KANSAS CITY, Mo. – This year, EntrepreneurshipWeek USA is from Feb. 24 to March 3.

EntrepreneurshipWeek USA is designed to engage America’s youth, entrepreneurs, educators and community leaders all across the country to celebrate the power of entrepreneurship and to stir up the nation’s consciousness about the importance of being entrepreneurial.

KCSourceLink, which is one of the sponsors of EntrepreneurshipWeek USA, is beginning to put plans in place to showcase the Kansas City region during this week.

KCSourceLink is a program of the Institute of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. It is funded by Kansas City’s Kauffman Foundation. The program aims to help small businesses in the 18-county Kansas City region grow by providing companies with free and easy access to the help they need.

KCSourceLink works to facilitate the linking of resource organizations to one another and to established, emerging and start-up small businesses throughout the greater Kansas City region by providing a wide range of business-related services.

Some 200 universities will engage students to embrace their entrepreneurial spirit during EntrepreneurshipWeek USA and inspire them to take on their big ideas. The weeklong event will encourage students to think about how they can apply creative and innovative thinking in their coursework today and as they transition into their careers.

No matter their field of study, EntrepreneurshipWeek USA events will reach out to thousands of students. Young people will have opportunities to interpret what entrepreneurship means to them as individuals and to follow their passions outside the academic world.

As an EntrepreneurshipWeek USA partner, KCSourceLink has its finger on the pulse of a plethora of activities in Kansas City and the surrounding communities.

Tapping into its network of 140 non-profit resource organizations that provide business-building services for small businesses, KCSourceLink is engaging a wide array of community organizations including a seminar in conjunction with the Kauffman Foundation’s entrepreneurial training course called FastTrac.

“EntrepreneurshipWeek USA will ignite the entrepreneurial spark for thousands of young Americans,” said Kauffman Foundation CEO Carl Schramm. “We are proud to be part of this celebration and to support the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

The Kauffman Foundation touts itself as the world’s leading foundation for entrepreneurship. It is committed to making Kansas City the best place for entrepreneurs of all ages, races and backgrounds to start and grow a business.

In the recently published book “The Entrepreneurial Imperative” by Schramm, he asserts the premise that Americans have no idea about the underlying secret that drives our nation’s economic success. For this country to endure and maintain its lead in the global economy, he says it is essential that we learn to comprehend that secret.

What, according to Schramm, is the secret that has led the U.S. to have the world’s strongest economy? He says it’s our unrivaled aptitude as entrepreneurs. What makes a person an entrepreneur? As standardized tests don’t reveal entrepreneurial characteristics, how do know if you are one?

Unlike other people, entrepreneurs have a great deal of energy, vision and especially passion.

According to the book “The Hypomanic Edge” by Johns Hopkins professor John Gartner, he says “entrepreneurs often seem driven [and] hyped up almost like religious zealots. They believe they have been called to save the world and make a lot of money in the process.”

Johns Hopkins professor Kay Redfield Jamison wrote a cerebral book entitled “Exuberance” that explains a personality type that seems particularly fitting to entrepreneurs. Jamison finds that entrepreneurs tend to be perpetually optimistic. She says they continually see the proverbial glass as half full and their ongoing optimism leads to opportunity.

Since the KCSourceLink events during EntrepreneurshipWeek USA aim to provide students with opportunities to allow them to embrace their passions, the breadth of ideas these young people can generate should prove to be impressive and inspiring.

Unwavering passion among a start-up’s founders is essential for a fledgling operation to have a fighting chance at success. The absence of this genuine passion is the kiss of death for a start-up. So-called entrepreneurs who aren’t extremely passionate about their endeavors are not actually entrepreneurs in the true sense.

I was recently called in on a consulting project by the CEO of a new media start-up in Missouri who wanted me to provide strategic marketing expertise. The CEO was a bright and energetic M.B.A. in his 30s who had spent the last several years working his way up the ranks at Sprint in Kansas City.

However, this was his first time running a company and trying to get a start-up off the ground.

During one of my early meetings with the company, I sensed a lack of passion on the part of the CEO as if he was just robotically going through the motions. He later asked me for my opinion on why he couldn’t motivate his team to work 70-hour weeks like he did.

I explained to him that he didn’t appear passionate about what he was doing. His enthusiasm seemed forced and wasn’t infectious among the company’s employees. The CEO became angry and very defensive. He exclaimed: “I’m going to get rich one way or another. I don’t care if it’s making toothpicks!”

That being said, I knew this company didn’t stand a chance.

True entrepreneurs want to change the world. They become almost single-minded in focus and feel compelled to accomplish things like increasing the quality of life, to right a wrong or to prevent the end of something good. Yes, they hope to make a fortune in the process of providing unique products and services.

The entrepreneurial spirit is about big ideas. It’s about creativity and innovation. It’s about passion. It’s not about making toothpicks.