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Week of April 19 - April 23, 2004Welcome to the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship and e-News, an electronic newsletter sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City for followers of the entrepreneurial economy. Through e-News, we bring you short summaries and analyses of various trends driving the innovation economy. Please feel free to share this with friends and colleagues. To subscribe, visit www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde/join/ Did you know that links to the day's entrepreneurship stories from across the nation and around the world are posted each weekday at www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde? Bookmark it and stay informed about the latest entrepreneurship news. |
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Inner City 100 The inner city can often be a great place to do business, and the companies listed in the ICIC/Inc. Magazine Inner City 100 can attest to that fact. The sixth annual Inner City 100—the 100 fastest growing inner city businesses in the US—has just been released and the list contains some interesting facts. Overall, the firms enjoyed an average 62% compound growth over a five-year period from 1998-2002. During this period, the companies created 11,600 jobs paying an average wage of $13.80 per hour. Twenty-three percent of the firms are minority-owned and 13% are owned by women. This year’s No. 1 on the Inner City 100 is Baltimore’s 180s, a maker of innovative performance wear such as folding sunglasses and breathable gloves. |
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Small Businesses Facing Intense Competition Small businesses are facing more intense market competition, or, at least they perceive the competition to be more intense. That’s the main takeaway from a newly released National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) poll of small business owners who were asked for their views on competition. The poll finds that 61% of respondents face more intense market competition than they did three years ago. Threats from overseas or from big box retailers are important, but do not dominate the concerns of small business owners. Small portions of the respondents cited big box retailers (12%) or foreign firms (8%) as their major competitor. Most small firms still compete only in local markets as 65% of respondents note that their main competition is located within 100 miles. What are the primary market differentiators for small firms? Much like larger firms, the vast majority of small companies (80%) compete based on either product quality or superior service. |
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Angel Capital Association If you’re interested in starting a local angel capital network, you should check out the newly formed Angel Capital Association (ACA). Formed in cooperation with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (NDE’s sponsor), ACA seeks to build networks among angel investors and to share best practices on what works and what doesn’t. The web page lists angel investor groups from across North America and also includes a lot of new research and excellent reports on best practices and the like. |
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The State of Manufacturing in Pennsylvania The continued decline of American manufacturing is getting a lot of attention on the campaign trail and at the kitchen tables of many American families. If you’re interested in learning more about what’s happening with America’s manufacturers, you should take a look at a new report from Deloitte Consulting entitled Manufacturing Pennsylvania’s Future: Regional Strategies that Build from Current Strengths and Address Competitive Challenges. This massive study, prepared for Pennsylvania’s Industrial Resource Centers and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, provides a detailed and comprehensive look at leading manufacturing clusters with the Commonwealth. A lot of this detail will only interest Pennsylvanians, but the report also includes some illuminating insights into how rapid technological change and globalization are buffeting manufacturers. For example, the report finds that small and medium sized firms would benefit from assistance with business strategy---an area typically downplayed in economic development programs. At the same time, firms will no longer be able to prosper via process innovation (e.g. becoming cheaper and more efficient). While this strategy worked in the 1990s, its future potential is limited. Instead, firms must begin introducing new products into the market and capturing important market niches. |
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Spring is in the air and if you’re like us, you’re spending time digging in the garden. If that’s the case, this week’s organizational spotlight is appropriate. The City of Littleton Colorado, and the head of its Business/Industry Department, Chris Gibbons, has pioneered a new economic development approach that they call “economic gardening.” First begun back in 1987, economic gardening is based on the belief that communities build their economies by nurturing entrepreneurs, not by recruiting businesses into the region. This basic strategy should sound familiar to readers of e-News, but the concept was quite radical when first introduced in the 1980s. The long-term impact of this approach has been phenomenal. Over the course of 15 years, Littleton (pop. 43,000) added 12,000 new jobs and raised retail sales tax revenues from $6 million to $20 million. City officials have an excellent website and email discussion list where interested parties can learn more about the details of economic gardening. |
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the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship: Mark Marich, Editor - mark@pfidc.org |
