05/30/2007
NFIB today announced 422 state recipients of the fifth annual NFIB Young Entrepreneur Awards, a scholarship program to set future small-business owners on the path to entrepreneurship.
Award winners will attend the university, college, community college or vocational/technical institute of their choice with $1,000 in tuition assistance from the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation. Five national winners were also chosen to receive $5,000 in tuition assistance, and from these five national winners one student will be selected as the "2007 Young Entrepreneur of the Year" at a dinner held June 5 in Washington, D.C. The "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" will receive an additional $5,000 scholarship, for a total award of $10,000.
The program, which encourages students to consider a career in small business, made its debut in 2003 when it awarded a total of 110 scholarships nationwide. This year, a total of 422 scholarships will be awarded thanks to financial support from numerous small-business leaders and corporate and foundation supporters. The major corporate sponsors are Visa USA, the Wells Fargo Foundation and Salesgenie.com.
"We are overjoyed by the tremendous amount of interest in our scholarship program. This year more than 3,000 students applied to receive a YEF award, demonstrating that the entrepreneurship spirit continues to thrive in America," said Don V. Cogman, chair, NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation Board of Directors. "NFIB congratulates this year’s winners for their tremendous accomplishments and hopes the scholarships will assist these young entrepreneurs as they continue on their paths towards successful futures."
To enter the scholarship contest, students were required to write an essay describing their entrepreneurial endeavors and future goals. Standardized test scores, GPA and class rank were also considered. NFIB members around the country nominated applicants for the Young Entrepreneur Awards.
