COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Nov. 17, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Junior Achievement USA (JA) announced today that it is working with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) the week of November 16th to bring small business owners into high school classrooms across the U.S. to share their experience with young people in half-a-dozen cities. This is a pilot year for this national initiative coinciding with National Entrepreneurship Month, which is November. The intent is to grow this initiative into a premier entrepreneurship volunteer engagement effort. Cities that JA and SBA will be working together in include St. Louis, Minneapolis, New Orleans and Memphis. JA is also partnering with the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) as part of this effort.
"JA is known for bringing entrepreneurship education into the classroom," said Jack Kosakowski, President and CEO of Junior Achievement USA. "The Small Business Administration is a natural partner for JA in this effort. Our goal is to open students' eyes to the possibilities that come with small business ownership and inspire them to consider entrepreneurship as an option for their future."
Many of the participating business owners are from the SBA Emerging Leaders Initiative, a federal training initiative that specifically focuses on executives of businesses poised for growth in historically challenged communities. The initiative provides these executives with the organizational framework, resource network, and motivation required to build sustainable businesses and promote the economic development within urban communities.
About Junior Achievement USA® (JA)
Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. JA programs are delivered by corporate and community volunteers, and provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. Today, JA reaches 4.6 million students per year in 113 markets across the United States, with an additional 5.6 million students served by operations in 121 other countries worldwide. Visit www.ja.org for more information. Visit www.ja.org for more information.
About the SBA
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. We recognize that small business is critical to our economic recovery and strength, to building America's future, and to helping the United States compete in today's global marketplace. Although SBA has grown and evolved in the years since it was established in 1953, the bottom line mission remains the same. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U. S. Virgin Islands and Guam.