Entrepreneurs. Better with age?

Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the economy. They’re innovators, experimenters and risk takers, the driving force behind capitalism’s “perennial gale of creative destruction,” in economist Joseph Schumpeter’s evocative metaphor.

So says Chris Farrell in this week’s Bloomberg Businessweek.

But Mr. Farrell goes on to remind us that entrepreneurs are not only young, brash, rule breakers.  They also include older, more seasoned innovators.  Fully 20.9% of all new entrepreneurial ventures are started by people 55-64 years old.

These entrepreneurs may be forming enterprises because they finally have the security to follow their dream, or maybe they were laid off and found finding a new, challenging job toward the end of their career arc to be difficult.  Others may be looking for a little more control of their work-life balance as they make a 20- or 30-year transition to retirement.

Regardless of their reasons, there businesses may be well suited to the scale of your downtown.

Well-wired Winchester is as close to Dulles Airport, in terms of travel time, as downtown D.C. and is better hooked into the Ashburn “home” of the Internet than almost any place in the world.  A transitioning entrepreneur might find the housing, rent and tax rates beneficial, while cherishing the more relaxed lifestyle that a pedestrian-oriented comercial district, closely abutted by historic residential neighborhoods, can provide.

USAToday printed a similar article last month, and Slate published one as far back as 2010, detailing reasons why older entrepreneurs may be more successful, not the least of which is access to capital.

Farrell, too, gives several reasons that older entrepreneurs may have a leg up on their younger competition, but a successful community could use both.  Making sure you are providing the necessary tools and amenities for all entrepreneurs is vital.

The unexpected entrepreneur

If you were asked to describe an entrepreneur, what words would you use?  Maybe terms like “bright, energetic, or magnetic.”  This 2004 article in the aptly named magazine Entrepreneur, gives a whole host of other terms, not all of them complimentary. 

Two descriptions of an entrepreneur that most people would not use are “ex-felon,” and “non-English speaking.”  However, it may just be these often overlooked sectors of your community could be an integral piece of your community’s economic restructuring.  In the classic Republic, Plato said, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”  If this is true, then those least able to obtain traditional employment should be those with the most entrepreneurial spirit.

Upholsterer and entrepreneur Troy Graves. Photo by Tara Bozick, Danville News.

Take Troy Graves.  This Danville resident spent a few years in prison, where he apprenticed as an upholsterer, eventually redoing a chair for the Governor’s office.  When he completed his incarceration, he had trouble finding steady work but was determined not to go back to his former ways.  With the help of a partnership with Virginia Enterprise Initiative, New Visions New Ventures and the Small Business Development Center, Troy was able to get business skills training, write a business plan, and obtain a microloan that allowed him to set up shop.   When this newspaper article hit the street, his phone rang off the hook and he has business lined up for the foreseeable future.  Troy is still building his credit, and hopes to own his building one day soon. 

And consider this positive story from National Public Radio from a place where positive stories have been few and far between.  It seems the one part of Detroit that is flourishing is the predominantly Latino neighborhood known as “Mexican Town.”  Many less developed economies have a strong entrepreneurial tradition; again, harkening back to Plato’s words about necessity.  The most entrepreneurial members of these societies often find a way to come to the United States and bring that spirit with them. 

Make sure you consider all aspects of your local business environment when planning your community’s future.  You just might find success in the most unexpected places.

The new normal

Before you get too excited about the coming recovery, have you heard about the “new normal?” 

The “new normal” is the term that many have been using for economic growth that is slower than what we became accustomed to over the past decade or so.  Doug Dachille, of First Principles Capital Management, says in this clip from CNBC that the “new normal” is really the “old normal.”  His position is that the economy really only grows in great bounds when technology increases productivity in a dramatic fashion.  That happened in the 1990′s, and the growth in the 2000′s was not based on “real growth” but by financial machinations, according to Dachille.  In statistical terms this is called “regression to the mean,” but in layman’s terms we can just call it average. 

The video is informational throughout, but the pertinant part starts at about 3:30 and runs about two and half minutes.

The end is near!!

Hiring will rebound sooner rather than later and now is a great time to start your own business.

At least that is what Daniel Gross of Slate and Newsweek says in his Moneybox column, “Coming Soon: Jobs!”

According to Gross, we should be seeing the end of the “Great Recession” in the near future.  “Before things get better, they have to get worse more slowly.  That’s already happening,” he says, referencing the diminished rates at which the U.S. is shedding  jobs.  He also references the unsustainable growth in productivity that should result in new hires as soon as next quarter.  Additionally, this article sums it up by saying, “”Real GDP growth should also be enough to recover losses from the recession and return output to an all-time high by the end of 2010.”

As this was being written, the November Jobs report that Gross mentions reported lower than expected job losses and an actual decline in the unemployment rate.

Most exciting for your downtown is his belief that future job growth won’t be coming from Fortune 500 companies, but from the entrepreneurs that are the heart of every great American economic expansion.  After all, almost every big company started small and usually with one or two earnest, hard workers with a good idea to which they were willing to stake their future fortunes.  Entrepreneur Magazine has an inspirational article on several entrepreneurs in the December issue.

Community-building “Stars” named by Virginians for the Arts

Two Main Street communities pulled top honors in the Virginians for the Arts’ Arts Build Communities Awards. The awards recognize arts organizations that best demonstrate the ability to enhance the community, lift spirits, and build a better quality of life. 

Read more "Arts Build Communities" stories here.

The Barter Theatre in Abingdon was named Shining Star:  With 150,000 annual patrons, The Barter Theatre was selected for the extraordinary impact it has had on the Abingdon community, the region, and on the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The theatre, Abingdon’s 10^th largest employer, was founded in 1933 during the Great Depression, when patrons could exchange vegetables for a ticket. It was awarded the Shining Star designation, since it has stood the “test of time.” 

For more on its economic and community development impact, read The Barter Theatre’s story.

South Boston’s Prizery Center for the Performing Arts was named Rising Star:  “Founded only in 2004, the Prizery has galvanized support for the fine and lively arts across the region, and it has become a mecca of performances, exhibits, and classes. Housed in a donated circa 1903 building, which underwent a $7 million adaptive re-use overhaul, today it is a major regional attraction for visitors and business prospects.  Among its significant programs supporting K-12 education, The Prizery operates a unique Pre-K Arts Academy for every public-school four-year-old, partnering with the Halifax County Public Schools. Its work has helped spawned businesses that include three restaurants, a retail art gallery, a clothing boutique, a home décor shop and an artists’ guild. The organization has sparked an entirely new way of community thinking about the region’s potential in a post-tobacco, post-textile era.” 

For more on the economic and community development impact, read The Prizery’s story.

Eighty other community arts assets were nominated for awards. For a full list of recognized organizations and communities, read the November 23 press release.  Awards will be presented at the ArtWorks for Virginia Conference 2010 Luncheon on January 27, 2010, in Richmond, Virginia.

Arts and the economy converge at South Boston conference

Economic development and arts professionals convened in South Boston last week to explore strategies for harnessing the “creative class” in their communities. The conference, “Art and the Creative Economy,” featured notable speakers presenting examples of how small towns and cities have enhanced their economies by embracing the arts. The term “creative class,” as coined by Richard Florida, describes the class of workers that earn their living from their ideas and not machinery.  These individuals may be artists, designers, scientists, and researchers, to name just a few. As manufacturing leaves more small towns, this “creative class” just may be the economic boon that can make the difference.

The Prizery, a shining example of adaptive reuse for a tobacco warehouse, made a great venue for the conference. Featured speakers included Joy Gieseke, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce of Mineral Point, Wisconsin. Joy spoke about the organic growth of Mineral Point’s artist community, emphasizing that it is not an artist commune, but just a town that supports its artists. Today, Mineral Point is a town of 2,600 residents with 17 galleries and 30 artists living in town.

Marian Van Landingham spoke about her involvement with the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria. Her work is an excellent example of how an artist studio and workshop can become a top tourist destination.

The keynote address was given by Mayor Joseph Riley of Charleston. He gave examples of how art has enhanced the renaissance Charleston has experienced since his first term in 1975.

After several more speakers, the day concluded with a bus tour of South Boston and Halifax including a visit to artist Bob Cage’s Sculpture Farm, Parson-Bruce Gallery and Convergence Art Guild. Later that evening, many folks from the conference attended the Suzanne Vega concert held in the Chastain Theater.