When Jon Boyer started making signs in Austin 13 years ago, he was working alone out of his basement, occasionally enlisting the help of his girlfriend.

Boyer’s company has since grown — he is running the successful Precision Signs, which he said did $1.8 million in sales last year — and business experts say encouraging start-ups like Boyer’s could be a boon to a lagging economy, both locally and nationally.

John Garry, executive director of the Development Corporation of Austin, said getting new businesses to start in town is a big emphasis of his — and he thinks the current market could be the right climate.

“I think you could make the case that it’s a good time (to start a business),” Garry said.

Statistics would seem to back him. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a leading national think-tank on entrepreneurship, shows in a June study that nearly 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies got their start during a recession.

Such notables include Microsoft, Disney and McDonald’s.

And the public seems to support new businesses as well — the Kauffman foundation notes that nearly 70 percent of registered U.S. voters feel the health of the economy depends on the success of entrepreneurs.

While Garry isn’t necessarily calling for the next McDonald’s or Microsoft to bloom in Austin, he does feel that ambitious business men and women could give the city a boost.

New, healthy businesses make a city more vibrant, Garry said. In Austin specifically, he sees a possible niche for start-ups to capitalize on all the talent surrounding places like The Hormel Institute.

Garry said often when one spouse gets a high-level job at the institute, the other spouse may have just as much talent but be looking for a better fit when they move to town with their significant other.

“There are a lot of people with a lot of experience and knowledge (in Austin),” he said. “How do we convert that into business?”

The “trailing-spouse” phenomenon is just one area where Garry sees potential. Overall, he thinks more people could be turning to their own businesses in all sorts of areas.

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” Garry said. “If you can’t find a job for six months, you say, ‘Geez, I gotta do something.’”

John Stavig, professional director

at the University of Minnesota’s Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship, said new businesses can “absolutely” spur the economy — and the time is ripe for them to do so.

“There’s probably never been a better time to start a business,” he said.

Stavig cited three main factors that make it an ideal climate for new business — the number of people looking for work, the many pressing problems needing solutions and the lack of risk-taking being done by established companies.

At the university, Stavig sees evidence that others share his beliefs in new business.

Enrollment in entrepreneurship courses is up 380 percent over the past eight years — quite the departure from a few decades ago, when Stavig said the university had no entrepreneurship courses and didn’t really encourage students to pursue their own ventures.

The rapid growth has led entrepreneurship to become the fourth largest major in the university’s business school.

Some of the students have even been starting businesses while in school — 13 student-owned businesses were formed in the past year through the Holmes center’s business hatchery program, Stavig said.

“We’re trying to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs,” he added.

Of course, wanting to start a business is quite different from actually doing so successfully.

Stavig said there are no particularly impenetrable barriers to starting a business, but did acknowledge that taxes and a climate that doesn’t always support risk takers comes into play in Minnesota.

He also said that raising money is always a concern, but added that a businessperson willing to start small and grow slowly can be successful if patient.

Garry said barriers in Austin are similar to those across the country — the lack of initial funds, the inability to get a loan and the general fear of leaving an established job to try something riskier.

However, he said people like himself, as well as the city council and others, are supportive of entrepreneurs.

“I think city officials would love to see new businesses start,” Garry said.

In his sign business, Boyer said he often works with people looking to start a new business, and like Garry and Stavig, he thinks they can boost a town.

“If you don’t have small businesses in a community, it loses it personality,” he said.

Boyer’s advice to start-ups is simple: Identify where market trends are going, develop a vision and values for the business, and focus in on a precise strategy.

“Business is a science these days,” he said. “(But) if you’re aligned with trends, the wind is at your back.”