Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, kicked off Global Entrepreneurship Week / USA in front of more than 1,400 entrepreneurs at the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum in Palm Springs, California, the largest gathering of high-growth companies in the country.

The forum -- featuring Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Co., and Sir Richard Branson, founder and chairman of Virgin Group Ltd. -- focused on the need to rediscover, reshape and reconnect in order to succeed in this economy.

After the GEW announcement, Schramm sat down with Ernst & Young CEO Jim Turley for an in-depth discussion of the proper role for government to play in promoting entrepreneurship. Joining that discussion were and a panel including: Francisco Sanchez,the Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade; Aneesh Chopra, the nation's first Chief Technology Officer; and, Renee Amoore, a Philadelphia-based entrepreneur.

The dynamics of the panel exposed themselves early as the entrepreneurs drove for answers on government tax policy and regulations. The needs of entrepreneurs were voiced, and through a range of different options Mr. Chopra and Mr. Sanchez worked to pull actionable solutions to their problems. Most definitive of all was the Technology office’s new “Open Government Initiative”, where entrepreneurs are encouraged to blog and discuss issues with each department in a constructive way to engage a dialogue outside the costly bounds of lobbyists and conferences.

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