SBAM Foundation

When the Score Card was first conceived 19 years ago, Michigan was in the midst of a long-term economic slowdown. The Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM) set an ambitious goal to start the long and difficult climb of becoming a “Top Ten” state for entrepreneurs. But to get there, we had to understand how Michigan performed against other states in a variety of areas.

At the time, SBAM had no ready reference with which to know how well its entrepreneurial economy was doing; no comprehensive data reference to determine progress. So, we set about to design and publish annual progress. The resultant Score Card is now recognized nationally as one of the most complete assessments of a state’s ‘state of small business and entrepreneurship’.