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Blog Category: Kauffman Foundation

Secretary Pritzker Discusses Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation’s 2015 State of Entrepreneurship Address

Secretary Pritzker Discusses Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation’s 2015 State of Entrepreneurship Address

Last week, Secretary Pritzker delivered remarks on the leadership of the Commerce Department and the entire Obama Administration in promoting entrepreneurship across the United States at the 2015 State of Entrepreneurship Address, hosted by the Kauffman Foundation. Her remarks were delivered to various business leaders, policy experts, non-profits, and government officials to address the impact and importance of America’s entrepreneurs in our country’s economy. 

Secretary Pritzker highlighted the Commerce Department’s role in ensuring there is an infrastructure of opportunity to support entrepreneurship domestically and internationally. As the driving force behind the Administration’s focus on entrepreneurship, the Commerce Department partners with businesses to set the conditions for innovators and new businesses to test new ideas, take risks, find financing and customers, and ultimately thrive. Many of the Department’s core responsibilities help create the essential infrastructure of opportunity for entrepreneurs – whether issuing patents that protect intellectual property, making investments in local economic development, collecting and disseminating data to inform better decision making, expanding access to broadband, or protecting a free and open internet. 

Specifically, since the launch of the Department’s Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE) initiative in collaboration with the White House, Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development, 11 entrepreneurs serve in an ongoing dialogue with policy makers globally to create an environment where creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship can grow and thrive. In the coming months, PAGE will expand so more business leaders can share their experiences as CEOs and share recommendations to better support the business community both at home and abroad. The Commerce Department has also re-established the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE), which brings together top academics, business and non-profit leaders to advise the Department on innovation, entrepreneurship, and industry-driven skills training to support the current and next generation of entrepreneurs. 

In her remarks, Secretary Pritzker discussed the launch of the Startup Global pilot program, an initiative that will begin in the next few months and feature a series of incubators in Cincinnati, Nashville, Arlington, and Washington, D.C., where entrepreneurs can get technical assistance and information on how to export. 

EDA Investments: Supporting Entrepreneurship and Job Creation

Map of U.S. showing entrepreneurship rates

What do the states of Montana, Vermont, New Mexico, Alaska, and Mississippi have in common? They are, according to a report published this spring by the Kauffman Foundation, Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, 1996–2012, the states that posted the highest rates of entrepreneurial activity in 2012.

According to the Kauffman Foundation report:

• Montanans operate 530 businesses per 100,000 adults, Vermonters and New Mexicans operate 520 businesses per 100,000 adults, and Alaskans and Mississippians operate 430 businesses per 100,000 adults.

• A most important measure—the formation of businesses with employees—held steady from 2011 to 2012: At 0.11 percent (meaning 11 employer businesses per 100,000 individuals), an average of 193,000 new employer businesses were formed each quarter in 2012.

This is important, and good, news about our economy. And these states should be applauded for what they are doing to foster entrepreneurship, which is a driver of economic growth and prosperity.

Support for entrepreneurship is a central part of the Economic Development Administration’s mission as it works to establish a foundation for sustainable job growth and the building of durable regional economies throughout the United States.