SENATE MEMORIAL 38

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Mary Jane M. Garcia

A MEMORIAL

DECLARING THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 19 THROUGH FEBRUARY 26, 2011 AS "ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK" IN THE SENATE.

     WHEREAS, entrepreneurship is vital to New Mexico's continued growth and prosperity; and

     WHEREAS, most of the new jobs created in New Mexico and the United States in the past decade have come from the creative efforts of entrepreneurs and small businesses; and

     WHEREAS, according to the United States department of commerce, more than two thousand three hundred people become independent entrepreneurs daily, joining more than twenty million self-employed individuals, and making up more than seventy-five percent of the nation's twenty-six million business firms nationwide; and

     WHEREAS, the partnership for twenty-first century skills identified entrepreneurial literacy skills as among the content areas most critical to success in communities and workplaces; and

     WHEREAS, the national governors association encourages connecting education to economic growth industries, recognizing that entrepreneurship and small business creation are the growth engines of any economy; and

     WHEREAS, a broad coalition of partner organizations, the New Mexico youth entrepreneurship network, has joined together in New Mexico with the shared vision of training and supporting young entrepreneurs; and

     WHEREAS, this coalition provides a variety of programs focusing on student entrepreneurial development and supports competitive events such as the governor's statewide youth entrepreneurship business plan annual competition; and

     WHEREAS, the coalition is comprised of a wide variety of partners, including the economic development department, the workforce solutions department, the higher education department, the public education department, the New Mexico small business development center, the United States small business administration, many chambers of commerce and other notable organizations; and

     WHEREAS, throughout the United States, coalitions like the New Mexico youth entrepreneurship network are actively engaged in enhancing entrepreneurial opportunities through collaboration and cooperation with the national consortium for entrepreneurship education; and

     WHEREAS, encouraging youth to be excited about entrepreneurship and working to expand the knowledge, skills and attitudes of New Mexico's youths and adults to be successful entrepreneurs is crucial to the long-term growth of local communities, the state and the nation; and

     WHEREAS, the United States house of representatives resolved to recognize an annual national entrepreneurship week that occurs this year during the week of February 19 through February 26, 2011; and

     WHEREAS, national entrepreneurship week provides an opportunity to focus on the innovative ways in which entrepreneurship education can bring together the core academic, technical and problem-solving skills essential for future entrepreneurs and successful workers in future workplaces;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the week of February 19 through February 26, 2011 be declared "Entrepreneurship Week" in the senate; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the president of the board of directors of the New Mexico rural development response council for distribution to the supporters and partners of the New Mexico youth entrepreneurship network.