Giving Compass' Take:

• The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation shares how their FastTrac program helps rural entrepreneurs get businesses started to create economic growth in their communities. 

• Is this model scalable? How do the needs of rural communities vary across the country? 

• Rural funders have advice for philanthropists. 

In upstate New York, a handful of community members meet each Tuesday in the upstairs conference room at the Wyoming County Business Center, dedicated to the same goal: to launch their own businesses.

Aspiring entrepreneurs from diverse walks of life completed the 10-week Kauffman FastTrac program ready to refine and launch their businesses. Delivered by seasoned program facilitators at the Business Center, the FastTrac program focuses on preparing early-stage entrepreneurs like these to get their business off the ground.

"We're a rural county. Why not start those successful businesses, employ people, give them jobs, a future, right here?" Jeff Fitch, one of the Wyoming County FastTrac facilitators, said. "Why drive to the cities? Let's build up our own economy in this rural environment. We have a lot of good people that know how to work. They just need some knowledge and some tools."

Limited infrastructure, poor internet access, and a smaller hiring pool are just a few of the barriers that entrepreneurs in rural America face. As a county historically focused on agriculture, engaging the community in the conversation of entrepreneurship has been challenging. But the accepted reality that hundreds of manufacturing jobs likely aren’t going to appear means that communities have to get creative – and for places like Wyoming County, that means supporting entrepreneurship. With more than 130 business starts, the Business Center and the FastTrac program are able to demonstrate to area residents the opportunity to achieve economic empowerment that comes through entrepreneurship.

Read the full article about helping rural entrepreneurs by Lauren Aleshire at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.