The purpose of this article is to offer a methodical approach to deciding when, where, and how to invest in entrepreneurship as a crosscutting economic development strategy. To accomplish this, the authors present and operationalize the concept of a pipeline of entrepreneurs and enterprises in order to effectively segment the marketplace of businesses and differentiate among potential economic development clients within the community. They then describe three options for managing and intervening in a community’s pipeline of entrepreneurs and enterprises—performance-enhancement strategies, incubation strategies, and selective attraction strategies—and discuss how the pipeline can help policy makers and practitioners make informed decisions about where to invest (in what segment) and which strategies to use.
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