Virtual Entrepreneur

Young Entrepreneurs

Napa Valley Register:
Only in America can a 19-year-old kid launch a million dollar business from a dorm room and grow it to a billion dollar empire.

Scott Smigler, now is 22, and CEO of Executive Concepts Inc., is able to pursue his dream, and thousands of other young adults are also finding success. Youth entrepreneurship is booming in the United States.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a leading foundation promoting entrepreneurship, recently commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct a survey of more than 3,500 U.S. young people on entrepreneurship.

The results indicated that a large majority of our youth want to be their own boss and make their ideas a reality. Overall 63 percent of youth ages 8 to 21 years old, said they have the ability and desire to successfully launch their own business. More than 70 percent of our high school students consider owning and operating a business as one of their top three career choices.

Recently, the U.S. Small Business Administration has partnered with Junior Achievement to encourage youth entrepreneurship.

Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization educating young people about business, economics and free enterprise.

Together, the SBA and JA have developed a resource Web site to help youth explore and take the necessary steps to start and grow a business. The site is at www.mindyourownbiz.org.

Entrepreneurship is becoming a viable alternative for our young people who may not be interested in a traditional liberal arts college education. More.