BRUNSWICK — Eeyore, the gloomy little donkey from the “Winnie the Pooh” stories, is one of the most beloved, yet annoying, characters in children’s literature:
“Good morning, Eeyore,” said Pooh.
“Good morning, Pooh Bear,” said Eeyore gloomily. “If it is a good morning,” he said. “Which I doubt,” said he.
Eeyore’s stubborn insistence on negativity makes for memorable childhood stories, but it doesn’t make for good journalism or an effective business attraction or development strategy. When it comes to entrepreneurship in Maine, we need to stop doubting whether the morning is good and just look out the window at the beautiful day.
Tuesday’s Portland Press Herald included the headline “Report shows Maine startup activity on the decline,” and the accompanying story began: “Entrepreneurial activity in Maine declined significantly in 2015.”
The article drew its inference from the recently released Kauffman Foundation report on startup activity, which shows that our ranking relative to other smaller states has dropped.
The article then went on to criticize those working to improve Maine’s entrepreneurial environment by quoting one small-business owner who has concluded that “they don’t work together on anything. It just doesn’t seem to be working.”
OK, Eeyore, stop focusing on the wispy clouds and the fact that it is a very sunny day in Montana, Nevada and Wyoming.
Yes, the Kauffman Index shows that the percentage of new entrepreneurs who were jobless before starting their businesses (the opportunity share) did decrease in Maine. But maybe the statistic is less about entrepreneurship and more about an improving economy.
The Kauffman Index also shows that the rate of new entrepreneurs – the percentage of the adult population who became entrepreneurs – held steady over the last year. The article doesn’t mention this apples-to-apples comparison.
Adding more detail to the picture is another Kauffman Index ranking released recently: on growth entrepreneurship, defined as “how much U.S. entrepreneurial businesses are growing.” In a year-over-year comparison for that index, Maine improved in two of the three measures.
Maine’s first improvement was in the rate of startup growth: the change in employment within startups. In this measure, Maine improved by a full 7.21 percent. Yes, improved. In the share of companies “scaling up” – firms that started small but grew to employ 50 people or more by their 10th year – Maine also improved.
This is not to say that we don’t still need to do a lot of work – we do. We particularly need to work on the density of startups and high-growth companies in Maine. We need more companies to start, and we need more companies to grow big and prosper. Our future depends on it.
We need Maine’s entrepreneurs to aspire to start and do more. But to characterize Maine’s entrepreneurial economy as having “declined significantly,” and to say that those who are working to improve it are not working together or being effective, is to adopt the usual Eeyore attitude.
John Rooks of Rapport and Tyler Frank of Garbage to Garden are among those who can attest to how Maine’s entrepreneurial ecosystem has supported them in a variety of ways. From the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development’s Top Gun program, to the Maine Technology Institute’s seed grants, and from Greenlight Maine to SCORE, there are multiple organizations and individuals in Maine who work tirelessly to advocate for, encourage and celebrate Maine’s intrepid entrepreneurs.
What’s more, many are working to make sure Maine has the essential ingredients of entrepreneurship – like a talent pipeline, high-speed internet and access to capital.
Brian Whitney of MTI talked to the Press Herald about Maine Accelerates Growth, a network of over 19 groups that have pledged to support Maine’s entrepreneurs and each other by working together, collaborating on events and activities and supporting new efforts coming into the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Maine Accelerates Growth, or MxG, is working not only to improve entrepreneurship but also to change the way Maine thinks about itself and its entrepreneurs. We work to celebrate risk taking, aspirations and pride in success. We are unabashedly sunny, while recognizing that we still have work to do.
MxG works in partnership with the Maine Community Foundation with a fund for entrepreneurship that anyone who wants to help us build a strong system of entrepreneurial support can contribute to at any time, in any amount.
Instead of doubting whether it is a good morning, let’s work together to ensure that it is so. Let’s make next year’s startup activity and growth entrepreneurship indexes results that even Eeyore could celebrate.
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