The Chamber Gets Entrepreneurial

Think of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and what comes to mind is the defense of big business. The Chamber is, after all, the top lobbying group on behalf of corporations and big-picture economic development. That makes the announcement Saturday that the Chamber was starting a Center for Entrepreneurship all the more interesting.

At a gathering of student entrepreneurs on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Stan Anderson—managing director of the Chamber's Campaign for a Free Enterprise—said the Center would include the creation of an advisory council consisting of select entrepreneurs and targeted lobbying activities on behalf of those creating startups.

It might all seem better housed in another organization, like the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation's top lobbying group on behalf of small business. But Anderson told me it wasn't a mismatch for the Chamber.

"I don't think most small business owners think of themselves as entrepreneurs, and I don't think most entrepreneurs think of themselves as small business people," Anderson said. He certainly has a point. Most, though not all, of the 50 student businesses being showcased as part of the 2011 Kairos Global Summit had aspirations of being national if not global players eventually, with eyes of creating millions if not billions in revenue one day. In other words, the big businesses of tomorrow.

"Entrepreneurship is suddenly big because people realize that entrepreneurs create new companies, and new companies create new jobs," Anderson said.

But one thing entrepreneurs didn't have much of in Washington was a voice, he said. The start-up community has plenty of backers and resources, but Anderson said many are non-profits and therefore can't lobby. That's not a problem for the Chamber, which Anderson more than once referred to as the "800-pound gorilla" in the nation's capital.

The Chamber's move to create a Center for Entrepreneurship follows President Barack Obama's creation of the Startup America program and the Chamber's own launch of the Campaign for a Free Enterprise. The latter has a goal of creating 20 million new jobs in the United States.

Among the goals of the Center, Anderson said, was to focus on removing obstacles to entrepreneurship, such as the often lengthy time it can take to get patents on new inventions. Another was to work on changing immigration laws to make it easier for students from foreign countries to stay in the United States and build their companies here.

"We're in a situation now where the answers of the past in economic terms aren't giving us the answers they used to," Anderson said. "The Center is an effort to change that."

Get more business intelligence from Portfolio.com:

• 11 for 2011: What are the big themes in American entrepreneurship this year? A bigger focus in universities and government, a shift away from high-tech, and a call for more women leading startups are just a few.
• The Networking Rules: Networking has become the priority at conferences, especially for young entrepreneurs. And since networking has been elevated to an art form, a set of rules has emerged.
• Tapping Alaska: Turmoil in the Middle East and Libya amid rising gas costs prompt calls for increased oil production in the U.S., and it has some advocates saying "drill, baby, drill."