Like to start a business? Might help to listen to some who have...

Martin Kennedy

Martin Kennedy teaches economics at MTSU. In this column he discusses business news and invites reader input. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business.

Global Entrepreneurship Week at MTSU

When an interviewer says, "Tell me a bit about yourself," you'd better be ready to launch that 60-to-90-minute commercial.  First, of course, you need to develop that commercial; that's what I tell my students.

Perhaps Douglass Tatum's presentation, The Art of the Elevator Pitch, will give you some insight.  The Associate Professor in the Department of Business Communication and Entrepreneurship and chairholder of the Wright Travel Chair in Entrepreneurship will give his presentation this Friday, Nov. 19, at 10:20 a.m. in room S324 of the Business and Aerospace Building on MTSU's campus.

That's just one of many presentations during this week's Global Entrepreneurship Week at MTSU.  The presentations, coordinated by the Department of Business Communication and Entrepreneurship, bring together the College of Mass Communication, the Department of Recording Industry, and the MTSU School of Music.  For information on presentation times and content, see the schedule here or call 615-898-2902.

Entrepreneurship is important and interesting.  It is a primary driver of the economy. Read here about the role entrepreuneurs played in the development and growth of New York City. Here's the money paragraph:

Between 1977 and 2007, the American counties with the smallest firms enjoyed employment growth of 150 percent; employment growth in the counties with the biggest firms was one-third of that.... Similarly, as an area’s share of employment in recently formed companies rose, employment growth rose as well. In both cases, the impact on payroll growth was almost the same as the impact on employment growth. Entrepreneurial cities are successful cities.