Pathways to Rural Prosperity with Don Macke

In this edition of Pathways to Rural Prosperity Podcast, Don Macke with e2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems hosts Tara Risewick, the new e2 (Entrepreneurial Ecosystems) Director.  Tara lives rural, knows rural and works rural.  Her family operates a chain of rural grocery stores, she had led a rural-centered community foundation, and now she is the next generation of e2 leadership.  In th...

NetWork Kansas (created in 2004) is most likely North America’s most robust, longest running and highest impact statewide community-centered entrepreneurial ecosystem-building initiative. Central to NetWork Kansas’ remarkable sustained level of entrepreneurial deal flow is its Entrepreneurship (E-) Community Partnership, launched in 2007. Erik Pedersen, President and COO, leads NetWork Kansas’ E-C...

In this edition of Pathways to Rural Prosperity Podcast Shelley Paasch hosts Don Macke with e2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems focusing on Entrepreneurs as Community Solutions .  When we think about entrepreneurs, for-profit businesses ranging from mom and pop cafes on main street to growth-oriented locally-owned manufacturing plants.  For all rural hometowns, community building related to ho...

GRO – Growing Rural Oregon: A Promising Rural Entrepreneurial Communities Initiative In this edition of Pathways to Rural Prosperity Podcast Don Macke with e2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems hosts Anne Kubisch, President of The Ford Family Foundation and Kathleen Flanagan with The Ford Family Foundation and GRO or Growing Rural Oregon.   Anne leads The Ford Family Foundation, a critical impor...

In this edition of Pathways to Rural Prosperity Podcast Shelley Paasch hosts Don Macke with e2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems focusing on E-Communities and Workforce .  Workers or human talent is foundational to communities and their economies.  For decades a worker shortage has been building in the United States.  This shortage is now becoming a crisis and in this podcast we explore wa...

In this edition of Pathways to Rural Prosperity Podcast Don Macke with e2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems hosts KC Belitz , Chief Operating Office with the Nebraska Community Foundation and leader for a new E-Community initiative based in Nebraska called E3 for short or Energizing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems .  E3 is off to a very promising start and has a vision of taking entrepreneurship statewid...

Whether a brand new start-up or an existing business seeking to grow, mentoring can be a powerful tool within any community’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Shelley Paasch and Don Macke explore the “why,” “what,” and “how” of entrepreneur mentoring programs. This episode also explores tried-and-true cost-sharing programs for providing customized technical assistance to entrepreneurs including mentors.

In this podcast episode, Don Macke hosts Tina Metzer and Jessica Glendinning with  RuralRISE , an important entrepreneurship initiative focusing on Rural America. Tina and Jessica share their personal development journeys and the “why” and “what” of RuralRISE. Additionally, they explore how folks can participate in the upcoming September 28-30th RuralRISE gathering in Emporia, Kansas alo...

In this episode of Pathways to Rural Prosperity Podcast Shelley Paasch and Don Macke focus on Entrepreneurial Communities and Business Services . Foundational to entrepreneurial ecosystems is their ability to connect area entrepreneurs to relevant resources like capital, technical assistance, and mentoring. In this podcast, Shelley and Don explore the role of area business services as both mentors...

In this episode, Don Macke talks with Andy Stoll, Senior Program Officer for Entrepreneurship at the  Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation . Andy is a champion of community-centered entrepreneurial ecosystem building. Our conversation explores Andy’s life journey, Nebraska roots, ecosystem building in Iowa, and now his work within the Kauffman Foundation.

Capital access and financial packaging are core ecosystem resources. One potential source of capital for entrepreneurial ventures is Limited Liability Company (LLC) investors. When paired with community-centered ecosystems, more deal flow and greater development impacts are enabled. In this episode, Shelley Paasch with Kansas Main Street and Don Macke of e2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems , explore thi...

In this podcast episode, Don Macke’s guest is Elizabeth Hutchison with  Carson+Co Global , a key creator of e2’s new Ord, Nebraska, Articulate 360 e-Learning Resource. You will learn about Elizabeth’s personal development journey, Carson+Co Global, and explore the web-based learning resource that captures the entire Ord, Nebraska, transformative entrepreneurial story. Listen for ideas on how...

Don Macke hosts David Iaquinta, Nebraska Wesleyan University professor and member of our e2 Ord story capture team. In the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, David touched based with a number of Ord entrepreneurs and community leaders to find out how they were doing. This episode focuses on community resiliency through the lens of David’s interviews and remarkable writings.

In this episode Shelley Paasch and Don Macke focus on Rural Retailing . e2 has curated a list of top likely rural entrepreneurial development opportunities with increasing area spending capture as one of those opportunities. This episode features innovative and successful rural retailing models, stories, and tactics.

In this episode Don Macke hosts Chris Harris from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The episode focuses on the Foundation’s commitment to entrepreneurship investments in the four states adjacent to the Foundation’s home in Kansas City including Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa.

Regional development is one of e2’s likely entrepreneurial development opportunities. Areas in rural America with strong regional development organizations are better positioned for successful community economic development. In this episode Shelley and Don explore the importance of e2’s “top-down” and “bottom-up” entrepreneurial ecosystem building strategy with some amazing examples of regional de...

In this episode Don Macke talks with Robert Stowell. Bob has been a visionary and leader in Ord and Valley County, Nebraska region’s remarkable evolution from challenge and despair in 2000 to one of America’s most thriving rural communities today. This podcast is part of e2’s focus on Ord and the lessons it holds for other rural communities seeking prosperity.

Nearly every rural community has commuters. During this episode Shelley and Don explore the importance of commuters in rural community economic development and how commuters, both physical and electronic or digital commuters, can be a significant source of entrepreneurial talent.

In this episode Shelley Paasch and Don Macke discuss transformative economics. They take listeners through e2’s Hierarchy of Community Economic Development framework using the Ord, Nebraska case story to illustrate how that community transformed its economy. Throughout 2022 e2 will release the entire Ord story collection.

In this episode Don Macke interviews Kat Rutledge, Klamath IDEA executive director. Klamath IDEA is an entrepreneurial community initiative based in rural Klamath Falls in South Central Oregon. Klamath IDEA is demonstrating high-impact outcomes in its work with area entrepreneurs by employing an entrepreneurial concierge, among other strategies. Kat is an inspiring leader and a visionary behind Kl...

In this episode of  Pathways to Rural Prosperity Podcast  Don Macke reviews 2021 and what is ahead for 2022 for e2. This episode is a great summary of past and future resources available through e2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and NetWork Kansas for rural communities interested in entrepreneurship development and support.

For decades the migration pattern in America has been from rural to urban areas. Currently there is a countertrend with some of America’s city residents moving to rural communities. New resident attraction is a development opportunity but also a necessity for many rural communities. In this episode, Shelley Paasch and Don Macke explore the trends and possibilities.

In this edition of Pathways to Rural Prosperity podcast, Don Macke interviews author John O’Duinn , an expert on the topic of distributed teams . In the evolving age of remote work, John addresses how we can “work together while physically being apart.” For rural communities, the implications are huge where people can choose to live in nearly any community, including rural America, throughout the...

All rural communities have visitor attraction development potential. Many rural communities have destination tourism opportunities. In this episode Don and Shelley explore entrepreneurial opportunities for visitor attraction and how rural communities can diversify their economies through tourism. Additionally, this episode focuses on how to improve tourism to grow stronger ventures and better jobs...

Embracing all aspects of a community’s diversity is foundational to growing entrepreneurial communities. Dell Gines with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City is one of America’s leading thought leaders in community-centered entrepreneur-led development. He joins Don Macke in a conversation about diversity and entrepreneurship.