2. Jobs Created From Business Startups in the United States

Found that while business start-ups declined slightly during most cyclical downturns, start-ups remained robust even in the most severe recession over the sample period.
"Job growth is essential for our economy to rebound, and this study shows that new firms have historically been an important source of new jobs in the United States," said Kauffman Foundation vice president of research and policy Robert E. Litan. "Our research into the early years of business formation consistently shows how vital new firms are to our economy, and this data should give policy makers and budding entrepreneurs alike great hope for how we can solve our current crisis -- create and grow jobs through entrepreneurship." "Kauffman Foundation-Funded U.S. Census Bureau Data Highlight Importance of Business Startups to Job Creation in the U.S." Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Press Release 1/14/09.

http://kauffman.org/uploadedFiles/BDS_Jobs_Created_011209b.pdf

3. Excerpt from the Spokane Journal of Business (November 7, 2008)
Factoring sector picks up as credit market tightens; microloan inquiries swell By David Cole Of the Journal of Business ...Spokane Neighborhood Economic Development Alliance or SNEDA, a non-profit located at 715 E. Sprague that makes loans to businesses, usually for between $10,000 and $75,000, has seen a spike in interest and inquiries, says Eric Loewe, its executive director….Loewe says. "These were more creditworthy applicants than in the past. These were people who were bankable," or able to qualify for bank loans under normal circumstances. Some of the increased interest is because banks are sending clients to SNEDA. "They want to do a soft no," Loewe says. The banks want to see the customers stay in business, and continue to make deposits, but can't make a loan to them, he says…. "We don't like to have any more than $100,000 in one deal, "he says. "We're very interested in talking to people who are near bankable and would like a business loan." 

http://www.spokanejournal.com/article.php?id=3778


4. SJF Theory of Change (JUNE 2007)
SJF Ventures is a venture capital partnership… SJF Ventures focuses on the cleantech, technology-enhanced services and premium consumer products sectors. Representative investment areas include renewable energy and efficiency, organic and healthy consumer products, digital media and marketing services, electronics recycling, and outsourced business services. When assessing investment opportunities, SJF Ventures is highly selective in identifying teams, markets and business models that can achieve rapid sales, strong profitability, and premium exits. In addition, SJF looks to partner with entrepreneurs who are committed to impacting the world positively through the businesses that they are creating. …SJF Advisory Services, an allied non-profit organization, provides entrepreneurial, workforce and sustainability assistance services to SJF prospect and portfolio companies. SJF Advisory Services seeks out firms whose competitive strategy is built on workforce and environmental innovation. SJF seeks to rapidly diffuse those entrepreneurial strategies to help build a more sustainable economy. This is an explanation of the goals SJF seeks to achieve, the actions we take to achieve these goals, and the assumptions we make, which can then be tested so that our approach may be refined for maximum effectiveness.

http://www.sjfund.com/fileadmin/Documents/SJF_Theory_of_Change_2007.pdf

5. High-Impact Firms: Gazelles Revisited June 2008: Zoltan Acs, William Parsons and Spencer Tracy. This study revisits and expands upon some of the conclusions on rapidly growing firms made by the small business research pioneer, David Birch, in the 1980s. Birch found that rapidly growing firms, which he termed “gazelles,” are responsible for most employment growth. While Birch’s definition of gazelles was based on their revenue growth, this study examines firms with significant revenue growth and expanding employment. These are termed “high-impact firms” to distinguish them from gazelles. The research offers summary statistics helping to define the scope and characteristics of high impact firms. The report sheds light on several previously unanswered questions, including: What are high-impact firms before they become high-impact firms? What happens after their high-impact phase?

Overall Findings: High-impact firms are relatively old, rare and contribute to the majority of overall economic growth. On average, they are 25 years old, they represent between 2 and 3 percent of all firms, and they account for almost all of the private sector employment and revenue growth in the economy.

Highlights: …From 2002 to 2006 there were 376,605 high impact firms in the United States. This number increased from 299,973 between 1998–2002 and was greater than the 352,114 firms in the 1994–1998 period of analysis. …

The full text of this report and summaries of other studies performed under contract with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy are available on the Internet at:

www.sba.gov/advo/research.

http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs328.pdf

6. The Start-Ups We Don’t Need By Scott Shane From the Magazine: Wednesday, January 7, 2009 Filed under: Economic Policy Are we encouraging the creation of too many low-productivity businesses? In "Start-Ups We Don't Need: Are we encouraging the creation of too many low-productivity businesses?," Scott Shane maintains that "creating typical start-ups isn't the way to enhance economic growth and create jobs...Stop subsidizing the formation of the typical start-up and focus on the subset of businesses with growth potential.

Link to article

http://www.microenterpriseworks.org/index.asp?bid=3354

8. The Community Development Venture Capital Alliance (CDVCA) is the network for the rapidly growing field of community development venture capital (CDVC) investing. CDVC funds provide equity capital to businesses in underinvested markets, seeking market-rate financial returns, as well as the creation of good jobs, wealth, and entrepreneurial capacity.

http://www.cdvca.org/

9.  Opportunity Finance Network  (www.opportunityfinance.net)
ABC World News Tonight describes opportunity finance and CDFIs as the ethical lending solution to the economic crisis of the century. This story focuses on NHS of Chicago.

Story: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/Story?id=6934151

Video: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6934997

10.  alt.Consulting developed a White Paper, "Linking Business Support and Capital for Business Growth and Success." alt.Consulting’s Ines Polonius and Deborah Slayton invite you into this dialogue with them.