“Since we launched Girls Going Places, 150 young female entrepreneurs have been awarded more than $300,000,” said Kathy Readinger, national manager, Girls Going Places Program, Guardian. “We salute the 2010 winners and all 150 girls who have utilized our program to reach financial independence and move on the path to business ownership.”

This year’s 15 winners from nine states represent a wide range of business interests from local food distribution to youth music academy to singing telegram greetings.  This group also exhibits a growing trend in socially aware and ecologically conscious teens interested in philanthropy.  Many focused on designing products from recycled or sustainable materials while others focused on mentoring younger children and raising funds for charities.

The top 2010 winner is Chelsey Schlosnagle, 17, Pleasureville, KT.  Chelsey has owned and operated the free-range egg business, Chelsey’s Gourmet Pasture Eggs, for five years. The eggs are produced by 1,800 hens and are distributed through specialty health food stores in the Louisville and Lexington areas, including Whole Foods, Paul’s Fruit Markets, Good Foods and local restaurants. She plans to attend the University of Kentucky to study agriculture education and political science. After that, Chelsey hopes to continue on to law school.

Second place winner Zoe Albert, 15, from Allen, TX started her own business at the age of 11.  Zoe’s company, Faux Paws, makes and markets her own line of faux fur flip-flops. What started as a hobby has turned into an opportunity to express her vision for animal rights.  Zoe is involved with The Center for Animal Research and Education and her company has donated more than $11,000 to animal advocacy groups. She plans to become a veterinarian.

Sixteen-year-old Janice Aebi-Magee from Lake Oswego, OR won third place for founding “Aebi la Mode-Teen Fashion Boutique.”  Through her own retail outlet store, Janice provides the community with fashionable and affordable teen clothing.  Driven by entrepreneurial spirit, Aebi-Magee also serves as an inspiration for other firsts in the area – to encourage other teens to start their own businesses, she now sells handcrafted necklaces, earrings and acrylic paintings produced by classmates.

“We are delighted to see how this program has evolved over the last decade,” said Readinger.  ”Girls Going Places is an example of Guardian’s ongoing commitment to small businesses, which are the backbone of the U.S. economy. Women-owned enterprises are among the fastest growing small businesses and Guardian is pleased to reward to the entrepreneurial zeal that these girls have demonstrated. As we congratulate this year’s winners on their extraordinary business accomplishments, we are celebrating the decade long success of the program and are looking forward to continue to support tomorrow’s entrepreneurs.”

Guardian granted the fifteen girls a total of $30,000 which they can use to reinvest in their entrepreneurial projects or to save for college. The first, second and third place winners receive prizes of $10,000, $5,000 and $3,000, respectively.

The 12 finalists are granted prizes of finalists $1,000 each and include the following young women from nine states:

Shayna Turk, Agoura Hills, Calif.

Bridgeja’ Baker, New Orleans, La.

Melissa Monette, Mililani, Hawaii

MaKenzie Holmsborg, Annandale, N.J.

Mary-Brent Brown, Covington, La.

Emily Zauzmer, Dresner, Penn.

Shea Gouldd, Boynton Beach, Fla.

Lauren Schifsky, Stillwater, Minn.

Taylor North, Lake Charles, La.

Grace Li, Manvel, Texas

Quinn Kelley, Delhi, N.Y.

Rachel Osborne-Schwartz, Sarasota, Fla.

For more information about the program, its awards and conferences, please visit www.GirlsGoingPlaces.com.  Information is also available on MySpace, Facebook and YouTube; keyword Girls Going Places.

This 3-day event will be sprinkled with motivating talks by prolific entrepreneurs, problem solving sessions by established companies, industry visits and networking opportunities. One highlight of the symposium is a mass entrepreneurship game which will simulate conditions of a real business world. Ultimately, we hope to put across the concept of entrepreneurship to all participants in the most unique and fun way.

The Youth Entrepreneurship Symposium 2010 (YES 2010) is a conceptualized platform for youths to be engaged within the entrepreneurship community in Singapore. i.e. We aim to allow youths to take further action, to shape their dreams into reality. In essence, YES 2010 is going to focus on creating new youth entrepreneurs, and providing these youth with a framework to work with.

Speakers

Eric is an executive speech coach who recently wrote a bestseller with local celebrity Irene Ang “The FAQ Book On Public Speaking.” Eric was also featured as one of the 25 top young entrepreneurs of Asia.

Nicholas Chan

Nicholas Chan is a Singaporean serial entrepreneur turned early stage Venture Capitalist in Azione Capital Pte Ltd and Managing Director of Fredrik Marine IT Services Pte Ltd. Having started work at 12 and his first business at the age of 16, his ventures has taken him into the villages of Viet Nam, the factories of Thailand and in the high seas of Europe, experimenting with new technologies, trading exotic products and figuring out new ways in making sure things get done with nearly nothing in hand.

Siraj Iqbal

Siraj has over 15 years of experience in the IT and Telecomunications space having been instrumental in the design and implementation of several large projects such as the Singapore Technologies Mail Services, Singtel Y2K compliance and the launch of the Blackberry services for StarHub.

See more here.

The Summit, taking place in Toronto, Canada June 20-22, 2010, will assemble delegations from the G20 nations to identify and examine the issues impeding young entrepreneurs around the world. The discussions will result in the development of a communiqué identifying shared key policy issues and approaches. This information will be presented to the G20 Leaders to help them to maximize the economic potential of young entrepreneurs in their respective economies.

“Young entrepreneurs are an essential element in global economic growth,” says Vivian Prokop, chief executive officer of CYBF. “By working together with other like-minded organizations from around the world, CYBF is contributing to the global discussion surrounding the challenges facing youth entrepreneurship, as well as the policies needed to support innovative young business owners.”

The Summit has been recognized by the Canadian federal government as an official G20 event, and its recommendations will be the focus for a discussion of entrepreneurship at the G20 Business Summit (B20) on June 25 – 26. It will feature prominent government officials and business leaders such as Tom Jenkins, executive chairman and chief strategy officer of Open Text Corporation, who will deliver the keynote address on the evening of June 21.

“Youth entrepreneurship is a vital issue that needs to be discussed by the leaders of the G20 nations,” says Prokop. “The G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit will bring the importance of youth entrepreneurship to the attention of the G20 leaders, and, in turn, to the rest of the world.”

The Summit builds on the success of the inaugural G8 Young Business Leaders Summit held in Stresa, Italy in 2009, where CYBF represented Canada. The intention is to establish the Summit an annual event that will be held in conjunction with the G20 Leaders Summit, moving forward.

About The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF)

Canada’s Entrepreneur Gateway

The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) is the ‘go to’ place for youth entrepreneurship. As a national charity, we are dedicated to growing our nation’s economy one young entrepreneur at a time. We look at character not collateral, when providing youth, age 18-34, with pre-launch coaching, business resources, start-up financing and mentoring, to help them launch and sustain a successful entrepreneurial business. www.cybf.ca.

About the CYBF G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit

The CYBF G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit is a unique forum for youth entrepreneurship organizations and young entrepreneurs (ages 18-40) from G20 countries to meet, exchange ideas and to establish international networks and partnerships that will drive sustainable global economic growth. www.cybf-g20.com.

“NFTE’s mission is to provide entrepreneurship education programs to young people from low-income communities, and with the help of local business leaders, we’re hoping to build a better path to prosperity for these students,” says Sylvia McKinney, NFTE Philadelphia Executive Director. “This competition allows NFTE’s best to dip their toes in the world of entrepreneurship, which will hopefully foster successful business ventures and careers to come.”

About Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship

The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship provides entrepreneurship education programs to young people from low-income communities. Our vision is that every young person will find a pathway to prosperity. Since 1987, NFTE has worked with more than 280,000 young people. NFTE currently operates programs in 21 states and 10 other countries, and has more than 1,500 active Certified Entrepreneurship Teachers. For more information, visit www.nfte.com.

s from Philadelphia area public high schools will get a taste of entrepreneurial life at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Philadelphia’s Third Annual Citywide Youth Business Plan Competition, to be held May 26 at Temple University’s Fox School of Business and Management, from noon to 5 p.m. NFTE is designed to help young people from low-income communities learn about starting a business and beginning a career. Over 100 students, teachers, NFTE Philadelphia Advisory Board members, parents, program partners, sponsors and volunteers are expected to be in attendance.

Over the past year, 500 students from 13 NFTE partner schools have learned basic business concepts and developed business plans. With practical experience under their belts, 12 contenders from 10 NFTE partner schools will present their business plan to a panel of 26 judges during the course of the competition. The student with the best business plan will win a laptop, $1,500 of seed capital from NFTE, $1,000 from Ernst & Young along with recognition at the upcoming awards gala in June as “E&Y 2010 Student Entrepreneur of the Year,” and two free tickets to a Southwest Airlines city, courtesy of Southwest Airlines. The second, third and fourth place winners will each receive a laptop along with prize money of $1,000, $500 and $250, respectively, which will go toward helping with college tuition or business expenses. The top two contestants will advance to compete in NFTE’s National Business Plan Competition in New York City this fall.

“Educating our youth about entrepreneurship is vital to the success of the Greater Philadelphia area,” says Peter J. Boni, President and CEO of Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!sfe/quotes/nls/sfe (SFE 11.09, +0.23, +2.12%) and Co-Chair of NFTE Philadelphia’s Advisory Board. “The annual Business Plan Competition gives NFTE students a chance to shine and practice the skills they have honed through the NFTE program. It is our hope that these skills will lay the foundation to help the students academically, personally, and professionally long after they matriculate through NFTE.”

Schools that will be participating in the NFTE Philadelphia competition include Charles Carroll High School, Boys’ Latin Charter School and Germantown High School, all located in Philadelphia.

Four finalists will have eight minutes to present their original business plans to a panel of 10 judges. The judges will then have five minutes to question each student about their plan.

“We are honored to partner with The NASDAQ OMX Educational Foundation. Their significant and generous support will help us achieve our primary goal to make education relevant, exciting and motivational for young people,” said Joseph Peri, President of JA New York.

Since the 2008 launch of JA New York’s Business Plan Competition, students’ request for rigorous and experiential entrepreneurship programming has exceeded expectations. More than 700 students from 13 schools representing four boroughs in New York City (Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens) and Long Island submitted entries to the 2010 BPC, a 135 percent increase in the number of students participating in the competition from its first year.

“The NASDAQ OMX Educational Foundation supports entrepreneurship and capital formation through innovative educational programs,” said Joan Conley, Senior Vice President and Corporate Secretary of The NASDAQ OMX Group. “The JA New York Business Plan Competition has proven itself to be a great vehicle for nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit of young people by showing aspiring student entrepreneurs what it takes to launch a successful business. We’re pleased to help those efforts to provide greater mentoring and support for emerging companies who might one day become a part of The NASDAQ OMX Group.”

The JA New York Business Plan Competition encourages students to work collaboratively in teams to develop and present a competitive and winning business plan that identifies a need in the marketplace and presents a sound business concept to address this need. Junior Achievement volunteers serve as mentors and help the students conceive and develop their plans. In the final round of the competition, students with the best plans are awarded cash prizes and provided with business resource support to help them further develop their enterprising ideas.

NASDAQ OMX also plans to provide volunteer support for other JA New York programs during the 2010 school year. With the support of The NASDAQ OMX Educational Foundation, JA New York will develop an enhanced and relevant experience for students competing in a global economy.

About Junior Achievement of New York:

For over 80 years, Junior Achievement of New York (JA New York) has delivered economic empowerment programs to NYC and Long Island students. Through a dedicated volunteer network, JA New York provides free K-12 in-school and after-school programs.

Founded in 1929, Junior Achievement of New York is the local affiliate of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the world’s largest and fastest-growing organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. Today, Junior Achievement Worldwide reaches approximately 9.5 million students globally. Junior Achievement programs focus on three key content areas: work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy: The Three Pillars of Student Success.

For more information about JA New York and its programs, visit www.jany.org.

“Young entrepreneurs are behind some of today’s most successful companies, effectively leveraging emerging technology and playing a critical role in driving it forward,” said Naveen Jain. “These kids aren’t just talking about changing the world; they’re actually doing it by creating groundbreaking, socially responsible companies.”

The Intelius Entrepreneurship Awards recognize exceptional college student-founded companies in the following categories: social impact, technology, marketing, international, and sustainability. The student winners were selected from among 100 startups featured at the second annual Kairos Society Global Summit held at the New York Stock Exchange in April. The award recipients will showcase companies and discuss their views of the world and their vision for the future during a panel hosted by Fortune magazine Editor at Large, Pattie Sellers.

“This panel brings together five exceptional student entrepreneurs for a valuable look at the future of business and corporate responsibility,” said Sellers. “I’m delighted to support these inspiring young business men and women and to host this panel which will provide insight into how these aspiring entrepreneurs will become tomorrow’s successful business leaders.”

The Churchill Club is an internationally-respected independent business and technology forum in Silicon Valley where thought leaders, global business executives, innovators, and senior political leaders meet to discuss and debate, inform and educate, forecast and evaluate.

This year’s winning companies and featured students include:

For more information about Intelius, please visit www.intelius.com.

Each team would be given 15 minutes to present their business ideas to potential investors, followed by a 5 minute Q & A session with the investors. Teams would have to convey the viability of their business ideas to the investors and convince investors to invest in their business ideas.

Each team will solicit a total of RM 8,500 from the BIG PITCH event. This amount will be broken down into “shares” of smaller denominations (i.e. minimum RM 250) to enable investors to buy a stake in the respective projects. The RM 8,500 that the teams would be soliciting will be part of the RM 15,000 that teams would need to raise to execute a pilot project of their business idea before it is turned into a full fledged business.

MoneyTree Asia Pacific CEO, Mr Michael Reyes stated, “Unlike BIG PITCH in YES 1 where the teams had to solicit the full amount of funds from the pitching session alone, BIG PITCH 2 will see teams soliciting funds from different sources. The reason we did this was because, we wanted to give the YES 2 teams a more complete, wholesome learning experience by pitching for funds from different sources. This would allow the YES teams to understand the different avenues to solicit funds to run a business, i.e. corporate sponsorship, fund raising activities, and a whole range of other funding avenues which are used in the real world. By doing this, we’re hoping to expose them to what really happens in the business world. This would give them a better understanding of how to obtain funding and what they would need to do in order to successfully obtain those funds when they run a full fledged business in the future.”

Guests can “invest” in the teams by pledging financial support for the new startups. The Top 6 teams that will be pitching for funds have gone through a very strict short listing procedure, where they had their business ideas being brutally scrutinized by the YES Advisory Panel which consists of Industry Experts, CEOs of Multinational Corporations and Representatives of Government Grant Agencies which provide Pre-Seed grants to new startups. The Top 6 teams that will be pitching for funds on the 15th of May are SYCo, Greenergy, DreamzLand, Cup Chatter, WRIST and Voila!

To find out more about the YES 2 BIG PITCH event, or to attend the BIG PITCH session to invest in / support these young aspiring Entrepreneurs in their journey towards starting their own full fledged business, please write to Jo-Ann at Jo@moneytree.my

About the Maybank MoneyTree YES Challenge:

The Maybank MoneyTree YES challenge is a business challenge organized by MoneyTree to help Young, Vibrant Entrepreneur Aspirants launch their business ideas into the market and ultimately turn those ideas into profitable ventures. The challenge not only allows young Entrepreneurs / aspiring Entrepreneurs to learn skills that would sharpen their Entrepreneurial mindsets, but to also provide them with the opportunity to experience the practical applications of the Entrepreneurial skills they acquired through the MoneyTree Entrepreneur Fast Track program. Ultimately, YES teams who have proven their worth would be channeled to government pre-seed grants for full commercialization of their ideas.

More than 50 local business women will participate in the event designed to mentor and educate young women between the ages of 12 through 18 about entrepreneurship, financial independence and bringing ideas to market. Girls Going Places will be held at Florida Gulf Coast University on Wednesday, May 5 from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm.

“When this program started 10 years ago, we instantly recognized the incredible value of partnering girls with local business mentors to help local youth get beyond the textbook knowledge and bolster their entrepreneurial imagination,” said Lynne Tarman, a financial advisor with Alliance Financial Group. “Girls Going Places presents an excellent opportunity to create an impactful environment that stimulates girls’ interest in business and finance while providing the necessary tools to learn and succeed.”

During the interactive conference, the girls will be guided through various activities such as “Hot Company(R),” an entrepreneurial board game that introduces girls to the advantages and challenges of owning one’s own business. The women and girls will also team up for an exercise called “Product-in-a Box(R),” in which they will have the chance to design a product and present a marketing plan.

“We are proud to partner with local business women to educate girls about the challenges and rewards of being a business owner,” said Kathy Readinger, Guardian’s national manager of the program. “At Guardian, we have a longstanding commitment to supporting women business owners, who represent one of the fastest growing segments of the economy. This program is designed to open teen girls’ eyes to the potential of entrepreneurial career paths.”

In 10 years of offering this program in the Fort Myers area, almost 1,500 girls have been able to attend the conference and work with local business women towards gaining financial independence.

Since 1999, Guardian has hosted 80 Girls Going Places(R) Entrepreneurship Conferences across the country. Created ten years ago as part of Guardian’s Women’s Initiative, the national Girls Going Places(R) Entrepreneurship Program annually awards $30,000 in cash prizes to 15 teen girls who demonstrate outstanding entrepreneurial abilities and service in the community.

For more information about the program, its awards and conferences, please visit www.GirlsGoingPlaces.com. Information is also available on MySpace, Facebook and YouTube; keyword Girls Going Places.

About Guardian

A mutual insurer founded in 1860, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and its subsidiaries are committed to protecting individuals, business owners and their employees with life, long term care insurance, disability income, group medical and dental insurance products, and offer 401(k), annuities and other financial products. Guardian operates one of the largest dental networks in the United States, and protects more than six million employees and their families at 120,000 companies. The company has more than 5,400 employees in the United States and a network of over 3,000 financial representatives in more than 80 agencies nationwide.

For more information about Guardian, please visit: www.GuardianLife.com

“We thank many groups that show their support to young people interested in starting businesses,” said Eric Tobin of The Generation E Institute. “They give encouragement to students who may just come up with the next big business idea.”

Event sponsors include Battle Creek Unlimited, Kellogg Community College, Miller College, Battle Creek Community Foundation, Branch County Community Foundation, Comerica Bank, Consumers Energy, Davenport University, The Miller Foundation, Western Michigan University and the Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest.

The Student Business Showcase and Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour will be at the Kellogg Arena, located at 1 McCamly Street in downtown Battle Creek. The Student Business Showcase begins at 10a.m. The public is encouraged to attend a special session from Noon to 2 p.m., when they can view displays of student-run businesses and shop for a variety of the students’ goods. There will be more than 70 student-run businesses. This event is free and open to the public.

The Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour will be on the same day (May 18th) from 5p.m. to 9p.m. at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek. The tour is comprised of America’s top young entrepreneurs who’ve made, earned, or sold a company for millions before the age of 30. The event is free of charge, but registration is required for the event. Inquire at www.extremetour.org/battlecreek.

Sponsorships are still available. The Generation E Institute offers organizations or individuals several sponsorship levels. Sponsorships offer the opportunity to have logos on all advertising, websites and display tables at the events. If you would like more information, please call The Generation E Institute at 269-441-1238 or email staff (at) genei (dot) org.

About Generation E
The Generation E Institute (GenEI) is a non-profit organization based in Battle Creek, Michigan that offers youth entrepreneurial education programs and consulting services to schools and community-based organizations. Community assistance includes facilitating regional showcases, starting revolving loan funds for students starting a business, and offering meaningful internship opportunities between entrepreneurs and students. For more information, visit www.genei.org.

Tuesday March 16th 2010, London – Vivid Resourcing, a prestigious London-based agency, celebrated their second anniversary last Wednesday. Though the company began as a small team, they have big dreams which are on course to be realised in the near future. Managing Director Charlie Walker, was only 25 when founding Vivid Resourcing, and his enthusiasm and ambitious nature have enabled him to swiftly grow the company. On course for a second-year turnover of 3.5 million, having doubled monthly profits since May 2009, Vivid are aiming to build their team of consultants to over twenty within the next three months.

“The typical career path for a young graduate with my background would have seen me waiting for at least 15 years before I could reach a position of responsibility and recognition,” explains Charlie Walker managing director of Vivid Resourcing. “This did not sit well with my ambitious nature; I wanted the responsibility and top level experience early on. After hearing a family friend describe how she became a director by the age of 30 while working in recruitment, I knew it was for me.”

Establishing a young, vibrant and driven environment, Walker has settled into his role with ease. Having given up a 150k salary as the top sales-person at an established recruitment brand to found Vivid, his gamble appears to have paid off. He and his team have built themselves a strong reputation with both candidates and clients for the supply of exceptional contract staff in the NHS and are also strong players in the Business Intelligence, Engineering and Finance sectors. With their consistent delivery of quality recruitment services and an enviable list of client testimonials, one can expect big things from Walker and Vivid over the coming months.

# # #

The Maybank MoneyTree YES challenge is a business challenge organized by MoneyTree to help Young, Vibrant Entrepreneur Aspirants launch their business ideas into the market and ultimately turn those ideas into profitable ventures. The challenge not only allows young Entrepreneurs / aspiring Entrepreneurs to learn skills that would sharpen their Entrepreneurial mindsets, but to also provide them with the opportunity to experience the practical applications of the Entrepreneurial skills they acquired through the MoneyTree Entrepreneur Fast Track program. Ultimately, YES teams who have proven their worth would be channelled to government pre-seed grants for full commercialization of their ideas.

Presentations will cover a wide range of topics including entrepreneurship, intellectual property issues and business plans. Participants include Erica Fuchs, an assistant professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon whose research focuses on the role of government in technology development; James Jordan, vice president and chief investment officer of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse; and Jeff Mullen, a Carnegie Mellon alumnus and chief executive officer of Dynamics Inc., which produces next generation payment cards.

Event sponsors include Carnegie Mellon’s College of Engineering, its Tepper School of Business, the Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association, the Entrepreneur and Venture Club, Project Olympus and TLneoCare LLC. “Invention to Venture” is a program of the 200-member National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) with funding from The Lemeison Foundation and the Kauffman Foundation.

To register, go to http://www.invention2venture.org/cmu2010 or contact Sanna Gaspard at sgaspard@andrew.cmu.edu . Gaspard, a biomedical Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon, is working to develop a pediatric device through TLneoCare LLC, which she founded.

WHEN: 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday, March 25.

WHERE: Rangos 1, University Center, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213.

ABOUT CARNEGIE MELLON: Carnegie Mellon (http://www.cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the fine arts. More than 11,000 students in the university’s seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A global university, Carnegie Mellon’s main campus in the United States is in Pittsburgh, Pa. It has campuses in California’s Silicon Valley and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australia and Europe. The university is in the midst of a $1 billion fundraising campaign, titled “Inspire Innovation: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University,” which aims to build its endowment, support faculty, students and innovative research, and enhance the physical campus with equipment and facility improvements.

The Rice University business plan team, Indirect Imaging, won first place in the mai Bangkok Business Challenge, hosted by the Sasin Business School at Chulalongkorn University, Feb. 25-27. The team also won “Best Presentation” in their competitive group. Sixteen teams from around the world were invited to present at the competition and the top six presented in the final round. Rice was the only school from the United States that was selected to present at the competition; the other semi-finalist teams came from Europe, Australia, and Asia.

“This is huge for us,” said Robert Kester, chief operating officer of Indirect Imaging. “I think this experience validated our technology as well as our business plan moving forward. We are really excited about the opportunities this opens up for us.”

Indirect Imaging has invented a revolutionary new camera which is capable of determining the chemical composition of an area or subject within a digital photograph, instantly. These instant images can identify a myriad of chemical, organic, biological and mechanical conditions. The applications are found in food growing, harvesting and testing as well as surveillance and geological imaging. Biological applications for blood and dermal conditions are also in the near term view.

The business plan is based on a Rice University technology developed out of Dr. Tomasz Tkaczyk’s lab. Robert Kester, a bioengineering Ph.D. student at the Brown School of Engineering working with Tkaczyk is the company COO, and Jones Graduate School of Business MBA student Allison Lami will serve as CEO. Lami brought on three additional MBA students: Tadzia GrandPré, Frances Parker and Anne Robin to compete in the competition.

“This is a great example of what students from the School of Engineering and the Jones School can accomplish when they work together and call on the expertise of the Rice Alliance,” said Sallie Keller, dean of the Brown School of Engineering. “We are working toward more of these collaborations in the future and I’m sure they will result, not only in competition success for our students, but in innovations that fuel new, successful businesses.”

Indirect Imaging won $10,000 in cash at the Thailand competition to further their business. Lami and Kester are currently finalizing the agreement with Rice University Office of Technology Transfer to license the technology. They hope to develop it to be used in a variety of applications.

The team was mentored over the past year by Tom Kraft, formerly Director of Client Services at the Houston Technology Center (HTC). The team leader, Allison Lami, has been serving as an HTC intern and their company, Indirect Imaging, is now a candidate company of the HTC. Dennis Murphree, instructor of the Jones School creative entrepreneurship class and one of the founders of the Rice Business Plan Competition, also helped coach the team along with his class co-instructor Brain Hoogendam. The team was supported by the Jones Partners, corporate supporters of the Jones School, with aid for travel expenses to the Thailand competition.

“I believe this is the first time a Rice University team has won first place in a major business plan competition,” said Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, organizers and hosts of the Rice Business Plan Competition. “Indirect Imaging will represent Rice at the Rice Business Plan Competition in April. Prior to that, they have been selected to compete in the WBT University Technology Commercialization Competition as well as the Venture Challenge at San Diego State University. Both of these competitions will help them prepare for the Rice Business Plan Competition, which is the world’s richest and largest competition with more than $800,000 in cash and prizes.”

MITER is written for current and aspiring entrepreneurs as well as investors, and will provide insight into new technologies and innovations emerging from MIT and other entrepreneurial hot spots around the world. Topics will fall into four main categories including energy; Web/mobile/IT; life sciences; and general entrepreneurship.

A cross-disciplinary group of MIT PhD, graduate, undergraduate students, and alumni all selected for their entrepreneurial drive and experience comprise the MITER team. These students represent the MIT’s Biomedical Enterprise Program, School of Engineering, Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Division, Leaders for Global Operations Program, Department of Physics, Department of Political Science, Sloan School of Management, and Technology and Policy Program. The team will craft stories on such topics as bringing engineering and scientific-based offerings to the marketplace, company profiles, and new innovations coming down the MIT pipeline.

MITER enjoys the support of a prominent Editorial Advisory Board and Operational Advisory Board.
“The over-arching theme of our publication is how to bridge the gap between academic discourse and the public in the field of entrepreneurship,” says MIT Sloan MBA Erdin Beshimov. Beshimov, along with MBAs Rob Lemos and Eduard Viladesau, founded MITER under the guidance of faculty advisors Bill Aulet, managing director of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center; Fiona Murray, associate professor of technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management at MIT Sloan; and Scott Stern, visiting professor of technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management at MIT Sloan.

MITER can be accessed at http://miter.mit.edu. Readers may also subscribe to content through RSS feeds and newsletters. MITER welcomes its readers to its Facebook Page (listed under MIT Entrepreneurship Review) and to its Twitter updates at twitter.com/MITEReview.

The ultimate desired outcome for YEP is to have young people more interested in self-employment as a career option.  Through YEP projects, students will also garner transferable business skills for both self employment and the job market, understand the relevance of education and choose to stay in school or pursue higher education, and develop life management and problem solving skills.

Since 2006, Agitavi has been working with Microsoft to develop a Software Entrepreneurship for Students Curriculum with the goal to bridge the gap between technology education and entrepreneurial skill-set development. The program is designed to help a university improve the teachings of entrepreneurship in the area of IT and to provide students with knowledge and tools to develop successful and sustainable software ventures.

Gerd Kortuem, Head of The Lancaster e-Business in Innovation Programme at Lancaster is proud to be one of the first academic programmes to incorporate these materials into a University curriculum.

“We have worked with Agitavi and Microsoft over the last 18 months to develop changes to our degree programs that fit in with best practice thinking on software entrepreneurship education, giving our students the access to the latest global research and teachings on what is such a young and dynamic discipline.”

Jyoti Banerjee, Director of Agitavi is delighted to be able to work with a leading institute like Lancaster University.

“We find that our industry perspective is modified and improved when we work with the professors from Lancaster. Our goal is to find deeper and richer ways to collaborate between industry and academia, we can make a difference to the economies we are operating in”, he said.

For more information on the program visit www.agitavi.com.

YES is one of the most involved undergraduate organizations on campus, actively shaping the culture and future of Yale and New Haven. We are building a strong entrepreneurship community and a culture of innovation on campus and in the city. Our staffers’ endeavors and our entrepreneurs’ enterprises are contributing to the rapid economic development of New Haven and to Yale’s ability to compete for and produce the innovators and leaders of tomorrow

Businesses closing, mortgage defaults, emptying high streets, the credit crunch has affected millions of people in Britain. But fighting entrepreneurs still try to start businesses, where ambition outweighs the difficulties of the current times.
Pete Zaborszky started a joint venture with Fubra Limited in February 2009, aiming to build a business around internet games. The experience both parties bought to the table was useful, Peter built an internet game aged 17, while Fubra built a media company based on useful websites with useful content. The company was started with angel
investment of £30,000 from Fubra.

Read Peter’s story here.

The entrepreneurs recognized were Rajendran who started 2 years back with 4 lakhs and is in the process of reaching a turnover of 2 crores, Sarala, a finalist in the Global International woman entrepreneur of the year award 2009 & highest employment provider of 40 people and Muthulingam winner of the National Citi Group Awards 2009.

The Mentors of these entrepreneurs, Mr Kailash, Ms Parul Bhatt and Mr Haribhaskar & Indian Bank Branches which supported them with assistance from Old Washermanpet, Ambattur & Vadapalani were also commended for providing the high quality support. The Branch managers of Otteri and Porur were commended for completing highest loan disbursements. The DGM of both Chennai and Kancheepuram, Mr Ulagan & Mr S Sadagopan and the BYST Selection panel member representatives, Mr T L Viswanathan, Chairman, Mr T Victor & Mr Ramamurthy were recognized for their contribution in ensuring success of this scheme.

The over 200 senior participants from Business, financial Institutions, Government, Civil Society Organizations and youth leaders took an oath that they would help to support a youngster to take up entrepreneurship.

BYST, a non-profit at the forefront of entrepreneurship development working with business leaders across India. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), its strategic partner has been a pillar of support from its inception bringing in active participation from the SME sector. A valuable partnership forged with the Guru Nanak College today was formalized with a letter of cooperation given to the Secretary & Correspondent Mr Sardar Manjeet Singh Sethi. Mr Sethi announced that the college would coordinate and cooperate in entrepreneurial development and business guidance.

Welcoming the gathering, Ms Lakshmi V Venkatesan, Founding Trustee and Executive Vice-President, BYST, said that “Funding and the desire to succeed alone is not enough if the start up businesses are to survive & grow, especially when they are set up by underprivileged young people”,. “Guidance through mentors along with a whole range of innovative business development services is essential to nurturing and sustaining small business start ups. Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust has created a unique role model for youth entrepreneurship all over India, many of whom has also become millionaires and has won national, international awards.

The support extended by financial institutions such as Indian Bank for its southern regional operations and Bank of Baroda for its Northern Regional operations and the support from International Finance Corporation for the BYST growth Fund is considered as a corner stone for scaling up. Banks have a critical role to play as government of India reports still show the gap between supply and demand for credit. BYST is thankful to Indian Bank and Mr Sundera Rajan for his vision in pioneering this joint scheme. He has kindly accepted our request to make BYST’s youth targets as part of his business plan.

Mr T L Viswanathan, Chairman, Strategic Committee, BYST, briefed the gathering on the background to initiate this kind of a scheme and role of each stakeholder underscoring the importance of each partner in making this scheme succeed.

Indian Bank Chairman, Mr M S Sundera Rajan said that IB is very happy to have done this partnership Mr. Sundera Rajan reiterated that it is successes of entrepreneurs like Rajendran, Sarala and Muthulingam, made possible through BYST’s extensive mentoring program in partnership with the business community that has encouraged IB to give it special focus. He added that IB is looking to ensure that credit flow for entrepreneurs remains healthy particularly in these financially challenging times. He further said that he was looking forward to extending this partnership to other regions in course of time & was keen to in build the targets of loans under this scheme in his annual business plan from 2010 to ensure reaching more numbers.

The guests were attracted to the exposition of BYST entrepreneurs produce. Products on display ranged from attractive colorful handicrafts, intricately designed garments, heavy engineering and industrial products produced by young entrepreneurs from BYST, they along with their Mentors proudly displayed their handiworks and keenly explained to the guests.

GYDO’s Vision and Mission

The Vision is: “An energetic world with the exchange of youth throughout the world.”

The Mission is: “To bring out the young talents from all over the world and offers the platform for them to melt into the international environment.”

Objectives

1. To offer the opportunities for the students in different countries to study in other countries;
2. To support training programmes for young people within the business field;
3. To organise regional meetings, seminars, workshops and conferences among regional participants in order to strengthen professional co-operation;
4. To co-operate with national, regional and international organisations with similar objectives and visions of developing;
5. To carry out any other activities and further the interests of the organization.

The YEG-AP held its inaugural meeting in February 2005 during the 20th CACCI Conference held in New Delhi. Among others, the meeting approved the Plan of Action of the YEG-AP.

The group met for the second time during the 70th CACCI Council Meeting in October 2005 in Tbilisi, Georgia. During that meeting, the group nominated Mr. Teisuke Suzuki, former Chairman of the Federation of Young Entrepreneurs Group of Japan, to be the YEG-AP Vice-Chairman. The group also approved the criteria and mechanics for the First Asia-Pacific Young Entrepreneurs Awards to be presented during the 21st CACCI Conference to be held in November 2006 in Taipei as part of the activities to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of CACCI.

Subsequent meetings were held in Taipei,Taiwan on November 1, 2006; Perth, Australia on July 26, 2007 during the 73rd CACCI Council Meeting; on October 22, 2008 in Manila, Philippines during the 22nd CACCI Conference; and on May 31, 2009 in Yokohama, Japan during the 23rd CACCI Conference.

Yi works effectively for promoting leadership skills for the development of its members through the learning programs; the development and engagement of students in schools and colleges through its 47 Students’ Net platform which engage more than 2900 students from various educational institutions across India; and a Farmers Net platform that has enrolled 5903 young & progressive farmers from all across the country, providing them with real time agricultural inputs and know-how.

Yi has successfully conducted campaigns and developed successful projects across the focus areas of primary education, environment, primary healthcare and employability, contributing positively to its surrounding eco system and the Nation. Through its initiatives like Akshara, Yi has impacted 15000 students across 50 centers, skilled & placed 713 youth under the aegis of its Yi labs employability program. Under the healthcare initiative, over two lakh children have been dewormed in addition to many health awareness programs across the community in different cities. Within the sphere of environment, Yi conducts a Green I contest, campaigns for tree plantation, solid waste management projects, involving citizens and school children in the process.

To promote a country of responsible citizens, Yi has organized “Integrity India Campaigns” to work with the youth on creating a national level awareness, debate and dialogue on the issues of transparency, accountability and ethical behavior. Yi has so far spread this message to more than 10,000 youth across the country.

Yi organises an annual national summit with themes relevant to India and its youth. The national summits include sessions and interactions with some of the finest and eminent personalities from various fields, across India and the world. 5 editions of the Summit have been organised to date.

Yi works in partnership with various organisations. These include the Government, Companies, Civil society organizations. On the international arena, Yi engages with the BMW Foundation to promote the “Indo German Young Leaders Forum” for young thought leaders from Germany and India to come on a common platform to discuss issues and find solutions for enhanced relationships. Yi also works with the Aspen India Institute to conduct leadership development programs

In 2008, Young Indians partnered with CII on the Mission on India@75: The Emerging Agenda, which reflects its aspirational role to facilitate the acceleration in India’s transformation into an economically vital, technologically innovative, socially and ethically vibrant global leader by year 2022. The Yi organisation and activities are today aligned to work towards the goals set in the vision of India@75.

With six years of glorious past and decades ahead that promise nothing short, Yi intends to become a larger movement and promote the positive attitude of “We Can, We Will”.

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