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Week of May 24 - May 28, 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. Current and archived issues of e-News are available online at www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde/news/enews.htm |
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e-News will be enjoying a long Memorial Day weekend, so we won’t be publishing on May 31. Look for us in your inboxes on June 7th. |
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Small Business Week 2004 Last week was National Small Business Week, and the Small Business Administration (SBA) and its supporters celebrated with a big gathering in Orlando, Florida. This year’s event was especially big as it coincided with SBA’s 50th anniversary, which officially began in 2003. In addition to panel discussions and workshops, the SBA Expo ’04 also inducted five businesses into SBA’s Hall of Fame. These firms all started small, received SBA assistance, and have now become major industry players. This year’s inductees include: Herr’s Foods (PA), Quizno’s (CO), Fabrica International (CA), Dimensions International (VA), and Columbia Sportswear (OR). The Expo also hosted the announcement of the winner’s of this year’s SBA awards, including the 2004 Women in Business Award winners:
To learn more about National Small Business Week, visit www.sba.gov/50 |
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Small Business and the Regulatory Process: Emerging Best Practices Last week, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford signed into a law a new proposal, the Small Business Regulatory Relief Act that will require state agencies to assess the impact of any proposed new rules and regulations on the state’s small business. The law is good news for South Carolina’s entrepreneurs, and it’s also part of a wider national movement to increase small business input in regulatory decision-making. Beginning in 2002, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Advocacy developed model draft legislation to enhance regulatory flexibility. This draft plan was ultimately endorsed by the American Legislative Exchange Council
(www.alec.org) and promoted as a means to give small businesses a voice in the regulatory process. While South Carolina is the latest convert, similar proposals (as both laws and executive orders) have been enacted in South Dakota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Nevada, Oklahoma, Michigan, New York, Connecticut, and Arizona. |
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New Working Papers on Innovation The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is rightly regarded as a tremendous resource of those seeking to learn more about innovation and entrepreneurship. NBER has just released a new series of articles (edited by Adam Jaffe, Josh Lerner and Scott Stern) that address issues related to Innovation Policy and the Economy. The volume contains some interesting findings. For example, William Gentry and Glenn Hubbard (former Council of Economic Advisors chairman) find that highly progressive tax rates discourage people from pursuing self-employment. New York University’s William Baumol examines the linkages between innovation and education. He argues that innovations derive from two generic sources: the routine activities of large firms, and the breakthrough inventions of independent inventors and entrepreneurs. While both processes are important, Baumol notes that nearly all science, engineering, and technology education focuses on the first strategy. He contends that more research is needed to better understand how entrepreneurs develop breakthrough innovations and whether such skills and knowledge can be effectively taught. |
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Bank Consortium for Innovation Traditionally, banks have been somewhat stingy about backing start-ups. But, a new program from Kalamazoo, Michigan may begin to change this perception. Southwest Michigan First, an economic development organization based in Kalamazoo has organized the Kalamazoo Bank Consortium for Innovation. Eleven banks have joined the Consortium, and they have all agreed to work more cooperatively with local start-ups, especially those focused on the life sciences. The banks will work with these firms to provide financing, to review business plans and marketing strategies, and to link new start-ups with business leads and other partnering opportunities. While this effort is quite new, it may offer a model for other communities seeking to expand financing options for entrepreneurial businesses. |
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From its beginnings with the famed Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, the field of microenterprise has boomed worldwide. The US also has a booming microenterprise sector whose funders and service providers are represented by the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO). The AEO website offers a wealth of information about microenterprise, including reports on best practices and links to various state and local programs. This week, AEO is hosting its annual conference in Philadelphia. AEO also provides loads of useful information about starting a microenterprise program in your area, and about various state and federal funding sources. |
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the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship:
Mark Marich, Editor - mark@pfidc.org |
