The blog
Field writing, by the team doing the work.
Reflections, strategy notes, and practical pieces from SourceLink practitioners.
Economic Development
Beyond Celebration: Aligning Small Business and Economic Development Efforts
This year, The SBA's National Small Business Week and the International Economic Development Council's (IEDC) Economic Development Week land at the same time; the first week of May. That overlap...
Strategy
Why website accessibility matters for entrepreneurs
Placeholder post seeded for the Home insights section. Accessibility is not a compliance checkbox for ecosystem builders; it decides whether the entrepreneurs who most need help can actually reach it....
Ecosystem Building
Reflections from the IEDC Leadership Summit: Trust as Infrastructure
The most important moment of the IEDC Leadership Summit for me happened the night before. Dr. Lomax R Campbell and I sat down to refine our thinking for our presentation,...
Field notes
Reflections from the IEDC Leadership Summit: Trust as infrastructure
Placeholder post seeded for the Home insights section. Notes from the IEDC Leadership Summit on why durable ecosystems treat trust the way cities treat roads. Replace this copy with the...
Network news
Why You Need to Be at ICBI40 April 12 - 15
Entrepreneurship-led economic development doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built by the people behind the scenes by incubator managers, ESO leaders, ecosystem builders, funders, and program directors who design the systems...
Network news
Looking forward to 2026 and New Tools for Collaboration
SourceLink Affiliate Quarterly Conversation – December 18, 2025 It’s been our tradition to begin the final SourceLink Affiliate Quarterly Conversation of the year with director, Rob Williams, sharing his reflections from...
Economic Development
Entrepreneurship Is More Than a Buzzword in Economic Development
The words communities use to describe entrepreneurs now shape who participates, who gets support, and how local economies grow. For a long time, economic development in the U.S. followed a familiar...
Ecosystem Building
Let's be Measured by What We Build Together in 2026
“I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” -Frederick Douglass We stand at the end of a long and difficult year. There were...
Economic Development
Santa Fe Small Business Navigator: Building Systems That Support Entrepreneurs at Scale
Across the field of economic development one truth stands out: supporting entrepreneurs requires more than good programs; it requires good systems. The city of Santa Fe has no shortage of...
Economic Development
Fueling Entrepreneurship in Rural America
Across small towns and wide-open regions, rural ecosystems grow faster when ecosystem partners invest in shared systems, transparent communication, and relationships that span towns and counties. Mark Burdette has spent more...
Economic Development
Ecosystem Unfiltered: Your Questions, Their Wisdom
Communities across the country are engaging in entrepreneurship-led economic development to give small businesses the best resources they need on their entrepreneurship journey. When trying to bridge gaps and solve...
Economic Development
How Data Becomes an Ecosystem’s Superpower
In Puerto Rico, new insights from ecosystem-wide data reveal who’s starting businesses, what drives their success, and how communities can respond faster when challenges hit. In resilient entrepreneurial ecosystems, data...