Transforming economies - Transforming lives

Creating a World Class Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Tacoma.

Significance of the Project

Entrepreneurship is cited as an advantageous benefit for a capitalist economy. Innovations spark valuable products and services; startup enterprises attract private investors; and firms expand and employ as they supply the marketplace. It also affords livelihood to people who would have otherwise struggled in conventional jobs due to their race, gender or socioeconomic status. The success of these businesses hinges greatly on early-stage support systems which includes mentorship, expert advice, access to finance, customized guidance and training workshops. The efficiency of these support mechanisms can go a long way in helping startups mature into growth-oriented enterprises.

Building an efficient ecosystem requires certain ingredients amongst which are collaborative civic organizations, government agencies and private sector supporters. Although these are present to some extent in the Tacoma ecosystem, there lies the need for clarity in the roles of current actors to enhance the quality and quantity of entrepreneurial firm output.

Aim of the Project

The aim of the BEE Project is to symbolically make golden and lucious honey which greases the wheels of Tacoma's entrepreneurial ecosystem thereby raising it's overall standards to one which compares to those found in key cities of the world like nearby Seattle which ranks 11^th globally for its support mechanism (StartupBlink 2022 ecosystem report) and similar sized communities in the United Kingdom and France.

Objective of the Project

● Objective 1: Identify services provided and overlap amongst entrepreneurial support providers in Tacoma/Pierce County.

● Objective 2: Highlight missing gaps in support provided to early-stage enterprises.

● Objective 3: Coordinate support from service providers through awareness and training.

● Objective 4: Improve and encourage access to historically excluded entrepreneurs.

● Objective 5: Develop a standard of best practices, which would be used in ranking quality of services provided to the entrepreneurial community and comparison of Tacoma’s ecosystem to well-functioning global entrepreneurial communities.