Kentucky’s Rural Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program: An In-Depth Look at How It Works (cont.)

Last, funding is sought. These funds may come through state-supported funds administered through the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation, or through local angel investors, SBIR funds, regional venture capital firms, or the entrepreneur’s friends and family. For those entrepreneurs needing pre-seed capital to develop their prototype, conduct market feasibility research, pursue intellectual property protection, or develop their business plan and financials, Kentucky has a unique series of funds called the Commercialization Investment Funds (one of which, the Rural Innovation Fund, was discussed in the previous article). The Innovation Centers and the ICCs also have formed venture clubs with local private and public partners, providing investors with first-hand opportunities to hear about innovative new business ventures. In addition to urban venture clubs in Lexington and Louisville, there are rural region venture clubs in Pikeville, Ashland, Elizabethtown and Paducah.

CEDET, the Innovation Centers, and the ICC also partner with myriad business development assistance resource providers including the Small Business Development Centers, quasi-governmental agencies such as Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation, and government offices. Operating in one of the nation’s most economically distressed regions of our nation, these offices leverage all available resources to get more bang for the buck.

The Eastern Innovation Region’s approach to developing new businesses is based in part on nine years’ experience from CEDET’s operation of the Jackson County Entrepreneurship Center. As part of Kentucky’s Federal Rural Empowerment Zone Program, the center delivers entrepreneurship training, an array of business development services and helps foster an entrepreneurial business culture. The business closure/failure rate has hovered around 10 percent, indicating that the model produces viable new businesses.

Creativity and innovation are not strangers to Appalachian Kentucky. Harnessing them into sustainable, growth-oriented, new economy businesses is the challenge. Through the work of the networked new economy programs and business assistance partnerships, Kentucky is moving toward a healthier, more diversified rural economy.

For more information, contact Cheryl Stone, Director, Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship, and Technology (CEDET), at cheryl.stone@eku.edu or (859) 622-2383, or visit the Web site at www.cbt.eku.edu/cedet/.

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