A summer job has always been a rite of passage for youth and young adults as a way to develop pertinent skills, earn extra income for themselves and their families, or begin a new and exciting career; but a recent U.S. Conference of Mayors/Zogby Analytics survey found that two-thirds of America's businesses did not hire any youth/young adults for the summer of 2012 and 84.3% said they did not make a (financial) contribution to a summer jobs program.

These survey results show that there is tremendous potential for cities, the private-sector and the foundation community to work together to increase the participation of our business sector in hiring youth next summer. The nation's mayors want to raise the bar and partner more closely with every business across America, and encourage all of them to hire young workers every summer.