1601 W Fifth Ave. #199, Columbus, OH 43212 614-486-6538 cashmore@entre-ed.org www.entre-ed.org
For Immediate Release
CONTACT: Cathy Ashmore, 614-486-6538
The Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education
Joins EntrepreneurshipWeek USA
As An Education-related Partner
National Partnership To Educate Next Generation
Of Entrepreneurs and Innovators
Columbus, OH, September 5, 2006 - The Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education has joined EntrepreneurshipWeek USA as a program partner adding its support and resources to a national effort to inspire and encourage young people to consider entrepreneurship as a career choice and to celebrate America's unique culture of inventiveness.
As a program partner to EntrepreneurshipWeek USA, the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education will host and organize educational organizations everywhere to sponsor an event designed to inspire, educate and prepare young people, primarily ages 14 to 25, to be among America's next great entrepreneurs and innovators.
With the theme,"What's Your Big Idea? Take it On!" EntrepreneurshipWeek USA will be conducted Feb. 24 - March 3, 2007. The initiative is designed to serve as an inspiration for young people to think creatively and to turn their ideas into action - whether that means starting a new business, developing an innovation for an existing company or solving a problem that makes society better. Official events are being planned in cities across the country, culminating in Washington, D.C, where the focus will be on the importance of policy to the nation's entrepreneurs.
EntrepreneurshipWeek USA is sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and by education, government, not-for-profit organizations and businesses, including The New York Times and Inc. magazine. Additionally, the House of Representatives noted the importance of entrepreneurship education by enacting a Resolution (HR 699) in early June in support of a national entrepreneurship week.
"We are delighted with the leadership and expertise that the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education brings to EntrepreneurshipWeek USA as a program partner," said Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation. "Educating our young people about entrepreneurship and reinforcing the value that entrepreneurs and innovators bring to our economy is critical to America's long-term prosperity - more so now than ever before."
According to Kauffman Foundation research, 41 percent of children ages 9 -12 say they would like to start their own business. "Young people have a natural desire for the independence and control that come with owning a business and being their own boss," Schramm said.
According to Dr Cathy Ashmore, executive director, "The Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education is challenging our 85 member organizations and their extensive networks of entrepreneurship educators nationwide to sponsor events at the local, state, and national levels during this special week. As an advocate for entrepreneurial education as a lifelong learning process we are reaching out to educational leadership nationwide to support entrepreneurship education programs and activities that prepare our youth and adults for careers in the 21st Century."
Entrepreneurship is a driving force of the U.S. economy. During the past 15 years, businesses less than five years old have accounted for about 70 percent of the net job creation in the United States. However, while America presently maintains the edge as an entrepreneurial society, there are clear signs of massive economic competition from abroad. More Americans in the future will need to be generating more ideas and better innovations if the United States is to stay ahead of the large populations of educated citizens in emerging and globally savvy economies.
For more information on events and activities across the country and information to engage young people on how to get involved in EntrepreneurshipWeek USA, please visit: www.EntrepreneurshipWeekUSA.com. For information about the Consortium's sponsored activities in support of education-related events and the Resolution passed by the U S House of Representatives please visit the Consortium website.
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About the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education
The Consortium is a national membership organization that provides leadership to educators nationwide in support of entrepreneurship education as a lifelong learning process. The Consortium was created at the Ohio State University in 1981 to focus on professional development for teachers involved in creating entrepreneurship education programs and activities in the schools, and is now serving educators nationwide as a non-profit 501 ( c) (3) corporation.
About the Kauffman Foundation
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City is a private, nonpartisan foundation that works with partners to advance entrepreneurship in America and improve the education of children and youth. The Kauffman Foundation was established in the mid-1960s by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman. Information about the Kauffman Foundation is available at www.kauffman.org .
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