Entrepreneurship
The 2020 EAP set a goal of boosting the number of entrepreneurs in the county and ensuring assets are available and accessible to aid in their success. These data points provide insight into the entrepreneurial landscape for York County compared to its peers and strides towards increased opportunity within it.
Business Birth Rate per 100 Existing Firms
The share of new businesses created for every 100 existing businesses indicates the extent to which new businesses are forming in established industry sectors.
Business Birth Rate by Core Industry Sector
Total business birth rate and broken out by the county’s three key industries (Transportation and Warehousing, Manufacturing, and Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services) reflects entrepreneurial activity and vitality of critical industries.
Percent of Minority- and women-owned buSINESSES
Share of minority and women-owned businesses in each county reflects the economic diversity of a region through entrepreneurial access across underrepresented groups.
How We’re Working Towards Our Goals
White Rose Ventures Creates Impact Fund to Support Local Business Growth
White Rose Ventures is a recently launched York-based impact fund employing a venture model to make large and targeted investments that help innovative companies scale and increase impact. The firm invests primarily in companies that are located in, or plan to expand into, York, Dauphin and Lancaster Counties. They provide financial resources and investments, along with intellectual resources and connections that support the growth of businesses within their unique portfolio. White Rose Ventures has invested close to $9 million in 12 companies. Of those 12 companies, 11 are regional businesses. White Rose Ventures is poised to transform and scale visionary companies with the resources they need to redefine their industries.
Fulton Bank Creates Diverse Business Program in York County
In June 2023, Fulton Bank launched its newly created Diverse Business Banking program tailored to serve the unique needs of minority, women, veteran, and LGBTQ business owners. The program will seek to train and employ Fulton Bank’s Diverse Business Advocates, trained bankers who can provide coaching, networking connections, and specific one-on-one financial products and solutions for business owners with non-traditional backgrounds and needs.
York College & YCEA Collaborative Leverage Knowledge Park to Support Small Business Development and Career Workforce Training Opportunities
York College of Pennsylvania recently opened Knowledge Park, in coordination with York College’s J.D Brown Center for Entrepreneurship, to serve as a business incubator and hub – connecting local companies to its student base to provide workforce and career opportunities. York College is making an effort to leverage its role as York County’s pre-eminent academic institution to enhance their role as business incubators and hubs for transformative research and economic development.
