Wisconsin Rapids entrepreneur makes his mark at global conference

With so many young people vacillating between craving jobs on Wall Street and joining the protesters of the Occupy Wall Street movement, others have decided instead to forge their own destinies and futures by starting their own business, despite current economic challenges. Zach Vruwink, age 23 and founder of ZAXX Technology Specialists, joined over 400 student entrepreneurs from around this world at the G20 Youth Entrepreneur Summit (YES) hosted by French President Sarkozy, to bring world attention to aspirations of young business owners and

youth unemployment. The Summit was held on Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 in Nice, France, just prior to the G20 meeting of global leaders.

Vruwink was selected as a member of the United States delegation to the G20 YES event for his past participation in the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards.

“I’m honored to have had the opportunity to represent the United States at the G20 YES this year,” Vruwink said. “It was an amazing experience to network with other young entrepreneurs, just like me, who are starting or already running businesses, and to learn the challenges that they face in their country. It’s inspired me to see and understand how all of our businesses are creating jobs and changing my local and the world economy as a result.”

This year’s G20 YES offered student entrepreneurs the chance to learn from and connect with other young business owners from G20 countries while participating in lectures and panel discussions with Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus, and world-renowned business owners, government officials, academics and executives. In addition, consulting firms Ernst & Young and McKinsey & Company both issued new ground-breaking research on youth entrepreneurship and youth unemployment that illustrated new strategies, including those of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, that can support and foster the development of young business owners.

The result of the Summit was an “Entrepreneurs’ Declaration” submitted to the G20 leaders, based on the Summit’s founding principles. The 2011 G20 YES delegations identified more than 200 best practices successfully implemented by governments, associations and by the private sector that can remove obstacles to entrepreneurship and strengthen the three pillars which are critical for boosting entrepreneurship success: fertile “ecosystems”, specific financing vehicles for each stage of development, an entrepreneurial and risk taking culture.

“Government at local, state and national levels should recognize the socioeconomic role of entrepreneurs and their vital role in job creation,” Vruwink said. “Government must create an environment that fosters entrepreneurship, most notably, during challenging economic times.”

“Young business owners are the catalyst for economic change in the world,” said Entrepreneurs’ Organization and US Delegation Head Kevin Langley. “We’re calling on these entrepreneurs to use the same creativity and innovation they’re applying to their businesses, help us address the issues around youth unemployment, access to credit, and government policies that will shape all of futures.”

Visit www.g20yes.fr/en for more information on the G20 YES.