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October 28, 2021 | Tom Ballard

Arkansas-based think tank creates “Entrepreneurial Capacity Index”

A think tank in Bentonville, AR has built an interactive tool that allows users to see how their state compares to other states in the “Entrepreneurial Capacity Index” and how improving in certain areas would be expected to improve or worsen their state’s ranking.

Developed by Heartland Forward to complement the organization’s report titled “America’s Entrepreneurial States: Supporting Entrepreneurs to Help Drive the Economy,” the Index consists of two components: (1) one focusing on Main Street entrepreneurship (share of private employment at firms five years old or younger); and (2) the other measuring knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (share of employment at firms five years old or younger with a bachelor’s degree or higher educational attainment.)

“These two components are proxies for a community’s capacity to support entrepreneurship as an economic development strategy,” the organization explains. “Such capacity encompasses tangible resources such as financial capital, technical assistance, experienced entrepreneur mentors, resource networks, as well as intangible resources like favorable attitudes toward risk and failure, creativity and the political will to try things differently.”

Where does Tennessee rank? Click here to access the model and learn the answer.


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