The second Growing Entrepreneurial Communities Summit is April 25 and 26 in Kansas City, Missouri (smack dab in the middle of the country). This conference is a practitioner-focused gathering designed to help economic developers and small business supporters effectively create economic growth through entrepreneurship in local communities.
This year’s summit, subtitled Entrepreneurship on the Edges, will focus on entrepreneurship-led economic development strategies in disadvantaged urban and rural communities. The Summit employs an unusual format. Experts set the stage for a topic, practitioners from the field give on-the-ground examples and then participants discuss the topic in small groups. This provides a forum for deep sharing of what works and doesn’t work in real-life practice.
Together, we’ll create action plans to bring back to our communities and continue to strengthen the field of entrepreneurship-led economic development nationwide.
But just in case you—economic developer, supporter of entrepreneurship—are on the fence about attending or aren’t sure what’s in store for you, we’ve created our top reasons why you should attend the Growing Entrepreneurial Communities Summit.
1. Connect with visionaries. The country’s leading entrepreneurship-led economic organizations like the Brookings Institution, Edward Lowe Foundation, Kauffman Foundation, Rutgers Business School (just to name a few) will be in attendance exchanging ideas and collaborating. Use the hashtag #growingeship to follow the conversation on Twitter.
2. Build your network. You’ll meet economic leaders and community developers who are sharing their best practices on entrepreneurship-led economic development strategies. These are your people. Pro tip: bring plenty of business cards.
3. Provoke your thinking. Push yourself and others to think of solutions outside of the ordinary to solve real-life problems in fostering diversity and bridging the gap in distressed communities. Register for the Growing Entrepreneurial Communities Summit.
4. Get down to business. This is not a conference you can breeze through. Be prepared to engage in deep roundtable discussions on establishing strategies to reach distressed communities, both urban and rural. Side note: You may want to bring a notebook and pen.
5. Empower entrepreneurs. Not only will the summit cover ways to reduce the barriers for starting a business, but will also foster a collaborative environment for women entrepreneurs. #zerobarriers
6. Be inspired. You will be surrounded by visionaries, civic leaders and ecosystem builders who are creating economic growth across the country. Ask questions. Take notes. And share the knowledge.
7. Create change. We’ll have roundtable discussions on how to effectively communicate the importance of entrepreneurship to policy makers and city leaders. Because entrepreneurship matters.
8. Explore Kansas City. The Summit will be held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City located in downtown Kansas City, home of smoked barbecue, jazz and the Kansas City Royals.
Did we convince you yet? Register now. If you are working with entrepreneurs in your community and feel all alone, come join a conversation with kindred spirits.
