In 1999, after 26 years in the manufacturing sector, Rich Lukes left his job and bought the Spillville Locker in northeast Iowa. He’s learned to make award-winning sausage and maintain a happy workforce. Sales and production have more than doubled and, with an operation that’s bursting at the seams, future growth is inevitable.

But how to get there is another question.

“I’m good at what I do, but there are so many things that I don’t know,” he said. “To do what I’m planning on doing is scary.” The future’s uncertainties sent Lukes searching for help, anything that might be able to set him in the right direction.

The answer: MyEntreNet, a community-director, rural-focused small business development program launched Sept. 30 by the University of Northern Iowa Regional Business Center/Small Business Development Center. While the program is similar in its goal to aid the establishment and growth of small businesses, MyEntreNet specifically targets the needs of rural Iowa business owners who, unlike their urban counterparts, may lack the tools and resources needed to thrive.

“We really decided to make a long term investment in rural economic vitality and in helping rural Iowa improve its local economies through entrepreneurship,” said James Hoelscher, a program manger for the UNI Regional Business Center/SBDC.

The success of this pilot program will not only lead to further expansion within the state, but also allow Iowa to serve as an example to other states to show what can be accomplished through rural economic development initiatives.

“Entrepreneurship is a very hot topic nationally,” Hoelscher said. “There has been lots of interest nationally in our program because what we offer is kind of an innovative approach that provides technology and onsite applications.”

The UNI Regional Business Center/SBDC, through its daily work as a small business development center, found that rural regions, though still filled with innovation and entrepreneurship, are not the same as the state’s urban areas in terms of small business development and need additional assistance with everything from technology to marketing.

“If you’re in Des Moines, there are lots of resources,” said Jon Ryan, state director of Iowa’s Small Business Development Centers. “But if you’re in New Hampton, for example, it’s a little harder to find all the (experts, mentors and supporters) unless people are there to put it all together.”

MyEntreNet, funded by a $5 million grant from the Grow Iowa Values Fund, began as a pilot project in 2002. Its success, Hoelscher said, is evident in the numbers. Of the 100 or more participants in each region – the center is now actively involved in two – one in five have opened or expanded their businesses. On average, participants have created 3.8 jobs and $150,000 in new commercial investment, which equates to 20 businesses per region that create 75 new jobs and $3 million in commercial investment.

The business accelerator encompasses four key components: community empowerment, business assistance, capitalization and networking. Capitalization is focused on identifying and bridging the gaps in funding that exist at the rural level, and networking brings Iowa’s entrepreneurs together through Entrepreneur Exchanges with other communities and various online efforts, such as online chats. Community empowerment provides city, county and regional leaders with the skills and assistance they need to support entrepreneurship.

“Community support is key,” Hoelscher said. “We don’t want (small business owners) to feel like they’re on an island.”

Business assistance, the heart of the program, includes practical training for participants through online and onsite efforts. Lukes and other participants have access to existing statewide business resources and partners for the purposes of education, counseling and training, such as workshops and online chat sessions.

Lukes has turned to MyEntreNet resources as he contemplates the construction of a new meat locker, particularly with ideas of expanding to include organic and some ethnic foods. But he fears that high might take “a really good business and make a quantum leap into a bigger business and then end up losing it all.” The business accelerator put him in touch with an architect from the United States Department of Agriculture to develop a plan and consider the feasibility of a new building.

“Instead of making a calculated risk I can make a calculated decision,” he said.

Jane Shekleton, owner of Janey Lynn’s Designs in New Hampton, calls MyEntreNet “the key that starts your car if you want to go someplace,” she said.

She has considered an expansion of her business, which includes custom window coverings as well as wedding rentals, into other parts of the state. She has enlisted the help of MyEntreNet as she considers everything from financing to population studies so that she can determine how best to expand the business without encountering too many obstacles along the way.

“Do you think you could swim without a swim lesson?” Shekleton asks. “The person who wants to swim well is going to use MyEntreNet.” She makes frequent telephone calls, attends workshops and has even stepped into the teaching role herself, having recently led an online chat to discuss creative marketing techniques.

The hope of the UNI Regional Business Center/SBDC is that there will soon be hundreds of more people like Lukes and Shekleton statewide who can advance the efforts of rural Iowans and advance the economic development efforts of their communities.

The center is awaiting applications, due Dec. 2 from rural Iowa cities, counties and region. They must put together an operational budget to cover the program’s business assistant component, based on what types of training they want to implement. Applicants then must make a case for why they should receive assistance from the center and its funding sources. Several potential applicants have expressed interest in the program since it was formally launched.

Hoelscher said two regions will be selected to participate in January, and two others will be selected in mid-2006.

In addition to Grow Iowa Values Fund dollars, the program has received a $155,000 grant from the Iowa Board of Regents. The Community Vitality Center at Iowa State University has said it will contribute money to the MyEntreNet regions, which are responsible for funding business assistance programs at the local level.

“Now we’re just going to get more done with the Values Fund dollars,” Ryan said.