Local Start-Up SPEAK SHOP a Finalist in PBS NOW Project Enterprise Contest

Contest recognizes emerging social entrepreneurs using business practices to solve major world problems

Final Contest winner decided by public voting through October 31st. http://www.pbs.org/now/enterprisingideas/poll.html

Beaverton, OR ---October 16, 2007--- Speak Shop, www.speakshop.com, a pioneer in fair trade online language tutoring via webcam, has been selected as a finalist in the Project Enterprise Contest, a project of NOW on PBS.

The contest highlights social entrepreneurs addressing social problems through business tools and practices. More than 100 people were nominated for the Project Enterprise Contest, including entrants from New Zealand, South Africa, and Latvia.

Speak Shop is one of four finalists selected by a panel of experts in the field of social entrepreneurship to compete for the final public voting. NOW will chronicle the winner through video, a blog and podcasts, giving a behind the scenes look at the life of a social entrepreneur. Voting is taking place until October 31st at http://www.pbs.org/now/enterprisingideas/poll.html

The winner will be announced in early November.

About Speak Shop
Speak Shop was founded in 2004 to increase access to cross-cultural foreign language education and to generate economic opportunity for people in developing countries. People around the world use Speak Shop to take live Spanish lessons by videoconferencing online. For more details visit http://www.speakshop.com.

About Project Enterprise
Project Enterprise was created by NOW on PBS and funded by the Skoll Foundation to feature individuals and companies using business tools to tackle major social problems. To qualify for the contest nominees were required to meet several guidelines:
1. Have identified a solution to a pressing social problem.
2. Have developed an innovative project that is in the initial stages of implementation.
3. Will be employing business plan strategies to ensure program financial sustainability; e.g, an earned income stream, investors, private donors, etc.
4. Have developed a program model that is replicable, scaleable and has potential to lead to widespread pattern change


Media Contact:
Cindy Cooper
267-295-2862
cindy (at) speakshop . com
www.speakshop.com