Jump-Start Job Creation through Startup Businesses
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania) October 3, 2010 Sunday
While most believe that small businesses drive the economy, a recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research showed that the biggest contributor to net job growth isn’t small businesses but new businesses, more specifically, startup firms. Business startups accounted for all of the net new jobs created in the U.S. between 1980 and 2005. Older and larger firms create jobs, but they also eliminate jobs through layoffs, plant closing, and bankruptcies. Pittsburgh has gone from one of the most entrepreneurial places to one of the least. It has one of the lowest rates of startup businesses compared to other regions.
Silicon Valley economy more diversified
Contra Costa Times
Silicon Valley’s startup culture is much more diversified than it was before, spread out across a broader range of high tech. This makes it less vulnerable to a bubble burst, according to the BLS. Only 1 in 6 high tech firms from 2000 still exist. But those that did survive, doubled in size. The companies now are a lot more stable and profitable.
Helping Small Businesses Survive, Succeed
The Maryland Gazette
Hollis Minor is a business counselor for the Maryland Small Business Development Center. After owning four businesses of her own, she offers advice on loan packaging, business and marketing-plan development, strategic planning, and earning certifications. Of the businesses she consults, 40 percent are startups and 20 percent have been hard hit by the economy and struggling. The other 40 percent are looking to get to the “next level.” She attributes the number of startups to layoffs that forced workers to become entrepreneurial.
I feel like these local stories on startups mirror the kinds of stories that might work in Athens. Downtown Athens is filled with local businesses and is also home to the tech incubator, FourAthens.