The Central Standards RFP provides matching funds to encourage and accelerate collaborations between two or more entrepreneurship support organizations working together to support Heartland entrepreneurs in the states of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas.

This spring, the Kauffman Foundation released updates to our entrepreneurship indicators, highlighting the latest entrepreneurial trends in both the New Employer Business series and the Kauffman Indicators of Early-Stage Entrepreneurship. The data has sparked conversations about the status of the economy and entrepreneurial activity this past year, particularly around what these trends mean for our cities and communities today. Watch the full forum below.

Economist Rob Fairlie says the most recent update of the Kauffman Indicators of Entrepreneurship’s Early-Stage Entrepreneurship data illustrates a highly resilient entrepreneurial community in the face of COVID-19 as well as extended growth in self-starters among emerging majorities, specifically among Latino founders.

This report highlights three key insights that may help inform more equitable design of future relief and recovery policy and programs for small and new businesses, particularly those owned by BIPOC and women entrepreneurs, as well as entrepreneurs in historically under-resourced communities.

Gig work has received increasing attention in recent years, particularly with the rise of digital platforms. What does the proliferation of digital platforms — and gig work more broadly — mean for entrepreneurship? This forum discusses the landscape of gig work in the U.S., various types of gig work, the relationship between gig work and entrepreneurship, and the implications of gig work for policy and practice. Watch the full forum below.

Kauffman Knowledge Challenge grantees highlight their research, which focuses on activities that improve our understanding of entrepreneurship and generate practical, actionable, and rigorous evidence to inform decision making and create systems change. Watch the full forum below.

Amy Unruh is director of strategic communications for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. She leads the Strategic Communications team to develop and execute a communications strategy that advances the Foundation’s priorities, overseeing brand management, marketing, media relations, and storytelling to engage key audiences. She previously held the role of senior communications manager. Prior to joining […]

The Kauffman Foundation-hosted panel discussed how increased access to opportunity, funding, knowledge, and support can help rebuild Black Wall Street and create a more inclusive future for us all.

The unprecedented rise of business applications during the COVID-19 pandemic has raised a number of questions as to what will become of these businesses – whether they become employers, how long it takes them to do so, and how new employer businesses are shaping the landscape of employer firms across the nation.

In 2020 and 2021, the number of business applications filed each month experienced a great deal of volatility, deviating sharply from historical values. As business applications are often used as an indicator for the general health of the economy, this paper examines these data more closely.