Entrepreneurship in Rural America: The Big Picture, Main Streets of Tomorrow: Growing and Financing Rural Entrepreneurs

Rural areas are not blessed with—indeed they are largely defined by the absence of—the advantages of urban areas: dense environments of customers and suppliers, knowledge spill overs, urban agglomeration advantages, such as rich labor markets, transportation accessibility, capital (particularly venture capital), information, and the “buzz” of face-to-face contact (Storper and Venables, 2002; Acs and Armington, 2003). Thus, we do not expect the formation of local systems of innovation (Acs, de la Mothe, and Paquet, 1996). Nor do we expect, in the United States, any active federal policy that would help entrepreneurs or small businesses. The contrast between the United States, where “no policy as policy” prevails, and Europe, where smalland medium-sized enterprises (SME) policy is well-established and widespread, on this score is striking (Dennis, 2000; De, 2000). However, this does not mean that networks are not operating, that innovations are not brought forth, or that competitive firms do not exist. Indeed, rural America has thousands of thriving firms, all of which began as entrepreneurial ventures. In addition, policies at the local level, often in the form of public-private partnerships, have attempted to create and sustain networks among entrepreneurs in rural areas and small communities (Malecki and Tootle, 1996; Sommers, 1998).