Ernesto Sirolli on Africa and the first Enterprise Facilitation® project in the Democratic Republic of Congo

From 1972 to1977 I worked for an Italian Agency of Technical Cooperation with African Countries call ASIP. ASIP was one of a number of private sector Agencies created after the passage of the Pertini Act of Parliament of 1971. Under the new law young Italians were able to volunteer for two years of work in Africa in programs designed and endorsed by the Italian Foreign Office. The role of my Agency was initially a recruitment and training role for young volunteers but very soon we became involved in designing the Technical Cooperation programs in a number of African countries including Zambia, Kenya, Somalia, Algeria and Ivory Coast.

What I experienced visiting our projects and our volunteers in Africa during the five years period was devastating. The experience shaped both my personal and professional life and Enterprise Facilitation®, the local economic and community development approach that we have developed over the past 30 years, is the direct result of it.

We failed miserably in Africa .Every single project failed to sustain itself and often we damaged the local people by introducing practices and technologies that were antithetic to local mores and inappropriate to local needs.

We started Training Farms by African rivers full of Hippopotami, only to see the crops eaten as soon as ripe, and we convinced the native people to come to work by “motivating” them with increasingly damaging enticements; from sunglasses and watches to beer and whiskey.

The Foreign Office started a faculty of Medicine in Mogadishu. My Agency sourced the books in the USA, had them translated in Italian and then established Italian Classes for students who, being well educated middleclass Somalis, spoke English.

During the period I came in contact with many foreign Aid Agencies working in Africa and I came to believe that it wasn’t only us Italians blundering in Africa. It seemed to me that all of donor nations had their own ideas of what the African people needed and were doing their blundering best to impose it onto them.

We collectively failed, and some still fail in Africa, because we made plans in our own countries and then we superimposed our programs, technologies and practices to people who did not ask us for our help and who did not need what we thought they needed! Our programs were about us, not them and without buy in from the locals we were always reduced to reward, motivate, cajole and bully people to do what we wanted them to do.

Instead of helping people do what they passionately wanted to do we paid them to do what we wanted done; as soon as the money would end the program would disappear!


Enterprise Facilitation is born of two ideas:

• Only go where invited
• Help people do beautifully what they love doing

The idea of “only going where invited” came from understanding the radical work of the German born economist Ernest Schumacher who, after working in Africa and Bangladesh in the sixties wrote “Small is Beautiful- Economics as if People Matter” (1973).

He famously wrote: “If people do not wish to be helped, leave them alone. This should be the first principle of aid.” The implication is that we should only work with people who sincerely want to be helped and that we should wait to be invited before showing up with our own ideas.

“Helping people do beautifully what they love to do” comes from studying Positive Psychology also called “Growth”, “Third Force” or “Humanistic” psychology.

Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, Adler, Fromm and a host of post Freudian and post behaviorist psychologists, hence Third Force, advocate a person centered, respectful approach to working with clients that is steeped in the belief that people are always striving for self improvement. The role of the “helper” is to “remove the obstacles” that are stopping the individual from “growing”. But the growth is unique to the individual and has to do with “their” needs and aspirations not the helper, the program managers, the Aid Agency or “society”.

The idea is that better individuals make for better husbands, wives, parents and citizens and that by facilitating personal growth, by helping people become proud of their achievements for instance, everybody benefits including the community at large.

Enterprise Facilitation is the result of thirty years community practice in facilitating the transformation of good business ideas into sustainable enterprises, but Facilitation, a la Carl Rogers, can be used in many other fields; from counseling to the delivery of education, social and health related services.

If invited we, Sirolli Institute International, a non per profit organization based in the USA and Canada, train the community leadership to employ an Enterprise Facilitator who, for free and in confidence, helps anybody who wants to transform a talent or a passion in a way to feed his/her family.

The first Enterprise Facilitator, Fabrice Ilunga Mujinga, was trained, and will continue to be trained, by the Sirolli Institute both long distance and during his regular visits to the USA. It is hoped that future projects in the African continent will be established with Assistance of our first African’ Enterprise Facilitator (who speaks French, English and Swahili on top of two local languages) as soon as he will have completed his training and at least one year practice in his community.

For more information please contact us: info@sirolli.com

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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