LANSING – Despite the tough economy, Michigan has made discernable progress over the past several years in some key measures of entrepreneurship, according to the fifth annual 2008-2009 Entrepreneurship Score Card.
The Score Card is published by the Small Business Foundation of Michigan, a foundation operated in connection with the Small Business Association of Michigan.
Based on the latest data, Michigan improved its rating from one star to two stars (where one star is worst and five stars is best) in Entrepreneurial Change (the amount of recent entrepreneurial growth or decline in an economy) and Entrepreneurial Vitality (the level of entrepreneurial activity) compared to 2005.
However, the rating for Entrepreneurial Climate (the capability of an economy to foster entrepreneurship) declined from two stars to one star.
The Score Card also shows that Michigan is now ranked fifth in the nation for the rate of net firm entrants (annual starts minus failures), and Michigan has shown improvement over the past four years in growth in proprietor income, awards of initial public offerings, self employment, grassroots business start-ups and net job gains from existing businesses.
Although Michigan has improved its performance in entrepreneurship, it has only marginally changed its rankings compared to other states.
�??This tells us that we are chasing a moving target – our competing states in the Midwest and across the nation are pursuing the same entrepreneurship goals that we are,�?� said SBAM President and CEO Rob Fowler. �??It�??s not good enough to tread water. We need to accelerate our public policy efforts to nurture the growth of job-creating entrepreneurial small businesses.�?�
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