Posted on August 22, 2003

Community Improvement/Development

After peaking in 2000, U.S. entrepreneurial activity fell sharply the next year, but the slide appears to have bottomed out in 2002, according to a study from Babson College in Massachusetts. The annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (34 pages, PDF), conducted by Babson and funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, reveals that even though entrepreneurial activity is down 10.2 percent in 2002 from the previous year, it is still 50 percent higher than the level reported five years ago. Moreover, the retrenchment indicates that the nation's entrepreneurial activity may be returning to normal levels after the economic collapse, setting the stage for new growth. In another good sign, the percentage of Americans who were optimistic about their new businesses held steady at the 37 percent reported in 2001.