Kauffman Foundation Delivers State of Entrepreneurship Address

Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, delivered a “State of Entrepreneurship Address” in Washington earlier this week.  The address called on policymakers to make this “cornerstone of American capitalism” a priority. 

While recent surveys indicate that a majority of them report they do not expect to create jobs in 2010, most of them say they are optimistic about their companies and are continuing to try to expand and create jobs. 

Schramm presented a number of policy recommendations to help entrepreneurs succeed and to “help set the country on a path toward economic recovery.”  Some of these include reforming immigration policy so that foreign students who want to stay in America and start a company can do so; offering fellowships to graduates in scientific fields to educate them about how to start companies; and providing a temporary payroll tax holiday to companies less than five years old.

“Entrepreneurs are still the primary engine of job creation in the United States,” says Schramm.  “In the last 30 years, literally all net job creation in this country has taken place in firms less than five years old.”

For more on the State of Entrepreneurship Address see the release