Making the ideal (local) entrepreneur: Place and the regional development of high-tech entrepreneurial identity

Entrepreneurial occupational identity

Scholarship on entrepreneurial identity has addressed the psychological or character-driven traits of entrepreneurs as a way to predict and develop entrepreneurial tendencies (Clarke and Holt, 2010). More recently, however, entrepreneurship research has turned toward exploring the situated experiences of entrepreneurship and the meaning-making inherent in entrepreneurial activities as largely informing entrepreneurial identity (Hjorth and Steyaert, 2004; Hjorth et al., 2008). From this perspective, entrepreneurial identity is not an individualized psychological trait, but is developed in conjunction with external, societal influences, ‘continually constructed from within already existing environmental conditions’ (Clarke and Holt, 2010: 81).

Thus, one objective of researchers working within this shift is to interrogate the discourses associated with the entrepreneur over the past century. Scholars have critiqued how economic and related discourses continue to romanticize the entrepreneur with heroic and self-driven qualities (Clarke and Holt, 2010) that construct a fairly exclusive image of the entrepreneur as individualized and ruggedly masculine (e.g. Ahl, 2004; Drakopoulou Dodd and Anderson, 2007; Ogbor, 2000), young or youthful (e.g. Ainsworth and Hardy, 2008) and white (e.g. Knight, 2005). Arguably, these dominant images and constructions serve as resources for how those within the occupation make sense of their work (Ashcraft, 2007). Yet, alongside such critiques, research has also demonstrated that entrepreneurs are not merely constrained by regulatory discourses, but are able to resist, re-articulate and re-frame such discourse (e.g. Bruni et al., 2004; Essers and Benschop, 2007; Gill and Ganesh, 2007).

Transcendent discourses of gender, race/ethnicity or age that contribute to constructing an entrepreneurial identity circulate contextually such that ‘entrepreneurs are deeply embedded within the society in which they operate’ (Drakopoulou Dodd and Anderson, 2007: 342). Anderson and colleagues argue for a deeper understanding of national context on occupational and entrepreneurial identity, where ‘different histories, politics and economies may have formed different perceptions about enterprise’ (Anderson et al., 2009: 126−127). The US context, for instance, models the ideal entrepreneur after high-tech, celebrity entrepreneurs, who serve as symbols for innovation and change, global perspective and wealth creation (Boje and Smith, 2010), and the business press furthers this context by privileging high-tech, ‘innovative’ ventures over low-tech or ‘replicative’ business ventures (Gill, 2012; Holmer Nadesan, 2001). Certainly, Florida’s (2008) work on creative cities echoes the emphasis on innovation, technology, and research and development expected of entrepreneurs today.

In terms of how the ideal entrepreneur is constructed in the USA, we posit that Silicon Valley forwards a paragon of US high-tech entrepreneurship and presents an example of place-based discourse as not only influential, but also transcendent. Silicon Valley offers an image of an ‘ideal self’ with which entrepreneurs across the USA are encouraged to identify, not least because Silicon Valley is looked to as a frontrunner of innovation and growth that represents ‘Olympic-style capitalism’ (Rogers and Larsen, 1986: 28). Despite the existence of other recognized high–tech regions – such as Research Triangle in North Carolina, Boston’s Route 128 technology corridor or the semiconductor industry in Austin, Texas – that Silicon Valley may proffer a uniquely transcendent discourse is at least partially evident in the proliferation of ‘siliconia’ across the globe (Bahrami and Evans, 1995; Rogers and Larsen, 1986), where regional technology hubs mimic Silicon Valley by merging the ‘silicon’ name with a local, geographic feature such as Silicon Hills in Texas or Silicon Wadi in Israel. ² Referring to this phenomenon as ‘silicon envy’, Wired magazine writes, ‘“Silicon Valley” translates the world over as a byword for cash flow and technological savvy’, and that ‘wannabes everywhere have ventured their own niche namesakes’ (Wieners and Hillner, 1998: para. 1).

Silicon Valley, then, figures prominently in the cultural imagination of high-tech entrepreneurship, largely spurred by the cultural and geographic qualities of this area (Rogers and Larsen, 1986; Saxenian, 1994). Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley owes its name to the development of the silicon semiconductor that began there in the 1950s. As this region developed over the second half of the 20th century, the informal culture of northern California helped generate an environment of collaboration among workers, firms and industries that was less prominent in other technology regions (Saxenian, 1994). The collaborative character of the workforce encouraged high-tech employees in ‘the Valley’ to identify more with their careers than any one company, thus fueling exchanges in labor and prioritizing the development of products and innovations across companies rather than within a single, dominant company. Thus, the very informality of Silicon Valley somewhat ironically generated a model of high-tech work characterized by a ‘never-ending stream of kaleidoscopic changes’ (Bahrami and Evans, 1995: 62) that now seems to trend toward workaholism and a rejection of work−life balance (see, e.g. Shaywitz, 2012). Accordingly, Silicon Valley has been described as an ‘environment of incessant novelty and innovation’ and as ‘characterized by fleeting opportunities, shifting customer preferences, cascades of technological innovations, brutally short product life cycles and furious global competition’ (Bahrami and Evans, 1995: 62).

To be sure, as a metonym for an idealized model of US high-tech entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley is largely evocative of Schumpeter’s (and others’: e.g. Drucker, 1985) characterizations of the entrepreneur as completely subsumed within the market. Although Silicon Valley may not characterize the entrepreneur in a particularly ‘new’ way, as a discourse, it concentrates dominant beliefs about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship into a popular ‘shorthand’ that values: (i) start-ups and a networking culture; (ii) technological innovation and risk-taking; (iii) product development driven by customer inclinations; and (iv) work as all-encompassing. As a popular discursive resource that individuals can draw upon to articulate their own entrepreneurial efforts, Silicon Valley is mobile, or ‘transferable’ to other identities and places; the metonym offers a ‘local’ manifestation of high-tech culture that has come to transcend Silicon Valley itself. Given this, we might expect to see US high-tech entrepreneurs identifying with Silicon Valley. Indeed, mobilizing this discursive resource would support assertions regarding the influence of transcendent occupational identity discourses (e.g. Ashcraft, 2007). Yet, as we articulate next, this tells only part of the story.

Regional identity discourses

Although we agree that national context impacts the construction of entrepreneurial and occupational identities (Anderson et al., 2009; Essers and Benschop, 2007; Wieland, 2010), our research is also driven by a curiosity regarding how entrepreneurs may construct regional identities in ways that are different, unique, resistant and/or similar to the prominent Silicon Valley model. Here, we take our understanding of place from Gieryn (2000), who describes places as possessing three defining characteristics: ‘geographic location … material form … [and] investment with meaning and value’ (464−465). A place is a specific spot in the world, embodied in built and natural things and infused with meaning. Place is distinct from space in that ‘place is space filled up by people, practices, objects and representations’ (Gieryn, 2000: 465).

Notably, a more ‘local’ (as opposed to ‘national’) understanding of the relationship between place and identity is starting to receive attention in the organizational literature (e.g. Elsbach, 2003; Elsbach and Pratt, 2007; Rooney et al., 2010), though often in a way that conceives of place at the level of the work site (Larson and Pearson, 2012). In contrast, our study focuses on place at the level of the city or region. Discussing the importance of regional – or what he refers to as locale-specific – discourse, Kuhn (2006) observed that regions provide a significant resource on which individuals draw in the construction of identity. Regional place is central to the formation of identity because of the combination of physical location and the meanings attached to the location. Places ‘do not exist nowhere’, but ‘bring to the table their own sets of considerations in which the setting becomes “active”’ (Sampson and Goodrich, 2009: 903). This idea of place as ‘active’ recognizes place as a character in the construction of identity rather than a container or context in which identity is constructed and played out.

As an active dimension in the construction of identity, locale-specific discourses offer an assortment of values, symbols, practices and material objects that people can mobilize to describe themselves (Sampson and Goodrich, 2009), including the history and stereotypes, architecture and urban design, and landscape and natural environment of a region (Paasi, 2003). Such discursive resources both enable and constrain identity formation because, on one hand, they clarify the legitimate options for identity construction vis-a-vis ‘local’ processes and norms, and on the other hand, they tether individuals to the dominant discursive preferences for identity within the regional community. To the degree that identification with a region is linked to the identity of that region, then, the symbols and practices related to locale-specific occupations – along with other arenas of life – influence the identities of those within that place (Paasi, 2003).

Ultimately, given the import of place-based discourses as resources for identity work, we explore the influence of transcendent and locale-specific discourses – and how they may or may not be entwined – in the construction of an ‘ideal’ high-tech entrepreneurial identity. Based on the literature we reviewed above, we surmise that not only do prominent high-tech discourses as represented by Silicon Valley influence the construction of entrepreneurial identity in the USA, but also that discourses tethered to particular regions influence identity. Our analysis therefore explores the meshing of transcendent and locale-specific discourses as guided by three overarching questions: How might Silicon Valley be used as a discursive resource in the occupational identity work of entrepreneurs who live and work outside of Silicon Valley? In what ways might entrepreneurs draw on locale-specific resources to explain or justify their entrepreneurial efforts? And, how might transcendent and locale-specific discourses interact during identity work as entrepreneurs construct an ideal entrepreneurial identity?

Utah: The 45th US state

Officially made a state in 1896, the area known as Utah was for centuries settled by Fremont, Pueblo, Ute and Navajo Indian tribes, among others. By the early 1800s, fur trappers and other European explorers had established trade in Utah, and westward-headed families and prospectors crossed the area on their way to California. It was not until the late 1800s that the state began to be more ‘formally’ settled, when members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS, or Mormons), escaping religious and cultural persecution from the east and north, migrated to the Salt Lake Valley and surrounding areas (Mauss, 1994b).

A religion that falls generally within the purview of Christianity, Mormonism was founded in the 1820s in upstate New York by Joseph Smith, Jr, who unearthed and sought to restore to the Christian church principles that had been lost. Although the Mormon religion draws from the traditional texts of Christianity and believes in the Old and New Testament, it also maintains that these texts are inaccurate or incomplete in some respects, as indicated in the religion’s primary text, the Book of Mormon. Values emphasized by the Mormon Church (see Cornwall et al., 1994; Mauss, 1994a, 1994b) include: traditional family values and a tight-knit community structured through Wards (neighborhood churches); an emphasis on education supported by high-school seminaries and Mormon-sponsored universities; and service to others, reflected in large-scale humanitarian programs, as well as the expectation that young men and women (at 18 and 19 years, respectively) complete missions to serve others and baptize converts.

The history of Utah as a state is largely entwined with the history of the Mormon people and one is hard pressed to consider one without the other. The Mormon history of persecution and fight to be recognized as ‘mainstream’ informs much of the state’s political and cultural context. Despite the Mormon Church’s early communitarian and grass-roots organizing, the Utah business landscape has developed to largely embrace mainstream, capitalist values shared across the USA (Mauss, 1994b), albeit combined with particular emphasis on doctrinal values such as those noted above (Mauss, 1994a). This region has emerged in the past 30 years as a growing technology hub, partly influenced by the local religion (James, 2006). As such, Utah appears to be a state that strives to assimilate, while also remaining unique in religious and family values.

It is within this context that the first author studied entrepreneurship and identity along Utah’s Wasatch Front, a roughly 80-mile corridor that runs just west of the Wasatch Mountains. With over 2 million people in residence, the Wasatch Front includes the cities of Ogden, Salt Lake City and Provo/Orem. For a period of six months, the first author conducted interviews and observations with entrepreneurs and networking organizations in these and other cities as part of a larger project (see Gill, 2011); the interviews with 11 entrepreneurs in technology-related industries – such as online ventures, software design and start-up/incubator development – were included for this article. The interviewees were four women and seven men, all of whom were white. These demographics reflect those of the state, as well as the overall composition of entrepreneurship in Utah. Furthermore, all of the participants identified as active members of the Mormon Church. Interviews ranged from 60 minutes to 90 minutes, with the majority averaging 80−90 minutes. The interviewees had lived in Utah for at least several years, if not for their whole lives. Most made their homes in Utah for socio-cultural reasons and wanted to continue to do so, despite the allure of entrepreneurial opportunities in other areas, particularly California.

Montana: The 41st US state

Farther north, Montana boasts the fourth largest landmass in the USA, but is the third least densely populated state, with about 1 million inhabitants. Achieving statehood in 1889, the indigenous populations of Montana include, among others, the Crow, Blackfeet, Shoshone, Kootenai and Salish tribes. The topography and geography of Montana greatly influence the past and present economy in different parts of the state and historically provided the primary draw for pioneering individuals. In the western, mountainous parts of the state, early occupations were based upon natural resource extraction. Butte, with its vast reserves of copper, became the center of the state’s mining operations and, for a time in the late 1800s, home to some of the wealthiest industrialists and the fourth largest company in the world, Anaconda Copper (Glasscock, 1935). In addition to mining, the other great natural resource on the western side of the state has been its forests. After the railroad came through in the 1880s, logging became a mainstay of the economy for the next 100 years, with Missoula as the center of that economy.

In more recent years, however, the western parts of the state have had to cope with the decline of the mining and timber industries. In Missoula, where this research was conducted, the last lumber mill closed down a few years ago and the economy is increasingly centered on education, health care, government, retail sales and professional services (Montana Department of Labor and Industry, 2011). People are drawn to Missoula because of the mountains, rivers – opportunities for outdoor recreation – and more rural lifestyle. Popularly referred to as the ‘last best place’, Montana promotes a balance between work and life that centers on the outdoors. For instance, people living in the area of Missoula appreciate the easy access to wilderness, the solitude and lack of human infrastructure, and the historical and cultural significance of the land itself (Gunderson and Watson, 2007). In addition to the appeal of the outdoors, the University of Montana and two major hospitals draw educated professionals. As the economy of Missoula has changed, there is a small but growing group of entrepreneurs trying to conduct high-tech entrepreneurial work, and these individuals were the focus of this study.

Data for the Montana entrepreneurs were collected by both authors as part of separate projects (see, e.g Gill and Ganesh, 2007; Larson and Pearson, 2012). Combined, these data consist of interviews with 30 high-tech entrepreneurs. ³ Interviews lasted between 30 and 120 minutes, with most between 30 and 60 minutes. Interviewees were mainly white men (three interviewees were white women) and most were middle-aged. The gender and racial composition of the interviewees reflects the gender and racial composition of the people involved in high-tech work in this region. Many of the participants had previously lived in or visited Montana and talked about specific decisions to move (back) to Missoula and engage in entrepreneurial high-tech work as a way of living in a desired place while supporting themselves and their families. The participants were involved in a wide array of enterprises and industries, including computer software and computer-aided consulting, research instruments, bio-medicine and aerospace.

Procedures and analysis

Although discourse is not determinant of identity (Cohen and Musson, 2000; Down, 2006), it does play a role in shaping available identity scripts (Wetherell et al., 2001). We assume, therefore, that individuals mobilize ‘interpretive repertoires’ when articulating their experiences, or use common terms, phrases and metaphors associated with particular discourses (Wetherell et al., 2001). As such, our data provide a window into the construction of identity in that interviews allow for reflection and self-expression (Fontana and Frey, 2005), thus providing opportunities for individuals to mobilize interpretive repertoires. To create space for this kind of reflection, we conducted semi-structured and open-ended interviews, asking questions such as, ‘what does entrepreneurship mean to you?’ and ‘why do you consider yourself an entrepreneur?’.

For each data set, we separately conducted a modified grounded theory analysis, generating themes as they emerged from the transcripts and observation notes (Charmaz, 2003; Strauss and Corbin, 1998). Specifically, we coded (Emerson et al., 1995) to initially highlight moments where participants defined entrepreneurship and articulated related goals and/or tensions. We gathered these comments into themes that we compared to the ideal discourse of high-tech work in the USA, as represented by Silicon Valley (e.g. promoting technology start-ups). From there, we revisited the data to focus on remarks made specifically about place (e.g. comments about the pace of Silicon Valley or explanations for why participants sought to remain in Utah/Montana). This second round of coding encouraged us to pay attention to how the ideal entrepreneur was constructed vis-a-vis that particular locale.

Silicon Slopes: High-tech entrepreneurship in Utah

Our data indicated that the Utah participants relied heavily on the discourse of the ideal high-tech entrepreneur in describing and justifying their identities and that this discourse strongly aligned with locale-specific discourses related to the Mormon Church. Silicon Valley was evoked by the participants to explain their entrepreneurial endeavors and thereby shaped how local entrepreneurship ‘looked’. Yet, as we discuss, participants did not wholly mimic Silicon Valley. Rather, our interviewees indicated that they upheld locale-specific discourses of religion to meet religious expectations and align with the transcendent, high-tech discourse.

Silicon Glacier? High-tech entrepreneurship in Montana

Montana participants, like those in Utah, took up the discourse of the ideal high-tech entrepreneur to articulate their occupational identities. In contrast to those in Utah, however, the Montana participants were more likely to draw on the local to resist the transcendent; accordingly, the locale-specific discourse guided entrepreneurial identity as participants navigated being an ‘ideal entrepreneur’ and an ‘ideal Montanan’. To begin, we examine how the ideal high-tech entrepreneurial discourse was taken up by these entrepreneurs, but then underscore how this Silicon Valley ideal was kept in check by locale-specific discourses.

Locale-specific place and the construction of ideal identity(ies)

First, our research points to the importance of locale-specific discourses for the construction of entrepreneurial identities, particularly those that develop in one specific city or region (Larson and Pearson, 2012). Recent scholarship suggests that cities and regions feature prominently in the new economy (e.g. Florida, 2008), but organization and identity literature has not yet adequately accounted for this research. By connecting to this research, our study provides empirical illustration to Gieryn’s claim that we must see ‘all social phenomena as emplaced’ (Gieryn, 2000: 467) and that places are complex intersections of location, materiality and meaningfulness. In Utah and Montana, topography, material resources and religious and/or cultural histories all influenced how the participants shaped idealized identities. Although a handful of other studies have also examined the intersection of the local and the transcendent (e.g. Kondo, 1990; Kuhn, 2006), we contend that conceiving of place at the level of region provides valuable nuance to understanding the construction of entrepreneurial and occupational identities.

Accordingly, attention to place complicates current academic discussion regarding the need to ‘dislocate’ organizational studies from the work site (Ashcraft, 2007). On one hand, we support notions of moving past the work site as the primary influencer of work-related identities and moving to broader constructions of work as represented in occupations or industries. For instance, our research backs assertions that idealized occupational identities are contested and changing (Meisenbach, 2008; Wieland, 2010) and developed, at least partially, outside of the influence of the ‘artificial boundaries of the organization’ (Kuhn, 2006: 1342; Watson, 1995). On the other hand, rather than ‘dislocating’ we suggest ‘relocating’ place as an influence on occupational identity. Different places, including work sites, regions and nations, all may provide some of the key discursive resources for constructing identity. Whereas some studies show consistency across occupations (i.e. Ashcraft’s pilots), our study demonstrates how locales – particularly regions – provide some of the resources that shape ideal occupational identities. By extension, this finding allows us to confront our understanding of other occupational identities, for example, asking how the identities of autoworkers in South Carolina may compare to those entrenched within the powerful discourse of the Detroit, Michigan auto industry.

Practically speaking, this implication may be useful for individuals and groups engaged in fostering entrepreneurial efforts. When it comes to creating entrepreneurial programs, for example – like those sponsored by the US Small Business Administration − a more robust but nuanced understanding of place can help in understanding and assisting both mainstream and marginalized entrepreneurs. Relatedly, city leaders who use public dollars in attempts to attract high-tech entrepreneurs need to be mindful of how local discourses may align with and/or resist entrepreneurial activities because of how place patterns employment trends, business development and industry involvement (James, 2006). Efforts made to consider the appropriate mix of discourses can usefully foster entrepreneurial initiatives.

Mixing the ingredients of occupational identity

Second, and moreover, our research recognizes that the ‘ingredients’ matter in shaping occupational identities and that place offers an important empirical lens for assessing the mix of discourses available. So while the idea that people draw on and position themselves in relation to diverse discursive resources in an ongoing process of constructing identities is well documented in the literature, we argue that our comparative research sheds light on how such ingredients may manifest differently. As Massey states about place:

There is the specificity of place which derives from the fact that each place is the focus of a distinct mixture of wider and more local social relations. There is the fact that this very mixture together in one place may produce effects which would not have happened otherwise. And finally, all these relations interact with and take a further element of specificity from the accumulated history of a place, with that history itself imagined as the product of layer upon layer of different sets of linkages, both local and to the wider world. (Massey, 1994: 156)

The two places studied in this research provide an empirical demonstration of how unique ingredients, usefully conceived through the lens of place, can provide insight into the similarities and differences that develop in regard to occupational identity.

As a result, place can represent an organizing discourse for exploring intersectionality, where intersectionality ‘claim[s] that systems of race, economic class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nation and age form mutually constructing features of social organization’ (Collins, 1998: 278). As seen in our study, place can add to this analytic focus because it encapsulates numerous additional ‘ingredients’, such as religion, historical development, geography, relationship to the dominant culture and current economic environment that can add to and/or calibrate an understanding of the discourses that shape occupational identities. This focus on place does not diminish the importance of studying race, gender or other social identities, but rather suggests that our mix of discursive resources must be both expanded and refined, recognizing, of course, that place may not represent a key resource for identity in all contexts.

Our study is therefore an example of how attention to place can serve as a lens for exploring the mix of discourses that ultimately frame occupational identities in specific locations. Specifically, we explored the relationship between locale-specific and transcendent discourses in the construction of ideal selves. Our data showed that when locale-specific discourses align with transcendent discourses – as in Utah – individuals are more likely to reproduce and reinforce aspects of the transcendent discourse. This combining and reinforcing created a discourse that exerted complex and considerable influence, to which many entrepreneurs consented, and which constructed the Utah participants as ‘ideal entrepreneurs’ and also ‘ideal Mormons’ in light of both sets of discourses. Our data also indicated that when locale-specific discourses conflict with transcendent discourse – as in Montana – individuals are more likely to express identities that reject the transcendent discourse. In Montana, local values related to work−life balance provided an alternative understanding of the meaning of entrepreneurship that went against the grain of more widely accepted entrepreneurial images and ideals (e.g. a fast-paced, all-encompassing, workaholic environment).

When considering how transcendent and locale-specific discourses manifested in these two regions, we are curious about the overlaps and distinctions. First, we can surmise that part of the reason these discourses aligned in Utah is owing to the Mormon Church’s presence. As a powerful discursive force in this state, the Mormon Church has tended to align with pro-business sentiments as part of its struggle to assimilate (Mauss, 1994a, 1994b; see also James, 2006). In Montana, however, there is no similar, dominant voice, and in fact, residents have often shunned attempts to dictate or control individuals’ lifestyles. Thus, one of the factors regarding how the entrepreneurial identities of a region align with transcendent discourses may be related to how much the region itself is coherent and formalized, and presents a collective mindset.

Additionally, one area where both sets of participants seemed unwilling to make concessions was related to personal issues such as family, marriage and lifestyle. In the case of Mormon participants, they were unwilling to sacrifice marriage and family values integral to Mormon doctrine in order to move to Silicon Valley or take on its associated values. Similarly, the Montana participants were unwilling to make concessions regarding their personal lives and recreational lifestyles. Both sets of participants, in fact, ‘wanted it all’ – a blend of business and family or lifestyle success. In this, our research suggests that although the ‘corporate colonization’ of life (Deetz, 1992) may be prevalent, it may also be the case that individuals are willing to draw the line at how much they will allow transcendent discourses to shape their lives.

Entrepreneurial and occupational identities contribute to place-making

Third, our findings illuminate not only how place shapes identity, but also shed light on how entrepreneurial or occupational identity might shape place. Places have multiple meanings and identities and, although there are shared meanings, there is not one sense of place that everyone holds in common (Massey, 1994). By conducting high-tech work in Utah and Montana, our participants are involved in the construction of those places. In our interviews, the participants positioned themselves as entrepreneurs, but also saw their efforts as connected to a broader effort of re-imagining the places where they lived. Utah participants connected with both the pioneering heritage of the Mormon Church and the new economy prestige of Silicon Valley in trying to shape Utah into the ‘Silicon Slopes’. Montana participants attempted to establish a high-tech sector in a place known for occupations associated with natural resource extraction. In doing high-tech work in Montana, they were implicitly influencing and shaping the occupational identity of the region. These observations lead us to consider how occupational identity discourses can be mobilized in the service of ‘place-making’, which ‘involves making sense of, inhabiting and/or modifying the physical form and content of a particular place’ (Thanem, 2012: 444). By exploring the productive overlap between identity and place, we might consider questions such as how does place get made, transformed or altered? And, who gets to contribute to place-making, and how? The participants we interviewed might argue that, as entrepreneurs, they have valuable and innovative strengths for place-making. But how might entrepreneurial influences on the construction of place also constrain possibilities for community identity and practice, even for marginalized groups deemed not ‘entrepreneurial enough’?

In place-making, we can also consider the making of place by occupation – that is, Silicon Valley or The Motor City. Where scholars have argued that place is formed within a particular location and the material forms and meanings attributed within that location (e.g. Gieryn, 2000; Sampson and Goodrich, 2009), our research recognizes place as a (semi-)coherent discourse open to fluctuation and fragmentation (Massey, 1994). Place-based discourse is not always fixed to a particular location, and the values generated around place can be mobilized to and manipulated within other places. In other words, place-based meanings do not always initiate at the particular, physical place in question, or in predictable ways. Although this might encourage us to consider transcendent identity discourses – including the Silicon Valley metonym – as ‘beyond place’, our research instead confirms that entrepreneurial and other occupational identities are not ‘place-less’. Rather, such identities are reinvested in the places in which they resonate by how they are transformed and combined with other (locale-specific) discourses.