The Appalachian Entrepreneurial Resources Inventory provides information on the entrepreneurial support providers serving each county in Appalachia.

The inventory is designed to help community leaders understand the range of programs and resources related to seven elements that comprise a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Leaders can use the inventory to understand their own county's entrepreneurial ecosystem, or to examine the ecosystems in other counties that they may want to emulate or learn from. The inventory can help guide decisions about where and how a community can intervene to create a stronger environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. Combined with the Appalachian Entrepreneurial Dynamism Dashboard, the inventory is a valuable resource for understanding a county's ecosystem for entrepreneurship and how it compares to other counties across Appalachia. Program listings are also provided for every state in Appalachia. Please note that these state inventory listings are not comprehensive, and only list programs that serve counties within the Appalachian Regional Commission's service area.

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Building Blocks

  1. Gateway: Existing portals to help entrepreneurs find resources at the local, regional and/or state levels. These are often housed in a local/regional/state development organization. Gateway listings include all Local Development Districts (LDDs) operating in Appalachia. LDDs are core partners in regional development. Some, but not all, LDDs provide services to local entrepreneurs. In cases where LDDs do not provide direct support services, they may offer referrals to other regional business service providers.
  2. Community Culture: Efforts to support the startup community such as business plan competitions, entrepreneur recognition, and investments in quality of life to attract talent.
  3. Specialized Infrastructure: Elements of the built environment that support entrepreneurship. This may include a specific building, such as an incubator space, or something larger, like a downtown revitalization effort.
  4. Talent: Job training, entrepreneurial skill building, youth entrepreneurship, and the overall talent pool that impact the startup workforce.
  5. Market Access: Market intelligence to help entrepreneurs in the initial planning stages of their startup and as they seek to grow; sector strategies like support for local/regional food systems.
  6. Regulatory/Government Support: Efforts such as streamlined business licensing, working across economic development, workforce development, and education silos, etc.
  7. Business Assistance: Services such as business plan development, business counseling, and business acceleration programs to help entrepreneurs advance their startup.
  8. Capital: Financial tools such as microlending, angel and venture investing, and revolving loan funds to help get businesses off the ground and to their next level of growth.