Missouri entrepreneurial activity grows despite Midwest decline

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation conducts the national study that measures business start-up activity for the United States.

In 2006, an average of 0.29 percent of the U.S. adult population created a new business each month, representing about 465,000 startups monthly. This was unchanged from 2005.

The national rate of entrepreneurial activity for men, 0.35 percent, did not change between 2005 and 2006, ending a downward trend that began in 2003. Activity for women declined slightly to 0.23 percent from 0.24 percent in 2005.

The construction industry was the strongest for entrepreneurial activity in the country, with a rate of 1.06 percent, down from 1.14 percent in 2005. The second-most-active industry for entrepreneurs was services, at 0.4 percent, up from 0.38 percent last year. Manufacturing had the lowest rate, at 0.09 percent.

The Midwest had the lowest regional level of entrepreneurial activity for the first time in 11 years, falling to a rate of 0.22 percent from 0.26 percent in 2005.

Despite the Midwest’s decline in startup activity, Missouri increased its entrepreneurial activity rate to 0.25 percent from 0.19 percent in 2005. The rate indicates that the state has 250 entrepreneurs for every 100,000 people.

The Springfield metropolitan area, meanwhile, remains among the top areas of the country for entrepreneurs, according to a separate ranking. Inc. magazine earlier this month ranked Springfield the No. 20 midsized area for its job growth and called it a “hotbed” of entrepreneurial activity.