Making Michigan a High-Growth, High-Wage State

For the state, entrepreneurship has continued to present an ongoing challenge to people trying to explore their entrepreneurial efforts and expand business. “There were a lot of people that talked about entrepreneurship and small business, but they didn’t really do much in terms of policy action and change,” Hwang said.

One of the primary topics discussed by the speakers during the presentation revolves around the challenges entrepreneurs encounter when starting their businesses, such as childcare, accessible education, and healthcare. In addition, entrepreneurship has become a highly privileged business in itself – especially against Black entrepreneurs.

“We have to reimagine what we mean by when we do something business-friendly… we need to have a comprehensive approach,” Gilchrist said. “There are so many things that stand in the way of a person with an idea [to take] the next step.”