support startups, such as seed funds, a seed accelerator program, and a 25 percent tax credit for investments in qualifying early-stage companies.
The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity “doesn’t come close to representing the totality of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Wisconsin—or any other state, for that matter,” Murray said in a written statement. “What is clear is that the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. and other state agencies, along with the University of Wisconsin System and other partners, have made significant progress in recent years in developing programs to support entrepreneurs.”
Here are a few other notable nuggets from the Kauffman report:
—Last year, the most entrepreneurial activity happened in Montana (a rate of 610 new business owners per 100,000 adults), Alaska (470 per 100,000 adults), South Dakota (410), California (400), and Colorado (380). The states with the lowest activity were Iowa (110 per 100,000 adults), Rhode Island (140), Indiana (160), Minnesota (160 per), Washington (170), and Wisconsin (170).
—Of the 15 largest metropolitan areas, San Francisco had the highest entrepreneurial activity rate last year (0.57 percent), and Philadelphia had the worst (0.18 percent). Among other large metros, New York’s rate last year was 0.32 percent, Dallas was 0.33 percent, Houston was 0.34 percent, Boston was 0.25 percent, Detroit was 0.28 percent, and Seattle was 0.22 percent.
—Over the past decade, the largest increase in entrepreneurial activity came from a surprising place: Delaware, which nearly doubled its rate from 0.15 percent to 0.28 percent. Other relatively large entrepreneurial boosts over the past 10 years occurred in Massachusetts (0.08 percent), Nevada (0.08 percent), Alabama (0.08 percent), Florida (0.07 percent), California (0.07 percent), and New York (0.07 percent). The largest decreases occurred in Oregon (-0.11 percent), Iowa (-0.10 percent), Minnesota (-0.08 percent), and Wisconsin (-0.08 percent).
