Recent Entrepreneurship "HOT TOPICS AND ARTICLES" to use and quote 

The National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship will advise the Commerce Department on policy relating to building small businesses and help to keep the department engaged in a regular dialogue with the entrepreneurship and small business communities. The council is expected to be comprised of successful entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, non-profit leaders and other experts.

Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The mission of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship is to unleash and maximize the economic potential of new ideas by removing barriers to entrepreneurship and the development of high-growth and innovation-based businesses. The office will focus specifically on identifying issues and programs most important to entrepreneurs. Working closely with the White House and other federal agencies, this new office will drive policies that help entrepreneurs translate new ideas, products and services into economic growth. The office will focus on the following areas:

• Encouraging Entrepreneurs through Education, Training, and Mentoring
• Improving Access to Capital
• Accelerating Technology Commercialization of Federal R&D
• Strengthening Interagency Collaboration and Coordination
• Providing Data, Research, and Technical Resources for Entrepreneurs
• Exploring Policy Incentives to Support Entrepreneurs and Investors 

National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship will advise Locke and the administration on key issues relating to innovation and entrepreneurship. The council will include successful entrepreneurs, innovators, angel investors, venture capitalists, non-profit leaders and other experts who will identify and recommend solutions to issues critical to the creation and development of entrepreneurship ecosystems that will generate new businesses and jobs. It will also serve as a vehicle for ongoing dialogue with the entrepreneurship community and other stakeholders

Capturing the Dreams of Young Entrepreneurs on Film

By MICKEY MEECE

New York Times, September 30, 2009.  Mary Mazzio, a filmmaker who had already produced one movie about entrepreneurs, decided to make another on the subject last year, this one inspired by the work of a nonprofit group focused on at-risk youths. Read the full article...

Study Highlights Importance of Specialized Education for Future Innovative Entrepreneurs 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Entrepreneurship education is becoming more available at American universities, and researchers are looking at the results, according to a new study supported by the Office of Advocacy. The study is based on initial findings from a survey funded with a challenge grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies of New York University. Read more...

Entrepreneurial Classes Becoming Increasingly Popular

 The Dallas Morning News (9/24, Meyers) reports that while colleges have "beefed up their offerings" as a whole "this year as laid-off workers search for training and tips on start-up success," the "entrepreneurial and career-specific classes...are particularly popular in North Texas." Collin College, for example, is offering a course in wedding planning, as well as "new work-focused classes in solar installation training and fashion illustration." Additionally, "a repeat offering, 'How to Start and Operate Your Own Business' had to be closed to more students," while "the school's small-business development center has seen an almost 50 percent increase in new business starts from last year." Heather Van Sickle, the executive director of the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), said that "entrepreneurial classes are taking off nationwide in myriad versions." A recent NACCE survey found "a 20 percent increase in entrepreneurial classes since last fall."

The Small Business Economy
A Report to the President

Read full report... 

CHALLENGE for Educators
Entrepreneurship EMPOWERS Everyone!

The Nation is challenged to consider how "Entrepreneurial Skill Building" is essential to our future.  In honor of the third annual National Entrepreneurship Week, the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education is pleased to present "Entrepreneurship EMPOWERS Everyone, A Proposal for Entrepreneurial Skills Building".   This proposal is about recognizing that entrepreneurship is the force that created the strongest economy in the world and needs champions now.   The skills connected to making the "right decisions" for entrepreneurial success can and should be experienced and learned throughout education.  It must also be recognized that entrepreneurial skills can be used in any workplace, not just when operating one’s own business. 

During National Entrepreneurship Week the Consortium asks that each reader stand up for the freedoms provided in this nation that enable every citizen in the United States to use entrepreneurial skills in their everyday lives including, if they choose, starting their own businesses; to succeed or fail based on the decisions they make; and if they fail, to be able to try again as many times as it takes to succeed. View the Proposal, Power Point and Press Release....

"The entrepreneurs of tomorrow are in our schools today”!
 (The Consortium encourages use of the proposal and PowerPoint and grants rights for use with credit given.)

Americans Want Government Stimulus for
Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship,
Reveals New Survey from Kauffman Foundation

Americans want to see more initiatives that aid small businesses, like the $15 billion package unveiled by President Obama Monday, according to a new poll released today by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

The survey, conducted by pollster Douglas Schoen, reveals a stark and fundamental gap between the agenda to date in Washington and the attitudes and beliefs of the American people--pointing to a key and unrecognized reason as to why the public has not been satisfied with the overall stimulus package.

Consisting of a random national sample of 2,000 Americans, the survey indicates strong public sentiment that the government should be doing more to encourage individuals to start businesses and create jobs, which is ultimately the long-term solution for the country's economic woes. Three hundred of the 2,000 respondents are entrepreneurs and 300 are aspiring entrepreneurs.

By 63 percent to 23 percent, survey respondents prefer giving individuals the incentives they need to start their own businesses as opposed to allowing the government to create new jobs directly or through big corporations. Further, as a means of leading the country out of the economic crisis, 63 percent of respondents say the United States government needs to encourage the creation of new businesses, which will create sustainable, long-term employment opportunities and economic growth, while only 22 percent favor the government creating new jobs in the public and private sector.

"These two statistics--which produced similar results--underscore the public's deep and abiding belief that the government should facilitate entrepreneurial activity by creating the conditions and policies that make it easier for individuals to take a risk, as opposed to the government itself creating jobs," said Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation. "Monday's announcement to loosen credit for entrepreneurs and small business owners is a step in the right direction, but more can be done to encourage current and future job-creators."

More findings are available from the full survey, which is available for download at
www.kauffman.org/recoverysurvey.

Other statistics about entrepreneurs and the economy are available at
www.kauffman.org/researchfacts.   

CAPITOL HILL AND BUSINESS LEADERS "SAY YES" TO YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Read and share this new Policy Paper supporting Entrepreneurship Education nationwide.

View the video from the Press Conference from Capitol Hill presenting the YESG Policy Paper.

Business startups are key to job creation in the U.S.,
according to new Kauffman Foundation study

U.S. Census Bureau data also show that business startups remain robust
even in the most severe recession

A new Kauffman Foundation-funded U.S. Census Bureau study reinforces what entrepreneurship experts have long known: Startup companies are a major contributor to job creation. The report is based on a new product from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Business Dynamics Statistics. The BDS also indicates that startups remain strong even in the most severe recession. At a time when unemployment is reaching record highs, the BDS sheds a spotlight on the critical role new firms will play in economic recovery.   

The Kauffman Foundation's research into the early years of business formation has long shown that startup companies are important short-term and long-term contributors to job growth. Read the full report... 

 The Partnership for 21st Century Skills
is pleased to announce the release of our new report:
21st Century Skills, Education & Competitiveness

The Report Identifies Inherent Link Between a 21st Century Education System and
Economic Success. Download the report...

CREATE YOUR OWN JOB?

The U.S. Department of Labor Announces new Entrepreneurship Competency Model as one of the 11 High Growth Industry Models for the nation.  The Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education is proud to be the primary partner in its development, connecting the National Entrepreneurship Education Content standards to this new DOL Entrepreneurship Competency Model.   See the model at  http://www.careeronestop.org/COMPETENCYMODEL/pyramid.aspx  and check out the links to the State Career Clusters Initiatives.   Please share the following press release in your states. Read the Press Release...

The Case for Entrepreneurship Education
By Stephanie Bell-Rose & Thomas W. Payzant
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/08/13/45payzant.h27.html  

Economic leaders and education scholars are calling for an increase in initiative, self-regulation, critical thinking, and lifelong learning skills among young people to meet the needs of the growing knowledge economy. If we want to be competitive in the world economic arena and maintain our high standard of living, we must rise to the challenge.

As leaders, how can we develop a systemic initiative to keep young people in school, learning academic and work skills effectively, motivated to be productive and engaged in their communities and the larger economy, and developing success-oriented attitudes of initiative, intelligent risk-taking, collaboration, and opportunity recognition? Entrepreneurship education is one answer to this question, and an important tool to help every child explore and develop his or her academic, leadership, and life skills, as well as potential.

Fifteen years ago, a new, standards-based framework for improving American K-12 education began to emerge. It was a radical idea, driven by the goal of having all children reach high standards of learning, which traditionally had been the expectation set only for a select group. Since then, under the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (the two most recent versions of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act), state, district, and school efforts to improve public education for all students have intensified. Yet the United States still lags behind other countries in key knowledge domains and industries. Why aren’t American children doing better? Why are so many young people not even completing high school?

Read the whole story

Europe Recognizing US Entrepreneurship Advantages

The EU must work towards changing its attitudes towards entrepreneurship and create a positive culture which encourages people to take risks, argued participants in the annual Microsoft SME day, which explored ways to make European SMEs flourish globally.

Read the whole story...

The Silent Epidemic
Perspectives of High School Dropouts
A report by Civic Enterprises in association with Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
By: John M. Bridgeland, John J. DiIulio, Jr., and Karen Burke Morison

A Business Week article about Nebraska
Degrees Designed for Rural Business
Some business schools are creating programs so grads can apply their skills to the farms and businesses of rural America

NEW Research on "Youth in Entrepreneurship"  
Read the article in the Consortium newletter 

  Career and Technical Education Administrators feature article with Cathy Ashmore  

 "Changing Students' Lives Through Entrepreneurship Education" 
an article by Gene R. Carter, Executive Director of (ASCD) Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development  

Rapid Growth In Michigan Entrepreneurship Education Programs.
Read the full report a http://www.sbam.org/