The Ien Weekly Connection s7

------THE IEN WEEKLY CONNECTION ------August 7, 2006

In Today's Weekly Connection:

- Useful Website for IEN Counselors - Venture Capital Boom, Version 2.0? - Impact of Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts on Small Business - Homeland Defense Journal - Three Special Reports - Greater Illinois OSHA News - August - ASBDC Annual Conference

Useful Website for IEN Counselors The Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) has a growing collection of online entrepreneurship education resources on the STVP Educators Corner Web site: http://edcorner.stanford.edu. The newly- launched version of the site includes a fresh interface and over 1,000 resources, such as video clips, podcasts, presentations, and Web links. This website could have value for counselors throughout the Illinois Entrepreneurship Network.

Venture Capital Boom, Version 2.0? Things are going well in the venture capital industry. According to the latest MoneyTree figures from PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, the It’s been a very good year for both fundraising and for investing. Last week, the latest figures for the 2nd quarter of 2006 were published. They show that invested VC funds grew 2% in the 2nd quarter. While the dollar increases were not huge, there is some good news in these figures. Investment in early stage deals is growing, and investors are placing their funds in a diverse set of industries. Biotechnology, industrial/energy, and networking equipment were the leading sectors for new investment. Overall, VCs invested in $6.3 billion in 856 deals during the 2nd quarter. To get the latest PriceWaterhouse Coopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree reports, visit www.nvca.org. (This notice is provided by the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde.)

Impact of Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts on Small Business This report released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration examines the impact of government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) on small businesses. These stem from government reforms instituted in the 1990s designed to make federal procurement more timely and efficient, particularly in the area of information technology. The study finds that the creation of GWACs devoted exclusively to small businesses may have increased the small business GWAC dollar share by nearly one-third overall. Eagle Eye Publishers and Jack Faucett Associates wrote the study, "The Impact of Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts on Small Business," with funding from the Office of Advocacy. A copy of this report can be obtained at http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs279tot.pdf, and the research summary at http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs279.pdf. Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Radwan Saade at (202) 205-6533 or [email protected]

Homeland Defense Journal - Three Special Reports The Homeland Defense Journal announced the availability of three special reports with featured topics: Grants, State Survey Results & Pandemic Readiness Complimentary Copies are Available for download at www.homelanddefensejournal.com

Two-Part Special Report: Grants Handbook Guide to Medical Grants U.S. Pandemic Readiness 2006: Mid-Year Update. 2006: Grants to support and Results of Homeland Updated grants writing purchases of medical Defense Journal Survey of hints, tips, guidelines supplies, equipment and State Emergency Response and profiles 13 of the training. Includes profiles of 8 and Public Health 2006 homeland security medical grants programs. Executives grants programs. (20 Pages, PDF format, 1.5 MB size) (32 Pages, PDF format, 2 MB (23 Pages, PDF format, 1 size) MB size)

Greater Illinois OSHA News - August Attached to this week’s IEN Weekly Connection you will find the latest issue of the Greater Illinois OSHA Newsletter.

ASBDC Annual Conference The Association of Small Business Development Centers Annual Training Conference and Meeting will be held September 12-15, 2006 in Houston, TX. Please click on http://www.asbdc- us.org/26_Annual_Agenda.pdf to see the tentative agenda for this tremendous professional development opportunity. For additional information on the training topics offered at the Annual Conference please click on http://www.asbdc-us.org/WORKSHOPS_AS_OF_7-12-06.pdf. All Illinois Small Business Development Centers are strongly encouraged to participate in this exciting gathering of SBDCs from throughout the United States and its territories. If you are interested in participating please go to http://www.humanspan.com/secure/Fall_Conference_2006/Pre_Registration.aspx for registration information.

“Providing Guidance for Business Growth" ======The WEEKLY CONNECTION is distributed by the Illinois SBDC each Monday to the members of the DCEO Illinois Entrepreneurship Network to provide these service delivery partners with regular updates on small business issues, opportunities and resources. Please forward this update to any other interested resource providers and key stakeholders. www.ilsbdc.biz ======