Chapter 11 / You Decide | Case Study Idea Generation Matt is a supervisor for a regional economic development agency. His job has three main aspects: (1)attract businesses from other states to move to the area, (2)retain and help employers in the area, and (3)support aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start new businesses. Matt's performance has always been measured based on the number of jobs and total revenue generated by the region's companies. Therefore, he spends most of his time trying to attract large businesses from other areas to move into the region. This strategy has worked for him in the past because large companies are more likely to have more jobs and higher revenue, which reflect nicely in his performance measures. Recently, Gretchen was hired as the new regional director, and she has added another performance measure for Matt: total number of new businesses started in the region. Matt has never spent much time focusing on helping start-up companies. However, two of his employees, Kelly and Beth, previously worked for small business development councils in other cities. In addition, Matt's new boss, Gretchen, has prior experience working with entrepreneurs. Matt's first task is to do list of possible outreach activities and education programs the agency can offer to help aspiring entrepreneurs successfully launch their businesses.

Questions

1- How would you suggest Matt get started generating ideas for possible outreach activities?

2- What are a few specific techniques Matt can use by himself to spark creative ideas?

3- What are a few specific techniques he can use to involve Kelly, Beth, and perhaps Gretchen?

4- How would you suggest he generate ideas for potential education topics that can help aspiring entrepreneurs ?