Microbusiness in the Shadow of Crisis: How Can Non-Traditional Entrepreneurs Contribute to Boston’s Economy?
Join a diverse group of technical assistance providers, policymakers and academics to discuss the role of microbusiness in the metropolitan Boston economy. How do non-traditional entrepreneurs contribute to the economy? How have they responded to the financial crisis and what ideas and strategies are succeeding? How can they leverage future opportunities?
Friday, January 22, 2010, 9:00
a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Northeastern University
Raytheon Ampitheater, Egan Hall
120 Forsyth Street
AGENDA
8:30 - 9:00
Registration
and Coffee
9:00 - 9:30
Introductory Address: The Role of Microbusiness in Metropolitan Economies
Paul Harrington, Associate Director, Northeastern University Center for Labor Market Studies
9:45 - 11:30
Morning
Panel: Microbusiness and Development in the Great Recession
This
panel will discuss the impact of the current economic recession on Boston's
microbusinesses. By elaborating a
range of development goals that microbusinesses can serve, the panelists will
consider why it is important to support microbusinesses in the city.
Moderator: Rashmi Dyal-Chand, Professor, Northeastern University School of
Law
Alvaro Lima, Director of Research, Boston Redevelopment Authority
Stephen Adams, Board Chair, Martin Luther King, Jr. Business
Empowerment Center and Board Member, Common Cause Massachusetts
Commentator: Ana Hammock, Program Director, New England and Internet Lending, ACCION USA
Commentator: Sarah Lamitie, Vice President & CRA Associate, Boston Private Bank and Trust Company
11:45 - 1:00
Lunch
and Breakout Discussion
Facilitator: Shane Black-Macken, Research Fellow, Northeastern University School of Law1:15 - 2:30
Afternoon Panel: Microbusiness Going Forward: What Can We Expect?
This panel will examine different ways to quantify and evaluate the contributions of nontraditional entrepreneurs. What can we reasonably expect these entrepreneurs to contribute to Boston's economy and communities in the future?
Moderator: Steve Winter, Senior Project Director,
Metropolitan Area Planning Commission
Paul Watanabe, Director, Institute for Asian American Studies and
Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Boston
Cristo Banda, Director of Neighborhood Lending Programs,
Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation
Commentator: Rafael Carbonell, Deputy Director, Office of Business Development, Department of Neighborhood Development, City of Boston
2:30 - 3:00
Future Directions
Facilitator: Jim Rowan, Professor, Northeastern University School of Law
Panelist Biographies (download)
Background Reading
Barth, Yago & Zeidman, Stumbling Blocks to Entrepreneurship in Low-and Moderate-Income Communities
Scott Shane, Why Encouraging More People to Become Entrepreneurs is Bad Public Policy (Prize Lecture in column on far right).
Directions/Parking
The Raytheon Amphitheater is located in Egan Hall at 120 Forsyth St., adjacent to the Ruggles MBTA station. (Building 60 on the map link page). The university website also offers detailed directions and parking information.
For more information, contact research fellow Shane Black-Macken at black-macken.s@neu.edu.
