Washington, DC - TechNet, the bipartisan political network of CEOs that promotes the growth of the innovation economy, today applauded the Obama Administration for its announcement of a new initiative to fortify the nation's economic future by encouraging more young people to study science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.

The campaign, called Educate to Innovate, announced today mainly focused on activities outside of the classroom. Specifically, the campaign enlists private companies, nonprofit groups and other groups to devote resources, time and volunteer hours to encourage students, especially in middle and high school, to pursue science, technology, engineering and math studies. TechNet and its member companies will be participating in a variety of activities as part of the program to raise awareness on the part of all Americans to the importance of STEM education.

"Since our founding roughly 10 years ago, TechNet has worked to support smart improvements in America's education system in order to better prepare our young people for the high skilled jobs of tomorrow," said Jim Hawley, Acting CEO of TechNet. "This important initiative is strongly supported by the innovation industry because better preparing our students in the STEM areas is our highest priority, and a national strategic and economic imperative. We look forward to continuing to work with the Administration and so many of our leaders from across the political spectrum who agree that this effort is critically important to our nation's future."

About TechNet:
TechNet is the national, bipartisan network of CEOs that promotes the growth of technology industries and the economy by building long-term relationships between technology leaders and policymakers and by advocating a targeted policy agenda. Our members are the nation's drivers of innovation in the fields of information technology, e-commerce, clean technology, biotechnology, venture capital and investment banking - representing two million employees and $800 billion in revenues. TechNet has offices in Washington, DC, Palo Alto, Sacramento, Seattle, Boston, Austin, and Albany, NY. Web address: www.technet.org. You can also follow us on Twitter at Technetupdate@twitter.

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