Expert pinpoints entrepreneurship possibilities

The Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee event gave local researchers a platform for presenting an analysis of regional entrepreneurship and innovation.

Brian Tapp, director of outreach for the Institute for Regional Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Southeast Missouri State University, explained to attendees of the event Friday at Isle Casino Cape Girardeau the analysis was done to help improve entrepreneurship in Cape Girardeau.

The institute's staff assessed eight counties in the region for the analysis. Assisting were Dr. Gerald McDougall, dean of the university's Harrison College of Business, and Dr. James Stapleton, who in addition to co-founding the independent incubator Codefi, is former founding director of the Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Southeast Missouri State University and continues to teach entrepreneurship there.

The assessment looked at Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Perry, Scott and Stoddard counties in Missouri and Alexander, Jackson and Union counties in Illinois. It measured innovative strengths, market data and perception and experience of the community with the region's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

An "innovation index" that used 30 variables -- such as education, availability of broadband technology and data on workers -- produced a list of challenges. Data on market trends from 2002 through 2013, including regional jobs and sales and industry jobs and sales, also was gathered.

Another section looked at cluster strengths, or strengths of related industries in a particular geographic location.

The research presentation wrapped up with opportunities for the entrepreneurship ecosystem and identified key challenges for the region.

On the innovation index, Cape Girardeau scored an 85.2, and the region scored an 84. The state scored an 89.

Those numbers, said Tapp, become relevant when the full index is taken into consideration. The top innovative location in the United States is northern California's Silicon Valley, which has a score of 140. The location with the lowest score is Alabama, with a 44.

Challenges for the region are a lack of broadband density, young adult population, high-tech employment share, the number of people who have attained bachelor's degrees or higher and venture capital investment.

Market trend data for the region showed the total number of regional jobs grew from 2002 through 2013. Smaller and mid-size employers gained jobs and larger employers lost jobs, while regional sales fell.

Top job generators for the region in 2013 were educational services, health care, social assistance, retail trade, manufacturing and public administration.

The top industries in sales were retail trade, educational services, manufacturing, health care, social assistance and wholesale trade.

Part of the analysis on clusters -- and specifically traded clusters, which trade goods or services into other areas -- showed 28 percent being present in the region. That's lower than the national average of 36 percent.

"There's some work to do on exporting goods outside the region," Tapp said.

Overall key challenges identified by the research included that large establishments are not always reliable job creators; manufacturing industry jobs have declined in the past decade; some technological super cluster industry clusters are "falling behind"; the area is losing population, including young people; and there is a lack of Internet access and infrastructure.

Tapp said a second phase of analysis is coming, which is an implementation strategy for improvements to the ecosystem.

It should be available in early December.

Sponsors of this month's chamber event were the Southeast Missourian and CPU Inc.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3632