The keynote luncheon during Day 1st of the GCECS was quite pleasant networking part of the Convergence Summit. Having Randall Kempner talk about the Global Promise of Entrepreneurship while having lunch in the company of my table mates, Slavko Milekich, Ph.D. and owner of FlatWorldInterfaces, and Dr. Alexander Stein, columnist for Fortune and Principle of the Boswell Group, made it even better.

Kempner focused his presentation on  the role of active global entrepreneurship. The two main points he talked about were the fact that entrepreneurial spirit can be born and nourished in any circumstances, including in times of poverty or economic recession, and that stimulating global entrepreneurship means stimulating global prosperity. During his passionate talk, Kempner illustrated entrepreneurship around the globe that not only exist in poverty, but also contributes to recycling and environment-friendly initiatives. As an example, Kempner talked about a small scale business in India, whose owner decided to recycle old oil cans. He does that by collecting the cans, washing them in boiling water, and selling them back to the oil companies. Another great example he gave was the emergence of coffee businesses in Columbia. These new businesses are focusing on using the left-overs from producing coffee to produce high-nutrition goods.

Finally, Randall Kempner presented some shocking statistics on the level of entrepreneurship in the United States, and particularly in Pennsylvania (according to his sources Pennsylvania falls on 51st place out of all states in the category “First time entrepreneur executing his/her first business plan”). He made clear the connection between these rates and the state of economy, stressing on fact that global entrepreneurship creates jobs, therefore it has a serious positive impact on the global economic situation.

By: Tsveta Dimitrova