Entrepreneurship

Young creative business people meeting at office, photo by scyther5/Getty Images

Photo by scyther5/Getty Images

Building entrepreneurial capacity

Building and running a business can be an effective path into the middle class for many. Our work focuses on how entrepreneurs can develop the kinds of agile firms needed to successfully navigate complex landscapes, and how policy can support—or hinder—entrepreneurial success in the United States.

New from the Center

  • Report

    Roles for City Governments in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

    The role that local governments play in entrepreneurial ecosystems is poorly understood. What roles do local policymakers play in establishing and supporting entrepreneurial ecosystems in specific cities across the United States?

  • Commentary

    The Changing Nature of Entrepreneurship

    The rise of technology-enabled services has made it easier than ever to start a business. But entrepreneurs who wish to succeed online face new costs and challenges.

  • Commentary

    Promoting Equity in Entrepreneurship Could Lift U.S. Economy

    Entrepreneurial support for women and racial and ethnic minorities has the potential to improve wealth accumulation among these groups. It could also revitalize communities where minority business owners are located and boost economic growth by unlocking the talent of would-be entrepreneurs.

  • Commentary

    Entrepreneurship in America: Challenges and Opportunities

    There's a widespread belief that the United States is a leader in entrepreneurial activity, but evidence does not support this. What can be done to better support entrepreneurship and promote economic opportunity in America?

  • Small Business Owners with Criminal Records

    Analysis of the recent Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that governs which businesses the Small Business Administration can hand out loans to under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Specifically, the law and agency rules prohibit PPP assistance going to a small business with an owner that has at least 20% interest and who is currently indicted, arraigned, incarcerated, on probation, on parole, or who has been convicted of a felony within the last five years.

  • Evaluation of StartUp Tech

    Presented by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), Startup Tech is a blended learning tech-entrepreneurship course that teaches high school students front-end web development through the lens of lean startup business principles. The study will evaluate implementation and outcomes associated with participation in the course, focusing on attainment of 21st Century Skills.

  • Capturing Entrepreneurship-Related Policy in Local Ecosystems

    This project is developing a replicable, low-burden method for collecting and identifying city and state laws that impact entrepreneurship, as current state law databases do not adequately identify entrepreneurship-related laws and no database exists of city ordinances. In phase II, we will train a machine-learning tool to identify these laws automatically and develop a low-cost human validation approach to ensure high quality data. In phase III, we will develop composite metrics from these laws for different stakeholders (e.g., early-stage entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial support organizations, etc.).

  • Assessing the Office of Small Business Program’s Workforce Reporting Structures

    The Army’s Small Business Program provides essential services that can enhance strategic readiness priorities by identifying and facilitating outreach to small businesses, especially those with innovative, cutting-edge technologies. This project provides a baseline assessment of program reporting structures across the enterprise that can be used to assess the effectiveness of the program and support for the small business professional (SBP) workforce.

  • Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion: Evaluation of Social Innovation

    The study reviewed results of pilot projects to develop, promote and disseminate new and more effective solutions to reduce barriers encountered in accessing social enterprise finance.