Back on the subject of entrepreneurship and business start-ups in Virginia… The Virginia Performs website provides a useful overview of data that describes the climate for business growth in the state. With the caveat that the data is subject to reporting lags, hence a little of out date, the picture is a modestly favorable one. The Old Dominion excels in the percentage of technology firms and the percentage of fast-growth firms, and fares in line with national averages for patents per capita, venture capital, business start-ups and university spin-offs.
Perhaps the most surprising finding emerges from the regional breakdown of business start-ups per 10,000 population broken down by region, as seen in the chart above. After years of lagging statewide averages, Southside Virginia has come on strong in recent years, surpassing even Northern Virginia in 2012. Southwest Virginia has out-performed the state average in several recent years, although it dipped in 2012.
With the perception of “Virginiagal2,” who has been touting the entrepreneurial potential for areas outside Virginia’s urban crescent in the comments section of this blog, not many observers would have predicted this trend. Of course, one must be careful with the data. We don’t know, for instance, what proportion of these new businesses are comprised of home-based businesses and micro-businesses with limited growth prospects, and what number might have fast-growth potential. Regardless, the rate of business formation suggests a hidden resilience in the Southside and Southwest Virginia economies that may keep those regions economically afloat in the face of labor-market economies that favor the major metros.
— JAB