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Kevin Willer of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center on the state of small business in Chicago.
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Expert -- by the way.
All right -- GOP candidates battling it out in Illinois may want to listen up right now because.
Our next guest has its finger on the pulse of Chicago's budding entrepreneur -- Joining us from the windy city had been will there actually let me make sure that that rate -- Kevin -- apologies you weren't as CEO of Chicago land entrepreneur -- sensor.
Kevin thanks for joining us let's start to politic things -- Henis.
Great to have you it is the day of the GOP primary in Illinois do you think that entrepreneurial.
Community would prefer.
A continuing Obama administration or new administration White House what's best for business do you think.
I think -- the end of the day the recession was actually good thing French ownership in this country and -- create a lot of people thinking about starting new businesses and building companies here.
The Obama -- administration has done some good things with the start of America partnership but.
But definitely we need to be more.
To support dance partners what did you got -- dealing with these days.
You know the biggest thing is technical talent right now especially with those high growth digital startups.
They're they're able to come -- cool business ideas but to really find great technical co founders for these businesses has been hard -- Got to do a better job of keeping that talent in the midwest in our situation or in the country.
And begs the question with unemployment so high we know we have the structural unemployment problem people just cannot find the jobs are trained to -- -- the expertise.
So what a -- I mean it's it's really contractual isn't it.
Absolutely I mean it's -- interest in because a lot of the unemployment you know for technical people is very very low.
-- we need that we need to have more kids in more students being educated.
In technical careers as they come up through the system I'm so that they can fill the needs of these knowledge economy and digital companies.
We were just got too many people are low skilled and they they they can't get some of these jobs that that the sort of companies are creating.
What is it that Chicago and surrounding areas have to offer specifically beneficial for budding businesses for -- You know the great thing that we have here is we have world class universities to the top five business schools and a great computer science school would you buy champagne and IAT and a bunch other great schools.
They're great fortune 500 corporate environment here that really supports things.
And then our public I've sector folks have been really supportive.
Of the entrepreneurial community in the Serb community helping these companies get access to resources they need to grow their companies in Chicago in the greater midwest.
Kevin some might argue though that Chicago Illinois -- -- is -- famously business unfriendly tax climate.
With the Chicago right you're shaking your head to see it means years both -- and threatening to leave this state are tax is an -- for small business.
You -- small businesses or new businesses that a lot of these -- startups are.
-- not they're not paying much in taxes and on the -- doing -- dead in the early stages so they don't worry about that is much.
But when they start getting bigger they're definitely gonna be concerned about that and and we need to create an environment here that supportive of them.
Right so how are you going to keep those businesses better biting and -- -- grow.
How do you keep them in -- Right absolutely I mean you have to create an environment -- tax environment here that is supportive of those early stage companies that are growing so dramatically you look at a company like Groupon.
That three years ago is a time you'll start up and now is a publicly traded company with thousands of employees.
That's a great thing for Chicago and for the US in general.
We need said current environment where we can continue to build those companies and keep them there are right Kevin -- thanks -- timing your analysis and sharing your business with us appreciate it.
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