Metro Detroit ranks last in entrepreneurial start-ups, study finds

By John Gallagher

Detroit Free Press Business Writer

Despite efforts to evolve a more entrepreneurial economy, metropolitan Detroit and Michigan remain some of the least entrepreneurial places in the nation, a new study reported today.

Metro Detroit tied with metro Chicago for last place for entrepreneurial start-ups among the 15 largest metro areas, the latest annual report from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation said today.

The foundation reported that the Detroit and Chicago areas boasted just 180 entrepreneurs per 100,000 population in 2011, compared to nation-leading Los Angeles, which had 580 entrepreneurs per 100,000 population. Other leading metro areas for start-up business activity included Atlanta, Phoenix, and Miami.
Meanwhile, Michigan ranks 42nd among the 50 states for entrepreneurial start-ups in 2011, the report said.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2012120319044

There are some who would say the best thing for Detroit would be to bulldoze the city and start over ,I disagree with that part the bulldozing needs to be at the city county and state level of gov and remove about 95% of those who do not give a hoot about their fellow man only their job.

I is kinda hard to be entrepreneurial in Detroit when half are under investigation so when you talk to them you then become a suspect for a phone tap,on the other hand it would be way easier if they would just be honest and say okay it will take x amount of dollars paid to so and so and you can move forward.

Miami sure it is easier when you have pill mill funding just like when there was cain funding in the 80s so you really cannot count that.

Tech is a bit of a pipe dream because in Cali for every start up there are 100 funders standing in line where as in Detroit 2 funders at best and the price you pay for that option is similar to a payday loan.Its not about spirit its about filling space.

SPARK Really? Thats the Govs baby so it was easy to cancel all of the incentives and say hey you can always use SPARK to do what WE feel is best which basically kills the concept of entrepreneurial spirit.

Then add the fact that nobody in gov is even reachable to start anything and this becomes news ..lol .. But Its okay keep them taps going it will get better.

... and yet we're getting the first satellite Patent Office....

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Originally Posted by Gistok

... and yet we're getting the first satellite Patent Office....

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The property was cheap good investment for the taxpayers but that was pushed by legislators and the feds not by those that should be doing it everyday as a priority.


Two groups are getting things done one is the people in the neighborhoods that are making a difference and the other is from the feds it is the black hole in the middle that is strangling.

It takes strong community leadership to help, it takes that city council member to stand up and welcome and encourage that baker to open shop in that district and say what can we do to help hey lets have a little ribbon cutting or something , not yawn and say there it is go for it.

Finally, we tied with Chicago on something!

Now, where are all those people that say if only Detroit were more like Chicago?

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Originally Posted by Gistok

... and yet we're getting the first satellite Patent Office....

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You don't need to be an entrepreneur to generate patents.

The established major corporations generate a huge number of patents. The auto companies and suppliers are patent generating machines. Our local universities also rank high in Patent generation.

Michigan ranks 7th in the country for patent generation.

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Originally Posted by downtownguy

Finally, we tied with Chicago on something!

Now, where are all those people that say if only Detroit were more like Chicago?

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Too bad Chicago has all the huge global companies to fall back on.

Where does Detroit stand there?

Guess you missed my point.

I would bet if there was a statistic kept on this from the late 19Th century to the mid 20Th Detroit would be at or near number 1.

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Originally Posted by ndavies

You don't need to be an entrepreneur to generate patents.

The established major corporations generate a huge number of patents. The auto companies and suppliers are patent generating machines. Our local universities also rank high in Patent generation.

Michigan ranks 7th in the country for patent generation.

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When I read the thread title I was thinking of the Henry Ford type entrepreneur... rather than the Good Girls Go To Paris type entrepreneur.... but you're right...

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Originally Posted by 313WX

Too bad Chicago has all the huge global companies to fall back on.

Where does Detroit stand there?

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Uh, Illinois has the highest unemployment in the Midwest. Not exactly an economic mecca these days.

I'd say we're doing fine relative to them [[though poorly relative to almost anywhere else).

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Originally Posted by downtownguy

Guess you missed my point.

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On the contrary, I didn't think you had a point.

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Originally Posted by Bham1982

Uh, Illinois has the highest unemployment in the Midwest. Not exactly an economic mecca these days.

I'd say we're doing fine relative to them [[though poorly relative to almost anywhere else).

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What does th unemployment [[which isn't an economic output measure) have to do with ANYTHING I posted?

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Originally Posted by Bham1982

Uh, Illinois has the highest unemployment in the Midwest. Not exactly an economic mecca these days.

I'd say we're doing fine relative to them [[though poorly relative to almost anywhere else).

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Just spouting a number does not give a very accurate picture. Illinois has a slightly higher unemployment rate than other Midwestern states [[.4 percentage points higher than Michigan) due to Chicago being a drawing point for unemployed from other states -- especially Michigan. Yeah, the Midwestern economy as a whole is far bleaker than I would like. But Chicago is stronger than the numbers indicate, especially compared to Detroit's fiasco.

North Carolina's unemployment rate is a full percentage point higher than Illinois; is North Carolina a state with a collapsing economy? Same for Washington, D.C., yet it's the fastest growing state equivalent in the country.

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Originally Posted by downtownguy

Finally, we tied with Chicago on something!

Now, where are all those people that say if only Detroit were more like Chicago?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by 313WX

Too bad Chicago has all the huge global companies to fall back on.

Where does Detroit stand there?

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What's up 313? Didn't get your Maypo this morning? Besides mocking the irony of the situation, my point was this. For decades I have heard many Detroiters bemoan that Detroit should be more like Chicago. Do Chicagoans say their city should be more like Paris? I say, let Detroit be Detroit, although we know we can do much better. In spite of all there is to hate and disappoint us in this city, it is our city and I love living here. Let Chicago be Chicago and let Detroit be Detroit and let us all work harder to make it a better Detroit.

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Originally Posted by downtownguy

What's up 313? Didn't get your Maypo this morning? Besides mocking the irony of the situation, my point was this. For decades I have heard many Detroiters bemoan that Detroit should be more like Chicago. Do Chicagoans say their city should be more like Paris? I say, let Detroit be Detroit, although we know we can do much better. In spite of all there is to hate and disappoint us in this city, it is our city and I love living here. Let Chicago be Chicago and let Detroit be Detroit and let us all work harder to make it a better Detroit.

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What you did to make that point was in bad taste. Of course if two cities are just as bad, there would be no sense in comparing [[unless you want to frt about how they got to their respected points).

Where does Detroit start to improve itself if it can't compare itself to other cities and move from there? The reason Chicago is the way it is now, with one of the greatest city centers in the first world, is because it sees what cities such as New York and San Francisco have done to make themselves great cities and have imitated their strategies to try and keep up with them [[or even try to surpass them). Meanwhile, Detroit just being and worrying about Detroit hasn't gotten it much of anywhere in the last 50 years.

I like to compare Detroit to Chicago because both cities have so many similar characteristics [[in terms of culture, history and infrastructur), and Detroit could be way to having one of the greatest city centers in the first world on its way if it utilized most of Chicago's planning.

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Originally Posted by downtownguy

Do Chicagoans say their city should be more like Paris? I say, let Detroit be Detroit, although we know we can do much better. In spite of all there is to hate and disappoint us in this city, it is our city and I love living here. Let Chicago be Chicago and let Detroit be Detroit and let us all work harder to make it a better Detroit.

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Chicago is constantly measuring itself against New York. New York is constantly measuring itself against London. I agree that Detroit should be its own authentic self, but I don't think that means ignoring practices in other cities that could be co-opted to benefit Detroit.

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Originally Posted by iheartthed

I don't think that means ignoring practices in other cities that could be co-opted to benefit Detroit.

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Sadly, that is EXACTLY what it has meant to this very moment.

I reference you to the recent statement of Taubman saying downtown isn't "ready" for a mall.

If you're familiar with the "Soviet Russia" meme, it works exactly for Detroit.

IN DETROIT, MALL GO DOWNTOWN!

IN DETROIT, VACANT LAND IS PROGRESS!

IN DETROIT, SPRAWL IS FREEDOM!
http://grist.org/list/worlds-worst-e...se-for-sprawl/

To me, this is what Detroit being Detroit has meant for the past 50 years. We are reaping what we have sewn. And it is time to take her out back and shoot her.

Oh, puleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese, 313, how is what i said in bad taste? Of course, cities should always look to other cities for best practices, innovation and new ideas. You may not believe it, but I'm sure Detroit has some things Chicago is envious of.

iheartthed, Chicago, New York, London are all great cities. So are Cleveland, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. But I haven't chosen to live there. And I certainly don't want to live in Chicago Lite.

Several years ago some wag said the only people living in Detroit were the ones that couldn't leave. BS! I have chosen to live here. I want to live right here in the oldest city in the Midwest, a city with strong, spirited people, a city on an international border.

I've lived in this city all my life save for one year in Farmington. I moved downtown 30 years ago, before it was "cool." I have heard this city maligned -- sometimes fairly, oftentimes unfairly. This city has qualities that are often overlooked, and Chicago has imperfections that are often ignored.

And, again, that is my point. Detroit is Detroit. Do we have big problems? YES! Would adding a subway/an El/cable cars turn Detroit into New York/Chicago/San Francisco? NO! We need the best solutions for Detroit. And along the way we mustn't forget that with all our weaknesses, we have strengths, too.

What I want for Detroit is that it becomes better, period. And I don't necessarily define that as "like" Chicago.

Holy Crap... when did this happen???

http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

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Originally Posted by downtownguy

Finally, we tied with Chicago on something!

Now, where are all those people that say if only Detroit were more like Chicago?

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Uh...they are tied for very different reasons. You know...like Chicago's very expensive business climate...be it taxes, rents, permitting and approvals. Works ok for the big guy, but not the little guy. If it's personal entrepreneurial endeavors, you still have strength in numbers among the young techies in SF and marketing gurus in NY.

On the other hand, someone pointed out all the big global companies in Chicago, and that's true. Chicago is the place to go if you want immediate employment working for a firm after graduation.

Instead of cheering and encouraging bakers, butchers, grocers, tailors, and pharmacists the council help encourage, liquor stores, bars, drug selling predator haven gas stations, strip joints and any establishment that are anti business community and neighborhood.

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Originally Posted by ProudMidwesterner

Just spouting a number does not give a very accurate picture. Illinois has a slightly higher unemployment rate than other Midwestern states [[.4 percentage points higher than Michigan) due to Chicago being a drawing point for unemployed from other states -- especially Michigan. Yeah, the Midwestern economy as a whole is far bleaker than I would like. But Chicago is stronger than the numbers indicate, especially compared to Detroit's fiasco.

North Carolina's unemployment rate is a full percentage point higher than Illinois; is North Carolina a state with a collapsing economy? Same for Washington, D.C., yet it's the fastest growing state equivalent in the country.

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Washington DC isn't a state equivalent; it's a city equivalent. Big cities always have much higher unemployment than states. Washington DC has an excellent economy and far lower unemployment than either Chicago or Detroit.

North Carolina has a terrible economy and very high unemployment. Charlotte has been devastated by retrenchment in financial services, and manufacturing, especially textiles, have been very hard hit. Tobacco, too, has been a major loss.

And I seriously doubt that Illinois has high unemployment because "Chicago is a drawing point for unemployed from the Midwest". That makes no sense, considering the city has huge population losses and some of the nation's highest net out-migration.

I mean, maybe Detroit only has high unemployment because the nation's jobless all flock here? Does that make any sense?

The article title is misleading. The study is on entrepreneurial activity, not "start-ups" [[which I think in most people's minds conjures up images of Facebook and Zynga). If someone responded to the survey with a.) I'm a business owner, b.) I work more than 15 hours/week at said business, and c.) I don't have another job where I put in more hours, then you get classified as an entrepreneur. What does this mean? Look at the top cities [[Riverside? Please..) and states with the most entrepreneurial activity. Heavily hispanic and also areas that relied on the construction boom in the last decade. The study also states that 22% of the entrepreneurs are hispanic. To make a long story short, I think this study is skewed by the underemployed to the point where you can't use it to project things like job-growth or anything meaningful.

All I can say is when I drive through several of Chicago'sneighborhoods, I see what must add up to hundreds of thousands of smallbusinesses. Yes, Chicago has many franchises [[especially in the gentrifiedneighborhoods) but I'd have to say this study is way off. Chicago has moreindependently owned hot dog stands, than all franchise fast-food restaurantscombined. I call this study fake.