ABSTRACT
Innovation-driven entrepreneurs start businesses, create jobs, and launch products and services that serve their communities and create dynamic and innovative economies. In fact, businesses less than five years old create the majority of new jobs throughout the country. This has led to a shift in economic development from a focus on business recruitment to a recognition that entrepreneurs should be center stage in growing rural economies. However, entrepreneurs in rural areas face challenges getting their ideas off the ground and growing their small businesses that are not experienced by their urban and suburban peers. Rural entrepreneurs have limited access to markets for their goods and services due to smaller rural populations, but also due to limited access to broadband internet, interstate highways, airports, and railways that facilitate market access. They also use capital differently and often do not have access to the seed funding and equity financing options used in more metro or metro-adjacent areas to get ideas off the ground and finance risky, but promising, endeavors. Additionally, rural entrepreneurs face barriers to connecting and collaborating with other entrepreneurs and accessing the support systems, resources, and training they need to succeed. This chapter explores the state of rural entrepreneurship by identifying barriers, challenges, and opportunities facing rural entrepreneurship, as well as the ecosystem of supports needed to help entrepreneurs and innovators to get their ideas off the ground.
