This paper presents an empirical test of the signicance of reciprocated community support, in
contrast with traditional economic factors and unilateral support, in the success of small businesses in small towns. The central hypothesis is that entrepreneurs who make non-market
contributions to their community and whose community supports them, are more likely to
consider their businesses to be successful. Logistic regression is used to analyse survey data
from over 800 small businesses in 30 small towns of the state of I owa ( USA) . The authors
found that the interaction eect of an entrepreneur’s service to the community, reciprocated
by community support of the business, is the single most signicant determinant of business
success among dozens of indicators and characteristics of the respondent, the business, and the
small towns in the sample. In addition, it was found that business people who feel successful
expect to expand. These ndings are relevant to rural development. The expansion of existing
businesses is an important component of regional job growth.