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Editor’s note:
Business and Finance articles appearing in this paper are based on the experiences and opinions of the writers and not The Journal. The advice given is strictly for your information and should not be acted or relied on without related professional advice.

Young Entrepreneurs Inspire Students to Create Their Own Jobs

National Tour Comes to Pasadena to Help Youth Navigate the Shaky Job Market

On August 19th, 2010, the Foothill Workforce Investment Board and Southern California Gas Company sponsored the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour which featured successful young entrepreneurs from across the nation. The event was held at the Pasadena Convention Center. The goal of the event is to inspire youth and young adults to create their own path during one of the worst economic downturns in 80 years. Students will brainstorm with business professionals and meet like-minded students through networking events.

Approximately 200 youth and young adults attended the event. Students were able to brainstorm with business professionals and meet like-minded students through this networking event. There were three keynote speakers including Arel Moodie author of the bestselling book 'Your Starting Point for Student Success', and featured in USA Today, Young Money Magazine, and on ABC, NBC, and Fox News affiliates. Arel is an expert on helping this generation of students begin taking action to achieve their goals. Arel is living proof that, no matter what your background is, we all can have the life that we deserve. Arel began his life on welfare in the projects of Brooklyn, New York, where he witnessed those around him being murdered and imprisoned. Yet he went on to attend college where he started his first successful internet company and was named the most outstanding graduate of his school.

Education Reform is Still Needed

The San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership announced that education reform must remain a top priority in our school systems throughout California. The Partnership sees education as one of the most important issues for businesses in the San Gabriel Valley and believes that a highly trained and skilled labor force is required to remain competitive and meet the challenges of the future. While California did not receive funding from the federal Race to the Top school-reform grant, the Partnership continues to support the education reforms initiated in the Race to the Top application and urges the California Assembly and the Assembly Education Committee to build upon the progress made throughout the application process.

In particular, the Partnership believes that the Race to the Top application established a roadmap for the future of public education in California. California must remain committed to pursuing these reforms, which include basing teacher and principal evaluations in part on student performance, ensuring effective teachers and principals are placed in low-performing and high-poverty schools, and using robust data to improve student achievement. The Race to the Top process also helped initiate collaboration by our participating school districts, and the Partnership hopes that this collaboration continues in order to ensure that every student graduates prepared for college and career success. In addition, the education reforms signed into law as part of the Race to the Top process will enable parents to have a true voice in their children's education and will help transform California's persistently lowest-achieving schools.