The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has enlisted the Denver Metro Chamber and Colorado Springs-based Junior Achievement in a push to create 20 million jobs nationally — including 204,437 jobs in Colorado — over the next decade.
“Americans have a long history of coming together to tackle a problem,” said Tom Donohue, president and chief executive of the U.S. Chamber, on a visit to Denver on Monday.
The gathering, hosted by the Denver chamber, was part of a campaign called American Free Enterprise: Dream Big.
The campaign is focused on restoring the 7 million jobs lost during the recession and adding another 13 million to accommodate those coming into the workforce over the next decade.
“We, the people in free enterprise, are the job creators not the government,” Donohue told the crowd of business leaders. “Congress can help, but they can’t make it better.”
Uncertainty over health care reform, climate-change legislation, tax hikes and financial regulation are all leaving businesses reluctant to hire, Donohue said.
“We won’t see a lot of jobs added to the economy until the uncertainty goes away,” he said.
One focus on the campaign is to place business leaders in schools so they can educate students about entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
“We are saying, ‘Have a dream,’ ” Donohue said. “It is OK to have a dream.”
About half of high school students surveyed by Junior Achievement USA want to start their own business, said Jack Kosakowski, president of the group, which teaches students about entrepreneurship.
Kosakowski said the group is growing faster and is better received in places such as Russia, China and the Middle East than in the U.S.
“The great irony is that it is a hard sell in this country to talk about the spirit of entrepreneurship and free enterprise,” he said.
One key concern for the business groups is making sure students have the necessary skills for a changing economy. A drop-out rate of about three in 10 high school students in the U.S. and Colorado complicates that task.
“What does that portend for our future?” Donohue asked, while urging business leaders to become more involved.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com
