Minnesota Acts on Congressional Entrepreneurship Resolution

MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL, Minn., Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The second annual National Entrepreneurship Week (NEW) takes place February 23-March 1, 2008. The week is in response to the 2006 US House of Representatives Resolution #699 calling for a national effort encouraging young people to consider entrepreneurship and celebrating the United States' unique culture of innovation. As 2008's market volatility makes headlines, The Minnesota State Department of Education, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) and BestPrep band together to heighten awareness of the significant role entrepreneurship plays in the state and national economies. Across Minnesota NEW will motivate young minds to be creative and determined.

Congress is not the only national entity drawing attention to the subject. "Tough Choices or Tough Times," published by National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), states that with growing global education and skill levels, the only factors justifying higher wages in the United States are creativity and innovation. NEW recognizes that encouraging American inventiveness is one way the United States has historically kept ahead in the global marketplace.

"Ideas are the lifeblood of an entrepreneurial economy. Imagine the impact we would make on the creative mindset of future Minnesotans if each student had the opportunity to learn entrepreneurial skills in school," said BestPrep's President and CEO, Bob Kaitz.

Kaitz is the founder of BestPrep, a 32-year-old nonprofit organization whose mission is to best prepare Minnesota students with business, career and financial literacy skills. BestPrep will send volunteer entrepreneurs to speak in Minnesota classrooms throughout NEW.

Recent Gallup research featured in the new book The Entrepreneur in Youth by William B. Walstad and Marilyn Kourilsky, highlights the need for entrepreneurial education. Sixty-five percent of high school youth showed great interest in entrepreneurship and wanted to start their own business. More than eight in ten (81 percent) of the general public and (88 percent) of business owners thought it is important for the nation's schools to teach about entrepreneurship.

Minnesotans are encouraged to discuss the importance of entrepreneurship this week with family and in the classroom. Educators are invited to contact Kristin Dieng, Classroom Plus Manager at 763-398-0090 or kdieng@bestprep.org, to request entrepreneurship speakers for their classrooms. For more information on NEW, visit http://www.nationaleweek.org.