanation of the background, theory and implementation of Sirolli’s original insights, the ‘Trinity of Management’, the ‘two legs of economic development’. The practical interviewing and reviewing of real potential clients was interesting, informative, and exhausting, and the efficiency of the rules and methods of brainstorming was a revelation. I was left realizing just hoe much time is wasted in other brainstorming techniques.

The network of resources and person centered approach to clients was amply expounded by the four-strong team of experts giving the course. The ratio of trainers to trainees was impressive in itself, with the tone of the course being light-hearted and keenly purposeful at the same time. The course was reinforcing for the panel where they had already had basic training and informing where they had not. For our newly-employed Enterprise Facilitator, the informing was augmented by the network and client “seeding” which occurred deliberately in the carefully casual atmosphere

The sessions came across as well planned, with quality reading material and videos. The trainers’ enthusiasm was undeniable, and all questions were answered well. The choice of Training rooms was admirable, as was the catering. I would definitely recommend this course to others, and exhort that it be made available to more panel members at a later date."

Unconsciously She Clips Their Little Wings

I had just been doing some work with a City Council who were determined to help their poor (whether they wanted help or not). We had talked at some length about Schumacher's first principle of aid - 'If people do not wish to be helped - leave them alone' - but was not sure that they had really heard me. It was just such a long way from their world!

When I got home I picked up the Ipod and the dog and went walking. When I walk I often just select 'shuffle songs' and enjoy whatever pops up. The first song was 'Mother Glasgow' by Hue and Cry and it just resonated - even though I only understand parts of it. (Can anyone shed light on the second verse?)

Mother Glasgow

In the second city of the Empire
Mother Glasgow watches all her weans
Trying hard to feed her little starlings
Unconsciously she clips their little wings

Mother Glasgow's succour is perpetual
Nestling the Billy and the Tim
I dreamt I took a dander with St. Mungo
To try to catch a fish that could nay swim

Among the flightless birds and sightless starlings
Father Glasgow knows his starlings well
He won't make his own way up to heaven
By waltzing all his charges in to hell

And the tree
And the fish
And the bird
And the bell…

Let Glasgow Flourish!

What is the Sirolli Institute?

“We are an advocate for a civic economy, a model of development that supports the creation of wealth from within your community by nurturing the intelligence and resourcefulness of your people. We champion the development of community pride through the passionate mentoring of local talent.

We promote quality local enterprises that

• diversify the economic base,
• create jobs,
• respect the natural environment and
• infuse the community with local vigour and content.

We support home businesses, mixed use areas, liveable cities and the emergence of a civic society.

The methodology we use in achieving indigenous growth is Enterprise Facilitation® a social technology that is recognised as a viable complement and, at times, an alternative to traditional top down economic development strategies.

Enterprise Facilitation is based on the passion, entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity and the fundamental needs for love, respect, quality and beauty found in every community. It maintains that every object we use, the clothes on our backs, our houses, our food, our music, our beliefs and our pathways in the forest are the result of passionate people transforming their talents and visions into good work.

The “economy”, to us at the Sirolli Institute, is nothing less than millions of people doing beautifully what they love doing. The better they are at it, the better the economy! The difference between poverty and riches is the presence, or not, of civic society, i.e. the combination of social conditions and reciprocity which allow creativity and intelligence to blossom or to wither and die.”

Dr. Ernesto Sirolli

Zen Entrepreneur: The Bootstrapper’s Dilemma

Zen Entrepreneur: The Bootstrapper’s Dilemma

This is a great post that I think describes well a dilemma that is experienced by many new starts. For me the acid test is: Would this be work that I would love to do, and can I do it really well? If the answer to both of these questions is a genuine and resounding YES - then perhaps the marketplace is trying to tell you something?

The Growth Entrepreneur

"The most valuable new firms tend to be those with high growth potential."
Kauffman Thoughtbook 2007 p 121

Most valuable to whom is the question.

Recently I have met three small business owners who are all resisting the pressure to grow. They have the potential - but not the aspiration. They are all small businesses employing people, paying mortgages and feeding families. And their owners are people doing beautifully what they love to do - and they want to keep it that way.

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Deficient or Sufficient?

You may be interested in a new Brookings Institution report, "Restoring Prosperity", that makes the case for the state's role in the revitalization of older industrial cities -- indicating that parks were used in the past to shape cities, and can be used to help remake them today. Here's an excerpt:

"states need to recognize and leverage the physical assets of cities that are uniquely aligned with the preferences of the changing economy, and then target their investments and amend outmoded policies so as to help spur urban redevelopment. States should focus their resources on upgrading crumbling infrastructure in cities and older areas; provide support for major
projects—such as waterfront redevelopment or improving large public parks—that have the potential to catalyze reinvestment in the core; and implement laws and policies that encourage, rather than inhibit, the management and marketability of vacant and underutilized urban properties."

To read the entire report or an executive summary, see the link : http://www.brook.edu/metro/pubs/20070520_oic.htm

Now this is a great example of a 'deficiency led' approach to regeneration. The underlying belief is that

"our city is not doing as well as it could because it does not have enough of the 'right kind of people'. If we can attract more of the 'right kind of people' to make us economically prosperous then everything will be all right. So let's beautify the parks, build wonderful office spaces with subisdised rentals and then attract the 'right kind of people' into the city. Once we have done this they will create jobs and the wealth will trickle downwards and outwards to local people as they get jobs. As long as we can attract more of the 'right kind of people' than competing cities we will indeed 'move up a league'."

The logic is, on the surface at least, sound. This thinking results in large scale investment and visible improvements in the city (which developers and politicians like). Along with the great office space, modernised railway station, growing airport and the investment in parks may also come a half dozen or more lap-dancing clubs and a night club and bar scene that is at best a 'mixed blessing' but well that is the price of prosperity in a modern city.However the money does not trickle downwards and outwards. Local people on the whole do not benefit from the jobs created - certainly not the well paid ones - and the gap between the rich and the poor in the city continues to widen.

Now supposing that we had made some different assumptions? That local people have passion, skill and aspirations? That if we develop a process that enables local people to explore and develop their own skills and passions, and use them to make a living doing work that they love - then who knows what they might achieve? This model of development assumes that all of the resources that a community has for its own sustainable development are already there. They just need to be harnessed.

This is based on an assumption of sufficiency. And it can work.

Sirolli Institute Volunteer of the Year Award

The Sirolli Institute - International Enterprise Facilitation® Inc. is proud to announce the Sirolli Institute Volunteer of the Year is:

Mr. Bret Mills of Anton, Texas.

Mr. Mills is the Chair of the WesTex Allied Communities Enterprise Facilitation project operating in Lamb County and Anton, Texas and he has been nominated by Mrs. Laura Harding, the Enterprise Facilitator servicing the project.

The nomination read as follows:

“With an absolute passion to improve the lives of those who live in his communities, and with a complete understanding of the Sirolli model, Bret has worked tirelessly to make WesTex Allied Communities an unrivaled success in Texas. Further, Bret’s belief in this project has prompted him to work with other communities to expand the Sirolli Enterprise Facilitation model throughout this great state, sacrificing personal time to do so, so that others can live the transforming experience and restoration of hope that Enterprise Facilitation can bring to them and their communities.
It is my honor to nominate Bret Mills for this prestigious award.”

Laura Hardin, Enterprise Facilitator.

The Volunteer of the Year Award has been created by the Sirolli Institute to allow Enterprise Facilitators to honor the individual who has helped them the most during the often challenging initial months of their new careers. Only Enterprise Facilitators undergoing training can nominate Chairs, Board Members or community mentors to be considered for the award. The Sirolli Institute, in making the final adjudication, considers not only the services in supporting the Enterprise Facilitator but also the volunteer “passion” for Enterprise Facilitation and their advocacy among the community at large.

Bret Mills has been an indefatigable champion for Enterprise Facilitation and we are proud to present the Inaugural Sirolli Volunteer of the Year Award to him.

As recipient of the award Mr. Bret Mills is the official Sirolli Ambassador for the year 2006/2007 and will be offered the opportunity to visit a community in training, either nationally or internationally, at his convenience and in consultation with the Institute, all expenses paid.

We sincerely hope that Bret will enjoy sharing his passion and considerable experience with communities that are celebrating their own Enterprise Facilitation projects and that he will take some of that special “can do”, Texan approach, with him!

Rise of the Creative Class

Richard Florida's Rise of the Creative Class (2002) argues that regional/community development depends on: novel combinations of knowledge and ideas, that certain occupations specialise in this task and that people in these occupations are drawn to areas providing a high quality of life Therefore Florida argues that an essential development strategy is to create an environment that attracts and retains these 'Creative' workers. An analysis of recent development in rural US counties, which focuses on natural amenities as quality of life indicators, supports the creative class thesis.

Evidence from urban areas also shows a strong relationship between creative class presence and growth, although natural amenities play a smaller role.

It seems to me that the focus of Enterprise Facilitation is less on attracting the creative classes by providing great amenities. It is more about valuing and developing the creative and collaborative potential in local people.

Wasn't it Schumacher who said that all of the resources a community needs for its own development are always already present?

Enterprise Facilitation: Growing Entrepreneurs One Contact at a Time

Article by Patty Clark
Director of Community Development
Kansas Department of Commerce

Owning your own business is the dream of many Americans, and more Americans than ever are taking advantage of opportunities to become entrepreneurs. This trend is especially promising for rural communities, where homegrown businesses are fuelling economic growth a handful of jobs at a time.

Like other rural places in the Great Plains, many small, agriculture- based Kansas communities have been losing population as the next generation chooses not to return to the farm. However, new and exciting efforts are under way to create economic opportunities in Kansas from the inside out. Many of these initiatives began at Prosperity Summits – interactive workshops held around the state about the future of economic development in Kansas – at which there was a resounding call to focus time, energy and resources on the rural communities that are the state’s backbone. One of these initiatives is “Enterprise Facilitation,” a concept the Kansas Department of Commerce implemented in 2001 to help rural entrepreneurs get started and keep their businesses thriving.

Few people had heard of Enterprise Facilitation at that time. The brainchild of Ernesto Sirolli, founder of the Sirolli Institute in Sacramento, California, Enterprise Facilitation is a model that cultivates a “barn-raising”mentality among citizens, which can then be applied to business development. Sirolli’s program is being used successfully in rural areas throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. The Kansas Department of Commerce contracted with the Sirolli Institute to use its regional approach to economic development in Kansas.

Enterprise Facilitation uses the best resource rural Kansas has – its own citizens – to jumpstart the process of increasing local capacity. Business owners are motivated by different needs, but those taking advantage of entrepreneurial networks such as Enterprise Facilitation generally fall into these categories:

• Lifestyle entrepreneurs – individuals with a desire to live in or move to rural communities and would like to see their quality of life and communities prosper through more job creation.
• Growth entrepreneurs – existing entrepreneurs who want to enhance their communities by expanding businesses to create more jobs and better resources.
• Immigrant entrepreneurs – second and third generation immigrants who possess a desire to become successful business owners and operators.
• Transitional entrepreneurs – agricultural producers who must transition to more value-added and direct marketing business creation, and former employees of manufacturing firms who have lost their jobs to out sourcing or downsizing.
• Youth entrepreneurs – enthusiastic and less risk-averse youth who want to start their own businesses.

Through Enterprise Facilitation, communities take ownership of their future and create an entrepreneurial culture in a system-based, accountable approach to business and job creation.While still in their early stages, these projects are already showing promise not only as a way to create new jobs but also as a way to create a renewed sense of community.

There are now five separate Enterprise Facilitation projects throughout Kansas, organized in groups of five to six counties:Western Kansas (including Wichita); Prairie Enterprise Project, in central Kansas; Sunflower, in south central Kansas; QUAD, in the Southeast; and Northeast Kansas. Each region faces unique challenges and opportunities, but by drawing on local resources, they are finding success.

How Enterprise Facilitation works

Enterprise Facilitation operates under the premise that an individual possesses the skills and passion to perform one or possibly two functions of operating a business – marketing, production or financial management – but can’t operate a business effectively without assistance in those areas where talent or passion are lacking.

Communities start by forming an Enterprise Facilitation board that is a broad representation of the communities and various stakeholders within their region. Citizens are invited to serve on this board and are interviewed by consultants from the Sirolli Institute. Between 35 and 50 citizens are selected and each citizen must attend board training sessions, which are the first step in developing local capacity. The board is engaged, in a confidential way, to use local knowledge and resources to help entrepreneurs create a product or service, market it, or build financial management capacity.

The board receives training from the Sirolli Institute on developing policies and board member responsibilities and on recruiting an Enterprise Facilitator. A professional search is conducted to hire the Enterprise Facilitator, who along with the new board members, receives one-week, in-depth training to build local capacity. Key among the responsibilities of the board is the personal commitment board members make to introduce the Enterprise Facilitator to 10 people each. This creates a network through which potential entrepreneurs can learn that a free, confidential service is available, and the Enterprise Facilitator can learn of entrepreneurs who are looking for assistance. The goal is not only to make connections in the short-term but to create a sustainable, long-term network for entrepreneurship.

The Enterprise Facilitator makes connections between entrepreneurs and various people in the community who can assist with business development. Facilitators rely on the introductions of their board members to advertise their services and let the entrepreneur initiate the working relationship. The board training and salary of the Enterprise Facilitator are paid with funds raised locally from local public and private sources.

One example of Enterprise Facilitation at work is the experience of Diamond S Manufacturing in Eureka. Mark and Denise Stewart are not typical entrepreneurs. Mark owns a ranching operation and a manufacturing and welding business, while his wife Denise operates a family-owned retail store, a Laundromat and oversees several rental properties.

The Stewarts were familiar with the type of help available through Enterprise Facilitation. They saw the opportunity to combine what they were doing at Diamond S Manufacturing with the services provided by Denner Welding, a long-time Eureka business whose owners were ready to retire.Without a buyer for the business, the community would lose a shop for farm equipment repair and other services the Denners had provided.With the help of the QUAD Enterprise Facilitator, the Stewarts negotiated a deal to purchase all the assets of Denner Welding and expand their operation in Eureka. This helped retain jobs that otherwise would have been lost, and also maintained valuable services in the community.

The benefits for Kansas communities

Enterprise Facilitation creates jobs, draws together resources and helps companies prosper. Perhaps equally important, it also can provide a reality check for entrepreneurs who are looking to get started. They may realize after talking to the Enterprise Facilitator and putting a plan in writing that their business might not be profitable, an assessment that ultimately can save money and effort from being put into an enterprise that is unlikely to succeed. It isn’t the Enterprise Facilitator’s role to tell the entrepreneur if the idea will work or not, but the Facilitator can help the person to put the pieces of the business puzzle together to determine the chances of success for themselves.

To date, using $1.26 million in state investment and approximately $312,000 in local investment, Enterprise Facilitation projects have assisted 663 clients, created 64 businesses, retained 34 businesses, expanded 20 businesses, and created or retained 302 jobs. After initial setup of an Enterprise Facilitation project, the cost per job created averages less than $3,000. For rural Kansas, that’s money well spent.

See the original article online here

Hail, the returning economic-development hero! from the Albuquerque Tribune

This is a great post by Albuquerque Tribune writer Gene Grant which shows the kind of impact that the Sirolli Institute, working in partnership with local communities and agencies can have - in this case on the City of Albuquerque and the wider State of New Mexico.

Of course since Ernesto did the key note at the conference a lot of other people have been involved - including the Sirolli Institute Implementation Team - and a whole bunch of quite remarkable local volunteers.

It just shows what can be done when people really embrace Enterprise Facilitation®.

From Agricultural Production to Entrepreneurial Farming

Several years ago I travelled to Italy, my country of birth , to visit a region called Emilia-Romagna. I was there with a delegation of Canadian Government and Industry representatives wishing to take a look at a region which was attracting the attention of economists all over the World for its phenomenal economic growth.
In Emilia-Romagna, a region of 4 million people, there was one business for every 11 (eleven) people. On top of that, there were 7,900 cooperatives of which 2,400 operated in the rural sector.
Farmers market their produce together, process it in their own cooperative processing plants and finally own cooperative supermarket chains which operate both in Italy and throughout Europe. It seems that in Emilia- Romagna, farmers maintain control of their crops all the way from the fields to the market.
My visit there contrasted with what I experienced at a public meeting in a small country town in Western Australia. Prices had been depressed for years and the anger of farmers in that wheat-producing region had reached boiling point; guest speakers travelling there from the city were confronted by the sight of effigies of politicians being hung and burnt outside the Town Hall.
During the public meeting I made the remark that farmers should learn to add value to their products, but my comments were shouted down and I wasn’t able to explain what I meant. I remember one of the farmers becoming very agitated and saying: “The next bastard who comes from the city and tells me to add value to my crop I will shoot!”
I could not help but reflect on what makes the difference between farmers in Emilia-Romagna and farmers in Western Australia? Do they truly differ that much? Could it be that farmers in Emilia-Romagna started suffering earlier than those in Australia and have had the time to get over the anger to concentrate on survival?
History seems to confirm the latter hypothesis. Farming in Emilia-Romagna in the 1850s – 60s went through a catastrophic phase with so many rural people displaced that rural mutual aid societies were created at the grass roots to provide for widows and starving children. Out of that, and a century later, a rural sector has emerged which has put leadership and management talent at the service of both farmers and commerce. It has created a rural economy which is not only wealthy, it promotes, protects and represents the interests of those who work the land and produce the crops.
On the other hand, the farmers in Australia had it so good that they started to be concerned about prices only in the 1970’s and 80’s. Government-run Marketing Boards had lulled them into believing that the world would forever need their bulk wheat and greasy wool. Farmers became price takers...until price no longer covered costs!
The anger, the soul searching, is therefore recent and the solutions seem too hard and unpalatable. It took me some time. But I finally understood why that Western Australian farmer was so angry at my suggestion to learn to add value to his crop; in his eyes I was both arrogant and insensitive to rural needs and aspirations.
What he implied is that farmers have a dignity, a culture that we have to understand and respect. Many of them have deliberately chosen farming precisely because they don’t want to get mixed up in commerce, in marketing, in dealing with merchants and brokers. They simply want to farm beautifully and to provide an abundant harvest for their family, their country and the World.
They have earned respect for that, and should not be dismissed as non-value adders!
Yet prices are low, costs are high and farmers go to the wall every day while food corporations prosper and consumers scream for better and healthier food.
What can we do to help farmers?
Is there a way to transform production farming into entrepreneurial farming without offending and alienating the very farmers who need business advice so badly?
The solution, I believe, lies in only working with the farmers who ask for help and stop preaching to them.
And when they ask for help let them do what they love to do - but make sure that they find someone to work with in their business who loves to do the things that they hate.

Community or Enterprise?

Over the last few months a number of people have said to me,
‘the trouble with Sirolli and Enterprise Facilitation® is that people have you in the wrong box’.
Half of the people go on to say,
‘They have you in the ‘Enterprise box’ and you are all about community development – you should be working with the community people.’
The other half say,
‘They have you in the ‘Community box’ and you are all about enterprise and entrepreneurship – you should be working with the enterprise people'.
We only go ‘where we are invited’ and sometimes we are invited by people interested in community development and sometimes we are invited by people interested in promoting enterprise and entrepreneurship.
It is worrying how difficult it can be to break down the barriers between these silos with public sector funders and planners.
It is encouraging that once working ‘on the ground’ with local people they soon recognise that these are two sides of the same coin – enterprise is a social phenomena and it thrives in effective communities.

Beautiful Night in Bradford!

I have just got in from a magical night in Bradford. Over 40 members of the local community came together to elect the executive group that will see the Enterprise Facilitation project in Bradford move to its next phase.
Nancy and I were overwhelmed at the number of nominations that were put forward for election - and the number of people that were happy to offer their services.
They really have a great community led panel and should help the City enormously in the years to come.
It is great to have a new UK project out of the starting blocks! Congratulations to the new executive team and whole panel. And so many thanks to the steering group who have nurtured the project to this stage.

Congratulations to Prizewinning PEER - The First Enterprise Facilitation Project in the UK

As part of the nationwide competition the NWDA, the Institute of Directors (IoD), Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Ethnic Minority Business Forum North West have searched the Northwest seeking the area that best demonstrates the entrepreneurial spirit of the region.

Enterprise Facilitation in Rossendale has been managed for around 5 years now by a social enterprise called PEER - People Encouraging Enterprise in Rossendale. Working with the Sirolli Institute they have pioneered the practice of Enterprise Facilitation in the UK.

People Encouraging Enterprise in Rossendale (PEER) has won the regional heat of Enterprising Britain 2007. This year PEER has been awarded the Northwest honours for inspiring and empowering the local community to support local businesses and social enterprises set up and develop.

Winning the regional heat means that PEER is now eligible for a grant of up to £75,000 from the NWDA to further develop its enterprise activity. The organisation will now go forward to represent the Northwest in the national final of Enterprising Britain 2007, where the overall UK winner will be selected.

PEER and the 11 other regional winners will be visited by members of the judging panel over the summer, with the national winner being announced at an Awards event later in the year.

If you would like to find out more about the work of PEER and about the reality of making Enterprise Facilitation work in the UK we are holding an Open Day on July 3rd 2007.

In the mean time please join with us in congratulating Ronnie, Rob, David, Andy and the wonderful volunteers and entrepreneurs in Rossendale who have worked so hard to make Rossendale one of the most Enterprising communities in the UK.

Jigsaw Cities

At the book launch for Jigsaw Cities its author, Professor Anne Power and John Houghton, emphasised the importance of understanding cities as made up of a number of different jigsaw puzzle pieces with no picture on the cover to help put it all together. For physical regeneration there was discussion about renovating existing stock, using micro-spaces, and developing mixed use communities.

Why is it that the presumed starting point for regeneration is still physical - rather than psychological? In my experience it is when individuals find confidence and hope that a community can start to regenerate. It takes more than uPVC windows and doors to bring a community hope as this article by Sue Townsend so brilliantly illustrates.

Sirolli Institute Masterclass

The Spring 2007 Masterclass is well underway in San Francisco, with Facilitators being introduced to some new online tools.
These include the Online Forums and this Blog.

Good News from the State of Kansas!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 27, 2007

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact: Senator Derek Schmidt
(785) 296-2497

LEGISLATURE OKs ENTERPRISE FACILITATION FUNDING


TOPEKA -- (April 27, 2007) -- The legislature today gave final approval to legislation that will provide a reliable source of funding for a successful rural development program, sending the measure to the governor. She is expected to sign it into law.

“For our state’s least-developed counties, enterprise facilitation has proven to be a successful program in starting and nurturing new businesses,” said Senator Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, who sponsored the measure. “This will give some certainty to the enterprise facilitation projects so they can focus on doing their work instead of worrying whether they will be funded year-to-year.”

The new provision of law is included in legislation that extends the rural development tax credit program. The provision requires that 5 percent of the funds raised by sale of rural development tax credits statewide be distributed among the enterprise facilitation projects. If all tax credits are sold, that would generate $30,000 per year to help sustain each project, which is about half the total annual cost of running an enterprise facilitation program.

In Southeast Kansas, the Quad County Enterprise Facilitation project has helped nurture business start-ups and economic development in Chautauqua, Elk, Greenwood and Woodson counties. Wilson and eastern Cowley counties also have participated in the project. The Quad County project has nurtured about 100 business startups since its inception.

Enterprise Facilitation® UK Open Day

We are pleased to announce our first ever Enterprise Facilitation® UK Open Day. This will provide a chance to visit the community of Rossendale in Lancashire, where the Sirolli Institute have worked with a social enterprise called PEER (People Encouraging Enterprise in Rossendale) to develop an Enterprise Facilitation® project - the first in Europe.
The project has been running for 5 years now and has achieved some remarkable results, both in terms of supporting individual entrepreneurs, but also in helping to transform the enterprise culture of the community.
The open day will provide the chance to meet with and learn from the people in the community who have helped to make this project a success. You can find out more at UK Open Day
There will be a charge to attend the open day with surpluses being used to help support the work of PEER.

No it wasn’t the set of a Disney movie...the indians were real!

You may recall the postings about the visit to the Sitting Bull College and to the Standing Rock Indian reservation few months ago. In North Dakota we met an outstanding leader and educator named (Big) Dave Archambould. Dave is also the Chairman of the American Indian Business Leaders association, a non per profit organization that aim to prepare American Indian students for leadership positions in business and in life.

The association encourages college and high school students to gather once a year to listen, learn and exchange ideas. The trick is that it is the students who pick the venue for their meetings and who have to raise the funds to attend the gatherings. You can imagine then why we met across the street from Disneyworld in California!

Fun aside, we did some work, and in particular we explored the Trinity of Management® as it applies to start up businesses. Many Indian Colleges have both entrepreneurial classes and micro lending for future entrepreneurs. As you can imagine to accesss the funding prospective entrepreneurs have to enrol in business classes that focus on business plan preparation with an emphasis on literacy and numeracy skills. The results are not good and few entrepreneurs finish the courses and avail themselves of available finances. Those who do often struggle in the business once removed from the comfort of the classroom environment. A better way needs to be found and the Trinity of Management® could offer a more natural way for American Indians to go into business. After all they understand very well that in a harsh environment you don’t survive alone. I told them that in business the problems can come at you from every direction and that it is therefore important to keep an eye on the entire horizon. It takes three people to keep a clear focus on 360% of horizon…one person will never be able to do it alone!

Will they remember when they will start their businesses? Who knows, but I am pretty sure that they will link my face to a very happy time in their lives, with all thos

Spring in Napa Valley, California. Green everywhere, including the MBA class!

The New College of California has recently launched a “socially responsible and ecologically sustainable MBA program” that aims to fuse “social justice, ecological considerations, and community involvement and alternative forms of management ownership”. John Stanton, the director of the Green MBA program, and Jane Lorand who is faculty at the School, extended an invitation to meet both students and alumni in Santa Rosa. Martha and I made the drive from Sacramento on a spectacular spring day last week.

We decided to go there the “wrong” way and we braved the Silverado Trail, a narrow, ancient, winding road thru the hills that gave us the opportunity of take in the California spring.

John and the students met us initially in town. The first lecture I gave in their classroom, an old railway yard! The evening meeting was in a beautiful student house, in open country, surrounded by fields and trees.

Students and alumni, some 50 of them, had “Ripples” on their study course and the day was therefore more of a “getting to know each other” than a one way lecture. They knew what we were all about and that gave me the possibility of listening to their hopes and to answer their questions. It seemed to me that what is pioneered at the NCC will become the norm throughout the academic world. It is not possible nowadays to do an MBA without understanding the social and environmental implications of commercial decisions. It is equally impossible to conceive of environmental decisions that cannot be financed or even of a personal lifestyle that cannot be sustained for economic reasons.

The Green MBA students are neither hippies nor “wall street” types; they are a new brand of individual for which there is neither name nor stereotype. May they prosper and multiply!

Dr. Ernesto Sirolli

Sirolli in the Press!

Enchanted Circle Project Graduates, Taos, New Mexico

A 10 minute video clip of Ernesto Sirolli speaking on the occassion of the graduation of the Sirolli Enchanted Circle Project in Taos. Just click on the image to watch the speech.

WHAT’S N.I.S.E.R. THAN NOOSA?

Noosa, the Queensland holiday resort, is hard to improve upon. Its natural beauty is legendary and its people are among the most environmentally aware anywhere in the world.
Yet a number of locals led by Lew Brennan and Charles Shewring believe that they can improve on the long term sustainability of the town by creating the Noosa Institute for Socio Economic Research. It was Lew, a Noosa City Councillor, who invited us last year and again ten days ago to address a gathering of local decision makers.
Council, University, environmental and business groups spent a day with us at the Noosa Blue Resort to discuss Enterprise Facilitation® and its implication for the community and the city. NISER also organized a meeting in Crows Nest in the highlands, one hour drive from Brisbane, Queensland’ capital city.
The day saw many representatives from a number of rural country towns attending our seminar. In particular the Crows Nest and Rosalie Shires attended and committed themselves to follow up soon with an organizational meeting to discuss our method for community capacity building and local economic development.
Dr. Ernesto Sirolli
CEO
Sirolli Institute
1 877 SIROLLI
(916) 446-9264
www.sirolli.com
http://sirolli.blogspot.com/
"The future of every community lies in capturing the passion, imagination, and resources of its people."

Bendigo Bank, a lesson in community organizing from Down Under!

Second stop on a three weeks conference tour of Hawaii and Australia was a visit to the City of Greater Bendigo in Victoria. The invitation to address the community came via the Bendigo Bank one of the most remarkable examples of community banking we have ever seen.
Bendigo Bank pioneered, nearly ten years ago, a model of community banking that has been adopted by nearly two hundred communities Australia wide. At a time when major banks abandon small and rural communities Bendigo’s Community Banks are growing like mushrooms providing not only a needed service but a financial return as well. Every year hundreds of thousands of dollars are returned to the communities that establish the local franchises of the Bendigo Bank, funds that can be invested in community activities to spur new growth.
Our visit to Bendigo allowed us to meet with Bendigo Banks officials, including John Sirolli (maybe a long lost cousin from my region of Italy?) and to observe two more projects started by the Bank: Lead On, an exciting youth initiative, and TELCO, a community owned and operated telecommunication company. Yvonne Fizer and I addressed a meeting sponsored by the Central Victoria Business Network (yet another spin off from the Bendigo Bank) and discussed the possibilities of future work in Bendigo with both the Bendigo Bank and the community.

Dr. Ernesto Sirolli
CEO
Sirolli Institute
1 877 SIROLLI
(916) 446-9264
www.sirolli.com

http://sirolli.blogspot.com/

"The future of every community lies in capturing the passion, imagination, and resources of its people."

Moving ceremony in Honolulu

The first stop on a three weeks trip to Hawaii and Australia was Honolulu where I spoke at a conference organized by the University of Hawaii Business Center Program. One evening at a reception at the Art Exchange in China Town I was surprised by being the guest of honor at a beautiful Samoan ceremony that culminated in me receiving an "Ie Toga".
An "Ie Toga", or ceremonial fine mat used in Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, is the most sacred of Polynesian possessions. It was presented to me by Papalii Dr. Failautusi Avegalio, Director of the University of Hawaii Pacific Business Program on behalf of Honolulu' Mayor Muliufi Hanneman. Present at the ceremony where ranking chiefs of American Samoa, High Chief Liufau and High Chief Alo. Representing Mayor Muliufi Hanneman was his wife Gail Hanneman.
Dr. Ernesto Sirolli
CEO
Sirolli Institute
1 877 SIROLLI
(916) 446-9264
www.sirolli.com
http://sirolli.blogspot.com/
"The future of every community lies in capturing the passion, imagination, and resources of its people."

Opportunity Kintyre Completes 5 Day Training

We had the great joy last week of spending 5 days on the Kintyre Peninsula training new facilitator Lynn Hammal and members of her Panel in Enterprise Facilitation®. We were made to feel tremendously welcome - and on the last day of our visit were surprised when a piper in full regalia burst into the training room playing Mull of Kintyre. He was one of the original pipers from the Paul McCartney video.
So big thanks go out to Mary, Lynn, Shelagh, Morag, Mary,Rob, Isobel, John, Trevor, Pamela, Archie and Les for a memorable week.

Sirolli Project In Taos Graduates

Here is an online video where Christopher Madrid, Enterprise Facilitator in Taos, talks about the achievements of the Enterprise Facilitation project in Taos New Mexico.

Watch the video here

Problem with Entrepreneurship Education - One-Off - or Widespread Malaise?

We recently received the following e-mail from a student of entrepreneurship:

The course I am currently studying (Entrepreneurship) is under new management. Until last year it was a course that encouraged individuality and basically everything that Ernesto talks about in the third section of his book. Students were encouraged to take hold of their own learning, they were not babied, they were not inundated with theories and concepts of business but rather encouraged to learn them and more often encouraged to get out in the real world and learn real lessons. The course was passively mentored and whilst help was there it had to be sourced more personally to really take advantage of what was there to learn.

My dilemma is that under this new management has come a total death to these philosophies. Students are being babied, forced to learn theories and concepts rather than get hands on experience in the world of entrepreneurship. They are being monitored closely to ensure they are learning all the lessons that the organisation deems important rather than using their own initiative and motivation to learn what they need to know.

I really feel that the entrepreneurial thinking that was facilitated through this course is becoming extinct and rather the institution is setting students up with skills to fit well into an organisation.

I know this is probably quite off the topic of what your people are use to dealing with but I thought if you could help us it might pose more credit than coming from us the students.

So is this a sign of a widespread problem in enterprise education? Is it a problem in education more generally? Or is it just a 'one-off' that we should not worry too much about.

Let us know what you think by leaving a comment or entering the debate on our public forum at http://sirolli.informe.com

Taos – the enchanted project- completes two years of Enterprise Facilitation® training

They call it the “Enchanted Circle Sirolli Project” and they refer, of course, to the Land of Enchantment i.e. the awe inspiring mountains of Northern New Mexico. If you have never been there…go, and you will understand the “enchanted” bit!

Martha and I arrived immediately after a snow storm that had managed to transform the high desert into a landscape of sparkling whites and blues all set against a background of rocks that had been washed clean of dust and that seemed painted in ochre. The Two Year celebration was beautifully organized and Board Members , clients, Christopher Madrid, the Enterprise Facilitator, and Jean Kenin, the Board’ chair, were at hand to share stories, celebrate their successes and partake some excellent food offered, for the occasion, by the Don Fernando Inn of Taos.

State, regional and local government representatives shared congratulation and so did the McCune Foundation and the Los Alamos National Laboratories two of the non government founders of the project.

The highlights of these events, however, are always the clients. It is their stories and their emotions that remind us why we are doing what we do, why it is so important to care for the dreams and aspirations of people. One of the clients of Christopher was a young doctor, he had been left with the seemingly impossible task of trying to keep the doors open at the local children’ clinic. The private clinic, dealing with the poorer and uninsured children in the community, had lost one of the founding partners and was just about to be closed when it sought the help of Christopher and the Board. Not only the clinic was saved, but state legislation was enacted to change the legal status of such entities and now the clinic has become an example of what can be done in the field.

So many clients and so many stories!

During my address I told the gathering that it did not surprise me that the magic of Enterprise Facilitation happened, again, in the Land of Enchantment. It was the people that I met on my very first visit there that did it for me. John Otis, Don Francisco Trujillo, the Mayor Bobby Duran and all those who came to listen to our presentation with open hearts and mind. You could see it in their faces, the love they had for their ancient land and for the people who have made the Land of Enchantment their home.

Dr. Ernesto Sirolli
CEO
Sirolli Institute
1 877 SIROLLI
(916) 446-9264
www.sirolli.com

As a child in Italy I always wanted to be an Indian not a Cow Boy, finally…!

It was with a sense of trepidation that we accepted an invitation to address the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council in North Dakota. We had been there before, at the invitation of the Sitting Bull College, and had been impressed by the talent, determination and skills of the tribal people that we had met. But to be invited to address the Tribal Council was a totally different experience! First of all I felt honored. These are the descendants of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas with ancestry spreading all the way from the Artic Circle to the Yucatan Peninsula. Secondly these are the beloved Sioux of my childhood games (pronounced SEE-U-K-S in Italy!). Who would ever have imagined that one day I would have been invited to address their Tribal Council!? Yet Yvonne Fizer and I had a tremendous reception that started at the airport in Bismarck and continued for an entire day. The invitation was extended to us by the Tribal Chairman, Ron His-Horse-Is-Thunder, who had attended our presentation at the College last year and who has become a champion for our methodology. This time however we met many other tribal leaders including the formidable (Big) Dave Archambault, his wife Betty and a number of members of their family including his son Dave Jr. and daughter in law Nicole who are very successful entrepreneurs.

Big Dave, among many other duties, runs the local tribal radio station and we were interviewed after addressing the Tribal Council. We left the community with the hope of being invited back, this time to establish an Enterprise Facilitation® project. It would be the first such project established by an Indian Tribal Council in America and the idea sends shivers down my spine! We repeat time and time again that THERE IS NO GEOGRAPHY TO PASSION. We also know that race and culture have nothing to do with it either and we look forward to demonstrate what we teach right here, in the majestic planes of North Dakota, under the watchful eye of Sitting Bull!

Ruth's Letter to the Institute

“The past seven years have been a grand and glorious journey. The local board and I have always enjoyed a special relationship and we have moved Baker County forward together! However, we couldn't have done that without the advice and support of folks at the Sirolli Institute. Thank you for everything you have done to help us be a success. A dedicated, passionate, and creative board chair is an important of any project's success. The best board chair we have ever had was Nancy Peyron, and you were farsighted enough to hire her as part of the Institute Team. Lucky you!

At the end of February, I will begin a new chapter in my life, and am looking forward to whatever the future brings. Perhaps our paths will cross again. Thanks again for the wonderful birdbath. I will fondly remember my Enterprise Facilitator days whenever I watch the birds splashing around and enjoying their lovely bath.

I wish special blessings on all of you!

Ruth

Ruth Townsend, Enterprise Facilitator

Baker Enterprise Growth Initiative (BEGIN)”