Welcome to our website! This is a place we can meet to gain and exchange information, share our stories, successes and needs, and continue our Investment In Individual Improvement-another aspect of the four i's. I'm excited to have been given the privilege of working with each of you-area educators, business leaders, member companies, experts, service providers-who valiantly invest time, talent and money for the positive future of our children, area and nation.

According to the Ohio Council on Economic Education, "Our understanding of economics determines not only how we vote on economic issues, but also how we manage our own and our family's economic affairs. Yet, only a fraction of all high school and college graduates - the potential decision-makers of our nation - possess even an elementary knowledge of economic concepts and reasoning... .Inadequate economic education is a serious national problem...which vitally effects every segment of our society..."

The OCEE goes on to note that of 15,000 junior high students, only 23 percent could identify a simple description of the capitalist system, only 50 percent could differentiate between the economies of the US and the USSR, and that only one in seven Americans understands the interrelationship of business, labor and investors in the economic system.

In our region especially, each person involved in changing these statements from being the 'norm' to becoming 'exceptions' has a mammoth task. Our area's profoundly changed workforce availabilities and needs combined with area school financial changes and new educational requirements leave many school systems with barely enough money to do what's required, much less what's practically needed to enable students to move into the economic-ruled world they face the moment they walk out of education's protective doors. Teachers and schools must concentrate efforts and expenditures on mandated lesson requirements, or on solving the most urgent problems, and so have little time or funding to branch into other areas or to expand curriculum.

We consider the iiii a first-line offense at changing minds and perceptions - and a first and crucial step to insure that economic education becomes part of the useful vocabulary and understanding of teachers and students in our area. Our young people today are our voters and decision-makers of tomorrow: we must give them knowledge and tools to be able to start a business, work effectively in one, or help run one effectively whether they attend college or not. Our goal is to link all available educational entities, business and any other available resource to provide very cost-effective education to promote an understanding of the Free Enterprise System through the educational community; and we make the educational community aware of the needs of regional business. We are business education for the next generation, using business to help train youth for business.

We hope that our new website will be an effective and efficient tool to help achieve our goals and to help build a large, interactive communication network. We'd like to have your input as to other information you'd like to see on the site. We are planning a new site with downloadable program and workshop lists (and soon, downloadable workshop registration forms), current and archived Newsletters (and we'd like to have your newsletter links to add to the site), our own slide show, news and events, new links, maps (with more to be added), our new 'little i' critters wearing their unique hats, and with more info and features on the way.

Special thanks to Youngstown State University for hosting the site and the YSU Public Service Institute for providing the human resources for the site creation. Website, "i" people, and logo updates created by Carol Trube, Data Manager, YSU Center for Urban and Regional Studies.

I'm excited about our website, about upcoming workshops and projects, about the upcoming Annual Meeting and teachers to be honored, about working with everyone involved in these projects in any way, and with the many and positive possibilities to help make a brighter future for our youth. I look forward to this new beginning and new year, and to how much we can achieve when we link together as one.