Entrepreneurial spirit alive as hundreds of new businesses start in county
By Mindy Tate. Williamson Herald Editor
mtate@williamsonherald.com
While housing starts and sales set the kind of negative records that keep experts wondering how far into a recession the nation will go, Williamson County is seeing a record number of new business licenses issued.
Matt Largen, Williamson County’s economic development director, said the new business starts are following an upward trend through all of 2008, crowning with 90 new business licenses issued in January 2009, a 220 percent increase from January 2009.
“I was doing some research the other day on new business starts in Williamson County as measured by new business licenses and came across something pretty interesting,” Largen said. “We had 16 new business starts in December 2007. In December 2008, that number was 72.
“It seems like people are either getting downsized or think they are about to get downsized and they are striking out of their own, at least in Williamson County,” he said.
“The types of new businesses range from Web service, consulting, technology, yoga classes, event planning, home decor and gifts, and pet products,” Largen said. “The types of businesses started reflect the diversity of the Williamson County economy.”
With a workforce estimated at 87,590 people and a December 2008 unemployment rate of 5 percent, Largen said it is also interesting to note that 21 percent of Williamson County’s workforce is classified as sole proprietorships or entrepreneurs, a factor that did not go unnoticed in the formation of the office’s new five-year strategic plan.
Nurturing a spirit of entrepreneurship is one of three new focus areas of Largen’s office, which works with an Economic Development Council which includes members from each local government, Chambers of Commerce and citizens.
“I think we've seen a dramatic increase in the number of business starts because people still have confidence in the local economy and have confidence in their ability to make a profit, even in these difficult economic times,” said Largen. “Also, people might be starting their own businesses because they have been laid off or they think they are going to be laid off. Thankfully, the numbers show that Williamson County has an entrepreneurial culture and a skilled, educated, resourceful workforce that is able to weather the recession better than most places because they have the ability and resources to take the risk and strike out on their own.”
Starting Feb. 19, the Scarlett Leadership Institute at Belmont University, in partnership with the Williamson County Office of Economic Development, will host an Entrepreneurship Business Plan Boot Camp, a series of workshops open to the public and sponsored by Tennessee Commerce Bank.
Held Feb. 19, 26 and March 9, the workshops will be led by Dr. Jeff Cornwall, the Jack C. Massey Chair in Entrepreneurship at Belmont University. A Williamson County resident, Cornwall has authored or co-authored six books on entrepreneurship, and in 2006, he was named a Fellow of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE). In addition, his Web log site, The Entrepreneurial Mind, is one of the most popular small business blogs on the Web and was named by Forbes as a “Best of the Web.”
“The 21 percent is certainly higher than we see nationally,” Cornwall said of the high level of entrepreneurship in the county. “Nationally we see about 11 percent as business owners or self employed.
“What we tend to see in growing economies, we tend to see a higher rate than national average,” he said. “Because Williamson County has been a high growth county, it is not surprising that number is higher.”
The number also tends to be higher in the Nashville area because of the music and health care industries, Cornwall said.
“In this kind of economy, we always have those who feel driven to have their own business. That is the core,” Cornwall said, adding that undergraduates often express an entrepreneurial spirit because they do not see a “robust” job market.
Cornwall also is quick to point out that many of this country’s legendary businesses were started during rough economic times, like Microsoft that started in 1975 “during a recession that was worse than the one we have today.”
Another possible factor in the high number of new businesses being started in the county — more than 240 in the last quarter of 2008 — are what Cornwall calls the “accidental entrepreneurs,” people who find themselves suddenly employed and use their contacts, experience and maybe a severance package to keep doing what they were doing, but on a smaller scale.
“It is amazing how many of them, once they get into, this don’t ever want to go back (to a corporate world),” Cornwall said.
Cost of attending the Entrepreneurship Business Plan Boot Camp is $295 and Cornwall said the topics and information will appeal not only to those contemplating starting a business, but also those who may be a year into it and need help going to the next step.
For more information, contact the Institute by phone at 460-5554 or by email at scarlettadmissions@mail.belmont.edu.
Posted on: 2/12/2009
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