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As 2011 comes to a close, business owners may be all too ready to close the book on a challenging year and look hopefully ahead to 2012. But for all its hardship, the region also saw many positive trends in 2011, particularly among its active entrepreneurial crowd.
The best stories covered in the New England Business Bulletin this year have been about scrappy start-ups and entrepreneurial-focused established companies who, ignoring negative forecasts, have been fueling growth through innovation.
One of these, Clean Energy Innovations, is an ATMC-based start-up that developed a process to boost rechargeable battery energy by 25 percent. Founders Larry LaFranchi, Victor Stancovski and David Stout believe the process they’ve come up with will play a critical role in the growth of the rechargeable battery industry, a market they estimate will be worth $50 billion by 2015.
Although more established companies across the country have been conducting similar research, progress has been relatively slow, according to CEI. But here in the SouthCoast, these three co-founders are seeing success.
(For more on CEI’s entrepreneurial journey, go to www.sneef.org for information on a Jan. 9 presentation to be given by LaFranchi, CEI’s CEO.)
Along the same lines, success stories like Aquabotix, a Fall River maker of autonomous underwater vehicles, and Incident Control Systems, a New Bedford manufacturer of unique military-grade armor, offer testimony for the region’s innovative economy.
Gems like these are scattered about the SouthCoast, and, judging by the numbers, the region offers an encouraging environment for entrepreneurs.
In fact a Babson College study released last week supports that idea, noting that “a significant amount of entrepreneurial activity is occurring in the more rural portions of (Massachusetts),” especially the Southeast region. According to the 2010 survey, the highest percentage of early-stage businesses could be found in Southeastern Massachusetts, above even Greater Boston.
Three regions were within spitting distance of each other for early stage start-ups, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report, with the southeastern portion of the state at 27 percent, followed next by Greater Boston at 25 percent, and Western Massachusetts at 24 percent. Only the North Shore fell short of that range with 16 percent.
That type of thriving entrepreneurial cluster in the region means innovative start-ups will remain on NEBB’s editorial calendar in 2012. They will be joined by a full agenda of business-to-business topics including our annual look at the commercial real estate market and whether or not brokers expect to see improvement in 2012, best tips for building a productive workforce, and a look at how continuing health care changes will affect the way businesses offer benefits.
One focus we’re especially proud of will publish in February. This special report will examine the region’s next generation of business leaders, identifying who these young professionals are and looking at what they’ve already accomplished despite their young age.
Beth Perdue is the editor of the New England Business Bulletin. To read about these business topics and more, see the New England Business Bulletin on news stands Jan. 1. Or, go to www.nebulletin.com today. To subscribe to The Bulletin, e-mail Kati Sorensen at ksorensen@s-t.com.
Editor’s note: The Top Jobs feature returns next week.
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