Entrepreneurship Education for the Economic Development Professional

							  Entrepreneurship Education for the Economic Development Professional:
                       The Entrepreneurial Effect

                                  Patricia Greene, Ph.D.
          Ewing Marion Kauffman/Missouri Chair in Entrepreneurial Leadership
              Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration
                    5110 Cherry Street, Kansas City, MO 64110, USA
                        Tel: +1-816.235.5841 Fax: 1-816-235-6529
               E-mail: greenep@umkc.edu Web site: www.bsbpa.umkc.edu

                              Tom Lyon, Rockhurst University
                             Sanjay Mishra, University of Kansas

The traditional U.S. policy approach to economic development through the recruitment and
retention of large scale businesses is no longer a sufficient path to community sustainability. The
portfolios of economic development professionals must include the capacity to develop and
support an entrepreneurial environment that allows for raising the awareness and skill sets of
potential entrepreneurs, providing assistance to those in the process of trying to start a business
and helping those entrepreneurs with an existing business take advantage of their full
opportunities.

This project, Entrepreneurial Effect, is a combination research agenda and outreach program
designed to assist in the integration of entrepreneurship into economic development programs.
The project was created by a university collaboration including the University of Missouri –
Kansas City, Rockhurst University, and the University of Kansas. Initial funding was provided
by the Kauffman Foundation. In this paper we review the analysis of the market need for such a
program, explain the theoretical underpinnings of the course curriculum, and describe the
delivery mechanism of the curriculum.

The focus of the course is on how economic development professionals should understand the
various types of entrepreneurs and know how to help the entrepreneur develop their business
through direct and brokered services. Life cycles and growth orientations of entrepreneurs are
also addressed regarding particular resource needs. The environment is approached from the
perspective of defining an entrepreneurial environment, becoming familiar with the availability
of existing assessment tools, and the tailoring of assessment tasks to match specific regions. A
tool based module includes the creation of program inventories, stakeholder lists, and action
plans.