Week twenty-eight

My wife Betty, daughter Mary Ann, and Robert Craig — a financial advisor — had the good opportunity to attend the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year program in Palm Desert the weekend before last. At the gathering on Saturday night, Entrepreneur of the Year recognition was awarded in a number of different categories, including distribution, manufacturing, and security; energy, chemicals and mining; financial services; media and communications; real estate and construction; retail and consumer products; and services. In addition, an overall Entrepreneur of the Year was chosen. Over 1,000 people attended this four-hour event, and Jay Leno was the master of ceremonies. The overall winner was Richard E. Caruso at Integra LifeSciences Corporation.

An observation from the series of meetings was that entrepreneurship is alive and well in the United States, and maybe that means that American competitiveness is not in as bad a shape as I had imagined. There are many other entrepreneur award ceremonies throughout the country sponsored by local organizations, such as the regional chapter for San Diego’s Entrepreneur of the Year program. If those of you who are entrepreneurially inclined have an opportunity to become a part of this process, I would highly recommend it as a good place to hone your skills.

The event in Palm Desert was sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, which was established by Ewing Marion Kauffman to further entrepreneurship and education. If you are perchance involved in any entrepreneurial organizations and would like to tell me about your activities, I would be interested in hearing about them.

Click on the comments link to share your thoughts.

- Bob

Here are my responses to previous weeks’ comments:

Kathleen Connell (Week 26): As a Republican, I would like to respond to your blog entry, not that I really disagree with what you had to say. As you know, technology is not the private property of any political party — everyone is pro technology. The issue is how the federal government and private industry are going to respond to making investments in a multitude of opportunities. For example, the Republicans are traditionally more pro-defense than the Democrats, and less interested in supporting health care and environmental programs. Both parties are probably equally interested in doing something about our energy crisis, although each has their own approach, with the Republicans more inclined to further oil and gas exploration than the Democrats. The 21st Century challenge is: where is the money going to come from, and will industry join harmoniously with the government in sponsoring these mega projects?


3 Responses to “Week twenty-eight”

  1. 1 Mary Lou Dunford

    Dr. Beyster,
    You may want to click on the book in your blog entry and look at what Amazon.com has teamed “The SAIC Solution” with ——- “Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest” — Any message here??? :-)
    Mary Lou

  2. 2 William L. Weeks

    I’m encouraged to see the Nustart Energy consortium formed to build two new Nuclear Power plants outside Houston. I believe this consortium approach to mega-projects is an effective way to meet our country’s infrastructure needs today and in the future. A consortium of companies built Boulder Dam (my mom forbids me to call it Hoover Dam) in record time.

    I embarked on an entrepreneurial undertaking in 2003 we have seen some fabulous times and we have see some truly painful times, but through all of it we have had a tremendous amount of fun and we have learned a lot. We continue to pursue our dream. I highly recommend that everyone try it. It really helps you internalize the fact that it’s about the team.

  3. 3 Chris Smith

    Dr. B: It was uplifting to hear your thoughts on the E&Y “Entrepreneur of the Year Award” program and that perhaps entrepreneurship is not as in as bad a shape as you might have otherwise thought. As a past “Grand Master” of this award (I will remind everyone you received their Life Time Achievement award in 2003) your comments are especially well received, and hopefully, respected.

    Here are a couple questions for you: Do you believe principles of entrepreneurship and employee-ownership are “easier” to inculcate into employees of a smaller or mid-size organization, versus a larger organization? Do you believe there is a correlation between a decline in entrepreneurial activity (maybe even R&D activity in the US) when an overall M&A consolidation in the marketplace is occurring?

    Consider the recent spate of industry consolidations and the influx of “private equity” money that is increasingly buying up and attempting to consolidate similar organizations. Perhaps the trend towards larger corporations and greater centralization (C2, etc.) creates a bureaucracy or culture that suppresses individual motivation and reduces innovation. In your time with your past employer the idea of “portfolio management” between your groups and sectors seemed to keep innovation and competition moving in the proper direction.

    V/R,
    Chris Smith


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