Congratulations are in order for this year’s high school graduating class. Graduation from high school is a milestone in everyone’s life. This completes your general education from kindergarten in grade school to senior in high school. All of us who finished high school can recall the joy we experienced walking across the stage to receive our diploma. We remember the genuine friendships we developed and the teachers who taught and encouraged us. I want to encourage all those who are graduating this year to take this opportunity and enjoy it to the fullest. Have a blast at your prom, have fun at your graduation party and enjoy your final summer as a high school student. Last but not least, I want to welcome this year’s graduating class to “The Real World.”

Business series

JUNE 3—The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will host their Business Program Series at 12:15-1 p.m. at the Downtown & Business branch, 612 Smithfield St. The topic is “Thinking About Starting Your Own Business? Realities and Advice for the New Entrepreneur.” Joyce Pearl of SCORE Counselors to America’s Small Businesses will discuss the forms needed to start a business in Pennsylvania, where to look for outside financing, the reasons for a written business plan and answers to frequently asked questions before beginning a new business venture. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 412-281-7141.

(NNPA)—The sayings “Now or never,” “Today is the first day of the rest of your life” and “Getting on with your life’s work” implies a career transition for an individual in which he exploits his achievements and experiences to date. This is often true of successful entrepreneurs. It is the rare entrepreneur who starts a business as his first job.

The forces driving such transitions come from many sources. In the case of the former athletes featured here, it was the inevitability of the end of their football careers. Others start businesses because they believe in the opportunity represented by a product or an idea. For others, still, unemployment may be a factor.

If small businesses are the harbinger of economic recovery, then western Pennsylvania shows clear signs of hope. That was the message African American Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Doris Carson Williams had for those attending the chamber’s May 19 annual meeting and luncheon.

BIG BUSINESS —Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg warns that attempts to tax large nonprofits like Pitt could cripple the only growing business sector in the region.

“For the chamber, the good news is that we grew our membership by 7 percent,” she told the 500 guests in the Omni William Penn ballroom. “The bad news is we lost 4 percent, and they were in the small capacity business category. But our new members are larger firms, and several existing members have increased their capacity and membership levels.”