NEW ORLEANS ? Heeding President Obama’s call to Startup America, the nation’s greatest entrepreneurial minds will gather in New Orleans for the 3rd annual New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, March 19-25.

NOEW, an initiative of The Idea Village, will feature more than 45 business workshops, investment pitches, networking events, keynote speeches and interactive discussion sessions. This high-impact week of service, networking and collaboration redefines New Orleans as a laboratory of innovation and a model for national best practices by connecting students, entrepreneurs and thought leaders.

?I am thrilled about the potential of the New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. The New Orleans community has come together to sustain a movement to support and grow entrepreneurial talent,? said Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Honorary Chair of NOEW 2011. ?NOEW illustrates that New Orleans is a model city for innovation and entrepreneurship. With smart investments in innovation and partnerships like the one we have with The Idea Village, we can set the course for growth and renewal in America.?

Joining The Idea Village as Premier Partners for NOEW are Penny & Jim Coulter, Downtown Development District of New Orleans, Economic Development Administration, Goldman Sachs, Google, Greater New Orleans Foundation, HP, Jones Walker, Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, Louisiana Recovery Authority, Kevin Clifford Family, NakedPizza, and Tulane University.

?NOEW is a physical manifestation of the entrepreneurial ecosystem that has evolved over the last 10 years in New Orleans,? said Tim Williamson, co-founder and CEO of The Idea Village. ?During this week, New Orleans will engage a global community of change makers to provide direct resources to the local entrepreneurial community and in doing so position New Orleans at the forefront of what is becoming a national movement.?

The idea behind NOEW was hatched in 2006 when ambitious MBA students seized the opportunity to spend their spring break in New Orleans working with early-stage, high-growth entrepreneurs. In 2009, led by investment from the Economic Development Administration, The Idea Village decided to scale the impact for the community by engaging national and local corporations, universities, investors, and individuals to spend a week in New Orleans providing direct support to local entrepreneurs surrounded by the City?s unique cultural assets in food, music and vanguard entrepreneur leaders. NOEW 2010 brought over 150 of the nation?s top MBA students and corporate volunteers together with 329 local entrepreneurs to provide over 9,121 hours of direct service to entrepreneurs at 37 events throughout downtown New Orleans.

?What initially started as a philanthropic partnership in the wake of Katrina has evolved into a more strategic initiative for the company,? says Tara Canobbio of Google?s Talent and Outreach Programs, K-12. ?We have found it invaluable to be surrounded by so many driven people that share the same passion for entrepreneurship and New Orleans and it?s amazing to see the tangible impact that energy is having on the city.?

?The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses initiative is honored to partner with Mayor Landrieu and The Idea Village to unlock the growth and job-creation potential of New Orleans? small business owners. We are pleased to partner with NOEW to provide local entrepreneurs access business skills, capital, mentors and networks,? said Dina Habib Powell, President of the Goldman Sachs Foundation.

Google and Goldman Sachs, along with other global corporations such as Cisco will join a network of professional service providers to host public educational sessions for the local entrepreneurial community on an array of topics critical to start ups and entrepreneurs including, alternative and traditional financing, communications and social media strategy, franchising, and legal issues. There are 1,000 slots available to local entrepreneurs on a first come ? first serve basis.

For more information, click on Click on NOEW.Org

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