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National Small Business Week Celebrates the American Entrepreneurial Spirit By Maria Contreras-Sweet
What creates two out of three net new American jobs; produces close to half of our nation’s goods and services (nonfarm private GDP); and can be found, coast to coast, in every small town, big city and rural enclave?
The 28 million small businesses that propel our economy forward and define our national entrepreneurial spirit.
To be American is to have the freedom to innovate, take risks, create, transform and put in the hard work that has led to the successes – and failures – that define human progress. From May 1-6, the U.S.Small Business Administration (SBA) will recognize and honor the criticaland life altering contributions of America’s moms and pops, manufacturing enterprises, Main Street retailers and entrepreneurs during National Small Business Week.
Every year since 1963, the President of the United States has issued a proclamation setting aside one week to “recommit to advancing these vital enterprises, and celebrate their contributions to our collective American story.” As Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said, it was small businesses that powered our recovery after the Great Recession.
This year’s National Small Business Week, themed “SBA: Dream Big, Start Small,” will include special events in Atlanta, New York, Denver, Phoenix, San Jose, Oakland and Washington, D.C.Tune in all week for live-streaming, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET Sunday as we officially kick off the week and join me at @MCS4Biz on Twitter or Instagram, and #DreamSmallBiz.America is one of the few countries that gives entrepreneurs a seat at the President’s cabinet table. This allows the SBA to provide an amplified voice for small businesses and represent their divergent interests.
The SBA also offers an extensive national network of small business lenders and counselors that is unmatched anywhere in the world. Many innovators with great ideas and great potential do not begin with great wealth, so they need a great government partner to support their success.The SBA offers the “three Cs” to help aspiring entrepreneurs start up and scale up by making counseling available, providing more choices and chances to secure capital, and by helping them seize market opportunities to commercialize their ideas. These risk takers will help make our lives more productive, safer, healthier and benefit society overall.
Capital: SBA fills gaps in the commercial lending marketplace so success in the small business sector is based on merit, not family wealth. To inquire about a small business loan, click here.
Counseling: SBA provides free consultation and advice to help Main Street succeed. To find a counseling center near you, click here.
Contracts: SBA levels the playing field with big business by helping small businesses capture new revenue and new customers by winning government contracts, joining corporate supply chains, and exporting beyond our borders.
To learn about contracting opportunities, click here.This year, during National Small Business Week, we recommit ourselves to those fearless entrepreneurs who plan well, work hard, and dream big. Every business starts small. Many of today’s most recognized brands were once small businesses until they found an SBA counselor, lender or investor. I came to this country as a 5-year old immigrant who didn’t speak a word of English. Today, I serve in the cabinet of the President of the United States.
My story is possible only because of America's promise and its entrepreneurial spirit. I'm proud to lead an incredibly talented team assembled from across the country ready to serve you.Success in business comes one small step at a time. So dream big, take that
next small step today, because the next great American success story could be staring back at you in the mirror.
SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet started three businesses in Los Angeles, including a community bank, before joining President Obama’s cabinet in April 2014.
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iStart Valley sponsored and promoted two major Hackathons that attracted thousands of innovators and creators coming from across US. Participants in these 2 events ranged from High schoolers, college Students to Technology Pro's working for leading corporations.
HackDFW accepted 2100 Students of 4000+ Applications received. 120 Innovative ideas were reviewed by Judges to select 7 Finalists. 7 Finalists were allowed to present their product in front of the judges that included - John Carmack, CEO of Oculus Rift. Top 5 innovators selected were also awarded the "iStart Valley's Top Choice".
iStart Valley is working with Boston based group to support a Hackathon called - Metro Hacks, largest in the New England.
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17, March, 2016: iStart Jax is now iStart Valley. The new name and re-branded website are all part of the company’s expanded mission to provide world-class entrepreneurship programs nationwide. Mission of the organization remains focused on enhancing the startup ecosystem with the support of regional and global resources.
The re-branding reflects iStart Valley’s commitment to leveraging successful programs of individual states, collaborating with national entities, with the goal of adding broader value to its growing members. The new programs and services broadens iStart Valley’s reach to provide accessible resources and relationships to members in various regions.
In addition to the re-branding, iStart Valley will be rolling out several new customizable programs in 2016. These include:
- Providing newer Programs and resources to startups and aspiring entrepreneurs and bridge the gap between these early stage startups and investors.
- Organizing Youth Entrepreneurial Educational Program E-Mindset which focuses on teaching the entrepreneurial mindset to young adults and Teens. The program, developed with the Kauffman Foundation, is a timely reminder of the ability of entrepreneurship to empower young adults, to accomplish extraordinary things, while helping to build new companies and creating the new. iStart Valley will also partner with hackathons and boot camp programs that are geared towards fostering the innovation and creativity.
- Promoting Social Entrepreneurship by providing the support to entrepreneurial ideas that are attempting to find newer ways of solving social problems and issues.
MJ Charmani, Founder and Chair of iStart Valley said “We are excited about this milestone and looking forward to work with ecosystems across the nation. We will apply learnings from one region and to the other. Soon we will be announcing new partnership programs that are geared towards helping early stage entrepreneurs who are often challenged with access to right programs and resources.”
iStart Valley is supporting and working with the projects that promote Entrepreneurship and technology such as Metro Hacks (www.MetroHacks.co), a New England’s premier hackathon for the High schoolers and SecondGen International (www.SecondGen.org) which hosts entrepreneurship clubs and programs in more than 37 Schools across the country.
For more information visit – iStartValley.org, Contact Email –
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Compass.co formerly Startup Genome has announced 2015 Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking. It has been almost three years since the last Startup Ecosystem Report was released (in November 2012), and since then the startup sector has grown at a booming pace.
The centerpiece of the 2015 Startup Ecosystem Ranking is updated and revamped component index, which ranks the top 20 startup ecosystems around the world. The index is produced by ranking ecosystems along five major components: Performance, Funding, Talent, Market Reach, and Startup Experience.
Download the free complete report here.
To analyze and benchmark your growth metrics with Compass’ free app, in seconds, go here.
One important caveat to note: This index does not currently include startup ecosystems from China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. It has been challenging for Compass to get survey participants and complete data. We hope to have these ecosystems included in our index later this year. While we have not completed our analysis yet, we particularly expect:
- Beijing to rank in the top 5
- Shanghai to rank in the top 15
The following ecosystems all scored highly and were contenders for a spot among the top 20:
- Atlanta, Delhi, Denver-Boulder, Dublin, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Stockholm, and Waterloo.
