Date: 15/11/2008

IBM to provide resources for budding entrepreneurs

IBM is sponsoring global entrepreneurship week, an initiative taking place in 75 countries from November 17th through the 23rd to promote entrepreneurs in this period of weak markets.


In collaboration with the World Bank's International Finance Corporation, IBM has launched new resources and a web-based small business toolkit tailored to women and Black, Hispanic, Native American and Asian owned businesses in the United States. Already available in 30 different sites and 16 languages, the toolkit provides entrepreneurs with the kind of professional human resource, legal, marketing, and finance-related information templates normally available to much larger companies. The small business toolkit now includes daily expert advice by Jim Blasingame, a new women's business-focused blog hosted by Deb Osgood, a new partnership with MicroMentor for personal mentoring, and a new small business video learning series in partnership with BUZGate.org.

IBM is also connecting entrepreneurs with the best business plans with venture capitalists. IBM has invited talented entrepreneurs to submit their super ideas. Five finalists will be selected to present their business plan to a panel of venture capitalists chaired by IBM's Venture Capital Group during the Spring of 2009.
Please visit http://unleashingideas.org/unleash/show/1 for more details.

"For seven days, millions of young people around the world will be introduced to entrepreneurship and encouraged to think about how innovation can take them anywhere, no matter their location on the map," said Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, co-founder of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

In conjunction with Global Entrepreneurship Week, IBM will facilitate and broadcast roundtable discussions via the Web.
IBM will host two "Women Entrepreneurs Leading Innovation Globally" Webcasts on November 19.