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Week of August 14 - 20, 2006

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.

Governors to Push Innovation

The National Governors Association (NGA) plans to make a major push to support new innovation policies in the coming year. This announcement came at the close of the NGA’s most recent meeting held last week in Charleston, SC. Incoming NGA Chair, Governor Janet Napolitano (D-AZ) announced her new plan, “Innovation America,” as an effort to promote two objectives: 1) To educate students to become innovators, and 2) To carry this innovation imperative through the university level and into the workplace. This multi-pronged initiative will seek to raise national awareness about the importance of innovation, create regional learning labs to help states improve education in science, technology, engineering and math, and develop a “tool box” of effective state strategies for promoting innovation.

Learn more about the 2007 National Governors Association initiative, “Innovation America.”

The Impact of New Contracting Rules on Small Business

In last week’s NDE-news, we highlighted a study that criticized federal agencies for their poor performance in doing business with small business. New research sponsored by the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy offers some potential good news on this score. The research examines the effects of government-wide acquisition contracts on smaller firms. These contracts were introduced in the 1990s with the intention of creating a more performance-based, streamlined process for government agencies seeking to procure technology (especially information technology services) from the private sector. The shift was needed. Prior to the changes, information technology contracts could take up to two years to complete. In the meantime, the purchased technology had become obsolete. However, some observers feared that the new process might make reduce the amount of small business contracting. Fortunately, it appears that the new process is working fairly well—at least in terms of providing opportunities to smaller firms. The use of government-wide acquisition contracts has grown rapidly, and the small business share of this market has also grown. In total, small business set asides account for 31% of all spending on these contracts, and that number has continued to grow. One take-away from this research is that it is possible to implement more effective business management practices while also meeting the government’s commitment to sharing business with small and medium-sized firms.

Access the August 2006 US Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy-sponsored report, The Impact of Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts on Small Business (No. 279), by Eagle Eye Publishers and Jack Faucett Associates.

Aiding Entrepreneurs with Disabilities

Entrepreneurship is booming among all demographic groups in the US, and people with disabilities are no exception. A newly released conference report from the August 2005 Action Summit for the Advancement of Capital Access to Entrepreneurs with Disabilities examines effective tools for supporting these budding entrepreneurs. Because self-employment can provide a more flexible work environment, it can be a particularly attractive option for people with disabilities. But, at the same time, disabled entrepreneurs may face unique challenges when trying to access capital or other forms of business support. Like all entrepreneurs, they may not know where to obtain services or even whether support programs are in place. Meanwhile, few business development programs target people with disabilities and traditional vocational rehabilitation programs typically lack experience in working with aspiring entrepreneurs. Experts in the field recommend that business service providers and vocational rehabilitation providers establish better working relationships so that the needs of entrepreneurs with disabilities can be more effectively supported.

Access the proceedings of the 2005 Action Summit for the Advancement of Capital Access to Entrepreneurs with Disabilities, sponsored by the University of Montana Rural Institute Center for Excellence in Disability Education. 

Looking for Funding? Go Online

As social networking sites continue to expand, entrepreneurs are now seeking to use these technologies as a way to build peer funding networks. Several interesting new businesses have emerged in the peer-to-peer lending market. The UK-based Zopa.com was one of the first such efforts while Prosper.com is a recent entrant on this side of the Atlantic. The sites work as follows: a user posts his or her request for funds. Other users review the requests, and then decide if they want to invest (alone or in a group). The sites serve as a marketing vehicle for those seeking funds, and then they help manage the transactions that occur via the site. At Prosper.com, current opportunities include funding for a new business in New Orleans, paying off student loans, and new equipment purchases for an existing business. While these sites are fairly new, they may offer a new method for financing entrepreneurial ventures.

To learn more about Zopa, visit www.zopa.com. To learn more about Prosper, visit www.prosper.com. 

Elephant Ears & Entrepreneurship in Nebraska

August is State Fair month in much of the US, with millions of Americans riding roller coasters, visiting livestock competitions, and eating a lot of junk food from cotton candy to funnel cakes to corn dogs. If you visit the Nebraska State Fair, you can do all this and learn a little about entrepreneurship, too. A coalition led by Nebraska 4-H and University of Nebraska-Lincoln has organized a series of interesting events to introduce Nebraska’s youth to entrepreneurship. Activities include the 4-H’s annual Cyber Fair which will highlight interviews with students and entrepreneurs, an introduction to a new state entrepreneurship curriculum for 4-H students, a make-your-own-business card game, and a host of other games to encourage creativity and innovation.

The Nebraska State Fair will be held in Lincoln, Nebraska from August 25-September 4, 2006. The 2006 Cyber Fair site will debut during the State Fair; find out what to expect by visiting the 2005 Cyber Fair.

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All stories © 2006 The Public Forum Institute
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