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Industrial Social Entrepreneurship

ptrogerptroger subscriber Posts: 1
edited September 2010 in Selecting a Business
I`ve enjoyed browsing this website for some time and it really has some valuable resources for a small business owner. This may not be the place to post this, but has anyone ever heard of industrial social entrepreneurship? I live in a southern rural area that has been decimated by the loss of the textile industry and didn`t know if anyone knew of any resources on how to find larger businesses that are expanding or relocating. Our county has had the highest unemployment rating in the state for a couple of years now and I would like to do something to help. Unfortunately, I can only employ a few people in my business. Has anyone ever heard of any social entrepreneurs trying to help poorer areas by relocating or expanding businesses there? I know I`ll probably take some flak for posting this here but it`s a serious question and I would love to hear if any of you have any advice or resources on this matter. Thanks!
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    crazydiamondcrazydiamond subscriber Posts: 1
    ptroger;interesting question, but....there is usually a reason for the high unemployment rate of a given area, and the factors are endless. Considerlevel of educationother skill sets through experience, training -  and are they transferablestate of infrastructurelocation and transportationrelative competitive access to materials or other input factorspay scale levels of the demographicage of demographic and participation in the work forcepolicies of municipal & state gov`ts w respect to taxing businesses, employmentsources and availability of risk capitalThere is little a single entrepreneur can do to address many of these factors. Having said that, there is some benefit to banding together for lobbying for changes in policy, there is a benefit to sharing advice and experience, and pooling of ventures to spread risks through diversification can help (but this needs a fairly intricate legal arrangement).If one wanted to see examples of using some of these levers to address this problem, I would urge you to look at the South Korean and Irish examples, and the success of micro-finance projects. With sensible tax policy, supportive groups for micro-credit startups, a half wise intelligent education program - a great deal can be done. The key to this is organizing. Good luck
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    ptrogerptroger subscriber Posts: 1
    Thanks for the responses. Crazy Diamond, I have never heard of the Irish microfinance projects. I`ll have to study up on that one. Do you think that it could be adapted to a smaller area?Craig, I have thought before of organizing a group of local angel investors and using a website to attract businesses through those means. Is that where you are going with your idea?
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    maryglennmaryglenn subscriber Posts: 1
    Where do you live in the south?
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    ptrogerptroger subscriber Posts: 1
    Thanks for all the suggestions. Does anyone have some ideas on some creative incentives that our county could offer to start-ups? Something that would help attract businesses that otherwise might not locate here. I`m hoping to hear something innovative and new that would set us apart from areas that had your traditional incentives such as small tax breaks. Any suggestions???
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    infinique1infinique1 subscriber Posts: 0 Member
    I think this is a great idea. It's like industrial attachment for entrepreneur wannabees.
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    cancel101cancel101 subscriber Posts: 0
    Is there anyone at all in the local government who cares in any way
    about making the area attractive? Probably not. So...take the job into
    your own hands, get some additional support, and take the initiative.
    If few other business owners have an interest, that`ll tell you why no
    large industries are interested either.
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