Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce Business Journal Q1 2014 | Page 31

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When the Going Gets Tough for Local
Economies, Utilize Existing Resources
By: Karen Mills, Orginally published in Entrepreneur Magazine
Over the past few weeks, I’ve chronicled the formula for building
entrepreneurial ecosystems across the country that create jobs
and keep our economy growing. First was capital, then people.
When those two elements combine with local institutions, such
as accelerators or universities, a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem can develop.
The importance of how people work with capital and the local institutions was driven home for me several years ago in my home
state of Maine. After spending my career in the private sector,
I got a phone call from Governor John Baldacci. The Naval Air
Station Brunswick had been placed on the Base Realignment
Closure (BRAC) list, which meant it was going to shutdown and
many people would be out of a job. The governor asked me to
help identify new opportunities for economic development.
As we considered a variety of options, we realized Maine was sitting on a huge asset that wasn’t being fully maximized: our boatbuilding industry. The state had led the world in boat building for
centuries and still had the world’s best craftsmen and women,
but the industry -- once a powerful job creator -- was lagging.
The boats coming out of Maine were not built using the most upto-date materials, and the costs were so high the builders were
barely making a profit.
Ironically, a solution to the problem was being developed just a
few miles away at the University of Maine, where researchers
were experimenting with a new lightweight composite technology. This material held the promise of making boats stronger and
more efficient, but the new technology required different training
for the boat builders and their workforce. The university wasn’t
coordinating with the local community college and the boat build-

ers weren’t communicating with each other. Everyone was losing
out on opportunities.
Yet, all the ingredients were in place to build a successful ecosystem. We brought the boat builders, researchers, the state
economic development team and even the U.S. Department of
Labor to the table. Together, we developed a regional economic
cluster to train workers, market the end product as Maine Built
Boats and positioned the industry to more successfully grow and
create jobs.
Today, Maine Built Boats is going strong. The boats are light,
fast and use the latest technology. Annually, boat building has
become more than a $650 million industry, with about 450 companies and 5,000 jobs tied to it.
It may be tempting to think the proximity of the industry and university makes this a once-in-a-blue-moon story. But what’s exciting about the ecosystem model is it can be replicated in communities across the country by leveraging existing resources.
It’s true that at a time of continued fiscal austerity in state budgets, there’s limited room for investing in innovative economic
growth programs. Yet, creating an ecosystem does not require a
huge investment -- even small incentives go a long way. At their
core, entrepreneurial ecosystems are built on the belief that in
local economies, the whole is stronger than the sum of its parts.
While this insight may seem simple, its possibilities can be dramatic.
READ MORE ARTICLES- www.entrepreneur.com

Q1 2014 BUSINESS JOURNAL

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