National Entrepreneurship Month, 2011

Proclamation 8747 of November 1, 2011

National Entrepreneurship Month, 2011

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

From inventing the traffic light to developing the
artificial heart, our Nation's doers, makers, and
entrepreneurs have proven time and again that, in
America, it takes only a single good idea and the
courage to pursue it to change history. In fulfilling
this simple promise, these visionaries play a critical
role in sparking new industries, expanding our economy,
and generating new job growth across our country. This
month, we celebrate the remarkable and everyday
successes of our entrepreneurs and innovators, and we
reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that our economy
remains the engine and the envy of the world.

Earlier this year, my Administration launched the
Startup America initiative, which accelerates the
success of our entrepreneurs by unlocking access to
capital, cutting red tape, and expanding mentorship and
educational opportunities. The initiative works to
improve the climate for all high-growth companies, and
includes specific provisions to bring expertise and
services to entrepreneurial scientists, students,
immigrants, and veterans. Startup America also
coordinates action across the Federal Government to
bolster private investment in early-stage companies,
helping ensure that our best ideas have a chance to get
off the ground and into the marketplace. By making it
faster and easier for entrepreneurs to turn new ideas
into new businesses and new jobs, we are building an
innovation economy that will propel our Nation into the
future.

To fast-track our startups and enable them to bring
products to market more quickly, I signed the America
Invents Act in September of this year. This essential
legislation will help entrepreneurs and inventors
secure a patent three times faster than they can today,
drastically cutting the time it takes to roll out novel
technologies and products. The Act will also improve
the quality of our patents and do more to give
entrepreneurs the protection and confidence they need
to attract investment, grow their businesses, and hire
more workers. We stand at a moment when our Nation's
economy must become more dynamic and flexible than ever
before, and these reforms will help us meet this
challenge.

My Administration is also working to create new
opportunities for collaboration within the private
sector. Run by and for entrepreneurs, the independent
Startup America Partnership has assembled an extensive
network of mentors, advisors, investors, and
established corporations to share strategic assets with
our country's next great innovators. This movement
harnesses the agility, intelligence, and ingenuity that
has powered our success for generations and uses it to
fuel our growth in rapidly evolving, global markets.

The task of making America competitive throughout the
21st century is a job for all of us. By cultivating
innovation on our college and university campuses, we
can inspire the next generation of entrepreneurial
leaders. With the help of experienced entrepreneurs and
companies, and through events like Global
Entrepreneurship Week, which begins on November 14, we
can ensure our startups have access to the resources,
connections, and partnerships that will promote their
success. To encourage great ideas in all parts of our
country, our lending institutions, foundations, and
investors

can finance vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems that
extend to our rural and underserved communities. By
pooling our talents and investing in the creativity and
imagination of our people, we can move forward with the
spirit of hope and ambition that has defined our past
and will drive our Nation in the years to come.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim November 2011 as
National Entrepreneurship Month. I call upon all
Americans to commemorate this month with appropriate
programs and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
first day of November, in the year of our Lord two
thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.