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Jeanan Yasiri Moe, Director of Strategic Communications
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MADISON, Wis. – The state of small business in a changing world economy was the focus of a recent knowledge summit held at UN Headquarters featuring WARF Trustee Winslow Sargeant and General Counsel Michael Falk, among other leaders foreign and domestic.
Watch highlights from the event.
The summit, held May 11 in New York, was organized by the International Council for Small Business (ICSB). It centered on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which shoulder an estimated 90 percent of global economic activity in an increasingly young, high tech and interconnected workforce.
MSMEs account for two out of three net new jobs created worldwide. According to media reports, the UN will call upon these businesses and other entrepreneurs around the world to create an estimated 600 million jobs over the next 15 years.
Speakers at the May 11 event included country ministers and dignitaries from Argentina, Arab Republic of Egypt and Kuwait; private sector representatives; and college presidents from George Washington University, Babson College and Wilkes University. More than 250 people took part in the program.
Falk participated in a panel about global business solutions. He discussed WARF and its work advancing entrepreneurial and startup activities.
“For so many of the companies that we want to see started, we want to see ones that can create real economic development, that can create important jobs and can help society in a way that can move things like new medicines, new treatments for people, new technologies.”
“It is important for us here, and I think that this is a great opportunity, to encourage people to advocate on the part of your institutions for strong patent laws.”
Sargeant, who serves as senior vice president of development at ICSB, moderated several panels at the event. He said, “A strong partnership with universities and technology transfer organizations like WARF allow MSMEs to capitalize on much needed state-of-the-art resources.”
“The acknowledgement of the UN and its member states that MSMEs should have their own dedicated day sends a powerful message that economic empowerment by small business owners contributes to peace and stability by strengthening economies.”
The UN has designated June 27, 2017, as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Day.
About WARF
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) helps steward the cycle of research, discovery, commercialization and investment for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Founded in 1925 as an independent, nonprofit foundation, WARF manages more than 1,700 patents and an investment portfolio of $2.6 billion as it funds university research, obtains patents for campus discoveries and licenses inventions to industry. For more information, visit warf.org.
About the International Council for Small Business
Founded in 1955, the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) was the first international membership organization to promote the growth and development of small businesses worldwide. The organization brings together educators, researchers, policymakers and practitioners from around the world to share knowledge and expertise in their respective fields. The ICSB is a nonprofit organization; for more information, visit icsb.org.
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