In the Driver’s Seat: Dickinson County Turns eCommunity Designation Into Action
Updated: Aug 20
New Network Kansas partnership gives Dickinson County more than access to capital — it provides local leaders with tools, expertise and flexibility to test ideas built around local needs.
When Dickinson County earned its Network Kansas eCommunity designation in June, it marked the culmination of more than a decade of local effort.
But the designation was never meant to be the finish line.
It was the starting point.
As one of Kansas’ newest eCommunities, Dickinson County now has access to financing, entrepreneurship programming, technical assistance, statewide resource partners and an assigned Community Entrepreneurship Advisor. Just as importantly, local leaders have more flexibility to identify needs here and work with Network Kansas to determine what resources, programs or ideas may help address them.
In that sense, the partnership gives Dickinson County both permission — and resources — to experiment.
Putting Entrepreneurship at the Center
For Erik Pedersen, President and Chief Operating Officer of Network Kansas, Dickinson County’s designation represents a deliberate decision about the role entrepreneurship can play in the county’s economic future.
“It means Dickinson County is making a deliberate decision to put entrepreneurship at the center of its economic development strategy,” Pedersen said. “It is significant because it creates a coordinated system for helping local entrepreneurs start, grow and stay in Dickinson County.”
Pedersen said the persistence behind the designation — pursued locally for more than a decade — also speaks to the commitment behind it.
“What stood out to us was the persistence, collaboration across the county and commitment under Natalie’s leadership at Driving Dickinson County,” he said.
Although the revolving loan fund is one of the most recognizable pieces of eCommunity designation, Pedersen said financing represents only part of the opportunity.
“The loan fund is an awesome resource, but we have many other tools in our toolbox,” Pedersen said.
Those tools include entrepreneurship programs, technical assistance and connections to resource partners across Kansas.
The model is also intentionally built around local decision-making.
“On the state level, it is easy for us to say no to projects without hearing the why behind them,” Pedersen said. “We believe in this structure because it puts the power in Dickinson County’s hands.”
For local eTeam member Dennis Weese, that local perspective is one of the partnership’s greatest strengths.
“Local is everything in growth,” Weese said. “Local people taking new risks and local people guiding the application, approval and assisting in mentoring as the business grows. eCommunity allows us to do all that.”
A Partner — Not a One-Size-Fits-All Program
Dickinson County’s direct connection to Network Kansas is Dyelan Reed, Community Entrepreneurship Advisor for the North Central Region.
Reed will work alongside Driving Dickinson County, the local eTeam and Financial Review Board to help connect entrepreneurs with financing, programming and other resources.
“My role in Dickinson County is meeting with the leadership team and Financial Review Board as frequently as possible,” Reed said. “I will work alongside Natalie to ensure entrepreneurial growth within the county.”
That could mean helping identify financing to fill a gap in a business project, connecting an entrepreneur with a Network Kansas program or helping Dickinson County explore a new local initiative.
“The eCommunity bucket is not one size fits all,” Reed said.
Network Kansas’ onboarding materials describe the eCommunity loan fund as gap financing designed to work alongside traditional lenders rather than replace them. Local leaders are involved in reviewing qualifying eCommunity requests, while other Network Kansas financing tools may be available for larger or different needs.
Weese said that ability to help move viable projects forward can be significant.
“Many startup businesses have need for more capital than their assets or collateral can guarantee to local banks,” he said. “When that happens, deals grind to a halt. Gap financing from outside sources can free up that friction and help move the deal to completion.”
Still, Reed cautions against thinking of the partnership only in terms of loans.
“Loan dollars are sexy, as Erik puts it, but there are so many facets and departments that make Network Kansas go,” Reed said. “We truly are a resource and not here to sell you or the county anything.”
From Designation to Doing
Becoming an eCommunity also comes with responsibility.
Network Kansas calls for local leadership teams to meet regularly, establish entrepreneurship goals, work with their assigned advisor, identify entrepreneurs who may benefit from resources and maintain a local Financial Review Board. Participation in the annual Kansas Entrepreneurship & Youth Summit, or KEYS, is also part of the partnership.
Earlier this month, Driving Dickinson County CEO Natalie Muruato and Events & Marketing Director Jackie Hynes attended the two-day KEYS Summit in Manhattan as Dickinson County begins its first year as an eCommunity.
The conference offered a firsthand look at the kinds of ideas communities across Kansas are already testing — from empty-building activation and youth entrepreneurship to STEM, makerspaces, marketing and business-development programming.
“Earning the designation was an important milestone, but the real opportunity is what we do with it now,” Muruato said. “Every community and every entrepreneur has different needs. This partnership gives us more tools, more expertise and more connections to identify those needs locally and then work with Network Kansas to find a path forward.”
The common thread throughout the summit was not that every community should copy the same ideas. It was that communities can identify a need, try something, learn from it and build from there.
What If an Empty Building Became a Starting Point?
That idea was especially clear during a keynote from Deb Brown of SaveYour.Town on filling empty buildings.
Brown challenged communities to stop waiting for the perfect tenant, perfect grant or perfect plan before doing anything with vacant space.
She shared examples of pop-ups, shared retail spaces, temporary uses, incubators and empty-building tours that gave entrepreneurs smaller, lower-risk ways to test an idea.
In one community, 12 properties participated in an empty-building tour. Within 18 months, 10 had been filled.
Her larger point was simple: don’t wait for perfect.
That philosophy fits the flexibility Dickinson County now has through eCommunity designation.
Maybe a local need leads to specialized training for food businesses. Maybe it is a youth pitch competition. Maybe it is an idea for an empty storefront, shared workspace or something the local eTeam has not considered yet.
“We are a partner now,” Reed said. “We would love to support and help grow the county however Driving Dickinson County sees fit.”
Showing Young People They Can Build Something Here
Youth entrepreneurship was another recurring theme at KEYS.
Reed is particularly excited about Network Kansas’ Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, or YEC, which gives students an opportunity to develop and pitch business ideas.
“The goal of YEC is to inspire the youth to be successful business owners in their home communities,” Reed said.
More importantly, he hopes the experience changes how young people think about where opportunity exists.
“It shows them, ‘Hey, I don’t need to move five states away or to the big city like Kansas City or Wichita to be successful. I can do it right here in Abilene, Solomon, etc.’”
For a rural county, that matters.
Entrepreneurship development is not only about businesses operating today. It can also become part of a longer-term strategy for workforce development, succession, retention and giving young people a reason to imagine coming home.
Pedersen said that three to five years from now, one sign of success would be seeing young entrepreneurs return after college or gaining experience elsewhere and choose to put down roots in Dickinson County.
The Designation Only Matters If Dickinson County Uses It
Pedersen said the most successful eCommunities are the ones that remain active.
“It is easy to become dormant,” he said.
Successful communities involve the towns they serve, participate in programming, use financing strategically and find ways to engage young entrepreneurs.
Weese said Dickinson County’s early priorities should include meeting the requirements of the partnership, building close relationships with Network Kansas staff, telling people across the county what is available and becoming genuinely knowledgeable about how to use the program.
Stewardship also matters.
Because eCommunity loan dollars revolve as borrowers repay them, decisions made today can affect the resources available to entrepreneurs in the future.
“Stewardship,” Weese said. “Without that, the ship sinks.”
He said success should ultimately be evaluated by more than the number or dollar amount of loans made.
“Capital investment is supposed to yield growth in profit, assets and well-being in the community,” Weese said. “Those are the metrics to measure. Those lines have long graph lines — decades long — so patience is required.”
For Reed, a strong first year could include several locally approved eCommunity loans, a sanctioned Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge and participation from Dickinson County food or food-truck businesses in Network Kansas’ Foodpreneurs programming.
Those are starting points, not limits.
Start With the Conversation
For someone outside economic development, a network of loan programs, advisors and entrepreneurship resources can sound complicated.
Pedersen’s advice is simpler. Ask.
“Network Kansas is not one size fits all,” he said. “If you are in need of financing or any sort of assistance — whether it is loan dollars to fill gaps or you need help marketing your business — do not be afraid to approach Natalie at the Driving Dickinson County office.”
An entrepreneur does not need to know the name of the right program before asking for help.
They may simply have an idea, a financing problem, a growth opportunity or a question.
Weese described his response to that entrepreneur in three words:
“We can help you.”
Then, he said, the work starts with understanding what that person actually needs.
“We listen, listen, listen and act quickly.”
The opportunity is bigger than individual loans or programs. It is about helping Dickinson County become more Roadmarkable — a place where businesses grow, families thrive and communities drive forward together.
Dickinson County now has more tools in the toolbox, more expertise within reach and more connections across Kansas.
The designation opened the door.
What happens next is local.
Dickinson County is in the driver’s seat.
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