Follow Up

Expanding a bit on what Eric has already noted, it was very interesting to see that Macedonia is very close to Northeast PA in its efforts toward entrepreneurship, economic development, and public policy. I was honestly surprised after hearing from some of the speakers that there was such strong support for entrepreneurs in a country that I hadn't known much about before this trip. I think that as Americans we sometimes don't realize our similarities to somewhere like this until we put ourselves in their setting and culture.
As a class we have conducted many interviews in Macedonia as well as in the States. I think it should be noted that almost every person we heard from feels that a good way to increase entrepreneurial activities is through education. Entrepreneurs may have certain characteristics in common (i.e tolerance of risk, creativeness, etc.), but they are not necessary factors to becoming an entrepreneur. If we can teach the people of our communities, whether in Macedonia or Wilkes Barre, certain skills such as risk management, handling finances, and things of that nature, they may take on an opportunity to open a business that they thought wasn't possible in the past.
There are many organizations in Macedonia, much like those in Wilkes Barre and Scranton that promote public policy to support economic development. Entrepreneurs need public policies to support them in their endeavors to grow and bring business, as well as money, into the local communities. The major difference that we face in the U.S. is that we are dealing with so many government groups within a small area. Macedonia has the advantage of having one set of policy makers to go to, while in PA we are dealing with many groups which makes it very difficult to get everyone on the same page. Hopefully we can lessen this gap by taking the education to an even higher level and informing our decision makers of the important role that entrepreneurship plays in economic development.


Thank you again to everyone that helped us during our adventures in Macedonia. The hospitality we were shown was truly remarkable. A special thanks to Dr. Behxeti for his generosity the entire week. Also, thanks Blake for putting up with us :)

Emilie Pearson