Developing Partnerships that Matter
The Challenge
With a small team serving entrepreneurs across 53 counties, North Dakota Small Business Development Centers (ND SBDC) needed a way to focus its partnership efforts where they would have the greatest impact.
Our Solution
A. Hart Associates helped ND SBDC put its strategic priority of Intentional Partnerships (identified during strategic planning) into practice by implementing an Partner and Ecosystem Development process. With principal Alison Hart’s guidance, they created a stakeholder map of existing relationships, identified gaps in partnership, and considered what ND SBDC and each partner could align around shared goals. The process included developing a framework for long-term impact and success as well as practices to shape and refine the approach to become part of everyday decisions.
Outcomes
ND SBDC’s investment in implementing the Partner and Ecosystem Development process led leadership and staff to become more deliberate about where they spent their time and energy. There was an increase in partner engagement on many levels. Leadership and staff gained a clearer basis for engaging in activities that had greater impact or declining activities that did little to advance the network’s goals. As a result of this strategic systems change, ND SBDC made the intentional decision to serve fewer clients but to do so more intensively, which resulted in increases in business starts, business openings, and capital investment.
Services
Strategic Planning, Partner and Ecosystem Development, Staff Training, Organizational Development, Facilitation, and Implementation Support