Finding, developing and helping entrepreneurs could be key to economic revival in Central Appalachia

Appalachian Regional Commission
map shows in red the counties that it
considers "distressed," orange those
it considers "at risk," white those it
considers "transitional" and blue
those it considers "competitive."
For full map, click here.

With its main industry, coal, facing continued decline, there is a renewed sense of urgency in Central Appalachia about building a more diverse and sustainable economy in the region. Some think the key is developing entrepreneurship, so people in the region can create homegrown jobs. That's a complex process, and "Many of Appalachia's talented and ambitious entrepreneurs have left for better opportunities elsewhere," Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Tom Eblen writes in a column that spotlights the entrepreneurship ideas of Thomas Miller, a retired Ford Foundation officer who was earlier president of Kentucky Highlands Investment Corp.

"More important than having capital, he said, is having people who know how to successfully put capital to work," Eblen writes. "Miller proposes creating an Eastern Kentucky Venture Fund, led by a half dozen or so senior Kentucky business people with exceptional talents. They would need to raise at least $250 million in public and private equity and debt to create and nurture entrepreneurs and to invest in new businesses, often through existing organizations such as Kentucky Highlands. And an important focus would need to be creating businesses that bring new money into the region by producing products sold elsewhere."

Miller, left, who lives in Berea, Ky., told Eblen that logical investors include utilities, foundations and regional corporations. Government can play a role, but can't lead the effort, Miller says: "Government is about trying to please a lot of constituencies. Private investment is about saying 'no' 99 percent of the time." He also cautions that his is "probably a 50-year strategy, and the first 10 years aren't going to be pretty." Miller put his ideas in writing in January; you can read them here.

Eblen warns, "This effort would require culture change in a region where work has often meant working for someone else. And it would require extensive training in economics, entrepreneurship and business skills, from elementary school through college, both in the classroom and through extracurricular activities such as Junior Achievement." (Read more)

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/07/21/2725406/tom-eblen-motivating-entrepreneurs.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/07/21/2725406/tom-eblen-motivating-entrepreneurs.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/07/21/2725406/tom-eblen-motivating-entrepreneurs.html#storylink=cpy