In 2017, we shared 3 ways to empower your entrepreneurial community. While those tips are still relevant, the pandemic and heightened awareness about the importance of building equitable and inclusive ecosystems has surfaced new challenges. Here are some additional recommendations for empowering your network in 2022. 1. Make your ecosystem inclusive. Racial...
We are experiencing unprecedented opportunities for communities to evaluate how best to respond to short-term needs while building resilient solutions for long-term success. While it might be tempting to jump right in, it’s important to take the time to evaluate successful outcomes and develop a strategy to achieve your goals....
Every January, the number of people who Google “how to start a business” jumps to hundreds of searches a day. This year in particular, many of these searches are coming from the millions of Americans who quit their jobs in 2021. While starting a business is a common new year’s resolution,...
For the better part of the last decade, our field has greatly evolved. The concept of building networks of support, or what has sometimes been referred to as, forging “entrepreneurial ecosystems”, has been a key focus for many advancing the idea that innovation and entrepreneurship will be the future of...
SourceLink®, the National League of Cities (NLC) and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation are pleased to announce the results of recent efforts to advance entrepreneurial development in Kankakee and Belvidere, Illinois. Both communities recently participated in NLC’s City Innovation Ecosystems (CIE) program, offered in partnership with and support from the...
The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced the creation of a new Community Navigator Pilot Program to place significant financial resources into organizations that wish to be hubs of entrepreneurship support and ecosystem-building efforts in their communities—particularly those organizations with deep roots in targeting underserved business communities. While it appears...
Entrepreneurs don't just live on the coasts. The opportunity to shape ideas and solve problems lives anywhere and everywhere. Here's how SourceLink affiliates in the Middle—Albuquerque, Des Moines, St. Louis, in southeast Michigan, across the state of Kansas and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico—are building their entrepreneurial infrastructure.
SourceLink's tools for measuring entrepreneurship win a Gold Excellence recognition by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).
"Some of the most consequential programs and legislation to spur entrepreneurship — and the jobs that come with it — continue to happen at a more local level.” - Steve Case
