As economists and policymakers debate the details of how and when the nation will recover from the recession, the topic of entrepreneurship and the role it will play in shaping the new economy continually arises. In the coming years, some analysts predict a rise in entrepreneurship both as a result of massive layoffs and an aging workforce not yet ready or able to retire.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced Thursday his plans to create a new Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship within the Department of Commerce and launch a National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Both new initiatives will help leverage the entire federal government on behalf of promoting entrepreneurship in America. The new office is expected to announce additional initiatives in the coming months.

Entrepreneurial activity in the U.S. increased from 9.6 percent in 2007 to 10.8 percent in 2008, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2008 U.S. Entrepreneurial Assessment. Though the report found that fear of failure was on the rise among potential entrepreneurs, survey respondents indicated that they still believe there were ample opportunities for new businesses. Read the full report at: http://www.gemconsortium.org/article.aspx?id=131

Nov 16-22 marks the second annual Global Entrepreneurship Week, a celebration of fostering innovation and ambition in people under 30 years of age and encouraging them to start new businesses. Founded by the U.S.-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the UK-based Make Your Mark campaign, the Global Entrepreneur Week website maintains an interactive calendar of entrepreneur-focused events in 87 countries and all 50 states. According to the site, Tennessee leads the U.S.

The fox pattern on his tie playfully conveyed Josh Lerner knew exactly where he stood as he looked out over the standing-room-only ballroom that served as the henhouse for SSTI’s annual conference two weeks ago. The audience, comprised mostly of practitioners from state, local, nonprofit and university-based TBED organizations, played its role as hens well – some nervous, some angry, all in fidgety anticipation of what the Harvard Professor was likely to say.

Given the important contribution of innovative entrepreneurs, it is essential for colleges and universities to adopt effective programs to educate and train prospective business founders who will introduce new products and new production processes, find new markets, or innovate in other ways, finds a study released by the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy.

As the U.S. has experienced rising unemployment rates during the recent economic downturn, larger numbers of individuals with technology-based skills are finding themselves out of work. One policy option to seize the moment is to engage the unemployed, assisting them on a path to starting their own business. But what are the characteristics and family backgrounds of the general population who have become successful tech-based entrepreneurs?

This week an estimated five million people will celebrate the first annual Global Entrepreneurship Week by taking part in one of the 13,000 events planned worldwide.

A consortium of Michigan’s 15 public universities recently announced a decade-long initiative to launch 200 new businesses in the state. The Michigan Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MIIE) plans to raise and distribute $75 million over the next seven years through grants for commercialization projects, university-industry partnerships and entrepreneurship education.

Last month, Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced legislative approval of two TBED priorities unveiled during her State of the State Address, a program supporting in-state entrepreneurs and continued investment in an initiative to train displaced workers. 

Entrepreneurship education courses continue to appear across the country. A large-scale commitment was announced recently, as eight Arkansas two-year colleges will offer degrees and certificates in entrepreneurship this fall. The broad availability is expected to help create a culture of entrepreneurship that extends from regions capitalizing in the emerging fields of bioscience and nanotechnology research to the rural pockets of the state in need of high-paying jobs.
 

The under-30 crowd may be the early adopters of many of the new gadgets in our lives - and the young techies who quickly became billionaires producing those toys may grab all the headlines - but a new study reveals most U.S.-born technology and engineering company founders are actually middle-aged, well educated and hold degrees from a wide assortment of universities.
 

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a new pilot program that will to support more than 1,000 startup and earlystage firms across the country. The goal of the Entrepreneurial Mentor Corps' (EMC) is to mobilize members of the current generation of successful business owners to mentor and support startups and entrepreneurs to help them become the next generation of great American companies. In February, SBA Administrator Karen Mills announced one of the EMC's first initiatives to match approximately 100 clean energy startups with mentors.

Lawmakers approved many of Gov. Bob McDonnell's proposals aimed at growing Virginia's technology and life sciences industries by dedicating about half of the funding requested by the governor to support R&D, commercialization, SBIR matching grants, and funding for early stage equity investments.

The U.S. economic crisis spurred more Americans to become entrepreneurs than at any point in the last 15 years, according to the 2010 edition of the Kauffman Foundation's Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. The study found that 340 out of every 100,000 Americans started a new business each month in 2010, approximately the same rate as 2009, but an increase over the pre-recession period. Many of these new entrepreneurs, however, are not creating new jobs through their startups.

Generous individuals and foundations are stepping up to support university-based initiatives designed to expand research and encourage young people to create high-growth jobs at a time when operating budgets for higher education are facing drastic funding cuts across the U.S. Colleges in Michigan and Ontario will establish endowed chairs in medical research and entrepreneurship with funding from individual donors, and a 23-year-old former student of the University of Waterloo is launching a $1 million seed fund for student startups.

Created as the successor to two longstanding and accomplished tech-based economic development organizations — the Washington Technology Center (WTC) and the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute (SIRTI) — Innovate Washington will serve as the state's primary agency responding to tech transfer needs and strengthening university-industry partnerships. Innovate Washington also will coordinate the state's clean energy initiatives.

The Slovenian parliament recently approved the Resolution on the Research and Innovation Strategy of Slovenia 2011-2020, a comprehensive strategy to establish "a contemporary research and innovation system that will ensure a higher quality of life within the country." According to the UNESCO Science Report, Slovenia is drastically ahead of their counterparts in Southeastern Europe.

Indian and Chinese immigrant professionals trained in the U.S. are increasingly returning to their home countries with aspirations of becoming entrepreneurs, according to the Grass is Indeed Greener in India and China for Returnee Entrepreneurs — a new report funded by the Kauffman Foundation.

Lawmakers last week passed a measure establishing the Innovate NY Fund to invest $25 million of federal funds in technology development organizations, research universities, and seed-stage investment funds. The Empire State Development Corporation will administer the fund and establish a competitive process for evaluating applicants. Investment priority is given to companies involved in commercialization of R&D or high-tech manufacturing.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) recently announced the recipients of $25 million in awards from Michigan's 21st Century Jobs Fund. Each of the eight organizations receiving the awards will use the funding to support Michigan entrepreneurs and technology commercialization. The largest single allotment, $10.8 million, will benefit Ann Arbor SPARK, which plans to replenish its Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund with the award. Other recipient organizations will be offering capital and business assistance around the state.

Spending time at a technology or business incubator may be the key to learning about entrepreneurship. Some universities, seeking to ramp up entrepreneurship programs, are turning to incubators as real-world teachers.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program, a public-private partnership, intends to connect NSF-funded scientific research with a project team, made up of professionals from the technological, entrepreneurial and business communities, to help transition NSF-funded scientific and engineering discoveries at institutions of higher education into commercial technologies, products and processes.

Venture for America (VFA), nonprofit organization, announced its official launch and the acceptance of applications for its inaugural pool of "fellows," approximately 50, selected from the graduating class of 2012. The organization hopes to "spur enterprise and encourage entrepreneurship in parts of the U.S. that struggle to attract top college graduates."

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Bureau of Business Research and Department of Economics has released its latest edition of the State Entrepreneurial Index, a state-by-state analysis of entrepreneurial activity. The index uses five components — percentage growth and per capita growth in business establishments, its business formation rate, the number of patents per thousand residents and gross receipts of sole proprietorships and partnerships per capita — to rank states in business formation and innovation.