Jeff Reid heads up the Rural Entrepreneurship Initiative at Georgetown University in Washington DC. You may wonder why an urban university like Georgetown decided to take on rural entrepreneurship. I wondered. Jeff explains that and more, before we turn to his own rural roots and perspective. (Hint: Jeff earned his Bachelor of Science in business administration from Appalachian State University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Jeff and I talk about:
- What Georgetown brings to the table when working with rural
- Why entrepreneurship matters especially in rural areas
- What regular people can do to help entrepreneurs in their own community
- The secret benefit to supporting entrepreneurs who are not yet big successes
- Don’t write off your entrepreneurs too soon, and being fired isn’t the end of the world
- Surprising places you find businesses poised to grow
- Advantages of starting and growing a business from a rural town
- Why rural people are innovative
Catch up with Jeff on Twitter as @hoyapreneur
Learn more about the Rural Entrepreneurship Initiative at StrongRuralAmerica.com