The manufacturing belt has been struggling over the last several decades. Of the ten fastest dying cities in America identified by Forbes magazine in 2008, nine were located in the manufacturing belt and are the major cities of the region. Policymakers are scrambling to find ways to create new jobs that will replace the lost manufacturing jobs and keep their regions afloat.

Research has shown that 90-95% of all new job creation in the United States is the result of entrepreneurial activity.  Naturally, cities and states in the manufacturing belt have focused their resources on encouraging entrepreneurship in their regions. However, some policymakers seek to attract entrepreneurs from outside the community, while others seek to grow their own entrepreneurs from within their communities.

The Entrepreneurship in the Manufacturing Belt Study of Resource Acquisition seeks to find out how lifetime residency affects how entrepreneurs acquire resources.  The study will look at entrepreneurs who have lived in the same metro area their entire lives (the homegrowns), entrepreneurs who have more recently moved to the area (the transplants), as well as people who grew up in the area, moved away and returned to the metro area (the boomerangs) when starting a business. Theresa hopes that this study will provide one piece to solving the puzzle of economic revitalization, assisting policymakers in making informed decisions and help local entrepreneurs learn lessons from the study to grow and thrive.