This award is a huge gain for the region and shows how regional cooperation results in a win-win situation for all concerned.  No single agency would have met the requirements needed to compete successfully.  By coming together, they accomplished what none could do on their own.  The Advantage Valley Board believes this is just the first win resulting from regional cooperation.  The Board hopes to announce other economic development projects in the near future that are the results of cooperative efforts.

The Kellogg request for proposals required that applicants be collaborations of groups and entities capable of integrating policy, education, training, technical assistance, financing, networks for entrepreneurs, and culture– all necessary to successfully organize and lead an entrepreneurship development system for their region.

The grant will promote entrepreneurial activity in the eleven-county Advantage Valley region and produce entrepreneurial models for other communities.  Funds will be disbursed over a three-year period and will be used to assist existing agencies in servicing entrepreneurs more effectively, to provide opportunities for entrepreneurs to grow their companies through coaching, networking, and increasing their access to capital and markets, and to help change policies to be more supportive of entrepreneurial activity.  In addition, the proposal outlines plans for increased entrepreneurial activity in public schools and community colleges located within the region.  The ultimate goal is to transform the region from a traditional old-line economy to a vibrant culture of entrepreneurial activity. 

A study commissioned by Advantage Valley several years revealed that the rest of the country has twice the number of start-up companies as experienced in this region.  Since 70% of all job creation comes from new and expanding small business, increasing the rate and the success of entrepreneurial activity is as much an economic development tool as is recruiting industry into the region.  Both are essential if the region is to grow and thrive. 

Based on this study, Advantage Valley began last year to implement a system of entrepreneurial development called The Entrepreneurial League System^® (ELS^®) with funding from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.  The Kellogg proposal incorporates ELS^®, a system developed by Dr. Tom Lyons and Gregg Lichtenstein, and expands the number of entrepreneurs to be served.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is funding this project as part of a special initiative to commemorate its 75th Anniversary (1930-2005).  The Advantage Valley Collaborative was one of six proposals chosen out of 182 that were submitted from across the country. 

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 “to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations.” Its programming activities center around the common vision of a world in which each person has a sense of worth; accepts responsibility for self, family, community, and societal well-being; and has the capacity to be productive, and to help create nurturing families, responsive institutions, and healthy communities.

To achieve the greatest impact, the Foundation targets its grants toward specific areas. These include: health; food systems and rural development; youth and education; and philanthropy and volunteerism. Within these areas, attention is given to exploring learning opportunities in leadership; information and communication technology; capitalizing on diversity; and social and economic community development. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.

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For additional information contact any of the following

Mark Bugher (304) 544-1969, Co-Chair, Advantage Valley Board of Directors

Ellen Cappellanti (304) 340-1277, Co-Chair, Advantage Valley Board of Directors

Gayle Vest (304) 419-5887, Managing Director, Advantage Valley

Mark D. Burdette, (304) 419-2011, General Manager, Advantage Valley ELS^®

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