Establishing a U.S. Entrepreneurial Corps to Foster a Small Business Ecosystem
Summary
The next administration should create a U.S. Entrepreneurial Corps (“E-Corps”), a program to train, invest in, and build networks for the next generation of small business leaders. E-Corps should include three components: 1) a national network of 1,000 small business incubators co-located at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and at Land-Grant Universities, 2) a competitively selected cohort of 2,000 small business connectors to staff the incubators, and 3) underrepresented entrepreneurs to participate in the program. E-Corps reimagines the Federal Government’s approach to building an inclusive small business ecosystem by providing support to community anchor institutions while connecting underrepresented entrepreneurs to capital and historically inaccessible networks of financiers and advisors. E-Corps will become the connective tissue for entrepreneurial communities across our country, spanning both urban and rural communities.
AI’s high-stakes outputs directly shape American economic, industrial, and technological outcomes. They must not be accepted entirely on the basis of institutional faith rather than verifiable evidence.
The clearinghouse will also neutrally mediate the assignment of auditors to audits—strengthening independence, trust, and ethical governance across the AI ecosystem.
Soft law was never meant to be a permanent solution. Treating it as one, and letting the sandcastle stand in for the skyscraper indefinitely, is how we end up with a decade of voluntary commitments and no enforceable accountability to show for it.
Jobseekers, employees at smaller organizations, and local public workers need more than a weekend crash course in AI. They need practice choosing useful tasks, protecting data, testing outputs, and explaining where human judgment remains necessary.