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Week
of April 11 - April 15, 2005
Welcome
to the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship, an initiative of the
Public Forum Institute made possible by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City. Through
NDE-news, we bring you
short summaries and analyses of various trends driving the innovation
economy. Subscribe
now to receive your weekly copy. Archived issues are available
online. Links to the day's entrepreneurship stories from across the nation and around the world are posted each weekday
on the NDE main page
- bookmark it and stay informed about the latest entrepreneurship news.
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Strengthening America’s Communities Initiative: A Status Report
In his February budget proposal, President Bush announced the Strengthening America’s Communities Initiative (SACI). SACI is designed to consolidate and streamline existing federal economic development programs. While SACI’s goals have been applauded, the overall initiative has generated opposition from a number of groups, including the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO). Responding to concerns over the proposed elimination of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, the Senate voted in March on a budget resolution that included an amendment from Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) that blocks the elimination or transfer of the CDBG program. Debate over SACI continues and final resolution will not likely occur until the end of this Congressional session. Stay tuned for future updates.
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Investment in Innovation: Business is Good
The innovation business is booming according to a new survey from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). BCG surveyed 940 senior managers from 68 countries and all major industrial sectors, asking them to comment on their innovation investment strategies. Overall, the outlook is bright. Seventy-four percent reported that they plan to increase such investments in 2005, up from last year’s total of 64 percent. Ninety percent noted that innovation was critical to success in their industries. In terms of challenges, globalization and organizational issues ranked as top concerns. Finally, when asked to name innovative companies, senior managers ranked Apple, GE, Microsoft, and Sony as the most innovative.
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Angel Capital Association recognizes Sierra Angels founder
Last week at the Angel Capital Association’s annual summit, Robert E. Goff, founder and president of the Sierra Angels, was named as the recipient of the inaugural Hans Severiens Award. The national award, named after the founder of Band of Angels – one of the first angel investing groups in the US, recognizes individual accomplishments in advancing the field. Goff’s background is a blend of managing high technology growth companies and venture investment-related activities. He has more than thirty years of marketing and senior executive experience in managing the rapid and profitable growth of three semiconductor product companies, ranging in size from start-ups to 1,000 employees and with annual revenues of up to more than $100 million.
The Angel Capital Association was formed in January 2004 and is funded by the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City. For more information, visit
www.angelcapitalassociation.org.
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Entrepreneurship as a Global Anti-Poverty Strategy
The past few months have seen the publication of many new reports advocating more aggressive action to eliminate global poverty. For example, a recent report from the UN Millennium Project has received much attention. A new report from the Shell Foundation advances this discussion by examining how enterprise development fits into this picture.
Enterprise Solutions to Poverty argues that the global development community has reached an important turning point, and that the field is ripe for a massive change in philosophy that will embrace small business development and entrepreneurship as core strategies for world poverty reduction. The study is full of interesting recommendations based on the Shell Foundation’s decades of experience in the field. One highlight—the report’s authors argue that current public-private partnerships represent the “wrong ask” and the “wrong offer.” Businesses are generally asked to simply give money to support anti-poverty efforts. If businesses (and their employees) were more effectively engaged and asked to cooperate in developing new business opportunities, their input would be more effective and productive. More than money is needed; real engagement and partnership are required.
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Entrepreneurship Policy: Theory and Practice
As countries across the globe continue to stimulate national economic growth through the power of innovation, a new book analyzes government efforts to promote entrepreneurship. Authored by Anders Lundström (Sweden) and Lois Stevenson (Canada),
Entrepreneurship Policy: Theory and Practice, assesses the actual experiences of thirteen countries in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific, sharing new tools and methods for better shaping entrepreneurship policy.
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Texas Entrepreneurship Summit
Texans are aggressively embracing entrepreneurship as a local development strategy, especially for the state’s rural areas. Key state leaders recently came together in Austin for the first “Texas Entrepreneurship Summit.” Participants learned about best practices from across the country, and also began preparing their own statewide work plan. Creation of a new Texas Enterprise Network, to link all the state’s service providers, ranks at the top of this list. The summit was sponsored by the Texas Center for Rural Entrepreneurship (TCRE), a statewide advocate for agricultural diversification and rural enterprise development.
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IN THE
SPOTLIGHT:
SCORE Association
409 3rd Street, SW, 6th Flr.
Washington, DC 20024
Phone: 1-800/634-0245 or 202/205-7632
www.score.org
Looking for some free and confidential small business advice to help build your business? Then head over to www.score.org and check out the services offered by SCORE, a national network of 10,500 experienced entrepreneurs and corporate managers/executives. SCORE offers in-person and online counseling and chapter workshops that help aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners plan for the success of their business. The Service Core of Retired Executives began in 1964 and since then has served more than 7 million entrepreneurs through 389 chapters nation-wide and its website. Billed as the "Counselors to America's Small Business,” SCORE is a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration and maintains an alliance with a number of organizations, including the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City.
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National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship
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All
stories © 2005 The Public Forum Institute
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