I've long been convinced that industrial recruitment, that is a strategy that tried to grow our economy by convincing a factory to locate in an industrial park, is a losing strategy, generally speaking. There just aren't too many Toyota's lining up to locate here, and the companies within the United States, well, they're already American based and why should we use our tax dollars to steal them from another community? It just makes more sense to try to grow the economy overall than to fight the tide pulling these ventures south and east, to China and Mexico.
Soon, there may be yet another reason why industrial recruitment is a losing strategy: Carbon Cap and Trade. This will be a federally imposed tax on the production of CO2 emissions. Factories utilize large amounts of electricity generated by coal and other fossil fuels. Frequently, they burn their own fuels to make energy. In a day not too far into the future, the costs of doing this will increase. When it does, the costs of manufacturing will go up. Here's how CNBC's Larry Kudlow describes it: "[The coming] cap-and-trade program will be a huge across-the-board tax increase on blue-collar workers, including unionized workers. Industrial production is plunging, but new carbon taxes will prevent production from ever recovering. While the country wants more fuel and power, cap-and-trade will deliver less."
At this point I think it will be impossible to stop the cap and trade steamroller. From my standpoint, as a practitioner of economic development, I have to take the laws as they are, not necessarily as I would want them- and I do have reservations about cap and trade. So too do communities.
This means local communities have one more reason to think beyond their industrial recruitment dogmas and realize that entrepreneurship and improving small business efficiency makes more sense than adding onto your inventory of assets for a future factory that just ain't coming.
Showing posts with label Entrepreneurship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Entrepreneurship. Show all posts
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Is Entrepreneurship on the Decline in America?
That's what one economist is saying at US News and World Report. Snips:
[T]he population of U.S. firms is not a measure of new business creation. It is a measure of the stock of businesses in existence at any point in time. The population of businesses goes up if the number of new businesses started each year exceeds the number of existing businesses that fail each year. So we need to look at a different set of SBA numbers to figure out what happened to entrepreneurial activity over the 1997-to-2006 period.
The SBA's primary number for estimating business formation is the count of new employer firms founded in a year. The SBA reports that in 1997, 590,644 new employer businesses were started. In 2006, the agency estimates, 640,800 new employer businesses were created. That's a 7.9 percent increase over the decade.
The Census Bureau reports that in 1997, there were 272,912,000 Americans. In 2006, it estimated that the population had increased to 298,363,000 people. That's a 9.3 percent increase. Over the 10 years, the U.S. population increased faster than the rate of new employer firm formation.
Below is a graph I created of the per capita rate of employer firm formation in the United States since 1990. The trend is not good for entrepreneurship in America. Although the rate bounces around from 1990 to 2007, the per capita rate of new employer firm formation was 10 percent lower in 2007 than it was in 1990.
This bleeds over into the Gazelles vs. Mom 'n Pops argument that consumes many in the economic development arena, but it's worth considering.
Full story: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/outside-voices-small-business/2009/02/23/sba-data-show-a-declining-rate-of-entrepreneurship-in-the-us.html
[T]he population of U.S. firms is not a measure of new business creation. It is a measure of the stock of businesses in existence at any point in time. The population of businesses goes up if the number of new businesses started each year exceeds the number of existing businesses that fail each year. So we need to look at a different set of SBA numbers to figure out what happened to entrepreneurial activity over the 1997-to-2006 period.
The SBA's primary number for estimating business formation is the count of new employer firms founded in a year. The SBA reports that in 1997, 590,644 new employer businesses were started. In 2006, the agency estimates, 640,800 new employer businesses were created. That's a 7.9 percent increase over the decade.
The Census Bureau reports that in 1997, there were 272,912,000 Americans. In 2006, it estimated that the population had increased to 298,363,000 people. That's a 9.3 percent increase. Over the 10 years, the U.S. population increased faster than the rate of new employer firm formation.
Below is a graph I created of the per capita rate of employer firm formation in the United States since 1990. The trend is not good for entrepreneurship in America. Although the rate bounces around from 1990 to 2007, the per capita rate of new employer firm formation was 10 percent lower in 2007 than it was in 1990.
This bleeds over into the Gazelles vs. Mom 'n Pops argument that consumes many in the economic development arena, but it's worth considering.
Full story: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/outside-voices-small-business/2009/02/23/sba-data-show-a-declining-rate-of-entrepreneurship-in-the-us.html
Friday, February 6, 2009
What's Missing from the Stimulus Talks
Growth! Our economy has to grow again. How do we do it? By starting with entrepreneurial friendly policies that allow entrepreneurs freedom to hire people, tap markets, finance their companies, staff their teams, etc.
Don't take it from me. Here's Carl Schramm from the Kauffman Foundation:
We should be asking President Obama, his economic team, and Congressional leaders a basic question: How do you propose to help ensure that the United States maintains a long-term annual growth rate of 4 percent (or higher)?
We at the Kauffman Foundation have our own proposals, all of them centered on the core fact - borne out by our research - that entrepreneurship and innovation are the key growth drivers in our economy. Highly entrepreneurial companies like Google, eBay, Amazon create more than half the nation's new jobs.
Action in several areas can make America's economic ecosystem more conducive to entrepreneurial growth and should therefore be central to the country's growth agenda.
• Building a skilled workforce. Finding and attracting highly skilled, entrepreneurial workers is one of the more important challenges facing the U.S. economy. Major, entrepreneurially driven improvements are necessary throughout our educational system to help prepare skilled workers, especially in math, science, technology, and engineering - the fields that will be most relevant to generating future innovative breakthroughs.
• Welcoming high-skilled legal immigrants. One quarter of the science and technology start-ups launched in the United States between 1995 and 2005 had a foreign-born founder. These companies employed 450,000 workers and generated $52 billion in revenue in 2006. Our economy needs more, not less, of such highly motivated entrepreneurs. One way to keep them is to grant a permanent work visa to any immigrant earns a degree in science, engineering or math.
• A lower-cost health care system that encourages entrepreneurship. Continued escalation of health care costs and uncertainties about future trends rank high on virtually every American's list of concerns. In addition, the fear of losing health care deters some employees from leaving their current jobs to launch new enterprises. Health care needs to be made both less expensive and more portable.
• Keeping U.S. capital markets competitive through appropriate regulation. Sarbanes-Oxley has turned out to be substantially more costly than was expected at the time. In addition, the SOX requirements may be discouraging successful entrepreneurial firms from going public and instead to sell to larger companies, an "exit" path that may reduce the entrepreneurial energy that drove the success of these firms in the first place. In its current form, SOX is a job killer in desperate need of reform. And, this current crisis, we should heed the lesson of SOX. Let's not ram a complex new regulatory scheme through Congress in a matter of days - only find out later that it has worsened the very problem it was intended to fix.
• Strengthening trade and global markets. Companies like Intel, Microsoft, eBay, and Google would not be the giants they are today without access to global markets in which to sell their products. In addition, firms of all sizes benefit from being able to purchase supplies and services from anywhere they can be competitively sourced. Free trade has a taken a political beating in recent years. It's time for our candidates to show some courage and stand up for this vital principle.
Don't take it from me. Here's Carl Schramm from the Kauffman Foundation:
We should be asking President Obama, his economic team, and Congressional leaders a basic question: How do you propose to help ensure that the United States maintains a long-term annual growth rate of 4 percent (or higher)?
We at the Kauffman Foundation have our own proposals, all of them centered on the core fact - borne out by our research - that entrepreneurship and innovation are the key growth drivers in our economy. Highly entrepreneurial companies like Google, eBay, Amazon create more than half the nation's new jobs.
Action in several areas can make America's economic ecosystem more conducive to entrepreneurial growth and should therefore be central to the country's growth agenda.
• Building a skilled workforce. Finding and attracting highly skilled, entrepreneurial workers is one of the more important challenges facing the U.S. economy. Major, entrepreneurially driven improvements are necessary throughout our educational system to help prepare skilled workers, especially in math, science, technology, and engineering - the fields that will be most relevant to generating future innovative breakthroughs.
• Welcoming high-skilled legal immigrants. One quarter of the science and technology start-ups launched in the United States between 1995 and 2005 had a foreign-born founder. These companies employed 450,000 workers and generated $52 billion in revenue in 2006. Our economy needs more, not less, of such highly motivated entrepreneurs. One way to keep them is to grant a permanent work visa to any immigrant earns a degree in science, engineering or math.
• A lower-cost health care system that encourages entrepreneurship. Continued escalation of health care costs and uncertainties about future trends rank high on virtually every American's list of concerns. In addition, the fear of losing health care deters some employees from leaving their current jobs to launch new enterprises. Health care needs to be made both less expensive and more portable.
• Keeping U.S. capital markets competitive through appropriate regulation. Sarbanes-Oxley has turned out to be substantially more costly than was expected at the time. In addition, the SOX requirements may be discouraging successful entrepreneurial firms from going public and instead to sell to larger companies, an "exit" path that may reduce the entrepreneurial energy that drove the success of these firms in the first place. In its current form, SOX is a job killer in desperate need of reform. And, this current crisis, we should heed the lesson of SOX. Let's not ram a complex new regulatory scheme through Congress in a matter of days - only find out later that it has worsened the very problem it was intended to fix.
• Strengthening trade and global markets. Companies like Intel, Microsoft, eBay, and Google would not be the giants they are today without access to global markets in which to sell their products. In addition, firms of all sizes benefit from being able to purchase supplies and services from anywhere they can be competitively sourced. Free trade has a taken a political beating in recent years. It's time for our candidates to show some courage and stand up for this vital principle.
www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/02/whats_missing_from_the_economi.html
New Growth Theory and Entrepreneurship
Interesting theory... how would entrepreneurship play into this:
New Growth Theory emphasizes that economic growth results from the increasing returns associated with new knowledge. Knowledge has different properties than other economic goods (being non-rival, and partly excludable). The ability to grow the economy by increasing knowledge rather than labor or capital creates opportunities for nearly boundless growth.
Markets fail to produce enough knowledge because innovators cannot capture all of the gains associated with creating new knowledge. And because knowledge can be infinitely reused at zero marginal cost, firms who use knowledge in production can earn quasi-monopoly profits. All forms of knowledge, from big science to better ways to sew a shirt exhibit these properties and contribute to growth. Economies with widespread increasing returns are unlikely to develop along a unique equilibrium path. Development may be a process of creative destruction, with a succession of monopolistically competitive technologies and firms. Markets alone may not converge on a single most efficient solution, and technological and regional development will tend to exhibit path dependence.
History, institutions and geography all shape the development of knowledge-based economies. History matters because increasing returns generate positive feedbacks that tend to cause economies to “lock in” to particular technologies and locations. Development is in part chaotic because small events at critical times can have persistent, long term impacts on patterns of economic activity. Institutions matter because they shape the environment for the production and employment of new knowledge. Societies that generate and tolerate new ideas, and that continuously adapt to changing economic and technological circumstances are a precondition to sustained economic growth. Geography matters because knowledge doesn’t move frictionlessly among economic actors. Important parts of knowledge are tacit, and embedded in the routines of individuals and organizations in different places.
New Growth Theory, and the increasing returns associated with knowledge have many implications for economic development policy. New Growth Theory underscores the importance of investing in new knowledge creation to sustain growth. Policy makers will need to pay careful attention to all of the factors that provide incentives for knowledge creation (research and development, the education system, entrepreneurship and the tolerance for diversity, macroeconomic expectations, openness to trade). Because it undermines the notion of a single, optimal general equilibrium, New Growth Theory implies that economics will be less capable of predicting future outcomes. (emphasis added)
Excerpted from New Growth Theory, Technology and Learning: A Practitioner’s Guide. By Joseph CortrightImpresa, Inc
New Growth Theory emphasizes that economic growth results from the increasing returns associated with new knowledge. Knowledge has different properties than other economic goods (being non-rival, and partly excludable). The ability to grow the economy by increasing knowledge rather than labor or capital creates opportunities for nearly boundless growth.
Markets fail to produce enough knowledge because innovators cannot capture all of the gains associated with creating new knowledge. And because knowledge can be infinitely reused at zero marginal cost, firms who use knowledge in production can earn quasi-monopoly profits. All forms of knowledge, from big science to better ways to sew a shirt exhibit these properties and contribute to growth. Economies with widespread increasing returns are unlikely to develop along a unique equilibrium path. Development may be a process of creative destruction, with a succession of monopolistically competitive technologies and firms. Markets alone may not converge on a single most efficient solution, and technological and regional development will tend to exhibit path dependence.
History, institutions and geography all shape the development of knowledge-based economies. History matters because increasing returns generate positive feedbacks that tend to cause economies to “lock in” to particular technologies and locations. Development is in part chaotic because small events at critical times can have persistent, long term impacts on patterns of economic activity. Institutions matter because they shape the environment for the production and employment of new knowledge. Societies that generate and tolerate new ideas, and that continuously adapt to changing economic and technological circumstances are a precondition to sustained economic growth. Geography matters because knowledge doesn’t move frictionlessly among economic actors. Important parts of knowledge are tacit, and embedded in the routines of individuals and organizations in different places.
New Growth Theory, and the increasing returns associated with knowledge have many implications for economic development policy. New Growth Theory underscores the importance of investing in new knowledge creation to sustain growth. Policy makers will need to pay careful attention to all of the factors that provide incentives for knowledge creation (research and development, the education system, entrepreneurship and the tolerance for diversity, macroeconomic expectations, openness to trade). Because it undermines the notion of a single, optimal general equilibrium, New Growth Theory implies that economics will be less capable of predicting future outcomes. (emphasis added)
Excerpted from New Growth Theory, Technology and Learning: A Practitioner’s Guide. By Joseph CortrightImpresa, Inc
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Entrepreneurship in West Virginia
Interesting article about a WV guitar maker's support for entrepreneurship in the mountain state:
http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=51410
http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=51410
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Michigan, Hard Hit by Economic Recession, Turns to Entrepreneurship
Michigan’s economy has taken some severe blows in recent years as deindustrialization takes its toll across the mid-west. As a result, many Michiganders are turning to entrepreneurship:
The perceived risk in joining a small company or starting your own business is rapidly shrinking in Michigan as many large corporations - where job security was long-assumed- are laying off workers in the thousands.
The shift appears to be closing the gap between the uncertainty of starting a company and loss of stability in corporate positions.
[…]
Michigan has long been defined by a culture that is wary of entrepreneurialism and cautious about starting a company, several experts have said.
But contraction at the domestic automakers and the supplier community, job cuts in the pharmaceutical industry and the sluggish housing market are prompting some Michigan workers to reconsider entrepreneurialism as a livelihood.
"One of the positive effects of this horrible downturn that we're in is you do get that sense of, 'Well I have nothing to lose now. I can do what I've always wanted to do,'" Durance said. "I see people pursuing their dreams."
As Michigan's culture becomes more receptive of entrepreneurialism, local economic development officials believe the economy will become stronger.
[…]
As historically successful companies like Microsoft cut thousands of jobs, it's becoming increasingly clear that keeping a job at a large company isn't a sure thing, he said.
Job security has "long been abandoned in most companies," Adox said. "You really have to understand where the risk is."
But jumping from a large corporation such as General Motors or Chrysler to a small company isn't always a smooth transition.
In fact, small tech companies in the Ann Arbor region have occasionally been reluctant to hire employees and executives from large corporations.
[Michigan economic group] SPARK is hoping to help large company executives retool their skills and prep for an entrepreneurial environment by offering a new program called Shifting Gears… [because] large-company employees with very specific job descriptions sometimes are surprised by the broader list of tasks they have to tackle at a small firm.
And what of the future generation?
Risk aside, [one expert] said entrepreneurialism is among the most interesting topics for young people.
"When I was in business school 30 years ago, we didn't have any courses on entrepreneurship. The word didn't even come up. Nobody even thought about it," ... "Now it's not just the business schools, it's across campus. Entrepreneurship is what everybody is talking about."
The perceived risk in joining a small company or starting your own business is rapidly shrinking in Michigan as many large corporations - where job security was long-assumed- are laying off workers in the thousands.
The shift appears to be closing the gap between the uncertainty of starting a company and loss of stability in corporate positions.
[…]
Michigan has long been defined by a culture that is wary of entrepreneurialism and cautious about starting a company, several experts have said.
But contraction at the domestic automakers and the supplier community, job cuts in the pharmaceutical industry and the sluggish housing market are prompting some Michigan workers to reconsider entrepreneurialism as a livelihood.
"One of the positive effects of this horrible downturn that we're in is you do get that sense of, 'Well I have nothing to lose now. I can do what I've always wanted to do,'" Durance said. "I see people pursuing their dreams."
As Michigan's culture becomes more receptive of entrepreneurialism, local economic development officials believe the economy will become stronger.
[…]
As historically successful companies like Microsoft cut thousands of jobs, it's becoming increasingly clear that keeping a job at a large company isn't a sure thing, he said.
Job security has "long been abandoned in most companies," Adox said. "You really have to understand where the risk is."
But jumping from a large corporation such as General Motors or Chrysler to a small company isn't always a smooth transition.
In fact, small tech companies in the Ann Arbor region have occasionally been reluctant to hire employees and executives from large corporations.
[Michigan economic group] SPARK is hoping to help large company executives retool their skills and prep for an entrepreneurial environment by offering a new program called Shifting Gears… [because] large-company employees with very specific job descriptions sometimes are surprised by the broader list of tasks they have to tackle at a small firm.
And what of the future generation?
Risk aside, [one expert] said entrepreneurialism is among the most interesting topics for young people.
"When I was in business school 30 years ago, we didn't have any courses on entrepreneurship. The word didn't even come up. Nobody even thought about it," ... "Now it's not just the business schools, it's across campus. Entrepreneurship is what everybody is talking about."
Monday, January 26, 2009
Avoid the Humpty Dumpty Entrepreneurs
What makes an entrepreneur a Humpty Dumpty entrepreneur? Here's Forbes' Dr. Steven Bergias:
Humpty Dumpty entrepreneurs have the kind of personality, or a particular psychological bent, that simply doesn't lend itself to entrepreneurial success. Mind you, these people aren't losers, mentally ill or doomed to fail in other pursuits. It just means that, in the same way that someone who can't jump probably shouldn't play in the NBA, Humpty Dumpties shouldn't start businesses.
There are three traits to a Humpty Dumpty Entrepreneur, he says:
Workaholics- For all their laboring, workaholics are neither addicted to, nor invested in, careers. Their toil is a socially sanctioned avoidance of social contact. By contrast, natural entrepreneurs tend to be affable charmers. How else would they lure talented employees with meager salaries and slices of potentially worthless equity?
Workaholics tend to be control freaks. Putting in all those hours regulates their (perceived) level of intimacy. Entrepreneurs are quality control freaks, driven to build their mousetraps according to Six Sigma ideals.
Narcicistic- You may ask, "What's the difference between a doomed narcissist and a confident entrepreneur with tons of chutzpah, brashness and screw-the-rules toughness?" Answer: Narcissists are committed to building a facade, while entrepreneurs are devoted to an ideal. That level of commitment neutralizes the rebuffs, insults and failures that inevitably come with running any company.
You can't buy your way into e'ship- Being a business builder is like being the parent of a child who suffers from colic: If you don't love the kid with all your heart, you'll never endure all those sleepless nights. And it's very difficult to develop a truly deep connection to a business unless you played a role in its birth.
Link: www.forbes.com/2009/01/22/entrepreneur-psychology-franchise-ent-manage-cx_sb_0122berglashumptydumpty.html
Humpty Dumpty entrepreneurs have the kind of personality, or a particular psychological bent, that simply doesn't lend itself to entrepreneurial success. Mind you, these people aren't losers, mentally ill or doomed to fail in other pursuits. It just means that, in the same way that someone who can't jump probably shouldn't play in the NBA, Humpty Dumpties shouldn't start businesses.
There are three traits to a Humpty Dumpty Entrepreneur, he says:
Workaholics- For all their laboring, workaholics are neither addicted to, nor invested in, careers. Their toil is a socially sanctioned avoidance of social contact. By contrast, natural entrepreneurs tend to be affable charmers. How else would they lure talented employees with meager salaries and slices of potentially worthless equity?
Workaholics tend to be control freaks. Putting in all those hours regulates their (perceived) level of intimacy. Entrepreneurs are quality control freaks, driven to build their mousetraps according to Six Sigma ideals.
Narcicistic- You may ask, "What's the difference between a doomed narcissist and a confident entrepreneur with tons of chutzpah, brashness and screw-the-rules toughness?" Answer: Narcissists are committed to building a facade, while entrepreneurs are devoted to an ideal. That level of commitment neutralizes the rebuffs, insults and failures that inevitably come with running any company.
You can't buy your way into e'ship- Being a business builder is like being the parent of a child who suffers from colic: If you don't love the kid with all your heart, you'll never endure all those sleepless nights. And it's very difficult to develop a truly deep connection to a business unless you played a role in its birth.
Link: www.forbes.com/2009/01/22/entrepreneur-psychology-franchise-ent-manage-cx_sb_0122berglashumptydumpty.html
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Student Entrepreneurship Should be Encouraged
Interesting piece from BYU in Hawaii on why we should be encouraging student e'ship:
The time in life lived as a university student is awkward and unstable; people who will go on to lead very normal and responsible lives temporarily lose their minds. Ever-changing majors, couples, and Seasider menus are proving that apparently experimentation is the thing to do and “being young” is the perfect fallback when things go wrong. Most amazingly it is OK to fail and try something else, a lesson that is quickly lost upon graduation. So, sounds to me like the perfect opportunity to start a business!
Why Students Make Great Entrepreneurs:
1. Abstract Thinking: In many academic programs students spend a fair amount of time thinking about abstract concepts. The innovative gears are greased and ready to create fresh business ideas!
2. Higher Risk Tolerance: It’s helpful to recognize that when you’re a student your opportunity cost is likely lower than most other points in your career. When you’re sitting there in class and an idea comes to you, it doesn’t really cost all that much to give things a try.
3. Starry-Eyed Optimism: Let’s face it; starting a company takes a fair amount of optimism. As a student you have minimal resources, and the odds are severely stacked against you. You also, conveniently, have nothing to lose.
4. Trusted Peer Network: You have the opportunity to meet and work with a lot of different people in and out of the classroom. If you do it right, these friends and acquaintances will be mentors, clients, and even potential business partners. Yes, you read correctly. You can surf and socialize your way to success.
5. Applied Learning: As a student, you’re quite often “drinking from a fire hose” and bringing all sorts of new information into your brain. Some of which sticks and some of which, in reality, does not. Starting a business while you’re a student provides a practical outlet for your learning. You can internalize and externalize the classroom ideas in tandem.
The time in life lived as a university student is awkward and unstable; people who will go on to lead very normal and responsible lives temporarily lose their minds. Ever-changing majors, couples, and Seasider menus are proving that apparently experimentation is the thing to do and “being young” is the perfect fallback when things go wrong. Most amazingly it is OK to fail and try something else, a lesson that is quickly lost upon graduation. So, sounds to me like the perfect opportunity to start a business!
Why Students Make Great Entrepreneurs:
1. Abstract Thinking: In many academic programs students spend a fair amount of time thinking about abstract concepts. The innovative gears are greased and ready to create fresh business ideas!
2. Higher Risk Tolerance: It’s helpful to recognize that when you’re a student your opportunity cost is likely lower than most other points in your career. When you’re sitting there in class and an idea comes to you, it doesn’t really cost all that much to give things a try.
3. Starry-Eyed Optimism: Let’s face it; starting a company takes a fair amount of optimism. As a student you have minimal resources, and the odds are severely stacked against you. You also, conveniently, have nothing to lose.
4. Trusted Peer Network: You have the opportunity to meet and work with a lot of different people in and out of the classroom. If you do it right, these friends and acquaintances will be mentors, clients, and even potential business partners. Yes, you read correctly. You can surf and socialize your way to success.
5. Applied Learning: As a student, you’re quite often “drinking from a fire hose” and bringing all sorts of new information into your brain. Some of which sticks and some of which, in reality, does not. Starting a business while you’re a student provides a practical outlet for your learning. You can internalize and externalize the classroom ideas in tandem.
Business Schools Turn to Entrepreneurship
Business Schools, facing the dilemna of seeing their grads not get the kind of good jobs they were used to, are turning to entrepreneurship for help:
The National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), a not-for-profit initiative that promotes the entrepreneurial culture among institutes, has been approached recently by many top B-schools. NEN is networked with at least 500 high-growth and high-potential start-ups throughout the country and is facilitating the interface between them and the institutes. It has so far enabled 73 students to get placed in start-ups over the last seven months.
Hopefully, the orientation of our B-schools will change from creating job seekers to creating job creators. Starting one’s own enterprise has been one of the least preferred options for students. The other day, B.S. Sahay, director of Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, told me how last year three of his students, who won the best business plan award in a national contest, were still reluctant to convert the plan into an enterprise because they had good job offers. However, Sahay convinced them to start the business instead of running after jobs. This year, such students won’t have the luxury of options.
B-schools, on their part, should also reinvent their academic processes. Curricula need to be revamped, with redundant courses being scrapped; instead, more time should be devoted in identifying growth areas, filling demand-supply gaps and generating good business plans. They should also introduce courses such as how to start a business, write a business plan and raise capital.
Some institutes such as the Birla Institute of Management Technology are trying to reinvent themselves by focusing on areas such as rural business, social entrepreneurship, microfinance, micro-entrepreneurship, green business and clean technology, etc. It’s time B-schools started incubators on campus and helped students get finance for their projects. As of now, not even 10 B-schools have functional incubators.
Only those B-schools that are proactive in reinventing themselves can meet the crisis head-on. Those who just wait for the economy to recover are likely to lose out.
Link: www.livemint.com/2009/01/25215307/Bschools-must-meet-crisis-hea.html?h=B
The National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), a not-for-profit initiative that promotes the entrepreneurial culture among institutes, has been approached recently by many top B-schools. NEN is networked with at least 500 high-growth and high-potential start-ups throughout the country and is facilitating the interface between them and the institutes. It has so far enabled 73 students to get placed in start-ups over the last seven months.
Hopefully, the orientation of our B-schools will change from creating job seekers to creating job creators. Starting one’s own enterprise has been one of the least preferred options for students. The other day, B.S. Sahay, director of Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, told me how last year three of his students, who won the best business plan award in a national contest, were still reluctant to convert the plan into an enterprise because they had good job offers. However, Sahay convinced them to start the business instead of running after jobs. This year, such students won’t have the luxury of options.
B-schools, on their part, should also reinvent their academic processes. Curricula need to be revamped, with redundant courses being scrapped; instead, more time should be devoted in identifying growth areas, filling demand-supply gaps and generating good business plans. They should also introduce courses such as how to start a business, write a business plan and raise capital.
Some institutes such as the Birla Institute of Management Technology are trying to reinvent themselves by focusing on areas such as rural business, social entrepreneurship, microfinance, micro-entrepreneurship, green business and clean technology, etc. It’s time B-schools started incubators on campus and helped students get finance for their projects. As of now, not even 10 B-schools have functional incubators.
Only those B-schools that are proactive in reinventing themselves can meet the crisis head-on. Those who just wait for the economy to recover are likely to lose out.
Link: www.livemint.com/2009/01/25215307/Bschools-must-meet-crisis-hea.html?h=B
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Jakarta Post: Entrepreneurship More Than Self Employment
Bingo! I would even argue that entrepreneurship is about more than owning a small business. A small business can be entrepreneurial, but it's not always a necessity. Here's the article, all the way from the Jakarta Post:
First...we don’t become entrepreneurs simply by leaving our current jobs or, for that matter, our present bosses. We can still behave entrepreneurially as a professional, even if we work for the government. In that setting entrepreneurship means contributing innovatively and creatively to the organizations we work for. Vision does not depend on the work place, it depends on care, hard work and positive thinking. I learned most of what I know now from the companies, both the small and the big, that hired me when I was first out in the work force.
Second, many young people get inspired by legendary (and exceptional!) entrepreneurs who made it with little academic background. But instead of learning why these entrepreneurs are successful, we too often mistakenly focus on what they did not have, a good education.
The exception doesn’t make the rule, so education, when we can get a good one, is still the most important factor. Legendary entrepreneurs, such as Richard Branson or our own Pak Bob Sadino, say the same. Even though they didn’t hop through the schooling hoops, they were no less prepared than those with degrees, because they – this is crucial – never stopped learning.
[...]
Next, entrepreneurship is not about earning to meet our needs; we do not live solely for ourselves. We live and work for the people we love and those who love us. I often see friends quit their jobs because they get tired of working for somebody else, and they lose the vision and purpose to give more and better for their family. That is selfish, unwise, and not what entrepreneurship is all about.
Entrepreneurship requires wisdom, not just blind intuition....
Lastly, entrepreneurship is the polar opposite of luck. You know luck, it’s the excuse that let’s us wait for our ship to come in, and the waiting makes us all the poorer. I like the old saying: “Luck happens to those who are most prepared when opportunity strikes”.
In the end, entrepreneurship is more about doing than about talking about doing. I want to share one take-away from my own experience as en entrepreneur: “If we aren’t having fun, we aren’t doing it right”.
First...we don’t become entrepreneurs simply by leaving our current jobs or, for that matter, our present bosses. We can still behave entrepreneurially as a professional, even if we work for the government. In that setting entrepreneurship means contributing innovatively and creatively to the organizations we work for. Vision does not depend on the work place, it depends on care, hard work and positive thinking. I learned most of what I know now from the companies, both the small and the big, that hired me when I was first out in the work force.
Second, many young people get inspired by legendary (and exceptional!) entrepreneurs who made it with little academic background. But instead of learning why these entrepreneurs are successful, we too often mistakenly focus on what they did not have, a good education.
The exception doesn’t make the rule, so education, when we can get a good one, is still the most important factor. Legendary entrepreneurs, such as Richard Branson or our own Pak Bob Sadino, say the same. Even though they didn’t hop through the schooling hoops, they were no less prepared than those with degrees, because they – this is crucial – never stopped learning.
[...]
Next, entrepreneurship is not about earning to meet our needs; we do not live solely for ourselves. We live and work for the people we love and those who love us. I often see friends quit their jobs because they get tired of working for somebody else, and they lose the vision and purpose to give more and better for their family. That is selfish, unwise, and not what entrepreneurship is all about.
Entrepreneurship requires wisdom, not just blind intuition....
Lastly, entrepreneurship is the polar opposite of luck. You know luck, it’s the excuse that let’s us wait for our ship to come in, and the waiting makes us all the poorer. I like the old saying: “Luck happens to those who are most prepared when opportunity strikes”.
In the end, entrepreneurship is more about doing than about talking about doing. I want to share one take-away from my own experience as en entrepreneur: “If we aren’t having fun, we aren’t doing it right”.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Pink Slips Can Lead to Entrepreneurship
Could we ultimately be seeing a round of economic Darwinism in the world of business today?
Check this story out:
When Mr Steven Low was retrenched two years ago from his sous chef job at Meritus Mandarin hotel, he received calls from hotels in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines with job offers the very next day.
But the man credited for helping to create the famous Chatterbox chicken rice had already made up his mind to be his own boss.
He took the pink slip, the $20,000 payout for his 31 years of service and his winning recipe to start a stall selling - what else - chicken rice.
'It was a blessing in disguise. It came at the right time,' said Mr Low, 53, who was already harbouring thoughts of venturing out on his own when the axe fell.
With only the hard-earned experience of running a kitchen but not a business, the early days were, he admitted, 'a struggle'.
'There were so many things to worry about: whether customers would come, doing the sums, inventory issues,' he said.
On that first count, at least, he didn't have to worry. Loyal patrons followed him to his humble stall in a foodcourt at Downtown East in Pasir Ris.
Last April, he expanded his business, Mr Chicken Rice, into a 1,260 sq ft restaurant, also at Downtown East.
Retrenchment may be the biggest fear among employees in this gloomy climate, but it could also be a driver for entrepreneurship, said industry pundits.
While there are no statistics, Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (Asme) president Lawrence Leow said that anecdotally, those made redundant in the current downturn are more open to starting their own business.
'There does seem to be this trend. Maybe it is because of the pro-business environment the Government has been putting in place. In earlier downturns, the amount of incentives and pro-enterprise policies were not there yet,' he said.
Check this story out:
When Mr Steven Low was retrenched two years ago from his sous chef job at Meritus Mandarin hotel, he received calls from hotels in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines with job offers the very next day.
But the man credited for helping to create the famous Chatterbox chicken rice had already made up his mind to be his own boss.
He took the pink slip, the $20,000 payout for his 31 years of service and his winning recipe to start a stall selling - what else - chicken rice.
'It was a blessing in disguise. It came at the right time,' said Mr Low, 53, who was already harbouring thoughts of venturing out on his own when the axe fell.
With only the hard-earned experience of running a kitchen but not a business, the early days were, he admitted, 'a struggle'.
'There were so many things to worry about: whether customers would come, doing the sums, inventory issues,' he said.
On that first count, at least, he didn't have to worry. Loyal patrons followed him to his humble stall in a foodcourt at Downtown East in Pasir Ris.
Last April, he expanded his business, Mr Chicken Rice, into a 1,260 sq ft restaurant, also at Downtown East.
Retrenchment may be the biggest fear among employees in this gloomy climate, but it could also be a driver for entrepreneurship, said industry pundits.
While there are no statistics, Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (Asme) president Lawrence Leow said that anecdotally, those made redundant in the current downturn are more open to starting their own business.
'There does seem to be this trend. Maybe it is because of the pro-business environment the Government has been putting in place. In earlier downturns, the amount of incentives and pro-enterprise policies were not there yet,' he said.
MN Unemployment Agency: Employment Via Entrepreneurship
Interesting... isn't this Senior-preneurship?
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is launching a program that aims to help unemployed workers start their own company, the agency said Monday.
The program, dubbed Growing America Through Entrepreneurship (GATE), is available to people who are at least 50 years old and qualify for the Dislocated Worker Program (DAP). DAP supports workers who’ve recently lost their job.
GATE, which is backed by the U.S. Department of Labor, doesn’t provide financial assistance or seed capital to participants. However, it offers personal evaluations, education on how to start a business and other guidance.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is launching a program that aims to help unemployed workers start their own company, the agency said Monday.
The program, dubbed Growing America Through Entrepreneurship (GATE), is available to people who are at least 50 years old and qualify for the Dislocated Worker Program (DAP). DAP supports workers who’ve recently lost their job.
GATE, which is backed by the U.S. Department of Labor, doesn’t provide financial assistance or seed capital to participants. However, it offers personal evaluations, education on how to start a business and other guidance.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Artists Are Entrepreneurs Too!
Artists are entrepreneurs too!!!
Adrian Swain Curator of the Kentucky Folk Art Center says "Jo Ann Butts is an original and creative folk artist. Her work is colorful and often carries an undercurrent of self-effacing humor. Jo Ann’s work has been selected for use in several temporary exhibitions at Kentucky Folk Art Center. As a member of the broader community of folk artists in Elliott County, Jo Ann Butts executes original work that seems to have remained largely uninfluenced by the many other artists who surround her".
“When I was a child we didn’t have a lot of money so we made our toys. Sometimes it was a piece of wood and we would whittle it into something to play with. That’s where I first started my art”.
This is the story told by Jo Ann Butts of Sandy Hook, Kentucky. Her art depicts native critters she has watched in her yard and in the woods growing up as a child and as an adult. Her inspiration comes from nature. “I like to sit on the porch and watch the birds in the spring” she said. “The little robins get a worm in their beak and they pull and pull until they get it out of the ground. Its so fun to watch them because they bob their heads back and forth just fighting with that worm until they win the battle, or the work gets lose and escapes back into the ground. Then they walk around until they find another one”.
Jo Ann’s signature pieces are roosters and hens. “They were always walking around on the farm and early in the morning that old rooster would crow and wake everyone up then we would have fresh eggs for breakfast” she said.
Her brilliant choice of colors and the whimsical characterizations make her work one of a kind. “I didn’t know my work was art until one day Minnie Adkins said ‘Jo Ann you should sell your work. What you are doing is folk art and a lot of people collect folk art’”. Minnie bought the first piece I ever sold. The next thing I knew I had a booth during A Day in The Country at the Morehead Folk Art Center”.
Jo Ann’s latest piece is a squirrel. “Not many people realize the squirrel uses its big bushy tail as shade from the sun and shelter from the rain” she said. Her smiling squirrel sits with a nut ready to eat and the bushy tail over its head.
Joann, an Elliott county folk artist who sells her work across the country, paints as well as carves. Her latest painting is a 12’X30’ mural on a barn. “It’s what the back porch and back yard of my home looked like when I was growing up” she explained.
Saturday Josh and I drove to
The back porch of the yellow house displays a wringer washer; a #2 washtub hangs on the wall, there’s a churn for making butter, and a washboard with a cake of lie soap at the top for treating those tough stains. Among other items used in everyday life on the farm is a lantern. “Everyone used a lantern”, she said. “It was dark going to the out-house at night so a lantern hangs right there on the porch post to use on nights when the moon doesn’t light the way.”
A path of stone leads the way to the out-house. “See the rooster on top of the toilet, yep he crowed every morning. He woke us up early every day”. She said.
Joann sits atop scaffolding with giant umbrellas shading her from the sun. “A humming bird came to the lilac bush” she said as she pointed to the flowering shrub growing beside the back porch. “And the other day, I was just sittin’ here painting and a butterfly lit right on that holly hock” she said with a grin. And as real as the sun in the sky, hens, roosters and baby chicks call the yard home.
A bucket attached to a chain sits on the well box reminding everyone of the days when frost would make the chain stick to little hands who had to draw water for household uses.
The brightly colored rendition of “The Back Yard” has drawn attention by passers by. “People are always stopping to tell me I’m doing a good job” she said. And sure enough, while we were talking, a truck with two young boys in the back stopped to compliment Joan on her work. “It looks just like where I grew up” said the driver of the truck. But it was the blond hair and blue eyes peeping over the bed of the truck that won Joann’s heart “I like that house” he said and waved as the truck pulled away. “Keep Up the good work” the driver of the truck said.
Joann was painting quilts on a clothesline as we walked away. Just before we left she pointed to a quilt on the line and said, “This is my quilt”. With a smile she looked at Josh and said “I have one just like it at home. Its grandmother’s fan”, she explained. Joann painted quilts hanging on the line to compliment The Clothesline of Quilts project.
As you find each little butterfly and baby chick be sure to notice Grandma with her hair pulled in a bun, hanging Grandpa’s long-johns on the clothesline.
Joann is painting the mural on Steve Gray’s barn just a bit after turning on 32 from Route Seven at
Funding for the mural was gained through a grant from the W. Paul and Lucille Caudill Little Foundation.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Don McNay Preaches the Virtues of Entrepreneurship
I spend quite a bit of time on these pages railing about the importance of entrepreneurship. Skills in small business (and enterprises in general) will be crucial for millions of American as our economy changes from one that favored big industry to one that smiles more brightly on small business. The reasons are simple: globalization and technology. Our economy is moving away from one that favored capital investment to one that favors human capital.
Don McNay gets that. Here are snips from his most recent op-ed, the entirety of which I strongly suggest folks read:
Every person in the financial world has skills that can be transferred to a business they own. Media people have a “brand name” with the public. Both groups can take the skills honed at large institutions and use them to make their own fortune.
Entrepreneurs in the next generations won’t have the opportunity of training at a large company. They will have to start business for themselves from day one, instead of learning their craft from experienced hands with vast resources.
[…]
In 1900, only 10 percent of Americans worked for large companies. The other 90 percent were self-employed farmers and shop owners. By 1970, the number of people working for large companies reached 90 percent.
It’s been dropping every year since 1970. We are on a steady march back to that 10 percent number. The recent economy is quickening that march.
So what do we do about it? McNay notes that it’s a challenge to prepare folks used to working for a big business to run their own business. But as he says: “it’s a challenge that must be met.”
But how? For starters, we need to get it. I really think that Governor Beshear gets it. (I'm not saying others didn't, but I think he gets it even more.) He preaches the gospel of growing Kentucky companies here in the state rather than recruiting them from elsewhere. If you read press releases from the Cabinet for Economic Development you’ll see that the Guv is relentlessly on message about the need to grow companies organically.
We should build on this kind of attitude. Pols should actively preach the virtues of that funny French word entre-pruh-neur-ship. That’s important. Because an entrepreneur is more than a small business owner. An entrepreneur is someone who creates new enterprises, taps new markets, does things innovatively.
In the legislature there are periodic attempts to promote math and science education in schools. What about entrepreneurship? The Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute has long advocated for and actually implemented on a smaller scale youth e’ship programs. It’s time we get serious about these here in KY. Pols could play a vital role in the promotion of e’ship here in the bluegrass. Their bully pulpit and the fact that Kentuckians still look to them to do things to foster economic growth means that they can spread this message with ease.
Further, we should evaluate the myriad economic development programs and agencies in KY to see which ones are and which ones aren’t promoting entrepreneurship. We have to let our children know that they should align their college education with the realities of this new economy. And kids should know that lifelong learning is a must. No matter what entrepreneurial endeavor you launch, odds are it will change, possibly even die, in this rapid new economy. This means that they must be nimble and flexible.
The dinosaurs are becoming extinct folks, but the mammals are rising in their place. Don McNay gets that: “When people decide they’re not going to depend on a big boss to hand them opportunity, it is a liberating experience. Like our forefathers, we have the chance to thrive in an environment where we control our own destiny.”
Cross Posted at the New Economy Census blog.
Don McNay gets that. Here are snips from his most recent op-ed, the entirety of which I strongly suggest folks read:
Every person in the financial world has skills that can be transferred to a business they own. Media people have a “brand name” with the public. Both groups can take the skills honed at large institutions and use them to make their own fortune.
Entrepreneurs in the next generations won’t have the opportunity of training at a large company. They will have to start business for themselves from day one, instead of learning their craft from experienced hands with vast resources.
[…]
In 1900, only 10 percent of Americans worked for large companies. The other 90 percent were self-employed farmers and shop owners. By 1970, the number of people working for large companies reached 90 percent.
It’s been dropping every year since 1970. We are on a steady march back to that 10 percent number. The recent economy is quickening that march.
So what do we do about it? McNay notes that it’s a challenge to prepare folks used to working for a big business to run their own business. But as he says: “it’s a challenge that must be met.”
But how? For starters, we need to get it. I really think that Governor Beshear gets it. (I'm not saying others didn't, but I think he gets it even more.) He preaches the gospel of growing Kentucky companies here in the state rather than recruiting them from elsewhere. If you read press releases from the Cabinet for Economic Development you’ll see that the Guv is relentlessly on message about the need to grow companies organically.
We should build on this kind of attitude. Pols should actively preach the virtues of that funny French word entre-pruh-neur-ship. That’s important. Because an entrepreneur is more than a small business owner. An entrepreneur is someone who creates new enterprises, taps new markets, does things innovatively.
In the legislature there are periodic attempts to promote math and science education in schools. What about entrepreneurship? The Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute has long advocated for and actually implemented on a smaller scale youth e’ship programs. It’s time we get serious about these here in KY. Pols could play a vital role in the promotion of e’ship here in the bluegrass. Their bully pulpit and the fact that Kentuckians still look to them to do things to foster economic growth means that they can spread this message with ease.
Further, we should evaluate the myriad economic development programs and agencies in KY to see which ones are and which ones aren’t promoting entrepreneurship. We have to let our children know that they should align their college education with the realities of this new economy. And kids should know that lifelong learning is a must. No matter what entrepreneurial endeavor you launch, odds are it will change, possibly even die, in this rapid new economy. This means that they must be nimble and flexible.
The dinosaurs are becoming extinct folks, but the mammals are rising in their place. Don McNay gets that: “When people decide they’re not going to depend on a big boss to hand them opportunity, it is a liberating experience. Like our forefathers, we have the chance to thrive in an environment where we control our own destiny.”
Cross Posted at the New Economy Census blog.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Small Businesses Need Innovative Access to Capital and Training in Business Competence
A few people around the world get it when it comes to economic development. They disdain bald protectionism and subsidies and emphasize what's really important to small bizs: access to capital and training in entrepreneurship. From the Jakarta Post, here's one of the leading business experts and economists talking about what Medium to Small (Business) Enterprises, aka MSMEs, really need:
I think the approach used so far in nurturing MSMEs has been inappropriate because most of the programs emphasized subsidies and protection from market competition. This is the wrong way to nurture MSMEs.
In our experience at Bank Mayapada, MSMEs don't need charity, subsidies and excessive protection. What they mostly need is easy access to financing and technical extension services (consultancy) on various aspects of their business operations.
They don't have assets as securities for loans and they are not comfortable with, and sometimes even hate, arduous bureaucratic borrowing procedures.
[...]
We design our lending programs specifically to meet the special characteristics of MSMEs. Hence, we don't focus on collaterals but cash-flow or revenue-stream prospects based on their business feasibility.
We have developed a body of experienced experts to assess the MSMEs' commercial viability. We have opened what we call the Mayapada Business Partnership in various areas.
These business units are assigned to look out for viable MSMEs, nurture them with financial and technical assistance and constantly monitor their development and their needs as they continue to grow and expand. Each business unit also operates as a complete business advisory center. We decentralize credit assessment and decision making to these units.
We expect to operate almost 60 Mayapada Business Partnerships before the end of this year and expect to lend cumulatively Rp 600 billion to MSMEs by the end of this year.
Our rate of non-performing loans in this segment is only 0.58 percent. This means that with the right approach, MSMEs can be viable, creditworthy borrowers able to give banks fairly high net interest margins.
To put it briefly, our approach is market oriented and designed to transfer not only financing capability but, and most importantly, business competence and entrepreneurship to MSMEs.
Here in KY, I think there are two great examples of programs that blend the need for entrepreneurship training and access to capital: the SBDC, which has a longstanding relationship with the Small Business Administration and the KY Innovation Network (I'll admit I'm biased on this one), a program that provides additional access to capital for New Economy companies and the hands on business training that entrepreneurs need.
I think the approach used so far in nurturing MSMEs has been inappropriate because most of the programs emphasized subsidies and protection from market competition. This is the wrong way to nurture MSMEs.
In our experience at Bank Mayapada, MSMEs don't need charity, subsidies and excessive protection. What they mostly need is easy access to financing and technical extension services (consultancy) on various aspects of their business operations.
They don't have assets as securities for loans and they are not comfortable with, and sometimes even hate, arduous bureaucratic borrowing procedures.
[...]
We design our lending programs specifically to meet the special characteristics of MSMEs. Hence, we don't focus on collaterals but cash-flow or revenue-stream prospects based on their business feasibility.
We have developed a body of experienced experts to assess the MSMEs' commercial viability. We have opened what we call the Mayapada Business Partnership in various areas.
These business units are assigned to look out for viable MSMEs, nurture them with financial and technical assistance and constantly monitor their development and their needs as they continue to grow and expand. Each business unit also operates as a complete business advisory center. We decentralize credit assessment and decision making to these units.
We expect to operate almost 60 Mayapada Business Partnerships before the end of this year and expect to lend cumulatively Rp 600 billion to MSMEs by the end of this year.
Our rate of non-performing loans in this segment is only 0.58 percent. This means that with the right approach, MSMEs can be viable, creditworthy borrowers able to give banks fairly high net interest margins.
To put it briefly, our approach is market oriented and designed to transfer not only financing capability but, and most importantly, business competence and entrepreneurship to MSMEs.
Here in KY, I think there are two great examples of programs that blend the need for entrepreneurship training and access to capital: the SBDC, which has a longstanding relationship with the Small Business Administration and the KY Innovation Network (I'll admit I'm biased on this one), a program that provides additional access to capital for New Economy companies and the hands on business training that entrepreneurs need.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
African American Women Hit Glass Ceiling, Turn to Entrepreneurship
African American women often hit a glass ceiling in the corporate world. Now, many are turning to entrepreneurship as a way to move up. CBS News had the story yesterday (Tuesday, June 17th) and they use the word “entrepreneur” more times than I’ve ever heard any mainstream news org use it in the past.
Here’s the video:
When you think about it, the same reason that entrepreneurship appeals to these women- i.e. a basic lack of opportunity in the traditional workforce- is present in spades in rural communities as well.
Here’s the video:
When you think about it, the same reason that entrepreneurship appeals to these women- i.e. a basic lack of opportunity in the traditional workforce- is present in spades in rural communities as well.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
The Call of the Entrepreneur
A great new film about the lives of three American entrepreneurs- The Call of the Entrepreneur- is now available for direct purchase on DVD for $20. It’s a great film.
Here’s the trailer:
Here’s the trailer:
Monday, May 12, 2008
Ralph Brown: Time for Entreprneurship, Economics and Investing 101
Commentary by Ralph:
How about having the Junior High, High and Vocational schools all add to their curriculum the following: Entreprenuership 101, Economics 101 and Investing 101? Won't happen because the socialists who run the education system in this country would have to admit that capitalism actually works and works great.
A distroted version of History, we teach, but not the part about the great march of capitalism and the role that companies have played in improving the way we live. We teach Math, but not the part about how simple arithmetic can be used to tell the story of a company and help us figure out whether it will succeed or fail. Home economics we teach: how to sew, how to cook, even how to prepare a budget and balance a checkbook - but not how saving money from an early age is the key to prosperity. Patriotism we teach, but we talk more about armies and wars, politics and government, then we do about the millions of businesses, large and small, that are the key to our prosperity and our strength as a nation.
It is my goal to get those three subjects introduced into the education system in Kentucky.
Just a little thought for the day:
"Watch Out!, He is a serial entrepreneurer. Stop him before he makes another killing."
How about having the Junior High, High and Vocational schools all add to their curriculum the following: Entreprenuership 101, Economics 101 and Investing 101? Won't happen because the socialists who run the education system in this country would have to admit that capitalism actually works and works great.
A distroted version of History, we teach, but not the part about the great march of capitalism and the role that companies have played in improving the way we live. We teach Math, but not the part about how simple arithmetic can be used to tell the story of a company and help us figure out whether it will succeed or fail. Home economics we teach: how to sew, how to cook, even how to prepare a budget and balance a checkbook - but not how saving money from an early age is the key to prosperity. Patriotism we teach, but we talk more about armies and wars, politics and government, then we do about the millions of businesses, large and small, that are the key to our prosperity and our strength as a nation.
It is my goal to get those three subjects introduced into the education system in Kentucky.
Just a little thought for the day:
"Watch Out!, He is a serial entrepreneurer. Stop him before he makes another killing."
Friday, May 9, 2008
Farm Bill Supports Rural Entrepreneurship, But Faces Likely Veto
The good news coming out of the nearly $300 billion farm bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week is that it made available “$15 million in mandatory funding for the establishment of a rural entrepreneurship and microenterprise grant and loan program.”
The bad news is that President Bush has vowed to veto the bill that he calls overly expensive.
Aside from the blurb above, I have little idea about the details of this program. If we were blogging for the whole world to see this would be a good time to call on Rep. Ben Chandler and Rep. Geoff Davis to get their take on this particular line item. It’s possible that it will come back in, in a subsequent revision if the President vetoes and the House and Senate can’t override him.
As for who’d be eligible for the grant: Grants may be made to qualified organizations to provide training, operations support or rural capacity-building services to qualified organizations to assist them in developing microenterprise training, technical assistance, market development assistance, and other related services.
Qualified orgs… like KECI? Is it time for KECI to set up a 501C3 and avoid the red tape inherent in a University system. Maybe this could be our opportunity to move into Eastern Kentucky?
The bad news is that President Bush has vowed to veto the bill that he calls overly expensive.
Aside from the blurb above, I have little idea about the details of this program. If we were blogging for the whole world to see this would be a good time to call on Rep. Ben Chandler and Rep. Geoff Davis to get their take on this particular line item. It’s possible that it will come back in, in a subsequent revision if the President vetoes and the House and Senate can’t override him.
As for who’d be eligible for the grant: Grants may be made to qualified organizations to provide training, operations support or rural capacity-building services to qualified organizations to assist them in developing microenterprise training, technical assistance, market development assistance, and other related services.
Qualified orgs… like KECI? Is it time for KECI to set up a 501C3 and avoid the red tape inherent in a University system. Maybe this could be our opportunity to move into Eastern Kentucky?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)