The startup spirit in the U.S. seemingly remains strong, even amid an unclear economy and post-pandemic issues still affecting small business owners.

With August 21 designated as World Entrepreneur Day, it's a perfect time to celebrate entrepreneurs and their contributions to the countries and communities where they live and work. 

Importance of Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship spurs innovation. 

"New firms are disproportionately responsible for commercializing new innovations, particularly radical innovations that spawn entirely new markets or substantially disrupt existing markets," says the Center for American Entrepreneurship.

Further, entrepreneurs contribute to a country's economy in several ways, including improving productivity and creating jobs. 

Through entrepreneurship, the economic benefits from increased productivity companies, higher competition among existing businesses, thereby pushing out less productive ones, says the CAE post.

"New and young businesses are the engine of net job creation in the economy," the center adds.

U.S. Entrepreneurship

The U.S. is ranked as the best country to become an entrepreneur, according to CEOWORLD magazine, referencing Silicon Valley and global startup successes such as Google and Apple.

"With a highly-skilled workforce, competitiveness and openness for business, as well as having easy access to capital for entrepreneurs, the U.S. rates highly across the board," the magazine says in a post with its Best Countries for Entrepreneurship Index.

To compile the list, CEOWORLD says it evaluates 100 economies that collectively account for 95 percent of global gross domestic product. Placing second and third, respectively were Germany and the United Kingdom.

An entrepreneurship list by U.S. World News - of countries seen as innovative with enterprising citizens - ranked Japan, Germany, and the U.S. at the top, respectively. 

"For countries to spread prosperity to citizens, governments must find industries where they can compete globally in the digital age – the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution," says the intro to the list. 

New Businesses in the U.S.

Business ventures open a year or less in the U.S. reported ongoing success at a relatively high rate. New businesses increasingly started out of opportunities instead of necessity, according to early-stage measures within the Kauffman Indicators of Entrepreneurship.

The data illustrates a highly resilient entrepreneurial community and extended growth in self-starters among emerging majorities, including Latino founders, explains economist Rob Fairlie in a June article for the Kauffman Foundation newsletter Currents.

New businesses soared to record highs in 2021, partly prompted by job loss and demand during and post-Covid. The U.S. Census Bureau found that 5.4 applications for new business were filed last year, surpassing the record set in 2020 of 4.4 million.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments were 9.6 million, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. Gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 6.7 million.

Economic Lifeline

"Small businesses function as an economic lifeline — especially for disadvantaged communities," says Carolina Martinez, CEO of the microbusiness network CAMEO.

"For women, immigrants, and people of color — who are often excluded from other means of wealth-building — entrepreneurship can be a path to prosperity," she says in a post on GoBankingRate. 

Last April, the SBA announced a new initiative to identify innovative startups and provide support through resources as a way to help them "scale, grow, and thrive." 

"Every day, in communities across America, entrepreneurs are advancing innovative solutions to our nation’s most pressing challenges," the SBA said in its announcement about America's Seed Fund Startup Expo 2022. 

"The SBA is committed to helping ensure that those good ideas from everywhere and anywhere connect to federally-supported ecosystems and partners to commercialize and grow into resilient American businesses."