Economic development is the "epicenter of Gov. Jim Doyle's agenda," Nettles said, and helping entrepreneurs is a key element of that. "To get our economy healthy and strong, we need more entrepreneurial activity." <

Around the globe, the enterprise bug is also biting. As many as 300 million people tried to start new businesses in 2003 - more than the entire United States population - according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, and 80 percent of those entrepreneurs expect to hire staff when their companies are more established. <

Nationwide, more than 11.3 percent of adults were involved in some type of entrepreneurial activity in 2003, up from 10.5 percent in 2002. It's the first increase after two years of declines, according to the survey. <

"The increase in entrepreneurship in the U.S. is a small but positive step that appears to mirror our recovering economy," said Carl Schramm, president and chief executive officer of the Kauffman Foundation. <

"There's a very strong correlation between the level of entrepreneurship and economic development," said Larry W. Cox, director of the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship at UW-Madison's School of Business and formerly with the Kauffman Foundation. "Countries that were high in entrepreneurship were also growing at a faster rate." <

Not everyone will succeed, though, and few will become big hits, said James Bronson, Irvin L. Young professor of entrepreneurship at the UW-Whitewater College of Business and Economics. <

Often, the most successful startup is "Joe the plumber (who) gets tired of working for someone else and goes into business for himself," Bronson said. "But Joe is not going to create 100 jobs for other people." <

The economy is a big factor in entrepreneurial activity. <

"Now that the economy is picking up a little bit and optimism is a little better, it seems that more people are interested in investigating this option," said Neil Lerner, director of the Small Business Development Center at UW-Madison's School of Business. The center's class, Small Business Fundamentals, was filled to capacity in January with 50 students; normally, 25 to 35 attend. <

Large employers are important, said Lerner. "We want them in our community ... But to solely rely on larger employers to build our economy is putting all our eggs in one basket." <

Some people think an improved economy increases their chances for success. Others consider starting a business as a fallback, in case they lose their jobs as friends or co-workers have. <

"I'm still receiving a pretty high number of calls from people (whose) current (employment) is not stable or has just ended," said Jill French, director of the Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corp.'s Madison office. <

The organization enrolled 140 people in its classes in each of the third and fourth quarters of 2003. This year, with five weeks to go in the quarter, the group already tallies 140 people in its training programs, she said. <

"People are wanting to explore whatever financial options they have other than being employed by someone else," French said. <

That's what Gail Ambrosius felt when her state DNR job disappeared. "You can't count on the security of other people for a job any more," she said. <

At the same time, though, Ambrosius had toyed with the idea of becoming a chocolatier for several years. "When the job situation started changing, I thought, maybe this is the time to take action and let it grow." <

So, while working part-time at the Soap Opera, she has taken business development classes from the UW and elsewhere as well as an online class in chocolate-making, offered by a Vancouver chocolatier. This spring, she will apprentice with Valhrona Chocolate in France. <

Ambrosius, who is divorced, said she is happy and her son, Isaac May, 15, is very supportive. <

"I'm an independent person; I'm a risk-taker; I think there's opportunity out there .

Rashaun Whitman, 22, and Jerome Hunt, 24, weren't thinking about the economy when they opened a recording studio last April at the Genesis Enterprise Center, 313 W. Beltline Hwy. <

The Madison-area men, who perform as the Deuce V hip-hop band, weren't happy with the way other studios were handling production of their music. "The things we wanted as artists when we recorded, we wanted to bring that to everyone else," Whitman said. <

So they started Sound Check Studio and their own recording company, Get Rich Records. Whitman and Hunt haven't exactly gotten rich yet. <

"It's a lot harder than we thought," said Whitman. "The market is not as solid as we thought it would be." But they are happy to be offering other young musicians a place to hone their skills and "give them hope." <

There are three main reasons why people start a business, said the Small Business Development Center's Lerner: <

Those were all factors in Coleen Harty's decision to open a bookstore, "Invest in Yourself," in Middleton last March. The store, which features personal growth materials, was two years in the making. <

"For the last five or six years, I've been trying to figure out what I've been put on this earth for," said Harty, 50. "I loved to read this kind of book," and after filling out some written exercises, the idea came to her. <

Harty hasn't given up her "regular" job yet but she scaled back to 30 hours a week as an administrative assistant for a vice president at American Girl, formerly Pleasant Co., in Middleton. The bookstore, she said, has taken "a lot of hours, a lot of work - but I just wanted to do it." <

Whitman, of Sound Check Studio, agreed. "If this wasn't our love, it would be very hard to keep going. You have to have some kind of passion about what you're doing," he said. <