FEAT UPDATE

The FEAT board and county committees have worked together to plan a pilot tourism bus tour into the five counties. This bus tour will be a demonstration to landowners and local businesses as to what can be done in our communities to enhance the economy. The bus carrying approximately 40 tourists will come from Louisville Kentucky on I-64 with the first stop in the FEAT area being Carter County. Tourists will visit each county over the next five days. They will participate in traditional agriculture activities such as making sorghum at a mule drawn mill, making cornmeal on a grist mill, making jams, and jellies and churning butter to eat on fresh baked bread. They will watch, learn, and then participate in traditional dance. Evening activities will include Native American/traditional music around a campfire while roasting marshmallows and hotdogs, and dancing in the street to live traditional music. With directions from internationally known folk artists, they will create a work of art from a hand hued tobacco stick that can be used as a walking stick or a souvenir to hang on the wall. They will enjoy traditional foods such as "soup" beans, chicken and dumplings, mustard greens, corn bread and homemade jams and jellies. Care will be taken to provide for those needing or desiring diverse food choices. They will fish in a farm pond using cane poles and see such sights as water falls, caves, and learn about the cultures that have lived in this area through live exhibits along a pristine stream. A moonshine still hid deep in the cliffs of Laurel Gorge where revenuers can never find it will spark conversation as story tellers bring to life the industry that started NASCAR. The visitors will leave Wolfe County toward home on the Mountain Parkway with an "OH WOW" attitude. The greatest part about the whole bit is that local farmers and residents will get the bulk of the money paid by the tourists. The rest will go to the bus company.

A pending proposal to the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, if approved, will fund a position for two years to manage the bus tours and recruit members for FEAT. We hope to grow the tours by five each year until we reach our max whatever that might be.

FEAT Inc. is a continuation of a mini-project from the 2005 graduating class. It’s had ups and downs but now seems to be on an upward swing.

Recently the Kentucky Arts Council awarded the Elliott County Extension District Board a $5,000.00 Arts Builds Communities (ABC) grant. With this money we plan to teach local people to write about interesting parts of our cultures and story tellers will teach them how to tell it to the tourists in an educational and entertaining format. The financial match is from the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. The people who attend the workshops can, if they desire, enhance their skills, and maybe someday be listed as Kentucky Arts Council Roster Artists. These trainings will be open to people from Morgan, Menifee, Wolfe, Elliott, and Carter Counties.

Elliott County Extension District Board has also been awarded $113,000.00 from the Steele-Reese Foundation to fund an Environmental Educator at the Laurel Gorge Cultural Heritage Center for three years. That position will be announced in the next few weeks. So the winter’s long evenings filled with grant writing is paying off. I’m very thankful to the Steele-Reese Foundation and the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation for all the support they have shown to programs and projects in Eastern Kentucky. The ones mentioned above are only a “Drop in the Bucket” to the funds they put into community development and Education of Eastern Kentucky.

Recreational Entrepreneurs Create Tourist Opportunites for WW2 Enthusiasts

A couple of entrepreneurial activities around Appalachia that seem to have tourist potential:

McCreary County reenacts the battle in which their favorite son, Wilburn K. Ross, received the Congressional Medal of Armor. Battlefield reenactments aren’t new, but I’ve seldom heard of holding one a continent away. Could be the start of a trend…

Meanwhile, Middlesboro, which made national news for locals’ efforts to reconstruct a P-38 abandoned during WW2 in Greenland only to be brought back to KY a half century later, will receive a familiar if unusual visitor at its local airport when the Glacier Girl returns.

One thing that Eastern Kentucky has been blessed in abundance with is unused land. This, combined with the absence of local zoning rules, offers entrepreneurs- both recreational and for-profit- an easy opportunity to organize events such as these and bring tourists into their community.

Does anyone know of any rural communities that are looking for tourist opportunities? Coaches?

Small Businesses Need Innovative Access to Capital and Training in Business Competence

A few people around the world get it when it comes to economic development. They disdain bald protectionism and subsidies and emphasize what's really important to small bizs: access to capital and training in entrepreneurship. From the Jakarta Post, here's one of the leading business experts and economists talking about what Medium to Small (Business) Enterprises, aka MSMEs, really need:

I think the approach used so far in nurturing MSMEs has been inappropriate because most of the programs emphasized subsidies and protection from market competition. This is the wrong way to nurture MSMEs.

In our experience at Bank Mayapada, MSMEs don't need charity, subsidies and excessive protection. What they mostly need is easy access to financing and technical extension services (consultancy) on various aspects of their business operations.

They don't have assets as securities for loans and they are not comfortable with, and sometimes even hate, arduous bureaucratic borrowing procedures.

[...]

We design our lending programs specifically to meet the special characteristics of MSMEs. Hence, we don't focus on collaterals but cash-flow or revenue-stream prospects based on their business feasibility.

We have developed a body of experienced experts to assess the MSMEs' commercial viability. We have opened what we call the Mayapada Business Partnership in various areas.

These business units are assigned to look out for viable MSMEs, nurture them with financial and technical assistance and constantly monitor their development and their needs as they continue to grow and expand. Each business unit also operates as a complete business advisory center. We decentralize credit assessment and decision making to these units.

We expect to operate almost 60 Mayapada Business Partnerships before the end of this year and expect to lend cumulatively Rp 600 billion to MSMEs by the end of this year.

Our rate of non-performing loans in this segment is only 0.58 percent. This means that with the right approach, MSMEs can be viable, creditworthy borrowers able to give banks fairly high net interest margins.

To put it briefly, our approach is market oriented and designed to transfer not only financing capability but, and most importantly, business competence and entrepreneurship to MSMEs.

Here in KY, I think there are two great examples of programs that blend the need for entrepreneurship training and access to capital: the SBDC, which has a longstanding relationship with the Small Business Administration and the KY Innovation Network (I'll admit I'm biased on this one), a program that provides additional access to capital for New Economy companies and the hands on business training that entrepreneurs need.

EKU Offers Grad Level Course on Entrepreneurship in the New Economy

Great course offering from EKU: "If you are an entrepreneur, business owner, aspiring to create your own business, or working in an industry that requires entrepreneurial or innovative thinking and you currently hold a bachelor degree, EKU may have the perfect course for you. EKU is offering a graduate level course which focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation. If you would like to understand the ins-and-outs of entrepreneurship on a more intense level to help you gain a better understanding of business development concepts, then read further and contact: Jean Arthur at EKUMBA (jean.arthur@eku.edu)."

Here are some of the topics the class will cover:

The emphasis in the course will be on the role of innovation and creativity in the creation of new business enterprises, and in the management and marketing of new ideas, concepts, ventures and knowledge. The course will also include case discussions of business start-ups and exercises inside and outside of class to generate innovative business ideas.

The major project in this course will be the creation of a “business concept”. The business concept is a framework for a more extensive business plan that can be used to generate the interest of potential investors in your proposed business. It is somewhat less extensive than a full-scale business plan, but contains the same elements. This concept will be developed by each student, individually, or in a small group (2-3 students, max).

The course will cover the following topics. Some will be covered more in depth than others. Related topics can also be included, depending on the direction the class takes based on specific interests of students.

·The entrepreneurial mind –principles for creating a personal entrepreneurial strategy
·The entrepreneurial process - types of entrepreneurial ventures
·Idea generation, improving ideas, market opportunity analysis, new product promotion
·Methods for screening new venture opportunities
·Social entrepreneurship
·The business planning process - developing a business concept/plan
·Financing entrepreneurial ventures - obtaining debt capital
·Start-up & beyond – managing rapid growth, family e'ship, valuing a business, harvesting
·Intellectual rights - the patent and copyright process

This should be a class the KECI brings in house.

The Cavalry is on the Way...

I've invited a few folks to start blogging at this site on issues like rural life, farming, entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial public policy. So far three have tenatively accepted:

1. Joel Combs, the subject of a previous post about his work with Mahindra Tractors at the Life of a Farm Blog.
2. Mark Sievers, a Lexington area business broker.
3. M. Sheldon, an experienced blogger and member of the 3rd class of the KY Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute.

Looking forward to reading their work when they have time to post. Thanks guys.

Mom n' Pop Coffee Shops Knocking Starbucks off it's Perch

On Friday news broke that Starbucks are closing around the state, including the one in Somerset. But have no fear, latte loving hillbillies can still get their Yuppie caffeine fix on, and the answer how may tell you a little something about why Starbucks is facing such pressure.

You see, Starbucks created a wonderful experience tied to a terrific beverage: the coffee shop atmosphere with lots of pastries, terrific new ways of drinking your coffee to the last drop, and the office-away-from-the-office thanks to wireless internet. A wonderful business model, there’s just one problem: it’s not very defendable.

Starbucks found their model being knocked off by thousands of mom and pop shops around the U.S. Unlike national chains like Wal-Mart, which relied on massive economies of scale, or McDonald’s, which managed to build brand ID superior to everyone in on earth, Starbucks became just another fancy coffee option. Some folks love Starbucks Coffee, but some loved another brand better… and a place with a more down home feel to boot.

Like this place, (hat tip Mark Sievers) Baxters' Coffee in Somerset:

“[W]ith three locations to serve you in Somerset, Kentucky. We proudly offer the finest gourmet coffees, full espresso bar, muffins, scones, and cinnamon rolls baked fresh daily in our kitchen, as well as gourmet soups, salads, and sandwiches at lunch. Come visit us at any of our locations – experience the coffee shops that were voted BEST COFFEE SHOP IN THE STATE OF KENTUCKY IN 2005! In the morning, catch the morning rush and see your favorite friends on your way to work. Come in during lunch to have lunch with your coworkers and enjoy a fresh lunch. Use our free wireless internet and grab an afternoon pick me up to pull you through the day.”

Three full service espresso bars in Pulaski County, Kentucky! Starbucks may have opened the gates, but many are following. The Starbucks example should be an important lesson to entrepreneurs and those who coach them.

Former Fleming County Dude Ranch DH Resorts For Sale, Potential Tourism Development Opportunity

Here's a press release about a potential tourist opportunity down in Fleming County:

The DH Resorts dude ranch property, which since the early 90’s operated as a dude ranch and recreational property, elected to not reopen last year and this attractive and expansive property is for sale.

The property is represented by The Sievers Company (an affiliate of Apex Realty and the International Business Brokers Association).

This 733 acre Fleming County property includes a 22 acre lake, a 5,000 sq ft B&B , horse trails, rental cabins, restaurant , barns, equestrian center with bunkhouse , meeting pavilion , pool with bathhouse and an extensive equipment list.

The property has convenient access to Interstate 64 and the greater Morehead area. There is a possible opportunity to sell it in two separate sections.

The property has potential for various recreational and tourism purposes.

For more information please contact Mark Sievers: (859) 576 2257

Do You Know of a New Economy Company in Eastern Kentucky?

Of course you do! Please go to our web site and register it... better yet, ask the owners to. Site location:

http://www.ekyneweconomy.org/

And check out the site's blog too, located at:

http://www.ekyneweconomy.blogspot.com/.

As Fuel Prices Rise, Opportunities for a Localized Economy Increase

BBC blogger Justin Web has an interesting take on the fuel crisis that has implications for local entrepreneurship

A thoughtful piece in the Observer newspaper asks whether the real impact of the fuel crisis is that "in effect, America is becoming larger again".

This is the key point [quoting the Observer]:

"That will lead to a more localised economy. To many environmentalists that is a blessing, not a curse. They point out that cheap fuel for industrial transport has meant the average packaged salad has travelled 1,500 miles before it gets to a supermarket shelf.

"'Distance is now an enemy,' said Professor Bill McKibben, author of the 1989 climate-change classic The End of Nature. 'There's no question that the days of thoughtless driving are done.'

"The worst hit parts of the US are not yet the suburbs or the freeways of southern California, but the small towns that dot the Great Plains, Appalachia and the rural Deep South. Even more than the Inland Empire, people in these isolated and poor areas are reliant on cheap petrol and much less able to afford the new prices at the pump. Stories abound of agricultural workers unable to afford to get to the fields and of rural businesses going bust. "

So what does this mean for our local entrepreneurs? Will Americans start shopping locally, buying local produce, eating locally, vacationing locally? Isn’t this an opportunity for entrepreneurship?

Our Esteemed Leader Gets Positive PR @ UK

Some nice PR for our man in the Ivory Towers of UK, Dr. Ron Hustedde... gotta love their intro:

In a Dry Season, a Career Was Born

If the rain had not ended in Costa Rica, Ron Hustedde might have never begun the career path that led him to the UK Cooperative Extension Service and two national awards.

Years ago, Hustedde, who is an extension professor in Community and Leadership Development, was a rice researcher in Costa Rica as a Peace Corps volunteer. Rice grows in the rainy season, so when dry weather came, Hustedde used his time to work with Costa Rican youth, helping them learn to be leaders. That’s when he knew he had begun to find his niche.

Once back in the states, Hustedde began to acquire more education (three master’s degrees and a doctorate) and more experience, including five years as an extension agent in community development.

He has been at UK since 1990. His extension work here initially focused on training extension agents and other community leaders to lead discussion of public issues. It was a natural move from that work into public conflict resolution. Hustedde began to develop a state and national reputation in helping groups resolve controversial issues and training others to do the same.

In recent years, Hustedde’s focus has been on fostering an entrepreneurial culture in Kentucky through his brainchild, the Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute. It is a training ground for people who provide the psychological and social support for entrepreneurs.

The institute has been funded by the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund under the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy. It has graduated two classes of coaches so far in northeastern Kentucky and earlier this year expanded into 22 counties in the south-central part of the state. Larry Jones in Agricultural Economics is co-principal investigator for the project.

Hustedde received the 2007 National Excellence in Extension Award, the highest award presented by U.S. Cooperative Extension Service and the National Association of Public Universities and Land Grant Colleges. The award presentation noted his “visionary leadership on emerging issues, high program impact, commitment to diversity, and partnerships with university colleagues and outside clientele.”

Hustedde also received the Rural Sociological Society’s 2007 Excellence in Extension and Public Service Award.

Life of a Farm Blog: Appalachian Man Hawks Indian Tractors from McCreary County

Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Pine Knot, Kentucky has become a most unusual nexus for American farming, corporate blogging, and an Indian tractor company best known for assembling Wilys Jeeps in India during WW2 and for its co-founder, Ghulam Muhammad, a former Governor-General of Pakistan who cashed out of the company when India and Pakistan split.

Here’s how the connection works:

First, you take the company, Mahindra, an Indian corporation and one of the top three tractor sellers in the world; a company intent on expanding its market share here in the U.S. market.

Next, you have the medium: the internet and blogging. With corporate blogging being touted as absolutely essential for businesses of all stripes, Mahindra saw an opportunity to blog about their product. But who would run it and how?

That’s where Pine Knot comes in. You see, the company decided to find an above average, Average Joe who loves to use your prod, has good writing skills, and is willing to put them to use hawking your wares. And it just so happens that Mahindra found that average Joe (actually Joel) in Pine Knot, the home of one Joel Combs, a jack-of-all-trades chicken farmer whose preferred tool is his trusty Mahindra Tractor. Pine Knot, located in southern McCreary County, is known more for mining and logging than commercial farming, but an evangelist is an evangelist, wherever he lives. What’s more, the region may not offer large tracts of farmland, but its land is relatively unspoiled, free of sprawl and enjoys a respite from some of the hot button issue affecting other American farms, like migrant workers and corporate farming.

Mix all the above ingredients together and… presto; you get the blog Life of a Farm. Life of a Farm has received some incredible reviews on the web, mostly from corporate blog critics who rave about what Mahindra and Combs have accomplished.

Here’s Salon.com:

The title: “170 Acres and an Indian Tractor” (An obvious play off the old post-Civil war phrase: 40 acres and a Mule... I love it!)

On Combs’ writing: “[A]fter scanning a year's worth of postings looking for nuggets … I am forced to admit that, unexpectedly, I kind of like [Combs]. Either this is a masterpiece of creative writing, or Joel Combs is a real guy with a pretty real life.”

On mixing marketing with real life observations: “the most perfect mixture of flat-out commercial on-message marketing and real-life co-parenting woes I think I've ever seen.”

And here’s The Viral Garden , a blog by a marketing guru about corporate blogs:

On Combs’ blogging style: "For the most part, Combs' posts detail his daily work on his farm, including the projects that he is undertaking, many of which are aided by his use of Mahindra products. But he also keeps his readers up to date on other topics such as the Kentucky weather, and the progress that his children are making in school. But above all else, the content is focused on his life on his farm, and its content that appears to be resonating with the blog's readers. The blog also pulls pictures from a Flickr account, and Combs does a nice job showing not only Mahindra products in action, but also what his life is like on his farm. The post formatting and structure isn't always perfect, but I think that is almost a plus, because it comes across as being authentic. Combs isn't a blogger writing about life on a farm, he is a farmer blogging about his life."


On Combs’ readers: "Life of a Farm Blog has one of the more active comment sections I've seen on a company blog. In fact, it has a perfect example of a community on a blog. Combs' does a great job of replying to almost every comment left, and is very warm and friendly in doing so. You can also tell that the blog's readers have great empathy for Combs, as most make a point to either relate their own experiences on their own farms or attempt to help Combs' better complete his current projects. It might be a stretch to say that Life of a Farm Blog's readers are devoted to Combs, but it's obvious that they are quite fond of him, and his responses make it obvious that he greatly appreciates their comments."

The blog’s even lodged on the radar screens of some bloggers who pride themselves on being Desis (Des-sees), part of the Indian diaspora in America.

Here’s Sepia Mutiny on what the blog accomplishes: "I have to say that this blog makes for some very interesting, enjoyable reading. It’s clear from the writing and the photographs that Mahindra USA has sponsored a real-life, young family farmer from a deeply rural part of the country — southern Kentucky, about 60 miles from Knoxville, Tenn., as he develops his land and builds a home on it with the aid of his trusty Mahindra 6000 tractor.

Read a few entries … and you will get a rather compelling glimpse into family farming, and one that is quite forthright about the struggles that family farmers face in a country where agriculture is so heavily controlled by large corporate interests. Joel… is a sympathetic character and a frank writer, and seems quite sincere in his affection for his Mahindra tractor."

And what it means to Indians: "It’s worth getting your tractor geek on and poking around this site to hear perspectives — not just on tractors, but on the farming life — that y’all city macacas don’t usually get to hear. It’s also noteworthy how easily an Indian brand has spread in this salt-of-the-earth, so-called “redneck” community, while resentment against desis grows in the suburban office parks of the nation."

For me, the most intriguing thing about what Combs has accomplished is how duplicable it is. (BTW, in saying this I'm not belittling what he's accomplished. He's obviously gotten the enough pros' kudos for you to see that he's taken this thing to a level not often seen for this type of blog. But even if others can't do this as well as Combs, they can still do it.) The essential ingredients are:

1. Average, every day Joes (or Janes) who can write well and love Appalachian living.

2. Appalachian farm space.

3. A blog.

4. A nice family backdrop.

5. The passion and interest in putting them all together to market a product or service.

Entrepreneurial coaches helping clients with family based products should take note: Aside from the skill in writing and the passion and interest for blogging, all of the above are present in spades in Appalachia. As for the writing and blogging, these are skills that can be taught to creative people, another area where we’re blessed in the mountains.

Combs deserves credit for what he’s accomplished here. Not just because he’s helping sell Indian tractors from Appalachian Kentucky, but because he’s selling Appalachian Life in the process.