Where is the Best Place to Start Your Own Business: Your Hometown

According to a study by professors Olav Sorenson of the Yale School of Management and Michael Dahl of Aalborg University, the best place for any founder to start a venture is probably his or her own hometown.  -TIME MAGAZINE

       So it will be a year in May that I formally opened up my first physical law office (had only a virtual office before).  I chose to open up the MAZURKRAEMER law office in Weirton, West Virginia, my beloved hometown (37 miles from Pittsburgh), where I had not lived for over 20 years.  The warm, open arms of this steel-mill town and its people here have welcomed me.  I hate to jinx myself and my business for 2013, but I have to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of my friends and family who have supported us.  I have been overwhelmed by the support and interest in my work and my practice.    Nine months later and we are still standing, the lights are still on and my family and I have been fed and clothed and cared for, in more ways than one.I thought I would google "choosing to start a business in your hometown" just to see if there was a study or statistical research re: the success of start-ups in one's hometown.  Sure enough -- I found this online article from TIME magazine and wanted to share it with all those entrepreneurs in the making out there.The article states:  "Ventures perform better — survive longer, generate greater annual profits and cash flows — when their founders locate them in their home regions where they have deep roots of family and friends. The effect we found is substantial. It’s similar in size to the value of having prior industry experience,” Sorenson told the Yale School of Management News.I was also looking for a reason to brag about this new collage I just made from numerous photos I have taken of the mill (f/k/a as Weirton Steel Corporation), the mill that has always been so important to me and pretty much anyone who has ever lived in Weirton since 1909.  While the mill is at its lowest operating capacity, like the sun that rises over the industrial structures I photographed below, I know the sun is rising and shining in this town and good things are to come ....My firm donated this 20"x30" framed photo collage to our annual Rotary Mardi Gras fundraiser (oh and please join us if you can-click here for more information).  All proceeds from this auction/dinner/dance will benefit Piece by Peace, a non-profit dedicated to assisting those with autism and aspergers.