News Articles

There is a fascinating article in this week's New Yorker about the process of innovation.  Malcolm Gladwell discusses the many occurrences of simultaneous innovation and looks at a group from the Pacific Northwest focused on spawning ideas and inventions. 

The Finger Lakes region is moving ahead with a new entrepreneurship training class. Here are the details. If you are curious about the application process, you can download an application form from this page . 

A new report came out this week from the Kauffman Foundation on the importance of entrepreneurship to urban and regional prosperity. The report urges local, regional and state officials to focus on forming and growing new companies in their cities and region.

If you are short on time, watch the videos from this page. 

"Policy-makers at local and state levels increasingly recognize that entrepreneurship is the key to building and sustaining their economies' growth," said Robert Litan, vice president of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation. "Although this is a seemingly obvious proposition, it represents something of a departure from past thinking about how local, state or regional economies grow."

This report adds an important voice to the emerging trend across the country: Focus on urban entrepreneurship and regional innovation. You can learn more about the report here.

You can download the report here.

WIRED regions are experimenting with a wide range of efforts to train and nurture entrepreneurs. For example: 

• West Michigan WIRED has some exciting initiatives underway to teach inventors how to translate their intellectual property into products that can be manufactured in the region. Learn more.  
• My Biz entrepreneur network supports a pilot program in community colleges in Mississippi. The West Alabama East Mississippi WIRED region is leading this effort. 
• IndianaWIRED has launched entrepreneurship training among high school students. Learn more. 

The California Innovation Corridor is engaged in an important initiative to measure regional innovation. Learn more. 

Surefire advice to local officials: Streamline regulations. 

The newspaper in Sacramento carries a good summary article: Nurture startups, don'??t import them, Sacramento is advised

The Indiana WIRED region has launched eBin (Entrepreneurship Business Information Network) to support entrepreneurship in Indiana. It is based on an element of the highly successful Economic Gardening model, established in Littleton, Colorado which addresses several fundamental barriers faced by those wanting to start and grow a business. One of these big hurdles is access to good business information. Entrepreneurs need to answer some fundamental questions:

• What other products or services are out there that are similar to mine?
• Who are my potential customers, and how do I reach them?
• What are my potential customers like?
• What are the latest trends in my industry?
• What legislative issues could affect my business?

Several partners came together to develop this eBin. The unique partnerships includes Purdue Extension Economic and Community Development, the Purdue University Krannert Management and Economics Library (MEL), and the Greater Lafayette Small Business Development Center (SBDC).

MEL subscribes to a vast array of business data resources vital in developing business ideas and launching new businesses. Until now, these resources have only been available to Purdue faculty and students on campus. But through special arrangements, many of these same resources are being offered at a select number of Purdue Extension offices in the North Central Indiana region.

Entrepreneurs will be able to go to a local Purdue Extension office and use the e-Bin Enterprise Center—a specially designed computer station with access to MEL’s business information resources. In addition to the databases, e-Bin users can also get help, via instant messaging and telephone, from MEL’s specially trained business library staff, who can help point users in the right direction to find the answers they need.

MEL staff will also conduct workshops at the Purdue Extension sites to help entrepreneurs understand the basics of business research and how to use e-Bin. Users can also connect with SBDC, which provides in-depth counseling and support to small business owners.

e-Bin is a project of Indiana WIRED's  entrepreneurship strategy which has a goal of make North Central Indiana the best place in the Midwest to start and grow a business. e-Bin is one of several projects designed to support entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship.

This model could be replicated in nearly any region; all the partners are there: universities, extension, SBDC.  

A new interactive guide links entrepreneurs with start-up resources in Alabama and Mississippi. The new guide relies on the interactivity of the Web to integrate a number of tools for entrepreneurs. You can read more about the initiative here.

At the same time, this initiative recognizes that the most effective entrepreneurial support comes from linking and leveraging our existing assets. You can visit the new web site here.