Creating an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

According to data from YourEconomy.org Cape Girardeau County has seen a significant decline in new business starts since the pandemic. Our ten-year high was in 2019 when 226 businesses were formed in Cape Girardeau County, compared to our lowest output over a 10-year period in 2023 when only ninety-three business starts were registered. This significant decline is a troubling trend that will take some work to help turn around.

Last Thursday the Cape Chamber in partnership with the Harrison College of Business and Computing hosted the Southeast Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Symposium with 180 business and community leaders from throughout the region in attendance. As part of the keynote address for the day, Mo Collins, Director of Entrepreneurship with the International Economic Development Council highlighted the above statistics and noted a concern with the sharp decline.

An article from the National Business Association website entitled The Important Role of Small Businesses in Local Communities highlights why it is a concern by stating “Small businesses are the lifeblood of local economies, fueling growth, innovation, and job creation.” As such working to promote the creation and success of new business in a community is a critical piece of our overall economic development and growth.

Creating an environment that fosters more entrepreneurial activity requires work and planning to help strengthen an ecosystem of support. Seeing and recognizing that there is an issue to tackle is the first step. Next comes the work to identify the issues and barriers that may be restricting our growth and start building a plan and the ecosystem to move the trendline in the other direction.