Breaking Down Barriers

In this episode of Breaking Down Barriers, Host David Ponraj talks to three notable economic development leaders, sharing perspectives from local, state, and federal levels, about empowering microbusinesses that employ fewer than 10 people.   As a result of the pandemic, critical studies were conducted and analyzed to determine how to effectively revitalize businesses that had been negat...

This week, host David Ponraj interviews Diane Bevan, Executive Director of the Idaho Women’s Business Center and CEO of the Idaho Hispanic Foundation. An entrepreneur in her own right, Diane has built her career on making connections and building business. The two discuss Diane's vision for empowering women entrepreneurs through education, support and mentorship. Learn more about Diane's work at I...

In this special two-part episode, host David Ponraj is joined by collaborators Philip Berkaw and Samira Cook Gains. Berkaw is Program Director of the Center for City Solutions at National League of Cities, an advocacy organization with more than 2,400 member cities. Samira Cook Gains, is Managing Director of Strategic Partnerships at Rising Tide Capital, a non-profit organization whose mission is...

In this special two-part episode, host David Ponraj is joined by collaborators Philip Berkaw and Samira Cook Gains. Berkaw is Program Director of the Center for City Solutions at National League of Cities, an advocacy organization with more than 2,400 member cities. Samira Cook Gains, is Managing Director of Strategic Partnerships at Rising Tide Capital, a non-profit organization whose mission is...

Access to capital is the biggest barrier to building a thriving small business sector. Innovation is the only way out. This episode features the audio recording from the virtual EIC Catalyst Network Discussion Series held on March 24, 2022. In a panel moderated by podcast host David Ponraj, we hear from trailblazers with noteworthy advancements in small business lending, technical assistance, and...

This week, host David Ponraj talks to Nathan Ohle, an internationally recognized expert in economic development and the president and CEO of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), a non-partisan organization with more than 5,000 members globally. Nathan explains why equity is the core for every local community "regardless of size, shape or geography" to drive economic opportunity i...

On this week’s episode economic opportunity champion Demetra Brown shares her journey to disrupt silos in the interest of better serving entrepreneurs in Dallas, Texas. As Senior Director with The DEC Network, Brown oversees the organization’s ecosystem-building coalition working to support underrepresented small business owners throughout the small business ecosystem. She and host David Ponraj ex...

A budding entrepreneur recently told Lyneir Richardson that “the 5 Cs of Credit are discriminatory.”   In 2022, Mr. Richardson believes that the clarion call for economic developers is how to address and change the systems in a way that makes entrepreneurship and capital access more inclusive. During this frank conversation, host David Ponraj and our guest, Lyneir Richardson, Executive Direct...

In this episode drawn from two recent panel discussions hosted by Economic Impact Catalyst, we hear from visionary economic developers, entrepreneurship ecosystem builders, and policy experts about their efforts to fully recognize the impact of entrepreneurship-led economic development on our economy. The conversations span why small business is often ignored in economic development, how to tell b...

In this episode, host David Ponraj has a conversation with Dr. Saras Sarasvathy, esteemed Professor of Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Ethics at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. She is a leading scholar on the cognitive basis for high-performance entrepreneurship, and author of the acclaimed books, “ Effectuation: Elements of Entrepreneurial Expertise ” and “ Effectual Entrepre...

Show host, David Ponraj, recently sat down with a group of esteemed panelists, as part of a virtual webinar series hosted by Startup Space. The panelists include economic development and entrepreneurship support organization leaders in Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts and Michigan; each lending their personal experiences in building inclusive entrepreneurial opportunities within their region. With...

Show host, David Ponraj, recently sat down with Ian Hathaway, co-author of The Startup Community Way, and VP of Capital at Techstars, as part of a virtual webinar series hosted by Startup Space. Hathaway is an investor, author, strategic advisor, and data scientist with expertise in technology startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. His views on what it takes to make a successful, endurin...

Dr. Dell Gines is a national thought leader in local economic growth, a Certified Economic Developer, and a Lead Community Development Advisor at the Omaha Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, where he focuses on communities of color and economically distressed communities. Show host, David Ponraj, recently sat down with Dr. Gines as part of a virtual discussion series centered on th...

In this episode, host David Ponraj interviews Garry Clark, President & CEO at Economic Alliance Snohomish County in Washington state, serving almost a million residents. Garry shares his heartfelt, spoken word “Why,” and the arduous barriers to entry, early in life, that motivated him to become a changemaker. This timely conversation about addressing the real needs of underserved communities w...

In this episode, host David Ponraj interviews Danielle Patterson, Director at SeedCore Foundation in Bakersfield, CA. Danielle oversees the Kern Initiative for Talent & Entrepreneurship (KITE), a private-public partnership focused on entrepreneurship-led economic development. Danielle has the unique ability to see the ecosystem from the support side as well as from the entrepreneur side, havin...

In this episode, host David Ponraj interviews Banks Benitez, co-founder and CEO of Uncharted, a social impact accelerator based in Denver, Colorado, to learn how they are addressing economic inequality in the U.S. The two discuss why Uncharted believes investing in early-stage ventures is the most strategic tool for wealth creation and empowerment and how they've built effective mentorship-driven...

This week, host David Ponraj speaks with Jeff Bennett, president of StartupSac, an initiative he co-founded to grow the startup ecosystem in Sacramento, CA. StartupSac has evolved from a self-funded passion project into a go-to source of entrepreneurial support and an online hub for information and resources about startups in the region. David and Jeff explore the vital role of grassroots organiza...

This week, host David Ponraj talks to Regina Ann Campbell, President and CEO of Build Institute, an idea innovation hub based in Detroit, MI. Regina's approach to solving the biggest barriers to entrepreneurship draws from her 20 years of experience in economic development and entrepreneurship. To date, Regina has led teams and initiatives that provided access to $21.4M+ in funding and resources f...

In this episode, host David Ponraj talks to Tina Kapoor, Economic Development Manager for the City of Fremont, CA. The two discuss innovation in the public sector, making the most of an economic crisis, creative partnership, and inclusive ways to make starting a business easier. Over a 20-year period, Tina built a career in economic development, excelling in the creation of innovative programs in...

This week's episode is about the value of helping people to believe entrepreneurship is for them, the challenges of effective ecosystem mapping, and what bartending has to teach us about the work of economic development. This week's guest, Jay Sparks, serves as the Entrepreneurship Coordinator at Regional Economic Development Inc. (REDI) based in Columbia, Missouri. In this interview, Sparks and h...

Evan Fay leads the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber's holistic strategy to serve entrepreneurs through creation of, and investment in, programs and infrastructure. He joins host David Ponraj to talk about pioneering the ecosystem builder role within a traditional chamber of commerce setting. Evan explains how the motto, "get proximal," informs their work and why building a more inclusive business eco...

For Darlisa Diltz, opening her own center to provide other entrepreneurs with training and access to resources was a personal challenge. Serving the broader Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, Darlisa opened the North Texas Entrepreneur Education & Training Center in 2018 as a "no judgment" zone for people like her to start and build their businesses. In this conversation with guest host Jacqui Diet...

Guest host Jacqui Dietrich is joined by Allen Woods, Executive Director and Co-founder of MORTAR, a nonprofit organization founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2014. Woods describes the five predominant barriers to entrepreneurship in their community and walks through MORTAR's neighborhood-driven approach to enabling historically marginalized entrepreneurs to access the resources needed to st...

Host David Ponraj sits down with David Kenney, Executive Director of VertueLab, to discuss entrepreneurial solutions at the intersection of economic recovery and climate change. They explore how the acceleration of cleantech startups can contribute to shared prosperity and additional investment in a region while addressing racial inequities in both the economy and the environment. Vertue Labs is a...

In this episode of Breaking Down Barriers, guest host Jacqui Dietrich is joined by Sarah Siders, Executive Director of Spark (Manhattan, KS), a nonprofit organization with a vision to "connect, resource, and successfully launch entrepreneurs and promote a dynamic and inclusive culture of entrepreneurship and innovation in the Greater Manhattan region." The two deep dive into how Spark is using the...