AURORA | A bipartisan effort in Congress could create up to 320 new small businesses each year for the next five years through a new program that would allow vetted entrepreneurs a living stipend and access to mentorships and networking opportunities.
Aurora Congressman Jason Crow is co-sponsoring legislation, dubbed The Next Generation Entrepreneur Corps Act, that would cement the program. Each year 12 industry experts would select 320 fellow from diverse backgrounds to start businesses in “distressed, low-income census tract areas.”
The fellows would get a $120,000 two-year stipend for living and start-up expenses. They’d also be connected to investors and Small Business Administration-backed lenders. The bill would allocate $30 million to encourage “equity investment in corps members’ businesses,” according to bill sponsors.
“In my many conversations, hundreds of conversations, over the last few years with small business owners and people that work for small businesses, the theme that keeps coming up over and over again is that they want to grow their own businesses,” Crow said.
More than 1.1 million Coloradans work for small businesses, according to the Small Business Administration, and that number keeps creeping upward.
Aurora, in particular, is a hotspot for small business owners. Leaders say that’s because of its diverse community. Around 20% of residents are foreign born and more likely to start their own businesses.
The legislation comes as nearly 75% of small business across the nation have felt the effects of the pandemic and thousands have closed for good.
Crow said this legislation will be just a piece of bigger conversations about economic development in the 6th Congressional District. While outside investment is important, there’s a need for resources for underserved communities that want to own their own businesses.
“Outside investment is great, but ultimately, if we’re going to deal with inequality, we have to deal with it at the root level, and that is business ownership within our community,” Crow said. “This is the effort that that says we have great ideas in our community. We have great entrepreneurs in our community.”
