My advice was firstly to give up the idea that we could pick 'winners'--nobody can do that. Secondly, I suggested that if they really wanted to maximize their chances of finding prospective new entrepreneurs, they should look at who among the applicants was a team builder. The person who is ot capable of enlisting the support of others is the most likely to succeed.
the national startup rate for businesses fell in 2014 for the second straight year, to eight percent. The rate at which Americans start businesses has been falling for more than three decades, and while the decline has slowed in recent years, it has shown no sign of reversing. . .new businesses play a vital role in creating jobs, improving productivity and spurring economic growth.
Countless cities had tried strategies — “incubators,” “accelerators,” venture funds, tax breaks — in an effort to capture some of Silicon Valley’s elusive magic. Few had succeeded.However, Tallahassee ranked ninth in a top ten review of Metro areas with the fastest-growing rate of new startups (less than one-year-old) in 2014. A new annual study of entrepreneurs, a joint effort of the Census Bureau and the Kauffman Foundation, was released in late 2016. It showed that nearly one in ten businesses with employees were new in 2014.
The results ranked Scottsdale, Arizona; Plano, Texas; and Orlando at the top of the list, while Fresno, California; Bakersfield, California; and Detroit scored at the bottom. [Here's the link to the methodology.]In a different study, the Milken Institute’s annual ranking of best-performing cities, [released December 2016], Tallahassee received the lowest ranking among all Florida cities. The Institute ranked 200 cities and Tallahassee ranked 172*.
(Gainesville ranked 100. Orlando ranked 9. Tampa/St Petersburg 33.) The Milken Institute’s Best-Performing Cities index provides an objective benchmark for examining the underlying factors and identifying unique characteristics of economic growth in metropolitan areas. The index uses a fact-based set of metrics such as job creation, wage gains, and technology developments to evaluate the relative growth of metropolitan areas.
the area's "pretty pitiful" track record of attracting new businesses, Mayor Andrew Gillum suggests splitting the area's two largest business-advocate organizations — the Economic Development Council of Tallahassee/Leon County and the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce.
To set clearer economic development goals, Gillum told the Tallahassee Democrat editorial board on Thursday, there needs to be a change.
“The capital of the quality of life” does not acknowledge the extreme poverty located primarily in the Frenchtown and Southside neighborhoods. To get an idea, one has to get off the main streets. In Frenchtown, Brevard Street was a hub of the black business community during segregation, and looks pretty good today. To see the conditions where people live, you need to walk or drive along the streets without sidewalks, the “D” streets, Dade, Dent, Dewey, etc. South City looks even worse. Yes, we have ghettos in Tallahassee.
