{"id":2831,"date":"2026-07-05T13:10:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T13:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=2831"},"modified":"2026-07-05T13:10:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T13:10:02","slug":"americas-entrepreneurial-boom-begins-long-before-venture-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=2831","title":{"rendered":"America\u2019s entrepreneurial boom begins long before venture capital"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Latino entrepreneurs weren\u2019t simply contributing to America\u2019s business growth. They were preventing its decline.<\/p>\n

Read more Treasury rolls out currency signed by Trump for Fourth of July<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet this remarkable economic story has received surprisingly little attention. At a moment when business leaders are searching for new engines of economic growth, one of the country\u2019s fastest-growing entrepreneurial forces has been hiding in plain sight.<\/p>\n

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Latino-owned businesses added nearly one million jobs during those six years, compared with roughly 658,000 among white-owned firms. Revenue climbed from $495 billion to more than $832 billion, a 68 percent increase compared with 45 percent growth among white-owned firms. Latino-owned businesses generated more net new firms and jobs than businesses owned by any other major racial or ethnic group.<\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t simply a story about one community. The broader Latino economy now approaches $4 trillion in annual economic output, making it one of the world\u2019s largest economies if it stood alone. It is growing more than twice as fast as the overall U.S. economy.<\/p>\n

These entrepreneurs did not simply appear. Every founder begins somewhere. Behind every successful entrepreneur is a talent-development system that helped prepare them. We often celebrate entrepreneurs after they build successful companies but spend far less time thinking about the institutions that helped prepare them.<\/p>\n

Colleges and universities, particularly Minority-Serving Institutions, are part of America\u2019s economic infrastructure. They produce workers, innovators, and entrepreneurs.\u00a0 If policymakers and business leaders want more business creation, they cannot afford to weaken one of the country\u2019s most productive talent pipelines.<\/p>\n

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As a former Title V administrator at a Hispanic-Serving Institution, I have spent years studying how colleges create pathways into economic mobility.\u00a0Research consistently shows<\/u>\u00a0that these institutions\u00a0produce strong workforce, degree completion, and economic mobility outcomes despite serving students with fewer resources.<\/p>\n

The story is visible at Compton College, a Minority-Serving Institution in California.\u00a0Over the past decade, the college has invested in the supports that help students complete college and enter the workforce like\u00a0dual-enrollment<\/u>\u00a0programs, workforce\u00a0advising<\/u>,\u00a0childcare<\/u>,\u00a0healthcare<\/u>\u00a0access,\u00a0basic-needs<\/u>\u00a0supports, and transfer<\/u>\u00a0pathways. These are often described as \u201cstudent services.\u201d Business leaders should recognize them as investments in future workers and entrepreneurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Corporate America spends billions searching for talent. Yet one of the country\u2019s fastest-growing entrepreneurial pipelines already exists. Partnerships with these institutions offer companies access to future founders, engineers, healthcare workers, technology professionals, and business leaders. Supporting these institutions is not charity. It is a long-term talent strategy. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Mark Zuckerberg takes business calls on a jet ski wearing his $800 Meta glasses\u2014and insists \u2018the other person could not tell\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

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IPEDS data<\/u>\u00a0show that Compton College outperforms many peer institutions in completion and transfer despite serving large numbers of Pell-eligible students. Those outcomes strengthen local labor markets and expand the nation\u2019s talent pipeline.<\/p>\n

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But\u00a0federal support<\/u>\u00a0for Minority-Serving Institutions has become increasingly uncertain.<\/p>\n

This debate comes at a pivotal moment. Even as new research documents the rapid growth of Black and Latino entrepreneurship, policymakers are reducing or redirecting investments in higher education, including programs that support many Minority-Serving Institutions. America cannot expect to produce more entrepreneurs while investing less in the institutions that educate them.<\/p>\n

Policymakers should strengthen these institutions through investments tied to workforce development, entrepreneurship education, and student success. Business leaders should do the same.\u00a0 Rather than viewing partnerships with Minority-Serving Institutions as philanthropy, companies should view them as long-term talent investments through internships, workforce partnerships, entrepreneurship centers, and research collaborations.<\/p>\n

Returns<\/u>\u00a0on educational investment also extend well beyond the individual student. They benefit their families, neighborhoods, employers, and regional economies. A healthy workforce pipeline is not a social luxury. It is fundamental to doing business.<\/p>\n

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The future of American entrepreneurship will not be determined solely by venture-capital or startup investment. We can invest in the institutions preparing tomorrow\u2019s entrepreneurs or continue treating them as expendable.<\/p>\n

America cannot celebrate record entrepreneurial growth while underinvesting in the institutions producing tomorrow\u2019s entrepreneurs. America\u2019s next generation of entrepreneurs is already in our classrooms. The question is whether we will invest in them before our competitors do.\u00a0 Strengthening those institutions is not simply education policy. It is economic policy.<\/p>\n

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of <\/em>Fortune.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more How Hollywood\u2019s youngest filmmakers are exposing Gen Z\u2019s real problem with AI<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Latino-owned businesses added 180,000 net new firms between 2017 and 2023 while white-owned firms declined \u2014 and the talent pipeline behind that growth runs through Minority-Serving Institutions now facing funding uncertainty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[369],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-economy"],"yoast_head":"\nAmerica\u2019s entrepreneurial boom begins long before venture capital - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=2831\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"America\u2019s entrepreneurial boom begins long before venture capital - 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