The City of Fort Wayne will again provide special programs to help individuals start their own small or home-based business. 

In the October 2005 issue, Entrepreneur magazine and the National Policy Research Council named several Indiana cities as hot places for entrepreneurs with Indianapolis ranking 5th in the large city category, and Fort Wayne ranking 25th in the midsize city category.

“Census figures show that small businesses represent more than 99.7 percent of all employers,” said Mayor Graham Richard.  “In Indiana, income from those businesses total more than $10 billion a year.  The numbers clearly illustrate the importance of small business in our economy.”

Developed through a partnership with the Women’s Enterprise, SCORE, U.S. Small Business Administration and National City Bank,   the Self Employment and Start Up Business Forums include instruction on developing business and financial plans, complying with code, zoning and health requirements and marketing a product or service.

If these forums could help develop 100 additional small or home-based business owners the economic impact to the City of Fort Wayne would be at least $3 million,” said Mayor Richard.

The City of Fort Wayne also offers several other services to aid in the development of small businesses including small business lending, tax abatements for real estate and manufacturing equipment investments and international trade counseling for small businesses.