IEDC’s Equitable Economic Development Playbook: Successful Strategies for Small Business Support in Rural Communities

For an economy to be truly diverse and equitable, communities of all types, shapes, and sizes must support their businesses appropriately, including rural and suburban communities.  Rural entrepreneurs start businesses at higher rates than their urban counterparts. As a result, these businesses play a particularly vital role in rural America, creating roughly two-thirds of new jobs and supporting their communities' economic and social well-being.

However, rural entrepreneurs face significant roadblocks in capital, talent, and connectivity procurement, creating more challenges and preventing businesses from forming in rural areas as opposed to more urban regions. Statistically, 40% of rural small business owners have trouble accessing capital, forcing them to use personal savings. 

This webinar will dig into the specific types of support, strategies, and tools rural small businesses need to face these challenges and lead us into a more equitable, flourishing society.