Entrepreneurship “Ecosystem” Inputs Needed In The Greenville Area To Foster More Entrepreneurial Activity And Success.

Zachary Laprise

School Name

Governor's School for Science and Math

Grade Level

12th Grade

Presentation Topic

Consumer Science

Presentation Type

Mentored

Mentor

Mentor: Dr. Moore; President, NEXT Innovation Center

Abstract

Greenville, SC has experienced massive economic growth within the last ten years. The revitalized and flourishing downtown area has drawn thousands of young engineers to the area to pursue new jobs at large corporations such as Michelin, GE, and BMW. As a result, Greenville has been named one of the fastest growing cities in the US. Despite this substantial economic growth, Greenville’s economy still lacks compared to other large cities in the region. The unemployment rate suffers above the US average and Greenville’s GDP and per capita income are among the lowest of similarly sized metropolitan areas. To determine how Greenville could become more of a substantial factor in the region’s economy, attention was turned toward high-impact entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial inputs that were missing from the area. First quantitative data was gathered through the benchmarking of Greenville against comparable cities like Charleston, Columbia, Greensboro, Durham, Raleigh, Charlotte, Richmond, and Austin. Qualitative date was then gathered through personal interviews with local high-impact entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs were asked a variety of questions aimed towards determining the advantages and disadvantages of running start-up businesses in Greenville. After consideration of the data, it was found that Greenville mostly suffered from lack of capital, talent, and business incubation facilities. Further research was conducted to determine the causes of these problems and possible solutions to resolve them.

Location

Owens 102

Start Date

4-16-2016 10:30 AM

COinS
 
Apr 16th, 10:30 AM

Entrepreneurship “Ecosystem” Inputs Needed In The Greenville Area To Foster More Entrepreneurial Activity And Success.

Owens 102

Greenville, SC has experienced massive economic growth within the last ten years. The revitalized and flourishing downtown area has drawn thousands of young engineers to the area to pursue new jobs at large corporations such as Michelin, GE, and BMW. As a result, Greenville has been named one of the fastest growing cities in the US. Despite this substantial economic growth, Greenville’s economy still lacks compared to other large cities in the region. The unemployment rate suffers above the US average and Greenville’s GDP and per capita income are among the lowest of similarly sized metropolitan areas. To determine how Greenville could become more of a substantial factor in the region’s economy, attention was turned toward high-impact entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial inputs that were missing from the area. First quantitative data was gathered through the benchmarking of Greenville against comparable cities like Charleston, Columbia, Greensboro, Durham, Raleigh, Charlotte, Richmond, and Austin. Qualitative date was then gathered through personal interviews with local high-impact entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs were asked a variety of questions aimed towards determining the advantages and disadvantages of running start-up businesses in Greenville. After consideration of the data, it was found that Greenville mostly suffered from lack of capital, talent, and business incubation facilities. Further research was conducted to determine the causes of these problems and possible solutions to resolve them.