by Matt Dunne, Founder and Executive Director, CORI
A bit of news last month left me beaming with excitement and pride.
The story might have slipped under the radar for a lot of people. That’s understandable — it was, admittedly, a little “inside” unless you’re deep in the world of rural economic development, but still something I’d been eagerly anticipating for weeks.
Of course I get excited any time the Center on Rural Innovation can support rural tech entrepreneurs and startups. This time, though, my reaction owed less to what felt like a win for CORI. Rather, it’s how the role we have been asked to play can spark the type of success stories that can transform the fortunes of rural communities and, possibly, provide a model for future efforts elsewhere.
So, you’re wondering, what’s this story? It’s the first round of funding announcements from the U.S. Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), which will distribute $10 billion to states to expand access to capital for small businesses around the country. Reauthorized as part of the American Rescue Plan Act pandemic relief package, SSBCI aims to generate a further $10 in private investment for every $1 in initial funding.
Or, to put an even finer point on it: The federal government is assuming a bigger role in seeding innovation — particularly in rural communities — than at any time in recent memory. It’s a really big deal.
States developed and submitted their plans for dispersing the federal funds to startups and entrepreneurs. That is where CORI comes in. Vermont will use roughly half of its $58 million SSBCI allocation for early-stage venture capital — and has chosen CORI as one of the organizations to help do that, based on our prior work identifying and investing in scalable, rural tech companies through the CORI Innovation Fund.
That responsibility makes me incredibly proud of our young organization and the impact we can have in my home state, where the success of our pilot project, the Black River Innovation Campus in Springfield, and the visionary investment of Vermont Community Foundation in the wake of COVID to fund our work in four other regions around the state have blazed a path toward economic resilience. And now we are receiving resources to ensure those nascent tech ecosystems have the resources to unlock the full potential of their entrepreneurs and create high-paying jobs for the future.
Specifically, over the next five years we will be investing $3 million in seed capital for early-stage, high-growth startups in Vermont’s rural communities — and I can’t wait for us to get started. We will be providing critical, high-risk early capital that has traditionally been challenging for rural entrepreneurs to access. We’ve been excited to talk to other states that have not yet determined the allocation for all of their SSBCI dollars about similar possibilities, because this kind of transformational investment in rural founders really has the potential to be replicated across the country and strengthen local economies for years to come.
But capital is far from the only factor in an entrepreneur’s chances for success. Mentors are invaluable as well, and, like investors, often hard to come by in rural communities. That’s why we created the Rural Innovation Mentor Network, which links entrepreneurs with global experts. Thoughtful, entrepreneur-focused programming is also incredibly important for rural founders and those in the ecosystems supporting them. Thankfully, annual events like RuralRISE and Radically Rural, which return in-person in September, offer these opportunities, and we are delighted to be involved with both of them.
Add our second annual “Small Towns, Big Ideas” virtual pitch event on Nov. 10 to the mix, and it’s shaping up to be a powerful fall for America’s rural innovators. You can count me among those excited to see what’s next!
CORI. Hartland, Vermont 8.31.2022.