Why is Minnesota one of the low growth states for Women owned firms?

Bruce P. Corrie, Ph.D corrie@csp.edu If we look at the map from Census 2002 we find Minnesota as one of the low growth states for Women owned businesses. Why are we not one of the fastest growing states? Women-owned firms make up 28 percent of all firms in Minnesota and the number of these firms grew by 14 percent during the period 1997-2002. See map http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2006/women_sbov2.pdf

Latest Data on Women owned Firms in MN

Latest Data on Women Owned Businesses in Minnesota, 2002 Bruce P. Corrie, Ph.D corrie@csp.edu Latest data released by the Census today revealed that there are 123, 905 women owned businesses in Minnesota with $16 billion in sales and receipts. Out of these 16, 737 were firms with employees employing 123, 233 people with an annual payroll of 2..8 billion dollars. Hennepin county had the largest number of women owned firms 31, 667, followed by Ramsey County (12, 634) and Dakota County (9, 688). There were around 167 cities with 100 or more women owned businesses in Minnesota. Minneapolis topped the list followed by Saint Paul, Rochester and Bloomington. Other cities with at least a 1000 women owned businesses were: Maple Grove, Minnetonka,, Plymouth, St. Cloud, St. Louis Park, Woodbury, Andover, Apple Valley, Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Burnsville, Coon Rapids, Duluth, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Edina and Lakeville.

New Immigrant Network TIE Launches Minnesota Chapter

Bruce P. Corrie, PhD corrie@csp.edu Asian Indian business and community leaders in Minnesota will launch the local chapter of TIE on January 19, 2006 at an inaugural gala at the Radisson in Roseville. It is well established that new immigrants face significant barriers in accessing capital to start their businesses. One reason being that they do not have the networks to access capital and markets. The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE), was originally founded in 1992 by Asian Indian immigrant entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley to create their own entrepreneurial and financial networks. Today with 42 Chapters in 9 countries TIE focuses on nurturing global entrepreneurship. TIE today stands for Talent, Ideas and Enterprise and brings both entrepreneurs and professionals together in its worldwide network. The TIE website claims that individuals associated with TIE have started businesses valued over 200 billion dollars since 1992 (http://www.tie.org/). The impact of TIE has also brought a new lexicon in academic discourse – “Brain Circulation.” Countering the argument that high skilled immigrants from the developing world drain their home countries of talent, AnnaLee Saxenian makes the case that these immigrants make everyone better off: creating wealth in their new country and investing in their former homeland. She calls this a new form of globalization. (http://cherry.iac.gatech.edu/REFS/TRP-Ref/Saxenian-Local-Global-SV-2002-report.pdf). Rafiq Dossani in a recent report of the Asian Pacific Research Center at Stanford University illustrates the importance of these ethnic networks as new immigrants start businesses. (http://iis-db.stanford.edu/pubs/12082/Dossani_Survey.pdf ). Mahendra Nath, a leading Minnesotan entrepreneur and recipient of numerous awards such as induction into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame and Entrepreneur of the Year, serves as TIE Minnesota’s first President. Key speakers at the inaugural include: Governor Pawlenty, Kanwal Rekhi “The Sage of Silicon Valley" and DEED Commissioner Matt Kramer. The theme of the evening is, “Minnesota & India: Establishing Entrepreneurial Connections in a Global Market.” Information about the TIE inaugural can be found at http://www.mollyguard.com/event/22804208 .

State Proposals towards Legal Immigrants a Step in the Right Direction

Bruce P. Corrie, PhD corrie@csp.edu Governor Pawlenty announced certain proposals to encourage legal immigration in Minnesota. Proposals included a mix of policies aimed at encouraging legal immigration in Minnesota both at the high tech level as well as the low income level. These policies included tax credits for citizenship classes, financial literacy programs and proposals to attract high skilled immigrants. These are concrete proposals that send a good message to the world that Minnesota welcomes immigrants. I hope the Governor will continue to encourage Minnesotans to view immigrants as a source of dynamic capital that will help the state become competitive in our global economy. I also hope that he will announce shortly similar comprehensive proposals focusing on the undocumented workers in Minnesota.