Palo Alto Software Partners with the California Business & Entrepreneurship Center Program to Boost the State’s Economy
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Palo Alto Software is proud to announce a new partnership with California Community College’s Business & Entrepreneurship Center program to provide software and educational resources.
Eugene, OR August 31, 2012
Palo Alto Software (PAS) is proud to announce a new partnership with California Community College’s Business & Entrepreneurship Center (BEC) program to provide LivePlan business planning and management software, Start, Run & Grow Your Business entrepreneurship curriculum, and other educational materials to the 112 California community colleges to boost entrepreneurship throughout the state.
Through the Youth Entrepreneurship Program (YEP), the BEC seeks to strengthen California by encouraging young people to engage in their own entrepreneurial endeavors. YEP brings business ownership concepts to young people ages 14-27 with the intention of replacing misconceptions of vocational education and blue-collar jobs with increased awareness of, and aspirations for, self-employment as a legitimate lifetime career path.
“Our youth entrepreneurship program started out as a method to energize and motivate young people,” says Mike Roessler, statewide director of the Business and Entrepreneurship Center. “Now, we’ve morphed into an organization that’s more about having these young people start businesses and having businesses come out of the community college system – real, viable businesses that will make money, and provide them with an entrepreneurial career path.”
To support the partnership, Palo Alto Software will distribute educational packages for students to every community college entrepreneurship faculty member in attendance at the BEC’s inaugural Entrepreneurship in Education Conference in Fresno, September 14-15. Student packages include access to Palo Alto Software’s online business planning and tracking tool, LivePlan, and three textbooks that correlate with the “Start, Run & Grow Your Business” educational curriculum. Additionally, instructors will receive access to LivePlan, the same three textbooks, and complete instructor support materials including student handouts, slide decks, assignments, and customized video tutorials
“We are excited to support the California Business & Entrepreneurship Center
s and the Youth Entrepreneurship Program,” says Palo Alto Software CEO, Sabrina Parsons. “Working with Mike Roessler and his programs in California is an exciting way to be involved in entrepreneurial education in California, and a great way to continue to support the American dream. Targeting young people and infusing entrepreneurial skills in the classroom will result in smarter, more empowered students who can either start their own businesses, or join existing businesses with the knowledge-base of what it means to start, run and grow a business.”
In conjunction with the BEC, Palo Alto Software introduces the “BEC Boost,” (powered by LivePlan) two business planning competitions open to teens 14 to 17 years old and young adults 18 to 27 years old. The winners of the teen competition will receive $5,000 sponsored by PAS and the winners of the young adult competition will receive $10,000 sponsored by the BEC. The BEC hopes that these competitions will not only spark the entrepreneurial spirit of California, but its economy as well.
“I think entrepreneurship plays a vital role in job creation,” says Roessler. “We’re helping young people, we’re helping faculty, and we’re helping business owners to become bigger, or stronger, or faster, or all three. We want to make sure that they are equipped with the knowledge to move forward and hopefully create a job, whether it be for themselves or for others.”
The Business & Entrepreneurship Center program encourages economic growth through its three core principles: Assist, Expand and Strengthen. The BEC seeks to assist with regional and statewide efforts to increase the success of business, to expand entrepreneurship curriculum across community college campuses, and to strengthen the entrepreneurial spirit of California by encouraging young people to engage in entrepreneurship as a lifetime endeavor.
Roessler sums up the goal if the BEC in one sentence: “We’re building California’s economy, one job at a time.”
About the Business Entrepreneurship Centers
The Business & Entrepreneurship Center (BEC) program and its 9 regional centers support the natural cycles of entrepreneurship and business development in California by bringing entrepreneurial training and education to existing business owners and future entrepreneurs. Through partnerships, collaborations and relationships with businesses, industry and the 112 California Community Colleges, the BEC heightens awareness of entrepreneurship as a proven career path. The BEC is an initiative of the Economic and Workforce Development Program through the California Community Colleges system. For more information about the BEC, visit BuildCalifornia.org.
About Palo Alto Software, Inc.
Palo Alto Software, Inc. develops and markets tools, products and content for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The company’s flagship product, LivePlan (https://www.liveplan.com), provides cloud-based business planning and small business management. Other top selling products include, Business Plan Pro – which is the best-selling business-planning software in the U.S. retail market, according to NPD Intelect – Sales and Marketing Pro and Email Center Pro. Palo Alto Software offers a powerhouse line of products to small and medium businesses around the globe. The company’s combined product line, along with Bplans.com, the highest trafficked business planning website, offer know-how solutions that have made Palo Alto Software the market leader in its category for over fifteen years. Palo Alto Software was founded in 1988 and is a privately-owned corporation based in Eugene, Oregon. For more information about Palo Alto Software products, visit http://www.paloalto.com.
