There has been a lot of talk of entrepreneurship in the last few years, and we often share the stories of those trying to make a go of starting a business in Michigan and specifically, the Detroit area.
However, according to a new report and article by Bridge Magazine, in only two counties in the state – none in the Detroit area – have the number of employers (businesses) recovered or gone up compared to 2006 levels.
Per county, Oakland lost 4.2% of their businesses, Macomb lost 4.8%, and Wayne 9.2% from 2006-2015.
Michigan is ranked 37th in the country for number of those who are self-employed. And it doesn’t help that nationally, it’s looking like economic development is clustering around urban areas, but Michigan is not in that list.
Much of the new business activity was limited to just 20 counties nationally, mostly around thriving metro areas like New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas and Miami.
This ties in with some of the things we’ve been observing of young people leaving the state and not looking back and people not feeling Detroit’s recovery.
Another issue the article touches on is access to capital and business education – understanding concepts like working capital, and that capital is used usually for businesses that want to hire employees – which is tighter here, as well as culture, which Mike Wikinson write still hasn’t changed much in Michigan when it comes to starting a business.
If you run a business, own a business, or want to start a business, what would help you?
Read the entire thing here, that also has some really good insight on the rest of the state.