Entrepreneurship (E-) Communities
A NetWork Kansas E-Community is a partnership that allows a town, a cluster of towns, or an entire county to raise seed money for local entrepreneurs through donations from individuals or businesses within the community. Selected communities partner with NetWork Kansas to establish their own local loan fund, increase connectivity to resources available to assist entrepreneurs and small businesses, initiate activities to generate entrepreneurial development, and participate in a statewide partnership with other E-Communities. The goal of the E-Community partnership is to increase entrepreneurial activity and develop a self-sustaining ecosystem favorable to long-term entrepreneurial growth.
The E-Community program, now in its fifth year, has grown from six communities in 2007 to thirty in 2011. The NetWork Kansas E-Community partnership allows a town, a cluster of towns, or an entire county to raise seed money for local entrepreneurs through donations from individuals or businesses within the community. During the first four years of the E-Community partnership, more than $4.7 million have been raised. These funds are estimated to generate more than $33 million of investment in rural businesses across Kansas.
Erik Pedersen, NetWork Kansas Director of E-Communities, Explains the Program: