For example, last fall the Community Affairs Office here at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland partnered with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, state and local government, and financial institutions to convene a conference titled “Big Ideas for Small Businesses.” Conferences in Ohio and Pennsylvania provided important information on establishing and developing businesses as well as demystifying the lending experience for entrepreneurs.
All of these efforts on the part of government agencies - whether federal, state, or local - have the goal of stimulating a self-sustaining process of economic development that will create good jobs and lead to upward mobility. Most successful entrepreneurs see opportunity in the context of their own skills and a particular need in their community or market with which they identify.