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Week of August 21 - 27, 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.

Turning Small Talk into Big Ideas

To be a successful entrepreneur, the people you know are as important as your ideas. At least accoding to Toby Stuart, a professor at the Harvard Business School and the winner of the 2007 Ewing Marion Kauffman Prize Medal for Distinguished Research in Entrepreneurship. Stuart received the Medal for his pioneering research into social networks and their effects on entrepreneurship. His work points to the dynamics of networking and proves that successful entrepreneurs need more than good ideas and intelligence. They also need to be perceived positively in their networks. As a tribute to Ewing Marion Kauffman and his entrepreneurial work, the Kauffman Foundation established the Kauffman Prize Medal in 2005 to inspire promising young scholars to contribute new insight into the field of entrepreneurship. The Medal, which includes a $50,000 prize, is awarded every two years to one scholar under age 40, whose research has made a significant contribution to entrepreneurship. The inaugural Medal winner was Professor Scott Stern from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He received the award for his enterprising research into the idea marketplace and the development of new market approaches that enable entrepreneurs to better produce and sell their intellectual property.

Learn more about the Ewing Marion Kauffman Prize Medal at www.kauffman.org.

Fostering Minority Entrepreneurship

Legislation intended to bolster entrepreneurship education for minority college students is being considered in the U.S. House and Senate. Congressman Elijah Cummings and Senator John Kerry are sponsoring legislation to create a two-year pilot program that would develop curriculum at historically Black colleges and universities, Tribal colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions as a means of increasing entrepreneurship traditionally underserved communities. In addition to the new curriculum, the $24 million program would help provide capital for graduates to start their own business. Before the summer recess, the Senate version unanimously passed out of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. The House version, with 40 Democratic cosponsors, was recently referred to the House Committees on Education and the Workforce and Small Business.

We’ll keep you updated on progress. Or you can track it yourself through the Library of Congress at www.thomas.gov. 

Phoenix the Best City for Entrepreneurs

We haven’t had a top ten list in a while, so the latest issue of Entrepreneur magazine comes just at the right time with its 12th annual Hot Cities report. For a second straight year, Phoenix tops the list with an ongoing wave of Californians looking to capitalize on huge real estate profits and searching for more affordable locations. Next in line are two North Carolina regions, Charlotte and Research Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill). Rounding out the top five are Las Vegas and Austin. While the Midwest failed to place any cities in the top ten, it does boast five of the next six: Kansas City (#11); Chicago (#12); Columbus, OH (#13); Cincinnati (#15); and, Indianapolis (#16).

The September 2006 issue of Entrepreneur is available on newsstands, or you can visit www.entrepreneur.com. 

Women-owned Firms Increase Nearly 20 Percent

Women-owned firms increased nearly 20 percent over the latest period studied, according to a report released last week by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Between 1997 and 2002, women-owned firms grew by 19.8 percent while all US firms grew by seven percent. A significant portion of those firms were in professional, scientific, and technical services, and in health care and social assistance. Women in Business: A Demographic Review of Women’s Business Ownership, using newly released Census and other data, also finds that:

  • In 2002, women owned 6.5 million (28.2 percent) nonfarm US firms with 7.1 million employees and $173.7 billion in annual payroll.

  • Women-owned firms accounted for 6.5 percent of total employment in U.S. firms in 2002 and 4.2 percent of total receipts.

  • Of all women business owners in 2002, 85.95 percent were White, 8.43 percent African American, 8.33 percent of Hispanic heritage, 5.25 percent Asian, 1.23 percent American Indian and Alaska Native, and 0.18 percent Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (total does not add to 100 due to some double counting across ethnic groups).

Women in Business: A Demographic Review of Women’s Business Ownership, written by Office of Advocacy senior economist Dr. Ying Lowrey, is available at www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs280tot.pdf.  

Kauffman Foundation    The Public Forum Institute

National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship
2300 M Street, NW; Suite 900
Washington, DC 20037

Mark Marich, Editor

All stories © 2006 The Public Forum Institute
Content from this newsletter may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution to the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship and a link to www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde. 

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