Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/54925
headlines Business Basics: K–12 Entrepreneurs Flock To the Big Easy THIS SPRING, dozens of entrepreneurs, business leaders, and business students convened in Louisiana to celebrate the 2011 New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW). The annual event is presented by The Idea Village, a nonprofit orga- nization founded in 2000 to support and retain entrepreneurial talent in New Orleans. This year, through a combina- tion of cash, in-kind and consulting services, NOEW 2011 contributed more than US$1 millon to the New Orleans entrepreneurial community. Among the NOEW events was the IDEAcorps MBA Challenge, in which teams of MBA students came up with plans to expand the reach of New Orleans businesses. This year's winners were students from Northwestern Uni- versity's Kellogg School of Management, who put together an online marketing strategy for Rare Cuts, a New Orleans gourmet meat shop. 10 July/August 2011 BizEd During the weeklong event, dozens of local startups competed for cash funding, legal support, HP office prod- ucts, and other prizes. The winners included companies devoted to clean water, clean energy, environmental renewal, and medical technology des- tined for use in the developing world. In addition to competitions, NOEW featured business workshops, keynote speeches, networking events, and inter- active discussion sessions. The idea for NOEW was hatched in 2006 when MBA students elected to spend spring break in the city to work with early-stage high-growth entrepreneurs. In 2009, the event was expanded to involve national and local corporations, universities, investors, and individuals. More information about New Orleans Entrepreneur Week can be found at www.NOEW.org. IT'S NEVER too early to spark someone's interest in learning about business. Sev- eral business schools have long sponsored high school "boot camps" over the sum- mer, but now schools are devising new tools and pro- grams that are designed to reach students at all ages. • In March, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadel- phia launched Knowledge@ Wharton High School. The site offers free articles, vid- eos, a business-related game, and a glossary of more than 200 business terms targeted to high schoolers and their teachers. Students can browse through specific categories of special interest, such as entrepreneurship, environmentalism, fashion, sports, and technology. Available now in both Span- ish and English, the site eventually will feature Chi- nese, Arabic, and Portuguese editions. Visit the site at kwhs.wharton.upenn.edu. • The University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management in Canada and the Toronto District School Board have developed a partnership to bring busi- ness concepts into the public school system. Through the collaboration, the Rotman's I-Think Initiative—which