Ventures are all around us. They’re the people who build websites, sell homemade jewelry, offer cooking lessons, or run a blog.
Across the country, these ventures are making our economy stronger and our communities more resilient.
But few policymakers have visibility into their numbers and economic impact. We’re out to change that.
Related: Four policy pillars that will encourage online micro-businesses
Our latest round of research looks at how these online microbusinesses have helped communities during the pandemic — and how communities are helping these ventures in return.
The Fall 2020 report aims to help policymakers and economic developers by displaying:
- How many ventures there are in the U.S. across different types of communities.
- The impact ventures have on increasing median incomes and decreasing unemployment rates.
- Who the people behind ventures are and how they’ve fared during the COVID-19 pandemic, also broken down by gender and race.
- What industries have seen the biggest spikes in online activity since early 2020.
This report also looks at how some cities and towns are leveraging Venture Forward data to help local microbusinesses, including:
- Gilbert, Arizona’s use of CARES Act funds to allocate $18M for immediate pandemic small business relief.
- An e-commerce grant program in Denison, Texas, created an accelerator that’s helped local businesses sell online.
Download the report to learn how ventures are affecting your community and what policymakers are doing or could do about it.
Related: When COVID-19 hit, these creative entrepreneurs hit the web
