When looking at economic development for communities we must struggle with one important question of how we distribute wealth so that impoverished communities are able to gain access to resources that can be invested for future generations. In the United States, Argentina, those who have formal education and therefore access to well paying jobs and those who have access to capital are able to participate in economic development via investments. Those who don’t have formal education and/or don’t have access to good paying jobs or don’t have access to capital simply cannot access well paying jobs and cannot invest in business development. As such, it leads us to the question of what changes need to happen so that our most vulnerable populations can receive a formal education that leads to well paying jobs and how we ensure access to capital for worthy investments.
Regarding access to education, three key things would need to change: First and most obvious is that, in the United States, we are operating under the model that those who live in affluent neighborhoods receive 50 – 100% more per pupil investments then those in poor communities due to education being primarily funded by property taxes. Second, in urban settings, communities have lost the ownership of their neighborhood schools because most decisions are being made centrally and principals are first accountable to the central office and secondly to the community. In addition, communities are not organized and generally are not speaking as a group, but as individuals. These two factors contribute to the culture of little public accountability and an environment where innovation and adaptation is difficult. The final thing that would need to change is the role that unions play within education. In the past, unions were created to protect the workers and ensure fair pay and benefits. However, in the present unions need to balance worker protection and fair pay with accountability measures. In other words, we need to invite unions to the table to discuss accountability measures so that they become part of the solution and not be viewed as the opposition to change. At the center of our education system there needs to be the measured success of our students and as such equity and fair pay needs to be balanced with school personnel accountability. In the 21st Century we need to protect our workers, but we also have to award success and ensure only the best professionals are teaching our children.
Regarding access to capital, we can learn from the two entrepreneurship models of Endeavor (www.endearor.org.ar) and Emprear (http://www.emprear.org.ar) and the community example of La Juanita. Communities/countries with few resources are challenged with gaining access to capital to invest or are fearful of borrowing money. In either case the end result is static communities. The entrepreneurship and community models that I visited have demonstrated success have a few standard but important themes. First, they are seeding the “Entrepreneur Spirit” within communities through “charlas” talks, marketing efforts, and conferences. The “Entrepreneur Spirit” is critical to their success because it inspires individuals and groups to dream of the possibilities instead of accepting what is offered to them in their immediate surroundings. The second theme is the exposure of interested entrepreneurs to past successful models that provide them with the knowledge about business development. Once an idea is fully developed and complimented with a business plan an entrepreneur with potential is put in contact with potential social investors to attract the initial capital necessary. Finally, once a business has achieved some initial success the agencies work with the companies regarding scale and sufficient access to capital. The story of La Juanita in Las Matanzas demonstrates how this can be achieved within impoverished communities.
La Juanita began out of the reality that communities need to create their own opportunities rather than wait for government or other groups to create them. La Juanita realized that as a result of public assistance in Argentina due to the economic crisis in 2001 there was an unanticipated shift in culture from one of “work” to one of “dependence”. They realized that they were in real danger as this culture of dependence was being passed to the second generation who played witness to their parents not working but receiving a monthly subsidy from the government. At the same time there weren’t many other options for the adults as jobs simply did not exist and to survive they needed to depend upon the government subsidies. Upon this realization, La Juanita started rejecting the idea of government dependence as it created a culture that was self destructing and which was passing from generation to generation. La Juanita decided to change the culture and the potential to dream through building the “entrepreneurship spirit”. In other words, they went about the creation of jobs through the creation of small businesses and through this process rebuild the culture of work values and self dignity. Their success has led them to new ventures such as micro lending of which they have a 60% success rate in businesses staying afloat and building schools so that their young people can be educated on new competencies for new ventures. One of their keys to success is that loans are not given to individuals but to cooperatives because they believe that in the process of building businesses and jobs one also has to build community and you do this through ensuring people work together. In addition, loans are initially given in small amount ($200) and can grow as their business grows and trust/credit is established. As they train people through their businesses they are also providing them with the capital to start and grow their own businesses. Also, they are starting to finance their own day care and adult classes from the money they earn through the businesses. Their growth is slow, but growing and steady. The primary driving force is that everything they do is self financed and it is about rebuilding the culture of work rather than dependence that existed when communities and countries were first being formed.
In conclusion, economic development for communities with few resources depends upon access to wealth and investments in education and skills training. Also key to economic development is the importance of rebuilding a culture of work and working toward a better future. This can be accomplished either through education and skills training that leads to a career or it can be accomplished through the “entrepreneurship spirit” as shown through many examples in Argentina. If we have the right mix between education/training, access to capital, and seeding the entrepreneurship spirit then we can create the environment for community economic development.
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