01/26/2005
CONTACT: Kevin Shivers, (717) 232-8582
NFIB-Member Goodling, NFIB foundation director Kopcial testify before House education task force
PENNSYLVANIA -- The nation's leading small-business advocacy group, the National Federation of Independent Business, today provided Pennsylvania lawmakers with a four-point plan to ignite student interest in free enterprise and to better prepare students to become future business owners and entrepreneurs.
During testimony before a state House education task force, NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation director Hank Kopcial and Mohton small-business owner Barbara Goodling told lawmakers that small businesses play a critical role in our nation's economic life cycle. But they noted that classroom education about how to start a business or how business works is limited. The small-business group offered four recommendations:
- Expanding classroom opportunities for local business owners to teach students about entrepreneurship;
- Incorporating entrepreneurship lessons into the curriculum wherever possible;
- Recognizing the value of vocational-and community-college education in promoting entrepreneurship education; and
- Recognizing teachers and other mentors for their efforts to help students experience the benefits of entrepreneurship and preparing them to become future business owners.
"Young people who are fortunate to grow up in a small-business family can learn firsthand about small business and entrepreneurship," testified Kopcial. "But not every child is blessed with that opportunity. That's why NFIB is working with small-business owners here in Pennsylvania and across the nation to bring the small-business owners' perspective into our children's classrooms.
"The beauty of America is that it's a land where anyone with a good idea who is willing to work hard can succeed and achieve their dreams – NFIB members like Barbara Goodling are living proof.
"Not every Pennsylvania child will grow up to become chairman and CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Hopefully, many will choose to stay in their communities either to work for or start a small business of their own. NFIB and the Young Entrepreneur Foundation welcome the opportunity to expand our efforts in Pennsylvania and assist state lawmakers to help accomplish this goal."
Kopcial noted that eight-out-of-ten young Americans want to be in business for themselves. However, 85 percent of these students said they were taught little or nothing about how business works.
The NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) organization dedicated to raising awareness among the nation's youth about the critical role that private enterprise and entrepreneurship plays in America.
