Local Entrepreneur Support Resources

I am in Sacramento this week at the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's annual convention.  A speaker at this morning's breakfast shared his experience on identifying and enabling budding entrepreneurs.  He said that he works with groups in Washington, DC that identify high-potential entrepreneurs and then help assemble teams and funding around them.  If I can find the names to these groups, I will post them in the comments below.  I don't have them now, but his comments made me think about an avenue that I have overlooked in my previous posts.

Local chambers of commerce and other civic groups can be fabulous conduits for small business support.  Granted there are a range of these organizations from lukewarm to very good, but these groups are in the business of helping their communities and they recognize the importance of small business to the local economy.  And the leaders of these organizations are born networkers.  Their network covers financing, corporations, small business owners, and more.  It is a worthwhile use of your time to get to know the personnel within these organizations that can help you and/or point you in the right direction.

News of groups that actively identify and support entrepreneurs for the good of the local community are promising.  This suggests an awareness that the "safety" of Corporate America can suppress the value to be created by certain individuals.  For some, it may be the breakthrough idea for a new business.  For others, it may be the leadership abilities to lead a small, growing organization.  Regardless, the value of a group within a community that can identify these individuals and bring the teams together has some real potential.  

So, one takeaway was that there are local groups that are on the lookout for people wanting to enable small business.  The same fundamentals from prior posts apply to determine what you can bring to that team, but an established network to enable that can be a real game-changer for individuals and the economy.