Week of May 2 - May 6, 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. 

Inner City 100

Since 1999, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) and INC. Magazine have compiled the annual Inner City 100, a listing of the fastest growing businesses located in America’s inner cities. The 2005 edition has just been released, and New York’s Mosaica Education, an operator of charter schools, tops the list. Overall, the Inner City 100 is an impressive bunch. As a group, the firms enjoyed an average growth rate of 827% between 1999 and 2003, and they created almost 9,600 jobs over this period. The Inner City 100 are located in 58 different cities, with concentrations in Chicago, Denver, and Detroit, who each host five award winners. Thirty-one percent of this year’s list is minority-owned (compared to 11% nationally). This year’s Inner City 100 also includes a new twist: the Merrill Lynch-ICIC Growing Up CEO Program. This project honors 25 young men and women (under the age of 20) who operate businesses in the inner city. 

To learn more about the Inner City 100, visit www.icic.org.

Youth Enterprise & Education in Canada 

Several of the Canadian provinces are embracing entrepreneurship education in a big way. In Ontario, the province’s Ministry of Development and Trade has just announced a new program to engage young people in science and technology via science competitions, field research, mentoring programs, and the like. This effort complements Ontario’s Young Entrepreneurs’ Programs that include efforts like “Future Entrepreneurs” which introduce entrepreneurship concepts to 7th and 8th graders, and “Summer Company” that provides training for youth to operate businesses during summer break. 

Meanwhile, Aboriginal Business Canada (ABC), which works with Canada’s native populations, has announced a new youth mentoring program. Partnering with Canadian Executive Service Organization (similar to SCORE in the US), ABC will sponsor business mentors for youth entrepreneurs in four provinces. 

To learn about Ontario’s Young Entrepreneurs’ Programs, visit http://www.ontariocanada.com/ontcan/en/youth/youth_science_outreach.jsp
To learn about Aboriginal Business Canada and its programs, visit http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/inabc-eac.nsf/Intro

House Approves Resolution Promoting Small Business Bill of Rights 

During National Small Business Week, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved legislation calling for a Small Business Bill of Rights that gives America's small employers the tools they need to grow their businesses and create jobs. Highlighting the legislation is the call for association health plans – allowing small businesses to join together to purchase affordable health insurance. Also included were calls for simplified tax laws, a right for small businesses to be free from frivolous lawsuits, the right to be free from restrictive and unnecessary regulation, the right to be free from high energy costs, right to equal tax treatment with large businesses when seeking access to start-up and expansion capital and credits, and the right to compete for federal government business through unbundling contracts.

For more information: http://wwwc.house.gov/smbiz/ 

New Analysis of Microenterprise Statistics

The Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) is the national trade association for organizations working with micro-entrepreneurs. As part of its mission, AEO tracks data on what’s happening with the nation’s micro-entrepreneurs, and its latest analysis yields some interesting results. In addition to providing state-level data, the Microenterprise Employment Statistics (MEES) examine the national picture for micro-entrepreneurs between 2000 and 2002. Over this period, microenterprise employment (measured in two categories - in firms with no employees or firms with 1-4 employees) grew by 5.1%. Based on this measure, microentrepreneurs out-performed the national economy where non-farm employment (by –0.2%) actually dropped over the same period. At the individual state level, microbusiness employment grew in every state (with the exception of Alaska) between 2000 and 2002.

To learn more about the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, visit www.microenterpriseworks.org. To view the latest Microenterprise Employment Statistics (MEES), visit http://www.microenterpriseworks.org/services/policy/mees/documents/Summaryanalysis3.pdf

INC Rankings: Best Cities for Business

Last week, Glenwood Springs, Colorado got a top ranking (in an SBA-sponsored report) as an entrepreneurial hotbed. This week, it’s Reno, Nevada’s turn. The May 2005 issue of INC. Magazine contains its annual listing of the best places for business. In addition to Reno, INC’s top five is rounded out by Boise, ID; Casper, WY; Green Bay, WI, and Medford, OR. These rankings are developed in cooperation with research Joel Kotkin and heavily emphasize employment growth. Overall, the rankings are heavily skewed to the southern and western parts of the US. Nearly all of the top 25 ranked communities are located in these regions. 

To review INC. Magazine’s “Best Places 2005,” visit www.inc.com. The list is also available in INC’s May 2005 issue. 

Cover the Uninsured Week

Rising health care costs continue to be a top concern for many of America’s entrepreneurs, putting them at a severe competitive disadvantage when it comes to attracting the best and brightest employees. In an effort to raise awareness about these issues, a host of national organizations, ranging from the Chamber of Commerce to the AFL-CIO, have come together to sponsor Cover the Uninsured Week, which will be recognized this week (May 1-8, 2005). The week will include a series of events designed to highlight the challenges facing America’s health insurance system and to point the way toward potential solutions. Among the issues covered will be reducing the business costs of health insurance, and finding ways to support the 45 million Americans who now lack health insurance. 

To learn more about Cover the Uninsured Week, visit http://covertheuninsuredweek.org.
A special set of resources for business are available at: http://covertheuninsuredweek.org/business/

Kauffman Foundation    The Public Forum Institute

National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship
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Mark Marich, Editor

All stories © 2005 The Public Forum Institute
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