The Small Business Foundation of Michigan’s seventh annual Entrepreneurship Score Card finds that, compared to the previous year, Michigan is generally holding steady relative to the other 49 states. “The goal of the Score Card, as in previous years, is to help policymakers understand how entrepreneurship is faring in a Michigan economy that, while struggling, nevertheless displays hopeful signs of recovery,” says Rob Fowler, president and CEO of the Small Business Foundation of Michigan and Small Business Association of Michigan.
Some important positive insights gleaned from this year’s Score Card data:
• Michigan’s fast-growing “stage two” small businesses are weathering the economic storm and are continuing to lead the way in the state’s economic reinvention.
• The University of Michigan has launched as new Masters Degree, Entrepreneurial Education, representing an important educational commitment to entrepreneurship development.
• Michigan continues to maintain high marks in those areas necessary for a vibrant global economy, such as high tech workforce and quality of higher education.
However, Michigan’s ranking on the Entrepreneurship Sensitivity Index, a composite score developed last year to detect very recent (annual) changes in small business formation and growth, fell from 22 in 2009-10 to 33 in 2010-11 – not an unexpected result given the state’s recessionary predicament.
The Score Card is available for download here. Printed copies may be requested by calling (800) 362-5461.