NEW YORK, March 17, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the New York Chapter of the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO-NY) announced an unprecedented 187% increase in new members over the last year, as well as a 14% growth in overall membership. Despite the economic downturn, the chapter's success is attributed to many factors including its distinctive peer-to-peer learning program called Forum, and its award-winning series of expert learning events.
"This year we estimate that without assistance, more than 60 percent of new businesses will fail, 35 percent will remain steady and another 5 percent will thrive," said Matthew Weiss, president of EO-NY. "We believe entrepreneurs are flocking to EO-NY in these times to gain the experience, learning and support they can't get anywhere else. Business owners are really beginning to understand that sharing experiences -good, bad, personal or professional, with other entrepreneurs provides a competitive advantage over those who choose to go it alone."
According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), New York State is home to 1.8 million small business owners who bring in roughly $77 billion in revenue and 3.8 million jobs to the state each year. In 2008, EO members in New York City alone created thousands of jobs and generated over $1.3 billion in sales. Unlike the national trend, a recent EO-NY survey of small business owners revealed that:
- 49% believe their revenues will increase by Q2 2009
- 37% plan to hire new employees
- 47% have no plans to cut budgets
- While 72% of members feel the recession will stretch beyond Q2 2009, 69% are optimistic about the Obama administration's ability to help small business
Run "by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs," EO-NY is the largest chapter of the global organization and is made up of the city's most influential small business owners who run business from $1-50M in revenue. EO is not a networking group. In fact, solicitation among members is strongly prohibited. EO supports, educates and encourages entrepreneurs to succeed in building companies and growing themselves through:
- Forum: A 100% confidential advisory board made up of 6-12 EO members. Members may not give advice, instead they learn through verbalizing their issue before their peers, answering insightful questions and listening to other's similar experiences on business, personal and family matters. The Wall Street Journal recently recognized EO's forum paradigm as a unique and effective way for business leaders to address and solve problems.
- Chapter Learning Events: EO-NY attracts the highest-level experts from business, academic, cultural and public speaking spheres. Past speakers include Rachael Ray, Jack Welch and Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos.com). It is known for putting on the best business events in New York City and has garnered awards for its events three years in a row.
- Global Access: As a member of EO-NY, business owners have access to all of EO's 7,000 members in 38 countries as well as a host of international learning opportunities including: EO Universities, EO/MIT Entrepreneurial Masters Program, EO Family Adventure, Member2Member Exchange and the Healthnetwork Foundation.
"My previous jobs taught me how to create corporate videos, which led me to believe that starting a corporate video production company would come naturally," said Edward Bikales, CEO, Snippies. "After five years of headaches, I found EO and got the education no MBA could offer. Now with the down economy, it's comforting to know I have a reliable and knowledgeable group of entrepreneurs to turn to for help and support."
If you'd like to learn more about how EO-NY can help you not only survive, but also thrive, please visit www.eonyc.org or contact Victor Chan at membership@eonyc.org.
About the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO), New York Chapter
EO-NY is the largest chapter within the global Entrepreneurs' Organization of more than 7,000+ business owners. Founded in 1993, EO-NY is run by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs, and is made up of the city's most influential small business owners with $1-50M in revenue. The chapter has created 1,246 jobs and has generated over $1.3 billion in sales last year. For more information about EO-NY, visit www.eonyc.org
The Entrepreneurs' Organization - New York Chapter logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5995