“Slow Down—Get Done Early” is the mantra of Jael Kampfe, consultant and ranch manager of the Lazy EL Ranch, working with the former Microenterprise Design Team, now the Rural Entrepreneur Fellowship Design Team. This philosophy was well matched to the process that the Design Team has been using since March, 2007 to determine the best approach for creating infrastructure in support of entrepreneur development in rural South Dakota.

Northwest Area Foundation and Citi Foundation provided grant funds for the development of a statewide program for entrepreneurial development. Northwest Area Foundation has also made capital available for a loan program. Rather than rush into the implementation of the program outlined in the initial grant applications, SD Rural Enterprise was authorized to convene a Design Team made up of experts and stakeholders. The team was charged with the task of developing a statewide program that would have the greatest impact on small businesses in rural communities.

Several members of the Design Team have been involved in the Meadowlark Project (meadowlarkproject.com). This group of thirty people from five states in the northern great plains has been working together for eighteen months on bringing opportunity to the area, using the U Process developed by Otto Scharmer and others from MIT. The Design Team agreed to apply some of these principles to their face-to-face meetings in March and June. The flow of each meeting included 60 to 90 minutes of dialogue, followed by time for quiet reflection, the premise being that there is insight to be gained by stepping back and listening to our own wisdom. Often in group settings people who can think best on their feet and have the most forceful personalities end up dominating the outcome of the group’s work. Coming together after the reflection time, each person had an opportunity to voice concerns, share insights and raise additional questions.

The Design Team began its work in March by agreeing on some basic tenants about microenterprise and entrepreneur development. These included the importance of good technical assistance, the abundance of resources already available for start-ups, entrepreneurial capacity-building and its importance in growing a business, that capital is often not the most important input to growing the business, and that starting with human capacity building was essential.

The hope was to come out of the June gathering with a model to prototype. The Design Team planned to adjourn at 1:00 p.m., but at 11:30, the group was in chaos. Not only was there no consensus on future direction, there was no agreement on the right questions to ask. A half hour of quiet reflection was requested. People wandered off with journals, took walks, gazed quietly at the Missouri River. When participants reconvened and shared their own inner wisdom, the model was crystal clear and enthusiastically embraced by everyone present.

The details of the South Dakota Rural Entrepreneur Fellowship Program will be announced in the very near future. It is modeled after a program of the Four Times Foundation that once served Indian Country nationally. Jael Kampfe and Gerald Sherman, founder of the Lakota Fund, were principals in that organization and are working with the Design Team on details of development and implementation.

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“Identifying entrepreneurs and building a support and encouragement system to assist them as they identify new problems and opportunities will greatly enhance their likelihood of success and their ability to be role models for others in their communities.”

—Karen Pearson,
SDSU Cooperative Extension

“In the changing and uncertain landscape of South Dakota’s rural communities, we need different strategies—home-grown, sustainable approaches to building our communities. The key to our future is not somewhere else, it’s right here.”

—Joe Bartmann,
The Rural Learning Center