Entrepreneurship is a hot word these days. Lots of towns say they would like to attract more entrepreneurs and grow their small business communities. But how do you do it? There are many ways to encourage entrepreneurship in your community, both through government leadership and private sector/neighborhood-level work. 1. Adjust zoning codes to reduce business costs.2. Help facilitate walkable business districts. 3. Simplify local regulations for starting new businesses. 4. Dedicate resources to economic gardening. 1. Provide easy access to small business loans and/or grants. 2. [node:read-more:link]

While there may be some uncertainty as to how renewable energy policy may play out in Washington over the next few years, ongoing developments at the state level demonstrate the persistent strength of policy leadership being demonstrated across the country. Just last week, Illinois legislators locked in the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) – by 2025, at least 25 percent of the state’s electricity needs will be met with renewable energy sources like wind and solar.Furthermore, the measure, which Gov. [node:read-more:link]

Since being named the President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee as administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, sitting Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt made his first public appearance at a Bartlesville Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting this morning. KWON Radio News Director Charlie Taraboletti had the chance to visit with Pruitt briefly at the breakfast, where Pruitt offered some comments regarding his stance on a couple issues he will soon be given authority over, including the Waters of the US rule (WOTUS) and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). [node:read-more:link]

Critics of solar power have long contended that the technology is a hoax. The panels may appear to create clean energy but, when taking into account the fossil fuels burned to create electricity to manufacture the panels, they become quite dirty, opponents say. But a new study has found that solar panels make up for those emissions and then some over a 30-year lifetime. [node:read-more:link]

The Department of Agriculture doesn't mind if you eat potato chips, but pump the brakes on calling your crispy indulgence a vegetable.Potato chips play a big role in new USDA standards for retailers that sell to the 46 million Americans who use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. [node:read-more:link]

β-Lactoglobulin (BLG) is a dominant allergen present in the milk of goats and other ungulates, although it is not found in human breast milk. Thus, the presence of BLG restricts the consumption of goat’s milk by humans. In the present study, we examined whether the disruption of the BLG gene in goats by homologous recombination (HR) reduced BLG content in goat’s milk and decreased the allergic response to milk.   [We generated] two transgenic goats possessing a BLG knockout allele or site-specific hLA [human α-lactalbumin] integration allele. [node:read-more:link]

Teresa Jones and Anja Thiessen have very different backgrounds, but they both see education as a way to uproot entrenched poverty in the Mississippi Delta. Jones is from a small, unincorporated community about 25 miles east of the Mississippi River. Thiessen was raised near a different river, the Rhine, which flows past her hometown of Bensheim, Germany. Both women have helped build new education programs that focus on Delta youth. [node:read-more:link]

Orlando Paden is a young state representative who always knew what he wanted to do. Mary Williams is a nurse practitioner who discovered her calling while slowly walking into her profession. Both look for ways to lead their region toward opportunity. [node:read-more:link]

When Fox News came calling to do a story about Appalachia, it didn’t take long to figure out what they were really after: examples of doom, gloom, and failure. Nonprofits must shift the focus away from negative stereotypes to show what's working in rural America. Appalachia has always had a problem with media outlets wanting to boost their sales by exploiting “poverty porn.” They come get photos and stories of handpicked, downtrodden people, and instead of offering solutions or asking for change, they quote people of privilege whose answer is that poor people should pick up and leave. [node:read-more:link]