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INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | | JUNE 30, 2000 TRENDS Where Business Births Are Still Booming Some regions are bucking the overall decline in new-business formations
But look at the data on a state-by-state basis, and you'll find places that seem permanently afflicted by the entrepreneurial bug -- despite a healthy economy and low unemployment. The Western U.S. is particularly robust, with three states -- Oregon, Idaho, and Washington -- showing double-digit increases in the number of business starts. What do those places have that others don't? Take a look at Oregon, which experienced a 14.9% increase in the number of new businesses in 1999, according to D&B. Bill Scott, director of the state's Economic & Community Development Dept., says 1999's strong showing may reflect a rebound from a relatively weak 1998, when the Asian economic crisis hurt Oregon's exporters. Also, the frenzy of investments in startups in Seattle and San Francisco is starting to bleed into Oregon as well, he says. BOISE BOUND. Idaho, where new businesses jumped 14.2%, also is reaping the benefits of technology, says Gary Mahn, director of the state's Commerce Dept. In recent years, Hewlett-Packard, Micron Technology, and Jabil Circuit have opened offices in Idaho, Mahn says. Now, employees are now going out and starting their own companies -- including 400 tech startups clustered around Boise alone. Same story in Washington State, where refugees from Microsoft and Amazon.com are fueling a 14.1% increase in new business formation. John Savich, assistant director in the state's Office of Trade & Economic Development, says Washington's reputation as a nice place to live also helps. "We get more than our share of footloose entrepreneurs," he says. "People live here because they want to live here." Indeed, trends in business starts often move up and down with a region's population, says Joel Kotkin, a senior fellow at Pepperdine University's Institute for Public Policy. "People are still moving to the Sun Belt," he says, explaining a 5.2% increase the number of new businesses in Arizona and a 3.5% spurt in Nevada. Immigrants also help spark new businesses, Kotkin says. Two states with large populations of recent immigrants -- Texas and California -- defied the nationwide slump in business starts, growing 5.7% and 4.3%, respectively. "When Texas and California increase like that, we're talking enormous numbers," says Kotkin. California had 22,506 new business incorporations in 1999, says D&B. That's more than 10 times the number of business starts in Oregon, the state with the highest percentage growth rate.  By Kimberly Weisul  | | |
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