November 06, 2008

Seventy students from California State University, Fresno and Central Valley community colleges are traveling to Chicago for the Collegiate Entrepreneur’s Organization (CEO) National Conference Nov. 6 to 8.

The annual conference brings together university clubs and more than 1,200 students, faculty and the public. Entrepreneurs and business leaders will share their ideas and expertise with students on how they launched their businesses, lessons they've learned and where they are today.

Students will participate in breakout sessions, speaker presentations and workshops. Bryce Majors, president of CEO, Fresno, said members from the Fresno State chapter will speak on panels during the sessions.

Three students from Fresno State will compete in CEO’s National Elevator Pitch Competition, where they will pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges in the amount of time it takes to ride up an elevator, or about 90 seconds. They will have the opportunity to win cash prizes up to $2,500.

The Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State is a key sponsor for the CEO clubs on the various campuses and has provided a portion of funding for the students to attend the conference. Students did fundraising to come up with the rest of the money.

For more information contact Genelle Taylor at genellet@csufresno.edu or 559.347.6832.