Parker, a nationally syndicated columnist who is the founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Urban Renewal and 成人直播 (CURE), was the featured speaker Feb. 9 at the John H. Schnatter Center for Free Enterprise. Her talk, 鈥淯SA Should Embrace, Not Over-Regulate, Entrepreneurs,鈥� opened the center鈥檚 spring series on entrepreneurship. CURE is a nonprofit that promotes an agenda of traditional values, limited government and free markets to help low-income Americans transition from government dependency to economic independence.

鈥淵ou should be pretty thankful that you have a center at your campus to actually focus on these ideas,鈥� Parker told the audience at the PNC Horn Auditorium in the college鈥檚 Harry Frazier Hall.

The former welfare recipient said she started her own business as a way to refocus her life. She soon found herself immersed in what she called an 鈥渁lphabet soup鈥� of regulations and government agencies when all she was trying to do was 鈥渂uy a widget, sell a widget, and perhaps make a little money.鈥�

Small businesses, she said, are drowning in a sea of regulations.

鈥淧rosperity is fueled by entrepreneurs 鈥� unfettered by these meddling politicians,鈥� Parker said.

Entrepreneurs take considerable risk to start their businesses, she said, pointing to Apple Inc. as one example, and should not be penalized for earning money. 鈥淲hat entrepreneur would take the risk if politicians get to decide they are too wealthy?鈥� she asked.

Parker, noting聽that February is Black History Month, said the free enterprise system has been good for African American advancement, citing Uber as an example. Black drivers at Uber total 24 percent of the workforce, she said, and the company is in more than 400 cities worldwide, but regulations sought by competitors are increasingly threatening its聽business. These existing businesses have only three options, she said: adapt and change; go out of business; or try to destroy the innovation that is challenging their existence.

During a question-and-answer session, Parker said the way for entrepreneurs to stay relevant while bigger businesses are closing is to keep creating new ideas. Innovation is the key, she added, citing the example of newspapers becoming more local when they became threatened by the internet.

鈥淵ou want to keep moving forward,鈥� she said.

Afterward, she signed books and chatted with students and faculty. She is the author of “Uncle Sam’s Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America’s Poor and What We Can Do About It,” “Pimps, Whores and Welfare Brats: From Welfare Cheat to Conservative Messenger” and “White Ghetto: How Middle Class America Reflects Inner City Decay.”聽

The next speaker in the spring series is聽Bob Luddy, founder-president of commercial kitchen ventilation manufacturer , who will talk on,聽鈥淭he Entrepreneur: Servant of the User,鈥� on March 9.

聽The third and final event for spring is聽a March 30 panel discussion, 鈥淚nvestors & Entrepreneurs: Different Perspectives.鈥� The discussion will feature Christina Bechhold, co-founder and managing director of Empire Angels, an angel investment group, and Jennifer Williams, founder and CEO of stuffed pet replica maker and a graduate of UofL鈥檚 MBA program for entrepreneurs. The moderator will be UofL鈥檚 Suzanne Bergmeister, Entrepreneur in Residence and assistant director of the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship in the College of Business.

All events are free and will be held at 4:30 p.m. in PNC Horn Auditorium in the college鈥檚 Harry Frazier Hall.