Editor’s note: This commentary is by Rob Miller and Dimitri Garder. Miller, of Shelburne, is CEO of VSECU and former commissioner of the Vermont Department of Economic Development. Garder, of Sunderland, is CEO of Global-Z International and the interim director for The Lightning Jar, a co-working space in Bennington.
[V]ermont faces some serious economic challenges. While we boast one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, projected annual job growth is at 0.8 percent and the state’s job outlook is projected to be the third worst in the U.S. over the next few years. Further, we are struggling to keep talented employees and budding entrepreneurs in state, seeing stagnant population growth and a workforce with the highest median age in the country.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. The state ranks 18th in the U.S. for quality of life and was ranked number five in the nation for business startups. Our success with startups is an important victory and this entrepreneurialism plays to Vermont’s strengths as a region. Entrepreneurialism represents an economic development approach that aligns with our region’s assets, resources and culture. Growing small business from the inside is a proven, viable alternative to more traditional approaches such as recruiting out-of-state employers to our region, which requires resources that are difficult to build in a small rural state.
But more can be done to help startups thrive, rather than just launch. It is critical that we foster a strong culture of entrepreneurialism and weave that culture into the fabric of our communities. Entrepreneurship needs to be nourished. We must give startups the opportunity to collaborate, network, learn, innovate, and inspire new entrepreneurs to do the same.
Coworking spaces are … about entrepreneurs and innovators coming together, brainstorming, feeding off each other’s energy and learning from peers’ successes and failures.
Building a culture of entrepreneurialism means thinking creatively and looking to new development models. Vermont has welcomed some of these new models by establishing coworking spaces and small business incubators around the state, including Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET), Generator, Local 64, Office Squared and The Lightning Jar, a coworking initiative we worked together to launch in Bennington. Demand for these spaces is only growing. Research indicates that 40 percent of the workforce will be freelance or independent by 2020 and the Vermont Council on Rural Development reports that communities around the state are thinking about how to bring coworking spaces to their towns. Coworking spaces encourage collaboration and provide access to educational programming, exemplifying the culture of entrepreneurialism we’re talking about.
Coworking spaces are not just about low-cost office space or somewhere to go when you’re tired of the local coffee shop. They’re about entrepreneurs and innovators coming together, brainstorming, feeding off each other’s energy and learning from peers’ successes and failures. They offer an opportunity for small businesses and “solopreneurs” to benefit from the experience and brainpower of others. They’re about support and they’re about culture. It is this type of support and collaboration that helps small businesses survive, evolve and grow. In fact, collaboration within the entrepreneurial community was found to be one of the most important factors driving recent startup success in St. Louis, which has seen startup creation that is much higher than the national rate.
Budding entrepreneurs, therefore, play a crucial role in building an entrepreneurial culture by using available tools and engaging with their peers. A web developer may feel she has nothing to offer a local architecture firm. But if they’re both looking for new capital or need to hire new employees, they likely have a lot to learn from one another. Indeed, the Lightning Jar only became a reality when the head of a credit union connected and collaborated with the head of a data management company. Turning the project into a reality required the efforts of the entire community, including local businesses, educational partners, and local and state government – continuing that spirit of cooperation and demonstrating how it can be used to build new sustainable economic drivers.
Economic development is something we’re all responsible for, it is not just a matter for local municipalities and state government. It’s the responsibility of private enterprises, and for entrepreneurs themselves. We all play a role in building this culture and nourishing small businesses and startups to the betterment of our economy, and we have to work together to do so.
