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