The study<\/a>, Entrepreneurial Climate in Northwest Arkansas: A Comparison Across Peer Regions, offers an analysis of business ownership and startups in Northwest Arkansas compared to peer regions: Austin, Texas, Des Moines, Iowa, Durham, N.C., Madison, Wis., Provo, Utah, and Raleigh, N.C. The study was conducted by Dr. Robert Fairlie, an economist from UCLA and developer of the Kauffman Foundation\u2019s Indicators of Entrepreneurship.<\/p>\nAccording to the authors, strong entrepreneurship data can serve as a progress benchmark and a planning tool for growth.<\/p>\n
Following are some of the study\u2019s key findings:
\u2022 The area\u2019s opportunity entrepreneurship rate, measured by the ratio of business ownership to unemployment, is on par with that of the peer regions.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Area business establishment growth is strong, particularly among young firms (under five years), with survival rates above national and state averages.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Northwest Arkansas business ownership rates remain lower than national and aspirational averages, but are steadily increasing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese trends reflect the grit and creativity that define Northwest Arkansas,\u201d said Robert Burns, director of the Walton Family Foundation\u2019s Home Region Program. \u201cWhile there\u2019s more work to do as we continue to build our local business community, the increase in firm survival and establishment growth is a sign that local entrepreneurs are not just taking risks, they\u2019re building staying power.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report also notes an increase in the young firm growth rate, from 4.9% in 2018 to 6.7% in 2021, which outpaces nearly all peer regions except Provo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese findings help us better understand where our regional ecosystem is strong and where it needs support, especially when it comes to supporting first-time founders and expanding access to capital and mentorship,\u201d said Yee-Lin Lai, senior program officer focused on advancing the region\u2019s entrepreneurial ecosystem for the Walton Family Foundation\u2019s Home Region Program. \u201cThe foundation supported several local accelerator programs and other entrepreneurial initiatives in recent years, and it\u2019s rewarding to see those efforts translating into tangible growth across the region\u2019s startup landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Walton Family Foundation released Wednesday (Aug. 13) a report on entrepreneurship that shows startups comprise 37.2% of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[28,158],"class_list":{"0":"post-82566","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurship"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}