Endeavor

In Fortaleza, 46% believe that the Government sup- ports entrepreneurs — the highest rate among the analyzed capital (the average is 34%). Part of this perception probably is the work of the Economic Development Department of the city, which, with the guideline to improve the local business environment, divided the work into two fronts: The first, focused on supporting micro and small businesses, is the Coordinator of Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Business: the first step was to cre- ate service centers throughout the city, known as the Entrepreneur Room. In these spaces, founded in February 2014, 5,000 entrepreneurs have come and gone (the goal is 30,000 by 2016), where entrepre- neurial training courses, technical advices (promoted by Sebrae) and aid in obtaining microcredit is offered. Also, the coordinating body for Projects and Economic Development is responsible for the survey indicators on each neighborhood's business climate, allowing the city government to decide on programmed in- centives (via exemption from property and service taxes). The goal is also to provide this data to help entrepreneurs choose where to set up their business. tHE CItY's BEst praCtICE CasE Although wages in the capital are low and there are qualified undergradu- ate courses, entrepreneurs can take a long time to find skilled labor, mainly because only a limited portion of the population has access to education. The population of Fortaleza has the lowest levels of access to education (only 52% of the population completed high school), their graduate rate is the third lowest (14.4%) — the average is 23.2% — and the technical proficiency courses reaches only 2.71% of young people, the 4th worst rate. Finally, there are problems in the internal infrastructure of the capital, in particular the low security rates (Fortaleza has the 4 th lowest index) and the low connectivity — only half of the population has access to the internet, while the average in the other cities is almost 65%. In Fortaleza, those who get into university have good curriculums, which guarantees good hires for entrepreneurs Fortaleza Northeast Best score for each pillar 5 4 6 7 8 9 79 Value Position Regulatory Enviornment 5.12 11 th Infrastructure 5.03 13 th Market Conditions 5.83 8 th Access to Capital 5.30 11 th Innovation 5.17 11 th Human Capital 5.52 10 th Culture 6.00 7 th Regulatory Environment Culture Infrastructure Access to Capital Innovation Human Capital Market Conditions

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