Nearly 80 percent of Dallas businesses are classified as small businesses, employing nearly 40 percent of the workforce. While numerous agencies exist to support Dallas’ entrepreneurial ecosystem, most efforts are siloed and lack the capacity and visibility to drive meaningful small business support for the community-at-large. With no contiguous urban core, meaningful communication and collaboration between Dallas’ isolated and diverse neighborhoods poses challenges, leaving behind many individuals that lack connections to the mainstream business world. A business community open only to a select few is an expensive proposition for the city – in terms of forgone collaborations and lost livelihoods.

A partnership between Dallas Public Library (DPL) and the city’s Office of Economic Development comprises the core of the Dallas B.R.A.I.N., combining DPL’s staff expertise, information resources, and community spaces with OED’s existing grassroots efforts to stimulate urban economic development among Dallas’ diverse neighborhoods. This cost-effective collaboration allows for increased agency flexibility, while enabling comprehensive outcome-focused strategies and strengthening accountability for results. Whether connecting with the Dallas B.R.A.I.N. through a workshop, its searchable online database of agency and small business resource contacts, or a resource partner referral, Dallas’ entrepreneurs grow the network by accessing the resources they need to succeed.

With the Dallas B.R.A.I.N., the city is equipped with the networked resources to become one of the most entrepreneurially literate cities in the country. While still in its infancy, community response to the Dallas B.R.A.I.N. has been overwhelmingly positive, with the number of attendees at events and workshops increasing by 95 percent over the first three quarters of service. The Dallas B.R.A.I.N. has been recognized by the National League of Cities as well as the American Libraries Association as a model for bridging opportunity gaps in the community and providing an on-ramp to the innovation economy.