Publishing Company Chief to Deliver Keynote Address at UA’s Entrepreneurship Awards Banquet

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – F. Michael Reilly, president and chief executive officer of Randall-Reilly Publishing Co., will deliver the keynote address at a reception and award dinner Thursday, March 1, celebrating The University of Alabama’s Entrepreneurship Program’s Top 20 national ranking in Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Education.

The UA Entrepreneurship Programs are serving as the State Leadership Team for Alabama’s activities associated with the nationwide Entrepreneurship Week U.S.A. that will take place Feb.24-March 3.

The Alabama theme for the week is: Entrepreneurship Week USA; “Alabama, from Vision to Reality.”

Before being named president and CEO in 2002, Reilly served as president and chief operating officer since 1984 and prior to that he was president and publisher of both Overdrive and Equipment World magazines and vice president of sales and marketing for the company.

In 1994, he directed a major reorganization of the company. Under his direction, the company now has gross revenues of more than $65 million annually, with 350 associates in 20 states.

David M. Ford, clinical professor and Sam Walton Fellow in the department of management and marketing at UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce, said the reception and award dinner will recognize winners in several areas of competition, including elevator pitch and minority business plan competition. Two “Entrepreneur of the Year” awards will be given, for social entrepreneur and young entrepreneur, and outstanding entrepreneurship educators will be honored.

The national theme for the week is ‘What’s Your Big Idea? Take it On!” Official events are being planned in cities across the county, culminating in Washington, D.C, where the focus will be on the importance of policy to the nation’s entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship Week USA is sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and by government, not-for-profit organizations and businesses, including The New York Times and Inc. magazine. Additionally, the House of Representatives noted the importance of entrepreneurship education by enacting a Resolution (HR 699) in early June in support of a national entrepreneurship week.

Entrepreneurship is a driving force of the U.S. economy. During the past 15 years, businesses less than five years old have accounted for about 70 percent of the net job creation in the United States. Alabama was ranked No. 4 on the “Hot Cities for Entrepreneurs” list last year, and several state cities are highly ranked. Mobile is No. 1 among midsize cities, with Birmingham coming in at No. 3.

Auburn-Opelika was No. 1 among small cities followed by Huntsville, No. 19; Montgomery, No. 25; Decatur, No. 39; and Florence, No. 63.

Hispanicbusiness.com ranks Alabama No. 4 in “Best States for Small Business,” and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council ranks Alabama No. 4 as having the best tax and regulatory climate for entrepreneurs.