This piece was contributed by Jamie Stalfort, Lecturer of Entrepreneurship within CSB.
Entrepreneurship is the economic backbone of a thriving community. Just look at the research:
According to the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA), small businesses of 500 employees or fewer make up 99.9% of all U.S. businesses and 99.7% of firms with paid employees. Of the new jobs created between 1995 and 2020, small businesses accounted for 62%—12.7 million compared to 7.9 million by large enterprises. A 2019 SBA report found that small businesses accounted for 44% of U.S. economic activity. Without entrepreneurship, the economic landscape of America – and the world - would look entirely different.
Thankfully, Wilmington has a reputation for nurturing entrepreneurs and small businesses. Wilmington is now ranked the third best ecosystem in North Carolina by Startup Genome and was recently named in the top 100 entrepreneurial ecosystems in the world by StartupBlink. As a whole