Entrepreneurial activity has become the most important job growth engine of the national economy.  This finding is reinforced by over a decade of public policy research and economic analysis.  The State of Illinois, through the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, is now poised to capitalize on the economic benefits of this trend with the introduction of the Illinois Entrepreneurship Centers Network.  These regional Entrepreneurship Centers, located throughout the state, will not duplicate existing services.  Rather, they will deliver specialized services required by the entrepreneur, who may also require traditional small business assistance services as well.

Entrepreneurship Centers are conceived of as new, regional hubs for coordinating all small business development, entrepreneurship training and entrepreneurial development activity in Illinois, building on the existing infrastructure of the Small Business Development Center Network.  This Network consists of Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs), International Trade Centers (ITCs) and NAFTA Opportunity Centers (NOCs).  In addition, the Entrepreneurship Centers will coordinate the statewide network of regionally based Manufacturing Extension Centers (MECs) and Illinois Technology Enterprise Centers (ITECs).  The new Entrepreneurship Centers will:

·            Lead a collaborative partnership to provide not only traditional small business assistance, manufacturing extension, technology enterprise development, trade or procurement assistance programs and services, but also more enhanced, entrepreneurship technical assistance

·            Employ regional coordinators to assess the local entrepreneurial climate, identify existing local resources, determine particular service needs and assess service gaps

·            Bring together a wealth of resources and contacts that can support entrepreneurs, including service providers, business leaders, universities and financial leaders

·            Emphasize that all of the existing programs and services are still available, in addition to a higher level of targeted services and accelerated service awards for entrepreneurs seeking rapid growth

·            Conduct an in-depth analysis to ascertain the stage of development of the entrepreneur and then develop a custom assistance plan

·            Market services directly to firms and through Illinois angel investor organizations, venture capital associations and other existing entrepreneur networks

·            Collaborate with and capitalize on private sector recruiting capabilities to locate CEO and operational management talent, tap into legal resources for patent and intellectual property expertise, and reach out to accounting firms for guidance on corporate accountability and financial management services

·            Link small businesses and entrepreneurs with university resources, intellectual property management resources, angel/venture capital resources

·            Determine what types of knowledge workers and skill sets are being sought, then coordinate with local workforce development organizations and job training providers to design specific programs that will meet the identified training needs

·            Screen, mentor, coach and support entrepreneurs to prepare them for effective presentations to venture capitalists

Ultimately, the goal of these integrated programs is to make opportunities for economic advancement through entrepreneurship available to all citizens throughout the entire State of Illinois.