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|| High Country Press Newswire

MARCH 19, 2009 ISSUE

ASU Hosts Young Entrepreneurs Symposium at Broyhill Inn April 1

On Wednesday, April 1, ASU’s Center for Entrepreneurship will host a Young Entrepreneurs Symposium at the Broyhill Inn & Conference Center. The event will take place from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and is open to all students, faculty, staff and community members.

The symposium is being coordinated by the Center for Entrepreneurship in the Walker College of Business at ASU. The event is sponsored by the local owners of Family Only Inc., which owns Back Yard Burgers restaurants in Boone and Hickory and the Marble Slab Creamery in Boone.

Keynote speakers and participants will include young, successful entrepreneurs as well as recent ASU alumni and current ASU students. They come from a range of backgrounds and will individually tell their stories as well as entertain questions from the audience.

Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship Bryan Toney expects nearly 200 attendees for the April 1 event.

“The idea is to bring alumni back to campus who started business at young ages,” said Toney. “The purpose of this is for them to share their stories and inspire the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.”

Participants include recent ASU alumni and current ASU students who come from a wide variety of backgrounds. The young entrepreneurs will individually tell their stories of how they started their businesses and will entertain questions from the audience. The Center for Entrepreneurship will also present an award to its new Student Entrepreneur of the Year during the symposium.

While Toney encourages enterprising students to start their own business, the center also tries to prepare students for various employment opportunities.

“Part of what we’re trying to do is prepare them to work for other entrepreneurs instead of just starting their own business,” said Toney. “I think we’re seeing a lot more of our students working for small- to medium-sized businesses. More and more of our students are seeking careers in entrepreneurs’ organizations.”

The Center for Entrepreneurship in the Walker College of Business at ASU was created in 2006 in order to support an burgeoning group of student entrepreneurs. Programs created in recent years have already greatly enhanced entrepreneurship opportunities for students and faculty at ASU and have helped strengthen the broader community by supporting entrepreneurs throughout the region.

The Young Entrepreneurs Symposium will include snacks and beverages and is free and open to all students, faculty, staff and community members. An RSVP is requested.

For more information, click to www.entrepreneurship.appstate.edu.