Last month Northeastern University announced it was committing $2.5 million in seed funding for a newly created “Impact Lending” program, offered in conjunction with LISC Boston. The seed money will capitalize a $6.5 million revolving loan fund (RLF), and the RLF will enable LISC to provide $1,000 to $1 million loans to women- and minority-owned small businesses located in or around Northeastern University. Read More

The U.S. Census Bureau has released its first-ever Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE). Approximately 290,000 employer businesses across all U.S. geographies and demographics participated in the survey during 2014. The results reveal that significant gaps in access to capital still remain. Read More

Small businesses are the backbone of urban economies: They play a critical role in creating jobs for local residents. Yet too often city leaders and economic developers are not prioritizing small businesses when allocating resources to drive growth, focusing their strategies instead on the attraction and retention of large businesses. Read More

Long gone are the days of the entrepreneurial model that relies solely on investors, seed-capital and mega-millionaires to cultivate a new business or create a new product. Enter: the part-time entrepreneur. Read More

Until they fully engage women and minority entrepreneurs, incubators and accelerators will not truly jumpstart urban entrepreneurship. Last week, ICIC hosted a national conversation at the Roxbury Innovation Center in Boston, sponsored by JPMorgan Chase, the Boston Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, about what it will take to create more inclusive entrepreneurial hubs. Read More