08/04/2004
CONTACT: Michelle Dimarob, (202) 554-9000
The nation’s largest small-business group, NFIB, today announced that Hank Kopcial has joined as executive director of the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation. Formerly known as the NFIB Education Foundation, its mission is to educate young people about the critical role small business plays in the American free-enterprise system and to help students interested in small business and entrepreneurship.
As executive director, Kopcial will oversee the Young Entrepreneur Foundation’s operations and secure funding for its programs. Kopcial plans to develop new initiatives for the Foundation and will continue the Free Enterprise Scholars Awards, the Foundation’s signature program that identifies and rewards young entrepreneurs with $1,000 scholarships.
“Today, hundreds of young people have benefited from the scholarships made possible because of the Foundation’s efforts,” said NFIB President and CEO Jack Faris. “With the addition of Hank Kopcial, our charge is simple. We plan to double those numbers as well as create new programs that emphasize the value and importance of small business to young Americans. As a recognized leader in education and youth development, Hank’s experience will be invaluable to NFIB as we strive to play an active role in making today’s students tomorrow’s business leaders.”
An enterprise-education expert, Kopcial worked for Junior Achievement, the world’s largest economic education organization, for 14 years. While there, he organized the first junior achievement program in the state of West Virginia and built it into a program recognized by the National Junior Achievement organization as one of the nation’s best. He served as president of the San Francisco Bay area’s Junior Achievement and was the organization’s national vice president from 1984-85. Kopcial also had an extensive tenure at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce where he directed the Chamber’s Spirit of Enterprise capital campaign and previously held positions with the Hudson Institute, Foreign Policy Magazine and the Career College Association. He comes to NFIB from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) where he managed the funding efforts that supported the organization’s Campaign for Growth and Manufacturing Renewal.
“This is an exciting team to be part of, a team that really gets things done,” said Kopcial. “As we expand our efforts and develop relationships with important partners, NFIB has a real opportunity to inspire young minds to follow their dreams and discover the entrepreneur inside of them.”
The NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt foundation promoting the importance of small business and free enterprise to the nation’s youth. The Foundation is associated with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group. A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1943, NFIB represents the consensus views of its 600,000 members in Washington and all 50 state capitals.
