The third annual Entrepreneurial Extravaganza continues today from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. along the second floor windows of the Student Center and in the Kiva.

The extravaganza began as a way to create awareness about entrepreneurialism across the campus, said Julie Messing, director of the Center for Entrepreneurialship and Business Innovation. The first year, 500 people registered, and it’s grown from there.

She said online registration for this year totaled about 750 people. The extravaganza, a two-day event, ends today.

Although registration has closed, Messing stressed people can still attend the workshops and networking events, peruse the internship fair and listen to guest speakers. Virginia Albanese, president of FedEx Custom Critical, will give a keynote address from 10:15 to 11:30 a.m. in the Kiva.

Messing said she thinks the extravaganza will be especially beneficial to students this year because of the economy.

“In reading a lot of today’s newspapers, more and more establishments in the mall are not hiring seasonal employees,” she said. ” … I was talking with someone from one company this morning, and they are not hiring one seasonal employee this year, and they are a national retail organization.

“Getting internships is going to be very powerful for students right now, (and) we have a lot of people looking for interns.”

-Nicole Stempak