BizEd

SeptOct2006

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Headlines New Partnerships Promote Mexican Entrepreneurship With the goal of stimulating business development south of the U.S. border, two U.S. schools are part- nering with Mexican institutions to bring funding and education to Mexican entrepreneurs: n Funding. The Venture Finance Institute of Claremont Graduate University in California is study- ing the feasibility of establishing a $50 million venture capital fund called the Mexico Opportunity Fund. Representatives of the school have met with the Mexico- based investment banking firm Fausto Garcia Associados and other potential investors to dis- cuss the project. Richard Smith directs the Insti- tute and also is associate dean of Claremont's Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Business. Smith notes that small businesses in Mexico are generally overlooked by larger equity fund managers, although the country offers great promise for venture capitalists. n Education. Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and Tec De Monterrey in Mexico have developed the New Business Generation Initiative to nurture successful business ventures in Latin America. Participants will draw on Tec de Monterrey's sci- entific and engineering programs and Babson's entrepreneurial expertise to develop and launch new businesses. 8 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006 The World and Its Resources If you have a hard time visualizing how world resources are spread around the planet, check out a collection of illu- minated globes that demonstrate social and economic challenges in nations around the world. The globes were commis- sioned by the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, to mark the orga- nization's 50th birthday. The globes are part of an effort to educate the public about pressing issues facing devel- oping nations and what IFC is doing to address these issues. The 15 globes were PEOPLE POWER: The superimposed scale of regions reflects their relative population size. Numbers printed on the regions denote their percentage of world population (World Bank World Development Indicators 2003). designed and produced by Ingo Günther. They depict social and economic factors such as nations below the poverty line, foreign direct investments among developing countries, and access to drinking water. The globes were displayed at IFC's headquarters in Washington, D.C., in July; now they are traveling to offices around the world. For more information and to view images, visit www.ifc.org. On the Border The economic partnership between Canada and America is profound and long- standing—and will continue to stay healthy if business schools in both countries have anything to say about it. This summer marked the second year that U.S. students crossed the border to learn more about business with their northern neighbor in the weeklong "Canadian Leadership Orientation" program. "This is a unique opportunity for students to delve into Canadi- an business practices, our market structures, the strategies of Ameri- can companies that operate in Canada, and overall political and trade relations between our two countries," says Micheál Kelly, dean of the University of Ottawa's School of Management and one of the founders of the program. The other founding partners are the Association for Canadian Studies in the U.S. and HEC Montréal. This year, 19 American students from 17 schools participated in the program. DAVID S HOLLOWAY/GETTY IMAGES

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