Young men and women intrigued by entrepreneurship can learn more about it during Global Entrepreneurship Week, November 17 to 23. 

The worldwide initiative is designed to inspire, connect, inform, mentor and engage the next generation of entrepreneurs, defined as people under 30 years old.

More than 60 countries around the world have signed on as participants. During the week, a series of events will be held on international, national and local levels. Activities will include invention competitions, entrepreneurship film festivals, networking events, school-based activities and local entrepreneurship summits.

While global in scope, at its heart the week is a local initiative reflecting the customs and entrepreneurial culture of each community. After all, what works in Boise, Idaho might be quite different from what works in Bangalore, India. For example, the Netherlands is launching its version of the week from the floor of Euronext, and Chile is planning a 10K race.

Global Entrepreneurship Week was initiated by the Kauffman Foundation in the U.S. and Make Your Mark in the United Kingdom. Global sponsors are Ernst & Young, IBM and NYSE.

For more information, visit the website. --Eve Gumpel

Imagine being the best in the world at something you love. Or being acclaimed as the greatest of all time. That's what Michael Phelps has achieved--becoming the greatest Olympian after winning eight gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It all adds up to 14 career gold medals for Phelps. Many are calling him the greatest swimmer of all time.

Entrepreneurs could take a page from Phelps' book when it comes to dedication. To become a focused swimmer, he had to channel his ADHD, for which he took Ritalin as a child. After losing an Olympic event in 2000, at the age of 15, he immediately began training to improve. He swims 50 miles a week and consumes 12,000 calories daily to keep up his almost super-human strength.

That's how many people are defining him: super-human. "He is just a normal person, but maybe from a different planet," Russia 's Alexander Sukhorukov said after Russia placed second to the United States in the 800-meter freestyle relay Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

The AP reported that another swimmer offered his coach an alternate theory about Phelps' greatness: He's a superior swimmer from the future who traveled back in time to swim off the charts in Beijing.

Many a would-be entrepreneur has had a daydream similar to that scenario: "If only I could be a time traveler, I'd go back, invest in Google and have tons of money for a startup now."

But wouldn't it be so much better to instead think, "What can I do now that will put me in that place in four or five years?"

That's the attitude that took Phelps up a steady ladder of success from the games in 2000, to four yeas ago at the 2004 Athens Games, where he won six gold medals, to today.

The world needs entrepreneurs just as it needs Olympians--both inspire and drive people to be better at what they do. Now is the time to think up your own Olympic-sized regimen. --Elizabeth Wilson

Self-made billionaire Bill Bartmann, an entrepreneur who started seven different businesses, is launching a resource guide aimed at keeping business owners from failing during an economic recession.

At a cost of $100-per-year, business owners or would-be entrepreneurs get access to tips ranging from "what business should you be in" and "how to expand your business" to "basic steps to borrowing money."

More than 30 tutorials presented by Bartmann come with the package. Lecture topics include:

• How to write a clearly defined objective. Determine what you want to accomplish and how to propose a business plan.
• How to write a clear marketing plan. Who will buy, why they'll buy and how they'll find out you even exist.
• How to reduce operational expenses and increase your marketing budget proportionally. Learn how to get a higher return for money spent.

For more information, please visit www.billionaireu.com. --Elizabeth Wilson

If meeting your tax obligations is--well, taxing--you might be interested in a bi-weekly newsletter the IRS is distributing. IRS' e-News for Small Businesses addresses such topics as upcoming tax dates for small business, reminders and tips to assist with tax compliances, plus links to websites and resources.

To subscribe, click here.

The IRS distributes several other newsletters, including IRS Tax Tips and Retirement News for Employers. For a list of newsletters, click here.

About 2 million workers across the United States receive a 70-cent hike in their federal minimum wage Thursday, from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour, according to the Associated Press. It's the second in a three-tiered increase as part of a law passed in 2007. Next year the federal minimum will climb to $7.25 per hour.

Small businesses may choose to pass the cost of the increased wages on to consumers, according to the AP, while many businesses already pay more than the lowest wage.

The federal increase won't catch up with the 23 states that have a higher minimum. Experts say next year 5 million workers will see a boost because $7.25 will meet or exceed their states' minimum. --Elizabeth Wilson

Federal investigators from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released reports Wednesday indicating that millions of dollars intended for small businesses were misallocated due to a weak application process in a SBA program. A Congressional hearing on the investigation is taking place today.

GAO investigators claim the SBA's Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program, intended to boost small businesses in economically depressed areas with federal contracts, allowed wealthy, unqualified businesses to commit fraud and abuse the program.

GAO's six-month investigation into HUBZone, created in 1997, reveals that SBA rarely makes site visits and doesn't verify facts on applications it receives. According to GAO, it was able to obtain HUBZone certification for four false business firms it created to test the soundness of the application process. 

The report states that since 2006, federal agencies gave more than $105 million to these firms that were acting as primary contractors on federal contracts.

The House Committee on Small Business hearing on the investigation takes place today, in Washington, DC. SBA Acting Administrator Jovita Carranza, GAO Director William Shear and Managing Director of GAO's Forensics Audits and Special Investigations Gregory Kutz will participate as witnesses. --Elizabeth Wilson

President Bush announced Wednesday his decision to appoint Sandy Baruah (bah-roo-ah) as head of the SBA. The decision came as somewhat of a surprise, as the acting administrator was expected to remain in charge until the end of Bush's term. It will be up to Bush's successor to determine whether to keep Baruah in the spot or nominate a new candidate.

If approved by the Senate, Baruah would replace Steven Preston, who was recently confirmed as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Jovita Carranza, the SBA's second-in-command as the deputy administrator, has been the agency's interim head.

Baruah is an assistant secretary of commerce. It's not yet known how the move will affect small businesses, but Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chair of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, says he plans to review Baruah's record carefully to make sure he fits the job.

"The next administrator at the SBA must be ready to offer creative solutions for the current credit crunch, implement programs that will actually help women and minorities gain access to federal contracts and loans, and make sure that small firms have access to counseling and training to grow their businesses in this tough economic climate," Kerry says in a written statement. --Elizabeth Wilson

You've got to love networking on Facebook--its 21 million users do--and now small businesses can get some advertising on the site for free, according to the Associated Press.

Small-business owners should know that the behemoth San Francisco-based Visa is investing in networking, and becoming one of Facebook's 24,000-plus applications already added to the site in the past 13 months.

Visa Business Network debuted Tuesday on Facebook, and the first 20,000 small businesses in the United States that join will be given $100 in advertising credit to use on the site. That adds up to $2 million worth of free advertising Visa will pump into the small business world.

The hang-out site that still has leaps and bounds to go to prove its advertising worth gets the powerful hand of Visa marketing added to its resume in the new business network's launch.

There, entrepreneurs can swap virtual business cards, connect with the 80,000-plus small business owners already on Facebook and even seal business deals.

One of the interactive elements provided by the network includes a Q&A feature headed by five of Entrepreneur's expert columnists who are there to offer solutions to small businesses. --Elizabeth Wilson

According to this blog posting on Washingtonpost.com, the number of small-business loans less than $1 million increased by 15 percent from June 2006 to June 2007. The "Small Business and Micro Business Lending in the United States for Data Years 2006-2007" report found that a total of 8,633 institutions made 24.5 million loans values at $685 billion, compared to about 21 million loans totaling $634 billion the prior year. In addition, the SBA's Office of Advocacy reported that loans with a value of $100,000 to $1 million increased by about 32 percent.

What's the biggest concern for small businesses these days? According to a national survey released by the National Association for the Self-Employed, it's access to health care.

"The baker, the house painter, and the 20 million other micro-businesses in the U.S. are struggling to survive in this economy," says Kristie Darien, executive director of the legislative office of the NASE. "These businesses could be further threatened if we can't find a way to make insurance more affordable."

The survey, which polled about 4,000 micro-businesses, showed that high cost stopped small businesses from offering health insurance and thus put them at a disadvantage to larger businesses. Here are some survey highlights:

• About 67 percent of respondents said they have personal health insurance coverage, a notable increase from the 54.9 percent who reported the same in 2005.
• Of the more than 46 percent of responding businesses offering health insurance, only 18.6 percent offer coverage for full-time employees, compared to 46.2 percent in 2005.
• One in 10 respondents spent 25 percent or more of their gross revenue on health insurance, compared to 10.1 percent in 2005.

This week, the Bush administration ordered all companies doing business with the federal government to begin ensuring their employees can work legally in the U.S. According to this Los Angeles Times article, the order will require thousands of firms to use E-Verify, a government system, to verify workers' Social Security numbers. Until now, use of the system has been voluntary for private firms, but mandatory for government agencies.

"The policy, which initially applied to new hires, eventually could affect millions of federal contract workers nationwide whose jobs range from serving cafeteria food to launching NASA spacecraft," Los Angeles Times staff writer Nicole Gaouette wrote.

Though some groups embrace E-Verify as a way to expose illegal workers, others criticize it since errors in the database could potentially lead to red-flagging legal residents. Right now, E-Verify is being used by more than 69,000 companies, with approximately 1,000 additional firms signing up weekly.

Some business executives worry this new requirement could hurt them financially in the long run.

"There's concern about increased costs and delays in hiring brought about by inaccuracies in the database," said Neal J. Couture, executive director of the National Contract Managers Association.

If you're wondering how the economic stimulus package can help you grow and expand your business, check out SBA's new tax savings resource center. The website includes a fact sheet with a clear explanation of small business tax benefits gained from the package, in addition to a depreciation calculator and an online seminar.

The economic stimulus package includes the following tax incentives for businesses:

• A 50 percent bonus depreciation allowance on equipment purchased and placed in service in calendar 2008.
• An almost 100 percent increase in the amount that a business can expense for equipment purchased and placed in the business tax year beginning in 2008 (from $128,000 to $250,000).

"The stimulus package is designed to spur the economy by putting money back into the pockets of American workers and encouraging small businesses to invest and expand," SBA acting administrator Jovita Carranza said. "However, many small-business owners are unaware of how it can boost their bottom line. In the roundtables I held with dozens of small-business owners last week on tax policy, many were amazed to learn how much their companies could benefit from the temporary tax incentives in the package."

Several weeks ago, we blogged about the nomination of Steven Preston, current SBA Administrator, to become the next Housing and Urban Development secretary. Late Wednesday, the Senate confirmed the appointment by unanimous voice vote.

Preston replaces Alphonso Jackson, who resigned in March amidst allegations of political favoritism in awarding contracts. SBA Deputy Administrator, Jovita Carranza, will automatically replace Preston when he's sworn in as HUD secretary.

The winner of the Greater Los Angeles Regional Youth Business Plan Competition, Evelyn Espinoza, proves there's no such thing as the "right age to start a business." According to the Los Angeles Times , 17-year-old Espinoza has been a practicing entrepreneur since age 8. With the guidance of NFTE (National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship) classes, she now talks about her candle business with savvy and enthusiasm. Second place winners Autumn Taylor, 18, and Ariana Drummond, 18, started a smoothie business and also seem confident in their entrepreneurial skills. They have even trained classmates to maintain the business when they attend college this fall.

For Espinoza, however, it doesn't look like she'll be hanging up the towel anytime soon: "I really see big things for this business," she says. "I'm just getting going."--Whitney Chen

Today, the Senate approved a $101 million budget increase for small business programs implemented by the SBA. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) worked with leaders of the Budget Committee to secure the increase. According to this release, the budget will go toward funding Small Business Development Centers, Women's Business Centers, microloans, contracting assistance, veterans outreach programs and technical assistance programs.