Indiana needs more and better supported entrepreneurs
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The names of Hoosier entrepreneurs—Eli Lilly, Clessie Cummins, James Allison—continue to live on through companies that employ thousands. Our entrepreneurial ecosystem frequently receives national attention. For instance, Central Indiana was recently highlighted in Rise of Rest, AOL co-founder Steve Case’s book on America’s entrepreneurial landscape. Last year, Startup Genome put a spotlight on Indiana in its Global Startup Ecosystem Report and Forbes recently called Indiana the best state to start a business.
Yet, at the same time, various measures of startup activity indicate room for improvement to bolster Indiana’s entrepreneurial landscape.
Analysis completed for Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) by the Brookings Institution and the Economic Innovation Group found that Indiana has high rates of employment at older firms and low rates of employment at newer firms—trends that run counter to the nation. State-by-state comparisons from the Kauffman Foundation, the nation’s leading institution focused on encouraging entrepreneurship, consistently rank Indiana in the bottom half of all states.
With competing narratives regarding entrepreneurship in Indiana, last year, CICP engaged NORC at the University of Chicago to complete the Entrepreneurship in the Population–IN (EPOP-IN) study.
EPOP-IN is modeled on the Kauffman-funded Entrepreneurship in the Population study, which is also being completed by NORC to provide a nationwide look at the general public’s experiences with and perceptions of entrepreneurship. Using the same survey approach used nationally, NORC did a deep-dive in Indiana connecting with nearly 3,000 Hoosiers to complete the EPOP-IN study.
The EPOP-IN data reinforces the fact that the health of Hoosier entrepreneurship is indeed complicated.
EPOP-IN found that nearly 60% of Indiana adults have taken at least some steps toward entrepreneurship. While this demonstrates that a large number of Hoosiers are interested in entrepreneurship, it falls below the national data which indicates slightly more than 65% of Americans have pursued entrepreneurial activity.
EPOP-IN also found that Hoosier business owners indicate that they need more support to grow their businesses. Most of them want to grow their businesses over the next five years, but only 19% of business owners are “completely” confident they have access to the support and resources needed to meet their business goals. Supporting business owners with their growth goals could lead to new jobs in Indiana, especially because survey findings indicate many business owners (87.2%) employ less than 20 people.
More resources and support are also important for business planners as well as those who previously engaged in business planning. Nearly 60% of those planning new ventures and 67% of those who previously did some planning indicated “not knowing where to start” was a top challenge. Other common challenges include not having enough savings for start-up costs, finding customers, and finding time to pursue the idea.
Taken together, the above datapoints suggest that Indiana needs more entrepreneurs, and we need to support our entrepreneurs.
CICP’s branded sector initiatives—AgriNovus Indiana, BioCrossroads, Conexus, and TechPoint—each support entrepreneurs in their respective sectors through different programming. They also collaborate with TechPoint’s Venture Support program, which provides an industry-led, no-cost review of entrepreneurs’ business pitch decks and feedback through the lens of industry and venture-ready perspectives.
Meanwhile our partners at the Indiana Economic Development Corporation recently announced several initiatives to encourage Hoosier entrepreneurs, including ConnectIND, an online hub aimed at connecting entrepreneurs to resources.
CICP along with many other partners will continue to look for ways to support our state’s entrepreneurs. It would be a different world if Eli Lilly, Clessie Cummins, or James Allison had to forgo their ideas.
Melina Kennedy is the CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership.