THE AMERICAN CONSULATE GENERAL
HAMILTON, BERMUDA
                                                                                                                  
Embargoed until June 13, 2006

Speech of US Consul General Gregory W. Slayton to The Bermuda Branch of the Institute of Directors - July 13, 2006

Youth’s Promise and the Business Community

When asked to make the keynote address at the AGM of the Institute of Directors, I was given great flexibility of topics, with the proviso that I focus on something of interest to the business people who are members of the Institute. The idea was posited, for example, that I speak on how I built a number of successful high tech businesses in Silicon Valley.  But in reality, I’m not sure how interesting that would be to anyone. What is more useful, in my mind, is to discuss with this august group an issue that is of utmost importance to all of us, namely how to help ensure that our young people – both in Bermuda and the United States - fulfill their potential as law-abiding, productive and successful members of society.

With that focus in mind, I would like to discuss with you today three inter-related issues: the importance of education, entrepreneurship and the rule of law.  I think we all recognize the singular importance of education in raising happy, healthy and successful adults. We see it every day – those destined for success are those who have had the opportunity to benefit from a firm foundation at school. As an article in the Financial Times stated recently, “If we are to have enterprise in our boardrooms, it must start in our classrooms…schools motivate young people and challenge them to achieve greater heights.”

Sadly, providing a consistently high quality public education for ALL of our students is a real challenge both here and in the United States.  That is no secret. All of us, including educational professionals, need to face the fact that educational bureaucracies in both countries are failing some of our children – especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is of great concern both here and in the US that we are shortchanging some members of the next generation by providing substandard education opportunities for them. This is neither fair nor just to these children nor is it, in the long run, good for the general economy of our respective countries. 

Of course it is much easier to talk about this problem than it is to fix it. But I have long been amazed at the power of innovation and entrepreneurship that is unleashed when human beings are forced to effectively serve one another through the system that we know of as the free enterprise system. Look at the incredible improvements in products and services – and the corresponding decrease in costs – that have been unleashed in sector after sector: from consumer electronics to health care to telephony – all by allowing providers to compete with each other to offer the very best products or services at the lowest cost to their clients – otherwise known as John Q Public, alias you and me.

And not only do we as consumers benefit, society as a whole benefits as poorly run and inefficient companies are forced by the irresistible power of market forces to either improve – or to free up its human and financial assets for the use of other more efficient organizations (we call that going out of business – and it is the ultimate fate of any private sector organization that refuses or is unable to effectively serve it clients).

It is of great interest to me that so many parents of school age children here in Bermuda send their children to private schools – even those for whom private school tuitions are a very serious financial burden. This is, in one sense, the private sector speaking again – as clients (i.e. Mom and Dad) make decisions about where to invest their own resources for the benefit of their children.

But what about the kids who don’t have those advantages? What of them? While I do not have any magic bullet solution to offer you today – I would be willing to bet a large sum that the solution to the US – and Bermuda’s – educational issues will come via the effective incorporation of the best elements of the free market (i.e. competition, choice and innovation all focused on the client) into the educational systems of both countries.

Reading, writing, math and sciences – and of course the all important skill of self-discipline – are some of the most important and fundamental skills taught at school. Learning what it means to commit to a goal and set of objectives is invaluable training for the real world.  Beyond such training, however, know-how in business matters for those who show an entrepreneurial spirit can be very helpful and may, in fact, launch an interest in business that will last a lifetime.

That is where the Young Enterprise Program – in which the Bermuda Branch of the Institute of Directors is involved – comes in.  By adding real-life, practical experience to classroom time, the Young Enterprise Program offers the perfect opportunity to stimulate the mind and imagination of budding business professionals while endowing them with the basic skills necessary to succeed in the corporate world.  Professor Peter Rosa at Edinburgh University put it this way, “These sorts of programs are a fantastic way to raise confidence in young people, who are actually quite entrepreneurial naturally.  It allows them to test the waters of the business world without taking real risk.  It can only be a good thing.”

Of course, businesses thrive only when operating under the rule of law – a condition that is fundamental to any democratic society.  For those of us lucky enough to live in a democracy, the rule of law is something that we often take for granted. Yet in my career, I have lived in places where the rule of law has broken down, where basic freedoms have been curtailed or lost. It is shocking how quickly a society can lose its way and how entrepreneurial spirit can be eroded to the detriment of an entire society.

In a world that has shrunk as communication has burgeoned, in a world where corporate giants have exhibited the worst in corporate conduct, it is even more critical that business be run according to the rule of law.  It is, really, the pillar that supports life as we know it  in Bermuda and in the United States We in the corporate world owe it to our children to model honest and forthright behavior, both in our personal lives and in our business dealings.  We fail the next generation when we do otherwise.

Youth development is one of my passions, both as a businessman and a parent. There can be no higher calling for a parent than working to develop healthy young people and healthy families.  There can be no higher calling for an executive than guiding emergent business men and women in the direction of creating a vigorous and lawful corporate sector in their turn.  I salute the Bermuda chapter of the Institute of Directors for taking a leadership role in doing just that.