U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
11^th Annual Entrepreneurial Spirit Awards Gala
National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)
New York, New York
Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Thank you, Consuelo [Mack, Anchor & Managing Editor, “The Wall Street Journal Report,” CNBC], for that kind introduction.

And let me thank Steve Mariotti [Founder & President, NFTE] and Michael Caslin [CEO, NFTE] for all you do and have done to promote entrepreneurship through the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. You're doing a terrific job.

I am delighted to be here this evening because it is always exciting to see young people making good choices and achieving great goals. Your accomplishments today are stepping stones. They will make a tremendous difference in your lives in the future.

I stopped by the various booths before the evening’s event began, and I was so impressed with the enthusiasm, focus, and commitment of the young entrepreneurs. I stopped by Diana Colòn, who was selling moderately priced candles to help women relax, and she had such a vision for helping to create a peaceful atmosphere of solace to reduce stress for working women. I also stopped by a booth of a young man, Jeremiah Johnson, who enlisted his two sisters, Christina and Geneva, in his company, and they produce African American art. And another, Sherita Allen, who manufactures fun soaps with surprises and toys inside. So, it’s fun for kids to wash up. What energy, creativity, and ideas!

Congratulations to tonight’s award winners. You are on the right path to building bright futures for yourselves. You should be proud of your achievements!

At the Department of Labor, we encourage entrepreneurship. That’s because small businesses are the engine of job growth in our country. And I'm proud to say that women are leading the way in creating new businesses. That’s why the Department has hosted five summits in the past three years to help women entrepreneurs. So it’s great to see all of these young women award winners here tonight!

What you are doing not only helps yourselves, your families and your communities—but helps our country by helping it grow. Small businesses create two out of every three new jobs.

The President is unable to be here tonight. I send you his greetings. Due to the efforts of private enterprise, our economy is getting stronger every day. Interest rates and inflation are at 40-year lows. Productivity growth rates last year surged to the highest annual levels in 50 years. Consumer spending, wages and benefits are all up. The current national unemployment rate of 5.7 percent, while higher than we’d like, is lower than average unemployment rates of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.

Education and training are increasingly important to our workforce. To the young entrepreneurs tonight, you are learning the fundamentals of running a bsuiness, creating a business plan, keeping financial records and other skills—these disciplines will help you focus and succeed no matter what you do.

Graduating from high school is already a big plus—workers who graduate from high school make an average of $166 a week more than those who don’t graduate. And college graduates make an average of $434 per week more than someone with a high-school diploma. So education pays.

Now, let me give you two Web-site addresses. On these Department of Labor Web-sites, you will find information that will help you start a businesses ot expand a business.

The first one is for young people who are looking for jobs, education and skills training. It is www.careervoyages.gov.

And for the women in the audience—please visit the Department’s 21^st Century Workforce Web site for women at www.women-21.gov.

To the young entrepreneurs tonight: you have worked hard toward achieving your dreams, but don't stop here. Keep learning. Keep growing. Keep doing the right thing. You can achieve your dreams!

Congratulations!

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