Fort Worth group presents blueprint to improve capital access for entrepreneurs 

Fort Worth is one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation, recently rising to the 12th largest, but some community leaders have for several years been concerned that the city’s entrepreneurial growth is not keeping pace with its population. 

A new report from Sparkyard, a resource for local startups, shows that the city has made progress but still lags behind, particularly in access to capital. 

In Texas, Fort Worth ranks a distant fifth behind Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas, with only El Paso coming in lower in terms of an entrepreneur having access to the capital needed to start a business. 

“If you take it down to the per capita level, a Fort Worth entrepreneur can expect to raise about $27 in early stage capital, whereas an entrepreneur in that city just about 30 miles to the east of here can raise about $2,000,” said Cameron Cushman, the assistant vice president of innovation ecosystems at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. 

Cushman delivered a presentation on the research findings to members of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Committee, a City Council committee. 

“So, tell me where you would rather start your company?” he asked. 

On a national level, Fort Worth ranks 47th in early-stage capital funding, just above Arlington.

“Fort Worth is one of the fastest-growing large cities in the U.S., but firm starts have not kept pace with growth and capital access is low,” Cushman said. 

Fort Worth entrepreneurial resources remain fragmented and siloed and the city lacks a high-profile, well-resourced benefactor who advocates for entrepreneurship, Cushman said. 

While some numbers still look bad, Cushman said the city has made progress since the first white paper on the subject in 2021. 

Key recommendations 

1. Revise permit and license procedures with a customer service approach and build on the improvements suggested by Institute for Justice.
2. Funding: Provide $200,000 to TechFW for two to three years; $100,000 to Sparkyard for two to three years; use 5% of local economic development funds to provide $5,000-$10,000 grants to new businesses; workforce development; and redirect 5% of government procurement dollars to businesses under 5 years old. 
3. Programming: Add accelerator or incubator programs that fit an entrepreneur’s needs.
4. Lobby the Texas Workforce Commission for access to Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data to track job creation by startups.
5. Create a sense of urgency and inspire additional philanthropy in innovation.
6. Audit all startups that receive city funding and reevaluate funding based on the audit. 

Source: Entrepreneurship = Economic Development: How to Move Fort Worth Forward report. 

Since then, the city has hired a chief innovation officer and there has been significant progress on the permitting assist tool, which helps developers and businesses navigate their way through different agencies.  

“It got one out of five stars when we started the process,” Cushman said. “And literally,within just several months, it went to four out of five stars as ranked by the Institute for Justice.” 

Cushman pointed to the Techstars physical health accelerator, the new entrepreneurial center in the Near Southside, Kauffman’s FastTrac program coming to the city and the relaunch of the 1 Million Cups Fort Worth chapter. He also cited the expansion of access to capital through the CDFI Friendly Fort Worth program. 

“We as government officials can’t solve all the problems,” said council member Michael Crain, who is chair of the entrepreneurship committee. “We need the private sector businesses and entrepreneurs to come and say how we can help. That’s exactly what they gave us today, a road map to make it better, easier, faster and cheaper for our entrepreneurs to thrive and succeed going forward.” 

Cushman said that Fort Worth is a great place to start a business but that there are things that can be improved. 

“What we presented today was a series of about a dozen recommendations to the city of Fort Worth, on items they have direct control over, that can help make it cheaper, simpler and faster to start a new business in the city of Fort Worth,” he said. 

Cushman said he is encouraged by the progress the city has made. 

“The Institute for Justice on the city’s one-stop shop said they’ve never seen a city go that fast,” he said. “Fort Worth went from a one star to five stars in less than six months. That’s brilliant. Now we’ve got one more star to go. We’ve got a little more to do.” 

Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org. 

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