As a part of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation's Gilson Series for Entrepreneurs, Dr. Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, spoke at the Fluno Center Tuesday.

Schramm, who holds a graduate and doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin, as well as a law degree from Georgetown University, emphasized the power of entrepreneurship in the world economy to University of Wisconsin students and alumni throughout his lecture.

He said Ewing Marion Kauffman, the late founder of the Kauffman Foundation, wanted the foundation to invest in preparing kids to become entrepreneurs through education.

Schramm stated although there are negative connotations associated with entrepreneurs, they do many beneficial things for society.

"[Entrepreneurs] advance the welfare of human families by detecting opportunities to make goods and services people need and want," Schramm said in his lecture. "[They] create jobs because they're interested in scaled growth."

Scaled economic growth is one of the many things entrepreneurs strive for in their work, he said, even though their primary motives may be different.

According to Schramm, social entrepreneurs are focused on bettering humankind, while "financial entrepreneurs are motivated principally by personal financial goals."

He added although some financial entrepreneurs end up working only for their personal benefit, in a sense, "all entrepreneurs are social entrepreneurs" because "every entrepreneur sets out to improve humankind."

Although financial entrepreneur and creator of the Wal-Mart chain, Sam Walton, is seen by many as a threat to small business, Schramm argued "enormous positive things have come from Sam Walton."

He said Wal-Mart's low prices allow lower-income families to buy more for less, therefore improving the overall standard of living.

With the success of entrepreneurships such as Wal-Mart, Schramm said the economy has undergone a variety of transformations.

"The general economy has changed rather radically in the past 30 years," he said.

Schramm also said the frequency of entrepreneurs starting their own businesses has been recently increasing at a high rate.

"It is so common to start a new firm in the U.S. It will happen to almost everyone," Schramm said. "It's almost as common as having a baby or getting married."

In correlation with the "emergence of the new economy," which includes the increasing rate of emerging business firms, Schramm said that "the demand for charitable action has changed rather radically."

"We used to worry about the sufficiency of nutrition for the poor," he said. "We now worry about obesity in the poor."

Looking past the economy's current improvements, Schramm asserted that entrepreneurs of the world must continue to work to "apply our still-scarce resources in the most optimal ways to advance human welfare."

Attendees differed in their knowledge of entrepreneurship, but all attained valuable knowledge from Schramm's lecture.

UW sophomore Tyler Ulbrich maintained an optimistic outlook of the effects of entrepreneurs on the economy.

"I think social entrepreneurship shows the great possibilities of a capitalistic society," he said. "I feel that sometimes people forget that entrepreneurship can benefit the society, rather than only the entrepreneur."