Panelists discuss a ground-breaking study of new Pennsylvania firms; examine patterns/needs of small businesses during phases of start-up, growth, maturity, and decline; describe untapped markets in the federal government and through export trade; and review how states can support small business growth by legislative and regulatory change. (NEC)

Four small business development experts examine ways of encouraging/helping entrepreneurs: market identification; management education; improved capital access; emphasis on business and producer services; import substitution; local purchasing; local business expansion; adaptation of good ideas; response to problems/trends in lifestyle changes,…

Aimed at stimulating new jobs in Appalachia, especially through creation/expansion of small businesses, the 1986 workshop attracted 200 participants from throughout the region, including state and local officials and community and business leaders. Workshops addressed new developments in capital opportunities, market development strategies,…

Plenary session opening remarks by Appalachian Regional Commission Co-Chairman Winnifred Pizzano inform participants that the Region's future success depends on their ability to meet the challenge of change. Excerpts from four panelists' speeches address rapid social and economic changes in economic development activities at state and local…

West Virginia Governor Arch Moore discusses past and present changes in the Appalachian Region and in West Virginia spurred by the Appalachian Regional Commission. Changes in West Virginia's tax structure, job creation, economic diversification, and public energy facilities are noted as efforts to prepare for the future. (NEC)

Five panelists discuss how small businesses can acquire seed capital by considering venture; capital's role in the financing of business start-ups, using local banks as sources of advice and community support as well as funds for new entrepreneurs in rural areas, and investigating states' roles in supporting new ventures. (NEC)

Five panelists discuss alternatives to venture capital sources for Appalachian business expansion, new institutions created or supported by state and local governments to provide capital, and how businesses can best position themselves to take advantage of all capital sources. (NEC)

Case studies on recreation, tourism, retirement homes, and information processing and distribution centers illustrate service industries subject to deliberate economic stimulation. The panel concludes that Appalachian communities may be missing major opportunities for development due to misunderstandings and "myths" about the economic…

Case studies demonstrate four capital packaging approaches: a comprehensive statewide enterprise program for Pennsylvania; a county-based industrial development fund in Chautauqua County, New York; an employee buyout in Saratoga Springs, New York; and establishment of a small venture capital company in the Kentucky Highlands with Office of…

Some 280 industry, education, labor, and state and local government leaders exchanged information about how Appalachian programs can harness technology to make traditional industries more competitive, package capital for job-creating industries and business, launch service industries, match education with jobs, and fit displaced workers into the…

Appalachian Regional Commission accomplishments from 1983-1985 included education projects focusing on basic skills, vocational education, and school dropout reduction serving some 100,000 people for $11.5 million and health projects placing 350 physicians in underserved areas. Future proposals and resources may focus on special areas within…

A panel on technology transfer considered ways in which educational instructions and industry could share attempts to innovate. Examples of technology transfer in action included Pennsylvania's Ben Franklin Partnership, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's program, and NASA's Technology Utilization Division. Results of an Appalachian Regional study…

Discussions centered on circumstances faced by laid-off workers in Portsmouth, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Upper Cumberland, Tennessee, and Gary, West Virginia. These diverse Appalachian communities are prototypes of the extent of local distress imposed by the impersonal workings of the market and the absence of precedents for dealing with…

Describes need to improve education in Kentucky's Fifth Congressional District which has the lowest percentage of high school graduates in the nation. Reports peoples' perceptions of educational problems; details community financial support; provides comparative statistics on educational attainment, math and reading mastery, dropouts,…

The panel reviewed five efforts to integrate education into the workplace through cooperation between private industry and government, use of university research resources to save jobs while providing students with hands-on training, and community and school joint preparation of teenagers for social and economic participation. (NEC)