Global Entrepreneurship Week takes place each year in November and inspires people all over the world to explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. This year’s events begin next week. The awareness campaign supports ideas, opportunities, risk-taking, creative problem solving and building connections while making a difference for the greater good.
GEW is a truly global event. Countries of all sizes have started to make entrepreneurship part of their economic recovery. “At a time when all economies are struggling to recover and/or emerge, it is no longer a question of where growth will occur, but how fast these businesses will grow and what can be done to help them,” said Ken Evans, blogger at StartupMonkey and co-founder of Ideafield Coworking in Tampa.
A 2010 report from the Kauffman Foundation credits startups with all of the job creation over the past 30 years. The report also showed that during recessionary times, job creation at startups remains stable compared with a net job loss at existing firms. The report makes the following specific recommendations for sustainable job creation:
1. Encourage more people to become entrepreneurs
2. Create initiatives that generate more startups
Tampa Bay has been participating in GEW since its inception in 2008, starting with a kickoff event at IBM. This year’s participation is expected to be the largest ever.
This year’s kickoff event will take place November 14 at the Tampa Museum of Art. The event will celebrate local entrepreneurs and provide more information about Startup America Partnerships’s plans for Florida. The partnership has chosen Tampa Bay as one of three locations to launch their Florida initiative, Startup Florida. “Global Entrepreneurship Week – both abroad and right here in Tampa Bay – is an effort to help us celebrate and inspire our existing and future job creators. Anyone who is interested in economic growth in Tampa Bay should come out to this event to learn more about our growing local startup community and find a way to get involved,” said Linda Olson, with Tampa Bay WaVE.
Click here for more information about the kickoff event.
Additional events taking place during the week include:
What Entrepreneurs Need to Know About IP, with Tampa Bay Technology Forum
November 15, 5:30 – 7:30 pm
Centre Club
TechTalk with Startec/Tampa Bay Innovation Center
November 15, 9 – 10:30 am
Moffitt Cancer Center
Gazelle Lab’s Demo Day
November 17, 9 am – 3:30 pm
Progress Energy Center for the Arts
by: Megan Hendricks
Editor, CTB BUZZ
sources:
Ken Evans, StartupMonkey and Ideafield Coworking
Linda Olson, Tampa Bay WaVE
Also published in Creative Tampa Bay’s buzz, Nov. 2, 2011