Go to any community in the country and ask who their largest private sector employers are. I suspect that you will find at least a few stories of homegrown companies that were started on a shoestring by some extraordinary people. Ask that question in the Columbus Region, and you will quickly hear the names Wexner, McConnell, Schottenstein and several more. These men and women built their companies into worldwide brands from the communities that they grew up in – sometimes with a lot of help, and other times with barely any.
Every community wants to create entrepreneurial successes and companies that can scale to become large employers, investors and wealth builders. These high-growth enterprises are extraordinarily important, and competition between communities to keep them is intense. How can you be more intentional about this as a community? There are a number of strategies and many of them can be quite technical, but here a few things anyone can do:
- Identify high-growth companies and speak with them directly. It is important to establish a relationship with these entrepreneurs and let them tell you what they most highly value. What infrastructure do they need? What talent? What customers are they seeking?
- Develop support infrastructure to assist them directly. Provide the basic financial and coaching tools necessary to accelerate their development.
- Introduce them to your largest companies. This may help them gain a customer, or get insight from those who have systems that have allowed them to scale. This will also help inspire innovation and creativity within your largest companies.
- Celebrate success and use it to attract others!
–Kenny McDonald
One Columbus Update
- Congratulations and thank you to Hirschvogel Automotive Group, which announced a $50 million expansion of its U.S. presence in the Columbus Region. The announcement is another example of companies leading the rebirth of Columbus’ South Side.
- This week, the One Columbus team will host companies considering the Columbus Region.