Michael Rogers, vice president communications for the Small Business Association of Michigan, interviews Don Macke, co-founder and Director of Entrepreneurial Communities for the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship. The Center helps to promote innovation and small business growth. The Center was launched in 2001 with an initial investment provided by the Kauffman Foundation and the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI). While the Center received some annual support from RUPRI through May 2011, the bulk of the Center’s more than $10 million in activity generated since its founding has been through the opportunities generated and captured by the Center’s co-founders, Don Mackie and Deb Markley and more recently, Ahmet Binerer and Craig Schroeder. Over this decade of work, the Center has continued to be a go-to resource for rural America in terms of entrepreneur-focused development. The Center’s work addresses development associated with business, social and civic entrepreneurship.