BUSINESSFebruary 14 — February 20, 2008 — The Prince George’s Post —A5

Business Exchangeby William Reed

Entrepreneurial Education:Teaching Kids About Business“Business as usual” means

African Americans continuingto own less than 2 percent ofthe nation’s businesses andspending 98 percent of theirwealth outside their group.Although members of the racehave proven their entrepreneur-ial acumen for centuries, blacksof today need re-exam ourgrasp of the traits and tools ofentrepreneurial ship. It’s timefor African Americans at alllevels of economic strata tofocus more on accomplish-ments in entrepreneurial ship.To remedy the “disconnect”

African Americans have in thecapitalistic system, at minimumwe need to teach our childrenabout the process. AWashington, DC-based organi-zation exists “to equip childrenwith the knowledge and skillsessential to improve personalwealth and advance the devel-opment of their community”.The International BusinessKidsFoundation provides educa-tional programs for children 6to 18 and Executive DirectorEndura Govan says, “If youwant your kids to learn aboutentrepreneurship talk to themabout what it’s like to own abusiness. Even better, helpthem to start a business andteach them skills that will beuseful to them as entrepreneursor in life”.Entrepreneurship among

African Americans is not new.It’s a concept enterprisingblacks have embraced for cen-turies. “Our youth shouldknow as much about AnthonyJohnson and Thomas Jenningsas they do of Oprah and PDiddy’s successes,” saysGovan. Ex-slave AnthonyJohnson became one ofVirginia’s wealthy landownersin 1651 and Thomas Jenningswas issued a patent in 1821 forhis dry cleaning invention.Govan says black parents

should expose youngsters toconcepts of running a businessas early as possible. Kids inher classes make products, andthen learn how to market andsell them. Kids from theInternational Business Kidssummer and after school pro-grams have put their lessonsinto action while manningbooths at Bishop T.D. Jakes’MegaFest, CongressionalBlack Caucus’ AnnualLegislative Conference, theNational Urban League andNAACP conventions; a methodGovan said is safer and morebusiness savvy than the tradi-tional door-to-door sales meth-ods kids often use. “We do allof the conferences so that theycan sell their products in frontof large audiences,” saysGovan.

Govan has been recognizedby the Congressional BlackCaucus for her entrepreneurialwork with children. She oper-ates programs in five citiesunder the notion that entrepre-neurs occupy a central positionin market economies and acti-vate all economic activity. Shecollaborates with schools,churches and community cen-ters to create “an atmosphere ofachievement” for students andsays “a society is prosperousonly to the degree to which itrewards and encourages entre-preneurial activity. It is entre-preneurs and their activitiesthat are the critical determinantof the level of success, prosper-ity, growth and opportunity inany economy. The mostdynamic societies in the worldare the ones that have the mostentrepreneurs and economicand legal structures thatencourage and motivate entre-preneurs to greater activities”.Financial literacy should be

a part of each family’s basictraining, but Govan points outthat less than one in four par-ents talk with their childrenabout personal financialresponsibility. She says thatthat there is a direct connectionbetween personal financial illit-eracy that affects the urbanunderclass as well as and theupswing in bankruptcy rates,record debt, and home foreclo-sures among middle-classblacks. Govan says her pro-grams teach young childrenhow to make wise financialdecisions, understand the dif-ference between desires andneeds, and manage personaldebt. “Teaching personalfinancial responsibility is aninvestment in brighter futuresfor the next generation”.International Business Kids islocated at 1005 Rhode IslandAvenue, NE, Washington, DC20018 and on the web atwww.businesskids.biz, e-mailbusinesskids@yahoo.com orcall 202. 526.5005.African American families

should take care of business byhelping their children buildtoward brighter futures.Greater economic success forblacks can only be achieved byencouraging and rewardingentrepreneurial instinct.Howard University inWashington, D.C. is rated oneof the nation’s leading businesss c h o o l s .All incoming students mustparticipate in Entrepreneur’sBoot Camp. During orienta-tion courses they study finan-cial self-discipline and the his-tory of black enterprise.

(William Reed –www.BlackPressInternational.com)

named co-vice chairmen of theChesapeake Crescent, accord-ing to a statement. Miller ledthe idea of opening regionalmalls dubbed the MillsConcept, which began with theopening of Potomac Mills inWoodbridge, Va., in 1985.The initiative has four main

objectives: growing an innova-tive economy based on "greentechnology," energy, anddefense contracting; developingclean energy and protecting theenvironment; improving infra-structure; and building a sus-tainable partnership.The group already plans to

push the federal government toadopt plug-in hybrid cars,which would create the infra-structure needed in the area to

fuel the cars and be a catalystfor private businesses and indi-viduals to do the same. Also,Fenty said he hopes to trainworkers to fill "green-collar"jobs as the District and privatedevelopers build and renovatebuildings to be environmental-ly-friendly.The idea of a partnership

arose, Miller said, during a con-versation between him and thenBaltimore Mayor O'Malley.The two began talking,

Miller said, because they werereading the same book during aflight to a Shopping CenterConvention in Las Vegas threeyears ago.The partnership sprang from

existing efforts between thestates to clean up theChesapeake Bay.O'Malley came up with the

name of the initiative, Millersaid, from John Smith'sdescription of the bay as no bet-ter place to live.Even though times have

changed, O'Malley said, theChesapeake region is still oneof the most beautiful, creativeand dynamic corridors in theUnited States.And its population is well

positioned to power the eco-nomic initiative. Almost 35 per-cent of the residents of theChesapeake Crescent have abachelor's degree, more thanthe 24 percent nationally,according to a BrookingsInstitute study.Also, the gross metropolitan

product of the area is more thana half-trillion dollars, whichmakes up 8 percent of thenational total from just about 4

percent of the nation's work-force, according to the samestudy.David Edgerley, secretary of

Maryland's Department ofBusiness & EconomicDevelopment, said it's impor-tant to look beyond jurisdic-tions when strengthening aneconomic center, noting notmany people know what coun-ties make up Silicon Valley inCalifornia."There is no place on the

planet that has the same criticalmass of smart people and for-ward-thinking companies,"Edgerley said.Vradenburg said a regional

innovation summit is beingplanned for later this spring toaccelerate collaborationbetween businesses, federalresearchers and universities.

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O’Malley, Hoyer, Kaine, Fenty Introduce Chesapeake Crescent Initiative

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