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TEC In The News
2009/10 - TEC Member: E&Y National Entrepreneur Finalist
Finalist in Ernst & Young
Entrepreneur national awards
October 24, 2009 12:00AM
The Australian
TEC Member JAMES Burnett, a maths teacher who ventured
into education publishing, says he is an educator first and an
entrepreneur second, despite making it to the finals of Ernst &
Young Entrepreneur national awards.
"I love my work in developing products that help teachers
deliver better outcomes. We're a specialist mathematics publisher;
we're educators running a business."
Convinced there was a better way to teach mathematics, Burnett
established Origo Education in 1997 to meet growing demand for
teacher professional development.
An industry leader in education publishing, Burnett says he was
not aiming to be in business at that time. "I wrote a series of
teacher reference books with my mentor (now business partner), Dr
Calvin Irons, in 1994.
"Working from home to publish and distribute the first books, we
-- eventually -- secured a big enough order for the US to employ a
handful of full-time staff. That's when the business was born."
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