New data show small local firms create less than a third of new jobs in rural areas and are unreliable employment sources because many fail within their first 5 years of business. Local planners should consider mix of corporate affiliates offering potential of many jobs and small independent firms. (NEC)

Aimed at stimulating new jobs in Appalachia, especially through creation/expansion of small businesses, the 1986 workshop attracted 200 participants from throughout the region, including state and local officials and community and business leaders. Workshops addressed new developments in capital opportunities, market development strategies,…

A sample of 400 Wisconsin business owners (69 percent response) and 200 potential entrepreneurs (27 percent response) identified the relationship of personal characteristics, motivational factors, and the decision to start a business, as well as perceived barriers to business ventures. Unsuccessful potential entrepreneurs differed from successful…

This report sets forth findings of a committee charged with recommending policies to create 10,000,000 new jobs through small business. It defines the problems of American workers and small business owners in a period of dramatic economic change. Emphasis is on solutions for the conditions that nurture enterprise and on what the country needs to…

This report provides a conceptual model of how a business develops and grows in Wisconsin and results from a survey of entrepreneurs. Part I provides the background and develops the conceptual model. It defines small business, discusses entrepreneurial characteristics, describes stages of business development, and considers barriers encountered by…

Shoals Entrepreneurial Center, in two Alabama locations, supports would-be entrepreneurs with extensive planning advice, rental space, loans, business training, and back-office infrastructure. The center favors business plans with the potential to create fairly high-paying jobs, a different focus from other businesses in the region, and an…

Economic development efforts in small towns should focus on the birth, expansion, and retention of small enterprises. A consistent and rational policy towards new growth and an enthusiastic development team composed of individuals with knowledge of or access to others with knowledge of industrial sites, financing, utilities, labor, transportation,…

Describes Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation (KHIC), a nonprofit community development organization that creates jobs and helps small manufacturing businesses succeed in nine "perpetually poor" rural Kentucky counties. Outlines KHIC services: loans for both expansion and working capital; equity and real estate investments;…

New information about interorganizational collaboratives for job training and economic development was obtained through case studies analyzing six organizations with innovative job creation practices including (1) assistance to small businesses; and (2) benefits to low-income, hard-to-place workers. (SLD)

The Self-Employment Investment Demonstration (SEID) is a test, designed to run from 1988 to 1992, of the feasibility of operating a program to encourage self-employment among welfare recipients. Challenges facing SEID included selecting sites, developing curricula, recruiting clients, getting clients through business training, completing business…

This resource guide is intended to help communities that want to implement an entrepreneurship training program. Chapters I and II contain general advice for the planning process, such as how to assess need and community support, assess current services for entrepreneurs, select target clientele, develop a community support network, and identify…

This guide, based on approaches for targeting jobs and business opportunities that were developed during the Targeted Jobs Demonstration Program (TJDP), contains strategies and techniques for ensuring that some of the benefits of economic development investments are directed to low-income individuals and small and minority businesses. Addressed in…

"[I]n difficult economic times, political stakeholders in the technology transfer process usually view success in economic impact terms, and often from short-term and parochial perspectives--how many jobs in my state next year?" Although universities increasingly pressure their technology transfer specialists to become stewards of their…

Grameen Banks are a model of successful support for the smallest businesses. The Grameen Bank began in 1976, when Muhammad Yunus, an economics professor at Chittagong University in southern Bangladesh, loaned Sufiya Khatun, a weaver of bamboo stools, $4 U.S. to buy supplies and raise her daily profit from 2 cents to $1.25. Her success prompted…

Economic development grants have had a significant impact on the economy of Illinois and have been an excellent investment for the state. Reports submitted by the state's community colleges indicate that they assisted nearly 5,700 newly established and existing businesses and industries during fiscal year (FY) 1988. The cornerstone of the…