In business development, as in other forms of development, it takes an ecosystem.

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** Economy Remix: Moving Beyond the Myth of the Heroic Entrepreneur
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Welcome to the Remix, as we take our latest spin around the economy. This Remix column ([link removed]) covers a conference held last month in Wilmington, DE by a national alliance of community development and small business technical assistance providers who seek to encourage greater business ownership by people of color in their communities by linking these entrepreneurs to locally based resources.

The groups at the Wilmington gathering came from 16 US cities and regions—ranging from Minneapolis to Louisiana to Anchorage. And it was very much a practitioner-led affair. What was most notable was as much what was not present as what was discussed. Conversations on how to leverage philanthropic or corporate funding were conspicuous in their absence. Instead, the main theme that came through was the need, as the alliance putting on the conference calls themselves, to “build from within.”

Entrepreneurship, particularly in disadvantaged communities—event speakers made clear—is a team sport. At the conference, there was much discussion of a “four pillar” approach. These four pillars are business training, technical assistance, business lending, and real estate. Effectively, business success requires combining the skills, drive, and ability of the business owner(s) with knowledge (through both classroom training and technical assistance or coaching), capital (business loans) and space to operate (real estate support). As one business owner who had benefitted from such a community-based support system in Delaware explained, “It is all interconnected.”

For folks working in small business assistance and community development, this may all be obvious. But it is not the narrative we are told of the heroic entrepreneur. To be sure, building a business is very hard work with long hours, and there is a heroism of sorts in the people, particularly those from low-income communities, who make it work. But it is a different type of heroism—one based on humility, knowing what you don’t know, and building a team of support to fill the gaps and see your way through.

More broadly, the stories shared in Wilmington remind us of the importance of taking the lessons of asset-based community development to heart—and building from the many skills and capacities that already are present at the neighborhood level.

In reading this article ([link removed]) , I encourage you to consider how to develop systems to support business formation and development in your own communities.

Until the next Remix column, I remain

Your Remix Man:

Steve Dubb
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