Ecosystems + Economies

Everyone is talking about entrepreneurial ecosystems these days. But what does the term actually mean?

Building an entrepreneurial ecosystem is hard work. Here’s our step-by-step guide to growing your community, based on over a decade of experience.

This money could be a stable and bountiful funding source for your organization—if you know how to unlock it.

Everyone loves to see new businesses on Main Street. Here's how to make sure they stay.

To transform communities, you need a community-first approach.

Internships not only serve the employer and the employed, but they're also great for building local community.

Some simple tactics to boost event attendance and build a pipeline to your entrepreneurship programs.

Some might say that successful entrepreneurs are just the ones who get lucky, but the truth is more complex.

We gathered three lessons from our partners who are excelling in this area of community building.

Like all relationships, loving our communities takes work and practice. So we identified four ways to love your community this Valentine's Day—and the other 364 days of the year.

Though he never owned a business, Martin Luther King Jr. was one of America's greatest entrepreneurs.

We sat down with Andy Stoll, Senior Program Officer at the Kauffman Foundation, and talked about the concrete steps communities can take to cultivate healthy local environments for entrepreneurs of all types.

We sat down with Ilana Preuss, founder and CEO of Recast City, and talked about what communities can do to create amazing, economically powerful places.

We sat down with Brittany Sickler, Senior Innovation Policy Advisor at the SBA, and talked about innovation, small business, and the importance of community support.

The future is bright—if we make some key changes.

As an increasing number of youth leave West Virginia for opportunities elsewhere, WV Hive’s relationships with local stakeholders provide investment to ensure local talent stays.

As the City of Greenville, South Carolina experiences unprecedented growth, Village Launch ensures its more vulnerable populations aren't left behind. The city of Greenville is changing.

We’re about to see a major boom in entrepreneurship.

For many entrepreneurship hubs and economic development organizations, it can be surprisingly challenging to connect with the people they’re trying to help.

Seven years ago, leaders of an arts organization in Birmingham, Alabama saw a serious opportunity to impact their local economy—but it meant reinventing themselves.

Black entrepreneurship has a rich tradition, but not without its challenges.

Read on to learn how Wheeling Heritage leveraged entrepreneurship to create more than 2,000 new jobs and reduce their building vacancy rate by half.

COVID-19 has wrecked many small businesses. Here are some that our partners were able to save.

The best way to support your small business community this season is to be a customer.

Stories from organizations in Colorado and Florida that are reinventing economic development, creating jobs, building businesses, and making a difference—all while winning awards along the way.

Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) is helping the region rethink its approach to economic development by empowering, training, and supporting local entrepreneurs.

Both traditional economic development and ecosystem building are essential to meeting the needs of recovering and rapidly changing local economies. Catch the highlights from Restart 2020.

Three experienced entrepreneurial ecosystem builders share their approaches.

As we face the long road of recovery from the crisis of today, every economic developer and entrepreneurial ecosystem developer faces a choice.

Do you want your community and ecosystem to move beyond politics and toward a bigger, better, and more compelling vision for local economies? Here's how we can get there.

Entrepreneurs are made, not born.

Learn five ways economic developers and entrepreneurs can work better together to improve their communities.

Economic developers need to learn from the sports world and play a little Moneyball.

Spread only good things and shop masks made by our very own CO.STARTERS graduates.

Entrepreneur psychologist and author Shelley Prevost reveals the key to becoming more creative in order to solve problems in your business.

Today’s entrepreneurs focus on more than just wealth creation. They want to build a more equitable world. They want to build the Next Economy.

Business creation and entrepreneurial thinking will play a foundational role in ushering in an economy where each of us can become our best selves as we build a better world for others. This is how we start.

How Pasco EDC's SMARTstart used the CO.STARTERS Refocus business recovery workshop to reach unsupported entrepreneurs in their community and connect them to vital support.

How Forward Cities worked with CO.STARTERS to help community builders at The Corner in New Kensington, PA provide more equitable entrepreneurship opportunities for local residents.

When we invest in local entrepreneurs who are building the social fabric and community health of their region, we soar toward the economy we need and the future we all want.

Tips for grant writing to fund your community work from a former grant officer—the second in a series on funding by CO.STARTERS Chief Product Officer Rebekah Marr.

Developing a strong Connected Age economy depends on fostering homegrown entrepreneurial talent and connecting those entrepreneurs to mentors and other business leaders who are ready to reimagine their community.

Small Business Majority's Brian Pifer answers questions about COVID-19 funding and gives tips for helping small businesses manage their cash flow.

A five-step Road to Recovery framework to help entrepreneurs adapt now and for the future

Here's what we're learning from our community of entrepreneurs about how to survive the COVID-19 crisis.

What happens when “together” gets cancelled? How do we continue our mission of supporting business starters and growing communities in the face of catastrophic circumstances? How do we support each other when the word “community” itself feels like a threat?

From providing a tech hub to those without access to technology, to workshops designed to engage female entrepreneurs, to offering our very own CO.STARTERS Core program to the city, The Commons on Champa truly embodies the CO.STARTERS mission.

Other ways to fund your nonprofit idea—the first in a series on funding by CO.STARTERS Director of Program Development Rebekah Marr.

Sabrina Nagel and the entrepreneurship team team at Auckland University of Technology are proving the value of CO.STARTERS for everyone—especially college students. Check out the work they’re doing.

It can be extremely difficult for Veterans to find the support they need upon re-entering civilian life. Our friends at Action Zone are doing the incredible work of supplying the proper support and tools to this often overlooked demographic.

Shining a light on burnout among entrepreneurs and the people who support them

A significant number of individuals we support do not primarily identify as “startups,” as “entrepreneurs,” or even as business owners.

A Model for Starting and Sustaining an Entrepreneurial Community

The Hispanic community in the U.S. is large and growing. As entrepreneur support organizations seek to support Spanish speakers starting new businesses, they need to understand that engaging this community effectively and respectfully may require some new ways of thinking.

CO.STARTERS Summit Highlights Deepened Support for Entrepreneurial Leaders

Part 3 of our series on Overlooked Aspects of Inclusion in Ecosystem Building

Part 2 of our series on Overlooked Aspects of Inclusion in Ecosystem Building

“CO.STARTERS Generator was the only option left standing, given my needs for accessibility. The modular nature of Generator was especially appealing, and the bright, colorful layout of the binder was a bonus too.”

People over 50 are likely to be overlooked as potential entrepreneurs, yet also make up a growing percentage of new entrepreneurs.

“CO.STARTERS has been great for us to meet our community where it is.” -Sarah Beth Ayers, Business Incubation Program Coordinator at Innovate Springfield

There are many roles needed for ecosystem building. Let's explore a few of them.

"This past decade, a renaissance of creativity, adventure, and local pride has taken hold of Wheeling."

Read founder Enoch Elwell's reflections on CO.STARTERS journey from a program, to a company, to a growing network.

Entrepreneurs need lots of help. Here's how to get them what they need without burning yourself out.

Many small businesses believe that bank loans aren’t a viable financing option for them. However, there is a lesser known but well established option that is much more accessible — the microloan.

CO.STARTERS has the potential to become a permanent fixture in New Zealand's ecosystem, thanks to hard working community leaders on the ground.

In our May Community Call, we highlighted the benefits, necessities, and pitfalls of engaging in partnerships with outside organzations.

In our March community call, founder Enoch Elwell shared his vision of where we are headed.

Highlighting success stories from our community in 2017

The event brought together roughly 400 ecosystem builders to discuss the challenges that entrepreneurial ecosystems face.