Norfolk County encouraged more business development locally by holding Speed Networking for locals at their economic development conference. Photo courtesy of Norfolk County, Ontario.
What supports can a municipality provide to encourage innovation and business start-ups?
That was one of the listener questions when I was a guest recently on the Orton Family Foundation’s Heart and Soul Talks.
Municipalities and local officials feel responsible for developing their local economy. Too often, economic development takes the same old form of recruiting outside companies or chains, and giving them incentives to drain money and resources out of the local community. So if you need a good first step to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship inside your town, stop spending your money developing someone else’s businesses.
Use the Idea Friendly Framework to develop your local businesses:
1) Take Small Steps: cut down barriers to entry. Make it easier to get through the town-imposed process to get into business. Eliminate permits, requirements and licenses as much as possible. Declare a bureaucracy-free zone downtown for three months and just see what happens.
2) Build Connections: local officials build large networks across the state. Use your network to support your local businesses by bringing in your connections and resources from outside the community. Facilitate local connections through networking events for locals and across different groups in town.
3) Gather Your Crowd: be an advocate for local business. Promote the actions you’ve taken to be more open and supportive to new businesses. Issue awards and proclamations to draw public attention to local businesses. Share information freely about local business-development events no matter who puts them on. Use utility bills to get the word out.
Do you have an example of a municipality that has been active in supporting innovation and startups? Tell us about it in the comments, or if you’re reading by email, hit reply and tell me.
New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.
- Downtown is your town’s core: How to make your case - February 22, 2021
- Zoom Towns: attracting and supporting remote workers in rural small towns - December 10, 2020
- In an economic crisis, spend your brainpower before your dollars - November 25, 2020
- Video: How to fill empty car dealership buildings for the holidays - November 6, 2020
- How has 2020 changed the challenges rural small towns face? Tell us here - October 20, 2020
- The Idea Friendly Method to surviving a business crisis - October 6, 2020
- Join me for the Rural Renewal Symposium online Oct 13 - September 26, 2020
- Cheap placemaking idea: instant murals - September 11, 2020
- Refilling the rural business pipeline - July 7, 2020
- Huge vacant buildings: grants to renovate? - June 9, 2020
