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Week of October 10 - 14, 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.

The Biggest Small Government Contractors

Washington Technology is out with its latest edition of the Fast 50, the fifty fastest growing small government contractors. The firms on Washington Technology’s list are all service contractors that do a minimum of $100,000 of government business every year. Not all the firms are located “inside the Beltway.” In fact, this year’s number one, Merlin Technical Solutions, is based in Greenwood Village Colorado. This information technology services provider posted a 362% compound annual growth rate between 2000 and 2004. Hot areas for contractors are IT services, consulting, and systems integration. The issue also lists the top 25 8(a) companies – firms that are minority-owned and specially designated by the Small Business Administration. As in past years, firms owned by Native Americans and Alaska natives dominate the list, with the number one spot held by last year’s winner, Chenega Corporation of Anchorage, Alaska.

The Fast 50 appears in Washington Technology’s annual small business issue (appearing in the September 26, 2005 issue), which is available on-line at www.washingtontechnology.com

It Pays to be a Copycat?

Is innovation overrated? Unfortunately, that’s one message you might take from a recent article in Strategy + Business E-News, a journal sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton. In The Power of Dumb Ideas, Randall Rothenberg argues that imitation across industries is a more effective and profitable strategy than the promotion of innovation and blue-sky creativity. Rothenberg cites a Booz Allen study that argues that, between 1965 and 1995, 80% of break-out businesses were based on only four ideas: power retailing, megabranding, focus/simplify/standardize, and the value chain bypass. Companies using these strategies include Circuit City, Staples, and Home Depot. Regardless of your opinion on Rothenberg’s ultimate conclusions, you can’t quibble with his basic message that execution is a critical part of business success.

The Power of Dumb Ideas, by Randall Rothenberg, is excerpted in Strategy + Business E-News and is available on-line at http://www.strategy-business.com/press/enewsarticle/enews092905. The full article will appear in the forthcoming book The Big Moo: Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable, by the Group of 33 and edited by Seth Godin.

A Critique of Minority Set-Aside Programs

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has taken a close look at Federal government contracting set-aside programs, and they don’t like what they see. The basic message from their report (Federal Procurement after Adarand) is pretty clear: all government contracting decisions should be race-neutral. In other words, all federal preferential contracting programs, like the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program, should be eliminated. The Commission is recommending a major policy shift, as small and disadvantaged business programs now help fund $19.5 billion in prime contracts (about 7% of all contracting dollars). The Commission’s report recommends that all federal agencies establish new race-neutral procurement programs, and expand marketing efforts so that more small business owners are made aware of new federal contracting opportunities.

The September 2005 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report, Federal Procurement after Adarand, is available at: http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/080505_fedprocadarand.pdf

Knowledge Clusters and Entrepreneurship

A new report from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute examines the linkages between entrepreneurship, knowledge clusters, and economic development. The report summarizes a conference, held in September 2004 that brought together a host of leading experts on entrepreneurship and business clusters. The report presents a host of recommendations for how regions can promote entrepreneurship and the development of strong business clusters. It includes mini case-studies of initiatives in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Northern Ireland, among others.

The September 2005 Conference Report, Knowledge Clusters and Entrepreneurship as Keys to Regional Economic Development, from the State and Local Policy Program of the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, is available at:
http://www.hhh.umn.edu/img/assets/9140/knowledge_clusters_final_report1.pdf

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All stories © 2005 The Public Forum Institute
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