Traditional economic development models, such as recruiting large factories or corporations, are proving to be less effective, particularly in rural towns and small cities. While these methods once promised growth and stability, today’s economic landscape demands a new approach. Entrepreneurship, especially through startup accelerator programs like Amplify, is becoming the cornerstone of sustainable community growth.
In this post, we’ll explore why supporting local startups is critical for economic development and how programs like Amplify are designed to harness the power of local resources, driving lasting economic impact in communities of all sizes.
Why Traditional Economic Development Models Are Struggling
For decades, rural towns and small cities have relied on a model of attracting large factories and industries to boost local economies. However, this approach often fails, leaving communities without the long-term growth they had hoped for. The traditional method of offering tax breaks and incentives to lure outside companies is increasingly risky and unsustainable.
The solution? Shift focus toward entrepreneurship development and supporting local startups. By empowering homegrown entrepreneurs, communities can foster businesses that are more likely to stay, reinvest, and create lasting economic impact. Entrepreneurs bring innovation, create jobs, and use local resources—building a more resilient economy from the inside out.
The Role of Amplify in Economic Development
The Amplify Accelerator Program is designed to help entrepreneurs go from idea to launch or grow an existing business into its next stage. This 10-week startup accelerator program provides participants with business education, actionable insights, and the mentorship needed to build successful businesses.
Amplify’s approach is different because it goes deeper into important areas like talking to customers, validating ideas, and building meaningful customer personas. Rather than discussing ideas in a high-level manner, Amplify challenges entrepreneurs to test and validate their concepts in the real world. This hands-on method drives real results and prepares entrepreneurs for long-term success.
Additionally, Amplify connects participants to their local community—bankers, investors, and mentors—fostering relationships that help entrepreneurs grow locally before expanding outside the area. Amplify also equips entrepreneurs with AI tools, access to its business marketing platform (CrushingIT.ai), and an online community where cohort participants can stay connected. This robust support system makes Amplify a local business accelerator that helps communities thrive.
Why Rural Towns and Small Cities Should Focus on Entrepreneurship
In rural areas, recruiting large companies is often an uphill battle, making entrepreneurship a much more viable path for economic development. By focusing on supporting small businesses, rural towns can create sustainable ecosystems where homegrown companies thrive. Programs like Amplify give communities the tools they need to build these ecosystems from scratch, even when a startup culture doesn’t yet exist.
Amplify provides participants with the structure, mentorship, and community engagement necessary to develop successful startups. Through its community-driven business accelerator model, Amplify helps build startup ecosystems that foster innovation, collaboration, and long-term growth, no matter the size of the community.
Amplify vs. Traditional Approaches to Economic Development
Traditional economic development methods often fall short when it comes to creating lasting local growth. Large factories may bring jobs initially, but these can be short-lived or unsustainable in the long term. In contrast, entrepreneurship development drives innovation and community engagement, building local businesses that are more likely to reinvest in their hometowns.
Amplify focuses on empowering entrepreneurs through personalized coaching, deeper exploration into key topics, and fostering strong local connections. Unlike some programs, Amplify avoids superficial approaches—such as simply drawing avatars of ideal customers—and instead helps entrepreneurs build real, actionable customer personas. We often compare attending a competitor’s program to “space camp,” while Amplify is designed to train “astronauts” for real-world entrepreneurial challenges.
Amplify offers a more cost-effective approach as well, providing free training for facilitators and significantly lower costs for participant materials. Additionally, it avoids any conflicts of interest since it is run by a nonprofit organization that encourages building relationships with local banks and investors rather than pushing specific financial services.
Amplify’s Success Stories in Building Startup Ecosystems
Amplify has helped numerous rural towns and small cities build thriving startup ecosystems. For example, in one community, Amplify’s program equipped local entrepreneurs with the skills and connections needed to launch businesses that created jobs and boosted the local economy. Over time, this led to the development of a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem that continues to drive local growth.
In another success story, Amplify helped a rural area with no existing startup culture build a network of mentors, investors, and local business leaders who now actively support new businesses. This transformed the community into a hub for entrepreneurship, demonstrating how Amplify’s local business accelerator can spark change even in the smallest of towns.
Conclusion
Supporting local startups is not only a smart move for economic development but a necessary one, particularly in rural towns and small cities. By shifting focus from factory recruitment to entrepreneurship development, communities can build more resilient, sustainable economies.
Programs like Amplify provide the tools, mentorship, and community support that entrepreneurs need to succeed. Whether it’s helping an individual go from idea to launch or transforming an entire community into a thriving startup ecosystem, Amplify is a startup accelerator program built for long-term success.
Now is the time for economic developers, Chambers of Commerce, coworking facilities, and entrepreneur support organizations to make entrepreneurship the heart of their strategy for local growth.