Girl Scouts of the USA Co-Sponsors USHCC ‘Bizfest’.

For the first time Girl Scouts of the USA hosted the nation’s top young Latino entrepreneurs at this week’s United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation National “BizFest” business training and scholarship competition. Business training sessions will utilize Girl Scout financial literacy materials during the event at the Hilton Hotel in Austin, Texas, Friday September 16-18. The event is held during USHCC’s 25th Annual National Convention & Business Expo. The Girl Scouts are co-sponsors of the annual event along with the Ford Motor Company Fund, Sprint, UPS Foundation, Dell Corporation, Gillette, and various other co-sponsors.

“It is our privilege to bring Girl Scout business, technology, and financial literacy resources to this year’s Bizfest and inspire Latino youth with the spirit of entrepreneurship and new possibilities for the future,” said Kathy Cloninger, CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA.

Having excelled at the regional level, the talented young aspiring entrepreneurs will come together in Austin for the intensive three-day training, where they will learn key business techniques for turning hobbies into profit-making ventures. “BizFest” participants will learn how to establish entrepreneurial and leadership goals, create plans for business and life, become effective leaders and team players, network in business environments, identify investment opportunities, manage their money, and make public presentations. On the final day, they will present their business ideas to a panel of judges.

“The USHCC Foundation is honored to provide Latino youth with substantive and positive alternatives for life preparation and a learning process that will help them acquire critical thinking and life-long learning skills by participating in this year’s BizFest,” said Frank Lopez, president of the USHCC Foundation. “Each participant is a winner, because no matter what the outcome, they will all have gained valuable skills and received hands-on business training.”