Be My Neighbor This philanthropic fund is encouraging business growth, but will it start a trend?

Here's a novel concept: philanthropic organizations joiningforces to transform a flagging regional economy by fosteringentrepreneurship. Sound improbable? In Ohio, 80 entities formedFund for OurEconomic Future to do just that.

The three-year initiative launched in 2004 has raised $35million, which is earmarked in part for fostering entrepreneurshipand business formation in sectors with strong growth potential."Our goal is to shift the regional economy from traditionalindustries to promising areas such as advanced energy,nanotechnology and electronics," explains Bradley Whitehead,who oversees implementation of the fund's initiatives.

Rather than investing directly, the fund bestows grants onnonprofit venture development entities like BioEnterpriseand JumpStart. These, in turn, offer assistance to early stageventures in the region, ranging from lending expertise to providingfunds. JumpStart, for example, advises and funds companies acrossindustry sectors, investing between $50,000 and $500,000 in itsportfolio companies. BioEnterprise focuses on offering a broadspectrum of assistance to companies in the health-care sector andon gaining recognition for the region among the national VCcommunity. In the past three years, BioEnterprise has received$3.65 million from Fund for Our Economic Future--money it hasemployed to help early stage firms build management teams,commercialize innovations and reach out to investors.