Center for Entrepreneurship Announces Third BSFN Program and Boot Camp Lineup

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 3, 2007
MARIA SIKORYAK-ROBINS
DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS

FAYETTEVILLE, NC—The Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE) has announced the Business Succession Forum Network’s third program titled “Attorneys, Accountants, and Appraisers: Your Estate Planning Team.” The event will be held on May 9, 2007, from 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. at the Azalea/Dogwood Board Room of Fayetteville’s Hilton Garden Inn.

The key note speaker for the event is Attorney James W. Narron of Narron, O’Hale & Whittington PA in Smithfield. Tom Keith, president of Tom J. Keith & Associates, Inc., and Thomas Bell of Tom J. Keith & Associates, Inc., will also be speaking at the event.

In addition, the CFE has announced this summer’s Boot Camp for Budding Entrepreneurs lineup. The dates for summer 2007 are as follows:

Hoke County: May 9 - June 1
Bladen County: June 11 - June 14
Cumberland County: June 18 - June 22
Moore County: July 9 - July 12

Boot Camp for Budding Entrepreneurs is a summer program sponsored by the CFE at Methodist University designed to provide selected high school students with the opportunity to learn entrepreneurship firsthand from the region’s business leaders and entrepreneurs. The camp is open to gifted and talented high school students, 16-19 years of age, with an interest in business.

Each day runs from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The morning session consists of a presentation on business fundamentals by someone from the local business community. Topics of speakers include: leadership; state of the economy; development of goals; process of disruption leading to innovation; overview of banking services; developing a business plan; globalization and its implications for Cumberland County; discovering your niche (case study of Google, Inc.); history of business (steam engine to search engine); and management and marketing. During lunch, selected business owners give detailed accounts of the startup, growth, and challenges of owning a company. In the afternoons, students visit various enterprises to see how they operate. The students also are taught to develop a sustainable business plan, which at week’s end, is presented to a group of entrepreneurs for a chance to win $300 for the best plan. Parents and their guests are invited to this last session.

Tuition for Boot Camp for Budding Entrepreneurs is $500 and there are scholarships available for those with financial need.

Methodist University is an independent four-year institution of higher education with over 2,100 students from 41 states and 30 countries. Methodist University offers over 70 majors and concentrations, three master’s degree programs, and 19 NCAA III intercollegiate sports. For a Boot Camp application, visit: http://www.methodist.edu/cfe/boot_camp.htm. For more information about the BSFN program or Boot Camp for Budding Entrepreneurs, contact the Center for Entrepreneurship at (910) 630-7642.