Entrepreneurs drive city growth

May 10, 2008

The Sun's editorial, "Baltimore's Mr. Carey" (April 28), makes a strong assertion about local entrepreneurs and their impact on the city - that "despite the presence of a generous measure of local talent, relatively few entrepreneurial success stories have blossomed."

But that just isn't true. All across Baltimore, local talent thrives - not just in hothouse environments but also in new retail and business-to-business start-ups that often begin when the entrepreneur is still in high school.

In turn, venture capitalists are ready to commit to entrepreneurs' great ideas, and do so every day.

Baltimore is a city of individually owned businesses. It has been since the city reached the end of its era as a center for corporate headquarters in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The closing of a mill or the relocation of a call center in Baltimore used to be a huge deal. Now, not so much.

Now we get a buzz from the opening of a Starbucks on Charles Street, or the expansion of a car-sharing company into our market.

The growth of the city's economy is now driven by solo ventures or small and medium start-ups.

These entrepreneurs are doing the positive work in the city now - and they have been for years.

Jim Kucher

Baltimore

The writer is the executive director of the entrepreneurship program at the University of Baltimore's Merrick School of Business.

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Entrepreneurs drive city growth

Related topic galleries: Starbucks Corporation, Startups

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