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Week of December 4 - 10, 2006

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Winners

Last month, Ernst & Young announced the national winners of its prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year awards. Each year, Ernst & Young honors the most innovative and successful entrepreneurs in a series of regional programs. These winners then compete in a national program to determine the best of the best. This year’s overall winner is Richard Caruso of Integra Life Sciences, a New Jersey-based leader in the field of regenerative medicine. Caruso, actively involved in EntrepreneurshipWeek USA  (www.entrepreneurshipweekusa.com), is both an entrepreneur and a philanthropist. His Uncommon Individual Foundation works with schools, businesses, and community organizations to help build powerful mentoring relationships. Ernst & Young honors winners in a host of categories including Emerging Business (Richard Helms of Abraxas Corporation) and Technology (Patrick Lo of NETGEAR). Finally, the awards also recognize outstanding Supporters of Entrepreneurship. This year’s winner in that category is Erica Kauten, the former director of Wisconsin’s Small Development Center Network and one of the designers of the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network .

Learn more about the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards

Check out Richard Caruso’s profile and his answers for EntrepreneurshipWeek USA’s ‘Ask-an-Entrepreneur’

The Power of Immigrant Entrepreneurs

Richard Caruso, this year’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, is the son of Italian immigrants. As a new National Venture Capital Association study notes, it’s fairly common for immigrants or their children to become entrepreneurial leaders in the US. American Made examines the role of immigrant entrepreneurs in building America’s high-growth companies. The report finds that, since 1990, one in four venture-backed firms were started by immigrants. These firms have a huge economic impact. They have created more than 400,000 jobs and collectively represent a market capitalization of roughly $500 billion. Eighty-seven percent of these firms operate in high value sectors, such as information technology, life sciences, and high tech manufacturing. The report also sounds a warning note. More than 2/3 of immigrant entrepreneurs believe that today’s immigration policies hinder the ability of foreign-born entrepreneurs to start new businesses in the US.

Download the 2006 National Venture Capital Association study, American Made: The Impact of Immigrants and Professionals on US Competitiveness, by Stuart Anderson and Michaela Platzer.

Enterprise Week in the UK

Great Britain recently wrapped up its third annual Enterprise Week (held from November 13-19, 2006) and the event has proved to be a resounding success. Overall, thousands of events were held, with hundreds of thousands of participants. The UK is simply bubbling over with cool ideas to promote entrepreneurship. Here’s a sample of new activities announced or held last month:

• Make Your Mark with a Tenner: This program provides ten pounds to 100,000 teenagers who must show what they can do with this small loan within a month. At the end of the month, winners will be selected based on their ability to have a positive impact on society.

• Speednetwork the Nation: On November 17, hundreds of speednetworking events were held simultaneously across Great Britain.

• Enterprising Britain: The Debate: A national debate discussing how to change Britain’s culture to be more entrepreneur-friendly (www.enterprisingbritain.com)

• Ideas at Work Day: A day devoted to intra-preneurship, the development of great ideas and innovations in the workplace.

A similar initiative is underway in the US, EntrepreneurshipWeek USA, launched by the Kauffman Foundation, Inc. and the New York Times to inspire young people to explore their entrepreneurial potential. More than 400 organizations have signed on as partners, planning activities across the country. What is happening in your community? Check www.entrepreneurshipweekusa.com and find out.

For more information about Enterprise Week in the UK, visit the Enterprise Week website.

The Latest on Sarbanes-Oxley

Last week, a new report was released by the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, a private group of 22 prominent business leaders and economists, that recommends Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley (which requires extensive auditing of internal controls) be relaxed, especially for smaller firms. The report calls for a complete overhaul of how the Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies regulate capital markets. Instead of focusing on enforcing specific rules, the SEC and other regulators should focus their work on general principles. The difference between “rules” and “principles” is often in the eyes of the beholder. So, expect lots of debate on this report’s findings in the coming months.

View the November 2006 Interim Report of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation

The National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship, an initiative of the Public Forum Institute made possible by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City. Through NDE-news, we bring you short summaries and analyses of various trends driving the innovation economy. Subscribe now to receive your weekly copy. Archived issues are available online. Links to the day's entrepreneurship stories from across the nation and around the world are posted each weekday on the NDE main page - bookmark it and stay informed about the latest entrepreneurship news.

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All stories © 2006 The Public Forum Institute
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