SOHODOJO VISITS FAIRFIELD - Taking The Small Is Good Message To The Entrepreneurial Capital Of Iowa
Timlynn Babitsky and Jim Salmons, founders of Sohodojo and co-founders of The Chandler Guild, will present "Small Is Good Entrepreneurism and the Creative Economy: How Fairfield Fits In" at the Fairfield Entrepreneurs Association meeting on July 1st, starting at 7:30 PM at the Fairfield Public Library. The event is free, and the public is welcome. Babitsky and Salmons are visiting in response to the Fairfield Entrepreneurs Relocation Program. Sohodojo is an independent, non-profit R&D lab supporting solo and family-based entrepreneurs in rural and distressed urban communities.
(PRWEB) June 23, 2004
Timlynn Babitsky and Jim Salmons, founders of Sohodojo and co-founders of The Chandler Guild, will present "Small Is Good Entrepreneurism and the Creative Economy: How Fairfield Fits In" at the Fairfield Entrepreneurs Association meeting on July 1st, starting at 7:30 PM at the Fairfield Public Library. The event is free, and the public is welcome. Babitsky and Salmons are visiting in response to the Fairfield Entrepreneurs Relocation Program, and they want to meet as many people as possible during their weeklong visit that will include the Art Walk and July 4th celebrations.
"Burt Chojnowski, President of the Fairfield Entrepreneurs Association, attended our workshop at the Creative Economy Unconference in Des Moines last year which led to an e-mail conversation," said Timlynn Babitsky. "Burt helped us understand that Fairfield is a special place. Our workshop was focused on 'Creative Class in the Small', applying Richard Florida's ideas about urban economic development to small towns and rural areas. Fairfield is a shining example of Creative Economy dynamics at work in a small town, so we just had to come here to meet the people who are working together to make Fairfield such a vibrant community. This may be a great place for us to live, and to grow Sohodojo and the Chandler Guild."
"Microenterprises, home-based business and sole proprietor start-ups are producing most of the new jobs in the country today." said Burt Chojnowski, "Sohodojo would add tremendous value to Fairfield's reputation as a think tank on entrepreneurship and management and a national model for rural entrepreneurship."
Sohodojo is a U. S. 501(C)(3) non-profit applied research and development laboratory with a complementary educational and advocacy mission. Sohodojo envisions and develops new forms of decentralized and distributed business models to support solo and family-based entrepreneurs in rural and distressed urban communities. These new microenterprise and small business networks are designed to support these entrepreneurs' participation in the Network Economy. Sohodojo works with local economic, community, and business development organizations to envision and perform applied research and demonstration projects that foster the spirit of entrepreneurism and individuality as a means of revitalizing community. All software technologies and educational materials developed by Sohodojo are made available under Open Source and Open Content licenses. Additional information can be found at http://sohodojo. com (http://sohodojo. com).
The Chandler Guild is a "First Of A Kind" microenterprise and small business network of soybean wax candlemakers. Co-founded and co-sponsored by Sohodojo and Cedar Rapids-based Soyawax, Inc., the Guild is a work in progress. At present, the Guild is working through the uncharted waters of transitioning from a loosely-tied community of shared interest to a formal, incorporated business that will function as a self-managed, decentralized network, yet be a formidable competitor in the $3-billion U. S. candle industry. Home to Soyawax - inventor of soybean wax - and home to scores of Guild members throughout the state as well as farmers who grow the soybeans for this value-added agricultural product, Iowa is "ground zero" of the soybean wax revolution in the candle industry. Additional information can be found at http://chandlerguild. com (http://chandlerguild. com).
The Fairfield Entrepreneurs Association (FEA) is affiliated with the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce and serves the active and growing service business sector of our community. It was started in 1989 and has helped establish Fairfield as the "Entrepreneurial Capital of Iowa." The FEA was instrumental is helping Fairfield to be selected as the 2003 winner of the Grassroots Rural Entrepreneurship Award by the National Center for Small Communities (NCSC). The FEA enjoys the reputation as one of the leading entrepreneurial support organizations in the country. More information is available at http://www. fairfieldiowa. com/fea. htm (http://www. fairfieldiowa. com/fea. htm).
