Building Philanthropic Support
for Rural Entrepreneurship:
The Impact of the Pilot Project in Ord and Valley County, Nebraska

The Heartland Center plays a key role in an exciting and innovative pilot program called “Building Philanthropic Support for Rural Entrepreneurship,” supported by the National Rural Funders’ Collaborative. This new venture seeks to use existing statistical data to help communities identify reachable targets on specific break-through strategies, so carefully designed and focused, they have the power to reverse decades of negative growth.
This project already shows great promise in Ord and Valley County, Nebraska. Since the pilot began in May 2002, the community has celebrated several successes, and the project documented the achievement of several outcomes, including:

Several million dollars in contributions will support and sustain Valley County

New and existing leaders, including young people, are being trained and further engaged in forward-looking community economic development

Even though Valley County is comparatively poor, residents are beginning to embrace asset-based economic development strategies

Numerous small businesses and entrepreneurs have been evaluated, and several of these businesses are ripe to grow, prosper and generate new wealth

These collective efforts are beginning to create positive momentum and attitude shift about the future prospects of living and prospering in Ord and Valley County

This success in Ord and Valley County is due in part to a unique collaboration between the Heartland Center for Leadership Development, the Rural Policy Research Institute Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, and the Nebraska Community Foundation.

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