Kickstart Springfield Business Hub (REV Program)

Kickstart Springfield

The city of Springfield is all “REV’ed” up.  In November 2020, the city learned that they were selected to be a part of Rural Entrepreneurial Venture (REV) program. Springfield was one of the four cities selected in the 20-country southern Minnesota area. REV is a program from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF).

Springfield will join the cities of Montgomery, Wells and Mapleton in REV’s three year program.

REV is a program from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, which supports long-term economic growth in towns of 5,000 or less.

The REV model is based on the e2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems framework from NetWork Kansas, which provides guidance to communities for accelerating entrepreneurial activity. The framework has been utilized by communities across the country and provides a roadmap for sustainable entrepreneur-focused development.

The team met for the first time at the beginning of the year and has been meeting regularly since.

The name of the new local REV group is Kickstart Springfield Entrepreneurial Hub. The core focus of the group is to create a vibrant economy by finding and supporting start-ups and local entrepreneurs including business startups to existing businesses that want to grow.

The first phase of the project is to understand the current state. As part of this early work, community members are invited to complete a short survey called the Entrepreneurial Confidence Index.  The index is designed to measure local entrepreneurial culture and attitudes. The group plans to do this survey annually to assess the impacts of REV activities. 

You can complete the survey online at https://sites.google.com/umn.edu/entrepreneurial-confidence-1/home, or clink on link located on the City of Springfield Webpage, or the newly formed Facebook page at Kickstart Springfield Business Hub.