Federal Policies that Need Attention - Entreworks Consulting

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A p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e Na t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n f o r C o m m u n i t y C o l l e g e E n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p

Communityentrepreneur College Spring/Summer 2008

Understanding the Value of Entrepreneurship Education

Cover Story NACCE’s Founder Reflections

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s NACCE progressively moves forward, we do so with the advantage that NACCE’s annual membership sign-ups continue to grow and increase. Membership is the backbone of any organization and critical to its sustainability.

Understanding the Value of Entrepreneurship Education

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Currently, we have 257 community colleges who have invested in an annual membership. This type of commitment serves as a confirmation that NACCE serves a vital role in advancing entrepreneurship education and business incubation while providing an excellent value exchange.

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As you know, community colleges are now embracing the expansion of their educational mission to include economic development in their communities through entrepreneurship education, business incubation, entrepreneurial partnerships with the business community, and focused workforce initiatives with small business owners.

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NACCE has set a goal of increasing the number of community colleges who presently possess annual membership from 257 to 500 over the next two years. We hold the line and keep our annual organizational membership fee at $500.00 so that any community college can join and receive the benefits of NACCE without any financial hardship. Membership benefits at NACCE are a great value and serve as a real-time support system to your institutional entrepreneurship initiatives. On behalf of NACCE, we want to thank all of our members for supporting NACCE through their conference attendance and their annual membership. Your support allows NACCE to continue to achieve its mission to bring entrepreneurship education to every community college. To that end, I will be personally contacting the President of every community college over the next six months to request their commitment in supporting entrepreneurship education through an annual NACCE membership.

Ideas from a Young Entrepreneur

MicroBusinesses Bank on NanoLoans

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Teaching Entrepreneurialism by Example

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Rural Community College Business Incubation

25 Tommy Goodrow, Founder NACCE

Non-traditional Advertising Helps Connect Rural Business to Bank Loan

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Green Ideas Emerge as New Gold Standard for Prosperity 1

Community College Entrepreneur spring/summer 2008

in every issue

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Rural Entrepreneurship

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More Than a Necessity, a Priority!

Entrepreneurship & Creative Economy

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Creativity Is the Heart of Entrepreneurship

K-12 Projects

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An e-Youth Framework

updates

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Pappajohn launches 3rd Annual Iowa Business Plan Competition.

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CPCC Entrepreneurship student wins $50,000 seed award.

View From The Trenches

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Entrepreneurship Education from a Faculty Viewpoint

Entrepreneurship Education Matters

Producing Change through Entrepreneurship Education

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Economic Development & Entrepreneurship

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A New Model for Community Prosperity

Policy Issues

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Federal Policies that Need Attention

Getting Started

Entrepreneurship Education: Are We Having Fun Yet?

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Developing Right Relationships With Local Universities

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Communityentrepreneur College The Community College Entrepreneur is published quarterly as a member benefit by the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship. Articles from members may be submitted via e-mail to editor@nacce. com. The deadline for the next issue is June 10, 2008. We welcome news about your entrepreneurship education programs (including photos and captions if applicable), announcements of upcoming events, scholarly articles about entrepreneurship and innovation, opinion pieces, how-to articles, and announcements related to entrepreneurship and community colleges. Articles should be limited to 500 words for news, announcements, opinion, and how-to advice. Scholarly articles should be limited to 1,400 words.

Articulating the Value You Bring to the Table

Marketing An Entrepreneurship Program

production info

Ready, Set, Go…Now All You Need Are Students

Publisher: Heather Van Sickle Editor: Jeanne Yocum Creative Director: Peter Ellis

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CoverStory

Understanding the Value of Entrepreneurship Education Editor’s note: The theme of the 2009 NACCE Conference will be “Understanding the Value.” This is the first of three articles that will appear in Community College Entrepreneur introducing this conference theme.

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s community college leaders evaluate moving forward in the 21st century, they face countless choices about how to apply their financial and human resources to the greatest benefit of the communities they serve. Entrepreneurship education needs to be a leading part of this discussion on every campus. But this requires understanding its value so an accurate analysis can be made of the potential payoff of an investment in entrepreneurship education. “Entrepreneurship education leads to the creation of new businesses and jobs and that helps a community, helps a region, and helps a state,” says NACCE Founder Tommy Goodrow. “As to its value for the college itself, when a community college demonstrates its willingness to play a role in creating wealth in its community, that really connects the college to the community. Also, entrepreneurship programs broaden the ability of community colleges to reach a broader range of community citizens than they otherwise would. Finally, there’s one more benefit. Entrepreneurship education empowers educators

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“Entrepreneurship education leads to the creation of new businesses and jobs and that helps a community, helps a region, and helps a state.” Tommy Goodrow NACCE Founder

to integrate real life understanding about how our society functions in a global economy and that enriches educators.” “Entrepreneurship education helps spark the entrepreneurial spirit within students and ignite their passions while providing the tools necessary to succeed,” says Tim Mittan, Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at Southeast Community College in Lincoln, NE. “These empowered students will bring their talents to the community as either entrepreneurs creating and growing new companies or intrapreneurs strengthening established organizations. When educated properly, communities will thrive on these forward-looking, global-reaching entrepreneurs.” “As we talk about entrepreneurship education as a lifelong learning process, it is important to realize that young people are the pipeline that fuels the successful creation of new businesses,” says Cathy Ashmore, Executive Director of the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education in Columbus, OH. “Our organization believes that ‘Entrepreneurs are not born…rather they become through the experiences of their lives.’ So our challenge is to help the teachers develop strategies to provide a great variety of experiences that will spark the entrepreneurial spirit and challenge students to develop the skills to be successful.” Entrepreneurship education can’t start too early. “Early child education in entrepreneurship has proven very effective at introducing young students to

the career option of entrepreneurship and formally introducing these students to post secondary education,” says Tim Putnam, Associate Director of the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City, IA. Among the Center’s programs for K-12 is a two-day “Entrepreneur for a Day” (E4D) program. “After reviewing our survey results, we have discovered that over 60 percent of the fifth graders that participated in entrepreneurship education would like to become an entrepreneur some day,” says Putnam. “After fifth graders participate in E4D, they take a tour of the community college campus; 42 percent of the fifth graders have never been on a college campus. The students are very bright eyed and very enthusiastic as they tour the campus and interact with current community college students. Our hope is that all these young students will see that college is an option for them.” “Entrepreneurship education for the primary grade student is important on more than one level,” says Gayle Hsiao, Entrepreneurship Educator at the Springfield Technical Community College’s Entrepreneurial Institute in Springfield, MA. “The goal of our Entrepreneur for a Day program is that we hope to teach the kids that owning their own businesses is an obtainable goal. Anyone with a good idea who is willing to work really hard can be the boss and control his/her own destiny. Kids in K-8 are dreamers and doers. They still believe they can do whatever they want to do. Many of the kids from our Entrepreneur for a Day program promise to return with their business plans so they can become a bigger part of our Entrepreneurial Institute.

have a good experience while here and we hope they will begin to realize that the college is here for them. We have a ‘one stop’ source of information and guidance for anyone starting a business now or in the future and we are here for them as their community college when the time comes for them to think about continuing their education. Participating in one of our programs may be the first step taken by many of these kids to really think about and plan their future.” Speaking at the 2008 NACCE Conference, Mike Hennessey, President and CEO of The Coleman Foundation, summed up the critical importance of entrepreneurship education this way: “Self employment or working on a project basis is the new road to affluence and fulfillment. The economy of the future belongs to the entrepreneur, not the bureaucrat and chief….The game has changed significantly over 20 years….It’s going to take everyone in this room and more to get it there. We need to move that needle forward. We’ve got to have an increased sense of urgency. These students are passing in front of us every day; when they move through and get away from us, if we haven’t taken that opportunity to impact their lives then shame on us.”

“We also believe that participating in one of our programs will introduce the city kids to the college,” Hsiao adds. “They spring/summer 2008

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Article Ideas from a Young Entrepreneur

{ WEB SITES } Association for Enterprise Opportunity www.microenterpriseworks.org The Coleman Foundation www.colemanfoundation.org

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ineteen-year-old Ben Casnocha won rave reviews for his thought-provoking presentation at NACCE’s 2008 Conference. Drawing on his own experiences as entrepreneur, author, and current college student, Casnocha discussed what it means to think entrepreneurially in all contexts, not just in the process of starting a business. As part of his speech, Casnocha posed and answered questions he anticipated the NACCE audience might ask him. Here are some of those questions and his responses:

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice Journal www.baylor.edu/business/etp

Q: What can community colleges do to help student entrepreneurs? A: First, embrace entrepreneurship as a philosophy. Teach it as life skills, not just business skills. So if someone doesn’t have a particular interest in starting a business, they can still see the skills they’re acquiring as helpful for whatever they do. So it’s more a life philosophy than just starting a new business philosophy.

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation www.kauffman.org

Second, help surround students with really good people. Help build their mentor lists and their advisory board list. Step in and play that role yourself.

Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education www.entre-ed.org

Institute for Community College Development www.iccd.cornell.edu National Business Incubation Association www.nbia.org National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship www.nfte.com United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship www.usasbe.org

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Finally, highlight the late bloomers. I spoke at 20 college campuses this past year, and it’s incredible the amount of stress that’s on students…to conquer the world at a really young age and solve the world’s problems. And yet our society is full of late bloomers. This is particularly important to anyone who is teaching continuing ed or adults where there might be particular nervousness around not having had your big success. Mark Twain wrote Huck Finn at age 50; Hitchcock directed Vertigo at age 59, Beethoven wrote Symphony #9 at age 54….The message to impart is start now; fail now. Fail big; learn big. Keep splotching paint onto your own blank white canvas and someday your own unique painting will emerge; there’s plenty of time. Q: How do we reach Gen Y? A: I often hear people who are teaching younger people, ask, “How do we reach these young people? They’re so different. Our messages aren’t getting through.” There are all these

books and consultants popping up around how different Gen Y is. Sure, we grew up on the Internet and we won’t get drafted for a war, so there are some differences. But ultimately it’s a mistake to treat Gen Y as aliens who parachuted to earth from the planet Krypton. Fundamentally, if you ask me the question how to reach Gen Y, I would answer, “How do you reach any human being? With a message that clearly delivers value in a way that they’ll find enticing”…. Fundamentally let’s be wary of too broad generalizations, and let’s tone down the hyperventilation around how different this generation is. Q: How do we handle unusual students, people who might struggle with the formal curriculum? A: I struggled mightily with my high school’s formal curriculum. I wasn’t doing well academically; I had different interests. I responded to information in different ways. I have a friend who has a theory around standouts in life. He says if someone clearly has different thinking tendencies or a different way of taking in information or a different way of looking at the world, if he or she receives early endorsement of that difference and then makes the pursuit of the exceptional or the pursuit of being different part of his or her self image, then with a few lucky breaks he

becomes a standout later in life. I think we should do less conforming to the norm and more embracing of people’s differences. I know it’s challenging as a teacher/educator with limited resources to have 50 different classrooms with 50 different people or 50 different teaching styles. But I think not immediately penalizing those who aren’t initially up to snuff or who have a slightly different learning style is the best approach.

“How do you reach any human being? With a message that clearly delivers value in a way that they’ll find enticing” Ben Casnocha

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RuralEntrepreneurship More Than a Necessity, a Priority! By Jim Genandt Dean of Instruction Spoon River College

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et’s spend a few moments considering rural. A simple concept of many people about rural is like this: rural is country, urban is city, and suburban is in between. Rural is usually not condensed in size as a city can be, and rural usually means a smaller population base than an urban area. I realize you probably grasp this. However, we have to be careful about the inferences we develop from what we perceive to be simple, clear facts and conditions. The United States Census Bureau offers data that indicates about 75 percent of the nation’s population lives in urban areas, with 25 percent residing in rural areas. Population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate growth in metropolitan areas and slow growth or population losses in much of smalltown and rural America. Between 2000 and 2003, the metropolitan United States grew by 3.8 percent, compared with 1.6 percent in smalltown counties and 0.5 percent in rural counties. So, rural America has much land and few people. Urban America has a lot of people and not as much land. So what? Most folks associate business development with urban areas. More people, more resources, more possibilities seem logi-

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cal. However, this is a dangerous perception. Why? Is there an undercurrent to this perception that folks in urban areas will be smarter, more creative, have access to more resources, and thus be more prone to entrepreneurship and business acumen? Yet we have many examples of rural entrepreneurship and business sense. And we certainly see evidence in our current times of amazing ideas and business start-ups in rural areas, often by young people who we need to retain in rural areas so that the future of rural America will still have significant promise for quality of life and economic stability. A 2005 study by Illinois Wesleyan University noted a lack of rural entrepreneurship education curriculum to target young people who had business ideas, but these same students were not sure a rural area could support entrepreneurship. The study also noted that most curricular materials being used in rural areas for training and education were based on urban resources. There is one element available to people anywhere,

news note from NACCE Members including rural areas, that can help develop people and their potential capabilities related to entrepreneurship. That element is education. We have an obligation to continue to spread the word about the power of entrepreneurship as both a personal and community/regional tool for empowerment and economic vitality. We must make sure, however, that folks in rural areas or interested in working with rural areas understand some of the differences in building and using the entrepreneurial spirit in rural environments. Rural is different than urban, but the differences do not have to be seen in terms of advantages or disadvantages. The differences should be viewed through the prism of education and learning as various paths of opportunity that can lead to similar goals, objectives, and desired results. It may be trite, but it is people who do make the difference at this most basic level. Educational institutions in rural areas have to design and provide the training and programming so people understand how to use rural resources and locations successfully in being entrepreneurs. Let me close with a statement from Alvin Toffler: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” The more effectively we promote and provide opportunities for entrepreneurial education and experience in rural areas, the more successfully we will meet the essential needs of people in this century…to learn, unlearn, and relearn.

Pappajohn launches 3rd Annual Iowa Business Plan Competition. John Pappajohn, Iowa’s premier venture capitalist, has launched the third annual John Pappajohn Iowa Business Plan Competition. Initially unveiled at the 2005 Iowa Venture Capital and Entrepreneur Conference, the business plan competition is designed to stimulate business development and provide support to outstanding business opportunities. Last year, more than 70 business plans were submitted with three outstanding businesses being awarded a total of $50,000. Six additional companies received honorable mention and received $1,000 each. The contest is open to all new start-up and early stage companies (six years or less since founding) and will award $50,000 in prize money to the top three business plans submitted ($25,000 for first prize; $15,000 for second; and $10,000 for third). In the first round of judging, only executive summaries were accepted. After initial screening, those selected to continue in the contest were notified to submit their completed business plans. Up to 10 finalists will be notified of their selection and will make live presentations to the selection committee between September 8-12. At that time, the three finalists will be selected, and they will present a summary of their business at the 2008 Iowa Venture Capital and Entrepreneur Conference in Des Moines on October 15. To date, $110,000 has been granted to start-up companies that participated in this competition.

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Article MicroBusinesses Bank on NanoLoans By Sethanne DeGabriele Director, Marketing and Community Relations North Iowa Area Community College

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ow many times have you met with a wouldbe entrepreneur or new start-up business that had a good business concept, solid work ethic and no money? For the staff at North Iowa Area Community College’s John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (NIACC JPEC), that frequent occurrence stimulated them to try and come up with a solution for these pre-bankable companies. Inspired by Nobel Prize winner Muhamed Yunis’ work in microcredit, the JPEC staff pursued $25,000 in seed money to see whether modest loans would be enough to move microbusinesses to the next level. Dubbed NanoLoans, they are a North Iowa derivative of microloan programs used successfully for several decades in Africa and India to stimulate small business development. Many of those loans are for only one hundred or two hundred dollars, but have had phenomenal social impact by enabling sustainable businesses. In its North Iowa version, loans up to $2,500 can be used to move a business model farther along in its development by paying for prototype development, patents, equipment, working capital and other start-up costs. “Making a series of small, uncollateralized loans at the prime interest rate to new entrepreneurs without many assets is not considered a solid growth strategy in the banking industry, so the program was initially greeted with a certain amount of skepticism,” observed Ted Bair, Small Business Development Center Director. “To be successful without collateral, we had to find different C’s to focus on. We chose Character, Concept and Commitment.”

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“A significant part of my job is working with new businesses and new businesspeople. As their concept unfolds and they begin developing their business plan, I am in a perfect position to see if they are a good NanoLoan candidate,” continued Bair. “As part of their NanoLoan commitment, they are required to take the FastTrac® NewVenture™ course. We call it a ten-week ‘business boot camp,’ but you cannot argue with the results; 78 percent of the over 200 businesses started the last seven years by graduates of NIACC’s FastTrac® NewVenture™ course are still in business. Compare that to an average failure rate of 60 percent! Of equal importance, we have had a loan default rate of 0.0 percent. In fact, two became so successful that they paid off their loans early.” “The impact of the NIACC JPEC NanoLoan program in North Iowa has been exciting and surprising,” said Jamie T. Zanios, NIACC JPEC Director. “Now we have multiple funding opportunities for the smallest organization up through the largest companies in the region, available in one spot. We can help create the business plan, help source different financial resources and offer ongoing consultation and support to help new businesses become successful. But a more significant measure of the program’s success is in the businesses that NanoLoans have helped.” NanoLoan Recipients Michael Groesbeck has a powerful vision; linking diverse home-based businesses in North Iowa together in a comprehensive Web site that is more attractive to search engines. The NIACC NanoLoan

program helped him make that vision, www.iowahomebusinessexchange.com, a reality. “Every business and their brother are on the Web,” Groesbeck said. “The challenge for a small homebased business is to break free of the clutter and get your products or services noticed for a reasonable cost. Most struggle with a lack of tech support and money to create a presence on the Web. I can come in, create a storefront for them that includes high quality photographs and integrate everything into a Web-based community where their goods and services can be found–without breaking the bank. If it hadn’t been for the NanoLoan program, I would have probably delayed things to put together enough money to ‘bootstrap’ the start-up. Because NIACC and the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center put this together to help entrepreneurs, I can pursue my dream right away.” Anne Anderson is the owner and creative force behind Interwoven: Textiles for Spirit and Space (www.interwovenstudio.com). Anderson received a $2,500 NanoLoan for building improvements, marketing, materials and supplies. Anderson designs and creates custom, hand-made paraments and banners for megachurches and vestments for pastors serving congregations in the Midwest. Over the past 10 years, she did this work on a part-time basis as a hobby. With the help of the Small Business Development Center and the NIACC JPEC NanoLoan, Anderson is now able to operate as a sole proprietorship full-time. “My products provide a vibrant, visual focus that reflects the vitality of a congregation and supports the teachings of the church and its greater mission,” Anderson said. “The SBDC at the NIACC JPEC is so easy to work with and provides a wealth of resources for people both starting business as well as those who are already in business.” For more information on the NIACC JPEC NanoLoan program, call (641) 422-4342 or visit www. niacc.edu/pappajohn.

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Entrepreneurship&CreativeEconomy Creativity Is the Heart of Entrepreneurship By Robert J. Goetz Manager, Small Business Development Center Seminole Community College

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uch has been covered by the national news media about presidential candidates’ claims to be “change agents.” Of course, we all know the real change agent is today’s entrepreneur. Ever notice how companies recruiting workers often list “entrepreneurial” as a desired prerequisite? What their really saying is “creative thinker with ability to work with limited resources.” Most of us are keenly aware of the growing role occupied by community colleges at ensuring entrepreneurs are ready for prime time. Prime time and on center stage, the spotlight is on the entrepreneur. Are they ready for the curtain call? Can he/she perform to expectations? Whether a one-person show or cast of many, have they studied the script, learned their lines, and rehearsed the act? Entrepreneurship today mandates creative talent as basic building blocks of core competency and competitive advantage. Lack creative abilities and you’re most likely destined for a one night only opening – a short-lived venture, with tombstone reading “no creative ability.”

Post-industrial America is the Creative Economy, and entrepreneurs are at the helm. Today’s creative economy is perhaps most aptly described by Richard Florida in his book The Rise of the Creative Class as “people in science and engineering, architecture and design, education, arts, music and entertainment, whose economic function is to create new ideas, new technology, and/or new creative content.” The creative class is characterized by individualism and autonomy, and contrasts with the working class and service class, whose defining characteristics are those that execute. In the creative class, knowledge and information become the tools; innovation is the product. Apply this construct to entrepreneurs and what really takes center stage is intellectual property (IP). IP in the form of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets are defining our small businesses here in Central Florida. Properly deployed, IP is more than legal documents stowed inside a file cabinet. These intangible assets permeate every aspect of these enterprises and are regularly evident in the culture of each. In the Orlando area, we breed and perpetuate this culture at Seminole Community College through open, intelligent dialogue with students, business owners, employees, chambers of commerce, local bankers, and others.

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In 2007, Seminole Community College opened its Center for Economic Development at Heathrow. Design elements of this 65,000-square-foot facility include a three-story open central core where functional group seating, bar height tables, and multimedia kiosks define the space. Coursework offered includes digital and interactive media design, architectural design, construction and project management. The facility has as an economic development suite that houses resident partners, Seminole Regional Chamber of Commerce, Seminole Advisory Board Council, Seminole County Economic Development, Metro Orlando EDC, and Florida High Tech Corridor Council. Based at a separate facility a couple of miles away is the Seminole Technology Business Incubation Center.

ative Economy, innovation rules, yet cutoff the oxygen supply of knowledge and information, and the innovation quickly perishes. Increased acceptance of online communities, such as LinkedIn and others, demonstrate the need to freely converse and network. The new “coworking” phenomenon is further evidence. Coworking sites are where entrepreneurs rent desk space and work side by side with others who have different jobs yet want to share ideas. Coworking has some similarities to incubators and accelerators and may prove worthy of further commentary in a later column.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that 52 percent of U.S. small businesses are home-based enterprises. That’s great for controlling fixed costs and weathering economic downturns. Not so great if one of the outcomes is loss of mental nourishment caused by physical isolation and disconnect from customers. In the Cre-

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K-12Projects An e-Youth Framework By David B. Onopa Partner/Author Foamship Systems

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hen working with young entrepreneurial minds, it is not unusual to learn more from them than they learn from us. During our field work with youngsters, mainly Hispanics in grades 7-12, we have discovered some interesting tactics that may help you reach this younger mindset. As a prelude, we recently participated in a Babson Symposium for Entrepreneurship Educators (SEE), lead by renowned professor and author Jeffry Timmons from Babson College. His global experience highlights the importance of cultivating the entrepreneurial mindset as early as possible. Likewise, in their book series Beyond the Rhetoric: Defining Entrepreneurship Policy and Its Best Practice Components, authors Lois Stevenson and Anders Lundstrom use a three-pronged model to discuss the role of multisector stakeholders in building a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem. Let’s borrow this model to suggest an approach to instilling e-skills in youth. First is motivation. What factors promote or discourage entrepreneurial development in youth? The eternal question–are entrepreneurs born or raised? What we have found in our youth workshops is that a lack of knowledge can lead to a lack of motivation. Many students are simply ignorant of entrepreneurship per se. Once students begin to understand the entrepreneurial process, their motivation towards business and other topics increases noticeably. To provide worklife balance, we like to explain to students how entrepreneurial skills can help them in other areas of life, such as school and family. Making e-ship relevant to non-business areas has proven a successful method for inspiring our youth.

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Second are skills. Which e-skills do youth need? How do we match e-skills with grade levels and learning styles? Our experience is that youth are more capable of learning e-skills than teachers and trainers might expect. In our classroom, students realize they possess eskills that in many cases they were unaware of. Through lectures, exercises, workshops and guest speakers, youngsters discover these skills and learn how to cultivate them. Self-discovery can be a fun way for youth to acquire and build their entrepreneurial talents. And third are opportunities. How do we stimulate youth to explore the endless opportunities available to them? How do we provide the e-tools that enable them to seize today and shape their futures? Once students recognize their entrepreneurial spirit, they begin to hone their abilities to recognize business opportunities. Other resources, such as mentors and peer networks, can further support the opportunity recognition process. The more e-skills youth develop, the more opportunities they may recognize. There are several programs out there that do a wonderful job of introducing youth to entrepreneurship; two well-known programs are JA (Junior Achievement) and NFTE (National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship). Our own work with youth has proved rewarding in countless ways. Providing future generations with tools that positively impact our society, the environment and the economy is not work; it’s fun!

Article Teaching Entrepreneurialism by Example By Jamie Tiampo Entrepreneur in Residence Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York

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Dr. Jonathan Deutsch, Director of Kingsborough’s Culinary Management Center, to work with his students and start a catering business in his class.

Kingsborough Community College (Kingsborough) of the City University of New York recently established an Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR) program within the department of Tourism and Hospitality to extend the concept of teaching entrepreneurship beyond the traditional classroom setting. As a restaurant owner, chef, food photographer, and veteran of three technology startups, I was asked by

Within this innovative environment, I helped students in and out of the classroom to provide realworld feedback on business plans, marketing strategies, and even recipe development. We mimicked a 24/7 entrepreneurial mindset, had students start a real business, and even had them assemble customer proposals. The culminating class was a catered event, where the students pitched–and landed–a real client, came up with an extensive menu, ordered and cooked all of the food, decorated the room, then serviced and cleaned everything up. The students displayed incredible professionalism, passion, and ownership, even coming in on weekends to plan and prep for their event.

eaching entrepreneurialism from a textbook is highly efficient, but has inherent limitations. Certainly, the mechanics of corporate structures, accounting and HR can be encapsulated into neat lesson plans, but the true engine of small business– passion–can only be nurtured.

The EiR program was established with a NACCE/ Coleman elevator grant to link students with experienced business owners. “Professional teachers like myself tend not to be involved in businesses of their own,” said Dr. Deutsch. “We can teach the nuts and bolts of business, but ultimately offer the students a richer experience by collaborating with people in the industry who practice what they preach on a daily basis. There’s so much knowledge and nuance to entrepreneurship that simply cannot be conveyed in a textbook–only the real thing will do.” George Lurye came to Kingsborough to further his education and learn how to start his own company, but walked away with far more. “I took classes before about how to write business plans, how to do basic accounting, and how to incorporate, but none of them really showed me how to run a business,” he said. “The Entrepreneur in Residence program at Kingsborough helped me think bigger, and gave me the confidence to recognize my own potential.” continued on next page spring/summer 2008

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Lurye has been accepted to a four-year bachelor’s program on scholarship, and plans to complete his MBA in hospitality management and marketing. In the future, the EiR program will spread to other disciplines and departments, connecting motivated students with respected industry experts. Delivering in-context experience and advice is a critical component of Entrepreneur in Residence initiative. New ventures face many business problems, but often the most vexing are specific technical questions that can only be answered by someone with practical field experience. Community colleges serve as ideal incubators for grassroots businesses by providing open access to education. Combining a solid academic foundation with real-world exercises, coaching, and experience helps students not only realize their dreams, but also realize where their dreams can take them. Jamie Tiampo ([email protected]) is an active partner at Dell’Anima Restaurant in Manhattan, President of See|Food Media LLC, and co-founded an enterprise software startup that was purchased by IBM.

news note from NACCE Members

Teaching Entrepreneurship: Sharing Best Practices

June 22-25

2008

For more information, please visit www.nacce.com/symposium

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CPCC Entrepreneurship student wins $50,000 seed award. Jeannine Sargent, a student at the Central Piedmont Community College Institute for Entrepreneurship in Charlotte, NC, has won a $50,000 seed money award in the 2007 “Make Your Dreams Come True with Mirassou” contest. California based Mirassou Winery created the award as part of its support for women-owned businesses. In addition to funding, Mirassou will also provide a team of business, marketing and legal experts to support Sargent in launching her business. Sargent’s winning business idea, “The Red Bow,” is a health club for women featuring a holistic approach; in addition to aerobic and strength building activities, The Red Bow will offer health screenings, health classes, and even meditation and aromatherapy. Sargent, who holds an MBA, enrolled in the Institute for Entrepreneurship’s 16-week business planning course called the “New Ventures Entrepreneurship Certificate Program.” The business plan Sargent developed in the CPCC class was part of an original field of 350 contestants in the Mirassou competition that were winnowed down to 20 semi-finalists.

ViewFromTheTrenches Entrepreneurship Education from a Faculty Viewpoint By Ken Knox Program Director, Business and Management Jefferson Community College

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often wonder how much of reality I should inject into my business and management courses. The textbooks I use offer the requisite management principles and business practices, but when it comes to teaching Entrepreneurism, is there really any substitute for experience? I have encountered students who think business people have not much else to do with their time but count their money! Other students, flush with enthusiasm and creativity, just can’t see any downside to starting a business. And then there are those students who wouldn’t want to start and operate a business under any circumstances. This is where the question of how much reality is necessary in a college course comes into play. We are, after all, preparing our students for the real world. And the real world is a very uncompromising and unforgiving marketplace. Which is precisely why I think community college faculty are in the perfect

place to encourage our students, but to temper that encouragement with the realities of the marketplace. Community college business faculty come from a variety of backgrounds and most have practical real world experience. Our pool of business adjuncts is comprised almost entirely of practicing professionals who can bring the real world to life for our students. Many full-time faculty also have extensive business experience on which to draw. Add to this the academic credentials of our full-timers and we have an environment in which the pros and cons of Entrepreneurism can be explored in an objective manner. Using faculty in non-credit workforce development programs can be beneficial to that aspect of the community college’s offering as well. Employing professional faculty adds to the credibility of non-credit courses by bringing professionalism and classroom management skills to the noncredit courses. By elevating the credibility of non-credit offerings, the community college can increase the value of the programming to its non-credit clients and by extension can increase the fees for such training. The cliché “you get what you pay for” is painfully evident in those courses that are continued on next page spring/summer 2008

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offered free or at a very low cost. Community colleges are reluctant to pay professional faculty for these classes and often staff them with ill-prepared instructors. The result is programming that does not meet the needs of the community-at-large. Of course, there are many professional facilitators who can provide contract training, but whose best interests do they have in mind? By seeking out our own highly qualified faculty members to teach on the non-credit side of Entrepreneurism, the community

college today can insure the quality that exists in the credit classroom is present in the non-credit seminar as well. The key to developing quality credit and non-credit offerings is to develop an environment of cooperation between workforce development and academic departments. This cooperation will allow the college to serve its primary constituency–the community– whether in the credit environment or not.

EntrepreneurshipEducationMatters Producing Change through Entrepreneurship Education By Jamie T. Zanios Director, John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center North Iowa Area Community College

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s a community college, North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) has a direct responsibility for supporting the educational and economic development initiatives through workforce training and direct education in nine North Iowa counties comprised of approximately 140,000 people. In 1997, NIACC received funding from John Pappajohn, a NIACC and University of Iowa grad and venture capitalist living in Des Moines. His gift founded the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (JPEC) here at NIACC and at four universities in Iowa. The mission that NIACC chose for its JPEC is: Entrepreneurship Education, Business Support and Partnerships to stimulate Entrepreneurship. The NIACC JPEC’s role in the economic development strategic plan of the college is through both education (traditional and non traditional) and business support. Through traditional education in entrepreneurship, the NIACC JPEC is impacting our regional community in several ways: • We are educating young north Iowa students in entrepreneurship, with introductory and advanced 17

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classes. They understand the complexities of business ownership, the need for profits for reinvestment, the cost of ownership and cost of acquiring capital. Even if they never start of business of their own, that knowledge alone makes these students better employees. (Businesses are impacted with better employees, and business attraction is accelerated due to an educated workforce.) • Students also learn where they can find the resources necessary to start or grow a business. When the desire or idea for a business does originate, they now have the tools to act upon that dream. (New business starts are a result in the region.) • With a developed entrepreneurship educational program producing both graduates with a business/

entrepreneurship two-year degree or certificate, we are attracting additional students to the college for the program, which benefits the region in the short term while the students attend NIACC. Students coming from outside the region sometimes stay. Entrepreneurship education can be a magnet for a community or region. Entrepreneurship education at NIACC takes many forms, each designed to affect a portion of our broader community and address critical needs in our rural economy. The NIACC JPEC has identified “culture change” as part of its broader mission, and entrepreneurship education, both traditional and nontraditional, is equally important in accomplishing this goal long term. Therefore our nontraditional education includes components of education in elementary school in a program designated E4D, which works with a curriculum that we have developed to educate 3-6 grade school children in the components of entrepreneurship and running a business. They gain valuable insights early in their lives so that they can take their dreams and make them a vocation. This increases the likelihood of new business starts in the future and increases the likelihood that these students not only will find a job here, but more likely they will create jobs. All of this brings cultural change. We also conduct education of high school students through a week-long Entrepreneurship Academy. This residential experience is free to accepted students, who spend an intensive week culminating in a business plan reviewed by local and regional successful entrepreneurs and bankers. Some actually launch

their businesses and the culture is again changed. Lastly, the nontraditional sector of adults looking to start a business with their dream is addressed by the NIACC JPEC through collaboration with the Small Business Development Center and supported financially and administratively by the NIACC JPEC. We deliver the Kauffman Foundation’s FastTrac program, and over the past seven years have seen more than 250 new businesses start as a result of this program. In a survey last fall we found 78 percent are still in business, with over 500 new jobs as a result. That certainly is meeting the mission of the NIACC JPEC and serving the community. So, how does or how can entrepreneurship education impact a community? It impacts it at the most basic and critical level: business development, grown locally. Not only are these businesses creating employment and stability, but they become active supporters of our schools, our churches, our playgrounds, our programs, our cultural and our civic needs. As the Director of Institutional Advancement in addition to the entrepreneurial center, I can attest that in every area of the country locally grown companies have an enormously larger impact through their gifting than large national companies who move to the area. So when a college supports entrepreneurial education, it supports the very foundation and future, not only of the broader community, but of the college itself.

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EconomicDevelopment&Entrepreneurship A New Model for Community Prosperity By Kori A. Gregg, Ph.D. Special Assistant to the President & Senior Executive Director of Economic Development and Corporate Services Butler Community College

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e can no longer deny that we live in a global marketplace and society. The supply chain for goods and services now stretches completely around the globe, through-put time has been reduced to minutes rather than days, and as Thomas Friedman so eloquently described in his best-selling book The World is Flat, we now need to run faster economically just to stay in place. And while this global explosion has proven to be a boon for emerging countries such as India and China, what potential does it yield for our communities, the towns and cities that we as community college leaders serve across the nation? The answer to that question can be found in entrepreneurship. The rate of change our society faces today is staggering, and no where can the effects be seen more vividly than in our small and rural communities. As our population centers continue to grow and our small communities continue to struggle, the very existence of these cities and towns will depend upon a new paradigm of economic development, one that views entrepreneurship as the hub of community and economic prosperity. We need to move beyond the outdated economic development model of industry attraction and job creation to a model that builds and retains local wealth, innovation, and ultimately entrepreneurial resources in our communities.

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Community colleges are uniquely positioned to assist communities in stabilizing their economies with the development of sustainable growth strategies and through the strengthening of community entrepreneurial “IQ.” By working hand in hand with local and regional economic development organizations, the community college can help identify, train, and strengthen local entrepreneurial talent and assist in providing these entrepreneurs the tools necessary to help the community prosper and thrive in an age of ever increasing change. Many programs are available that community college entrepreneurship centers can tap into to help them assist communities with this endeavor. One such program is the Hometown Competitiveness Program (HTC), offered through the Heartland Center for Leadership Development and the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship in Lincoln, NE. HTC provides a comprehensive approach to community development that embraces four core strategies: 1) Mobilize local leaders and build community civic capacity. 2) Energize local entrepreneurs to build a stronger economy. 3) Capture wealth transfer to raise development dollars. 4) Attract and retain young people to strengthen community demographics.

While the program is designed to build on all four of the “pillars” of community development, we have found that most communities choose to focus first on the entrepreneurship pillar, recognizing that the existence of their Main Street organizations, their Promote ‘Anytown’ Inc. organizations, and ultimately the survival of their community depends upon the identification and support of their local entrepreneurs. By focusing on the entrepreneurship pillar first, HTC suggests that communities can learn to 1) save key existing businesses through planned ownership succession, 2) create new wealth and jobs by helping entrepreneurial companies in their community build to a broader product line and/or larger market, and 3) use local assets to support entrepreneurship development. While no community is guaranteed success in today’s global economy, communities that choose to take control of their destiny by designing a better economic development strategy will be far ahead in the competition. Entrepreneurship is and should be the driving force behind any new strategy for economic success. This is part one of a two-part series on connecting with economic development organizations. Part two will focus on the specifics of how community colleges can assist communities with building on the “Entrepreneurship Pillar” of the HTC program.

Article Rural Community College Business Incubation By Mark Olchefske Director of Regional Business Development Services North Iowa Area Community College, John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center

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n the farm, an incubator is a warm, protected place to put fertilized eggs so they can develop under the watchful eye of the farmer until they hatch. Likewise, the new business incubator on the North Iowa Area Community College campus (NIACC) in Mason City, IA, is a nurturing environment where new businesses can develop and grow during those challenging first few years of existence. Managed as part of the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (JPEC), it offers a suite of business support services unmatched in a rural environment. If you look at the nationwide averages for new job growth, only one percent of new jobs come from companies moving into an area; 55 percent come from existing businesses expanding and 44 percent come from new startups. The downside of those numbers is that 60 percent of new startups fail within the first five years. By contrast, startup companies that go through incubators have a 90 percent survival rate for the first three years. Of the companies that successfully graduate from incubators, 87 percent are still in business five years later and, most importantly, 84 percent are still in the community they incubated in. That is why business incubation is important for both job creation and job retention in predominately rural North Iowa. Open for Business A business incubator is the ideal next step for a home-based business that wants to get out of the basement, garage or back bedroom. Sitting on the west side of campus, the NIACC-JPEC incubator is mixed use, with several different types of spaces available, suitable for limited manufacturing and business-to-business service comcontinued on next page spring/summer 2008

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panies, but completely wrong for retail shops or restaurants. The incubator is housed in the space that formerly held the maintenance department and some underutilized classrooms.

ral entrepreneurs do not like driving and finding parking in big downtown metro areas. NIACC’s rural location and ample free parking provides entrepreneurs from Northern Iowa and Southern Minnesota a more convenient and stress-free alternative.

There is no typical entrepreneur, but all entrepreneurs are similar in The NIACC-JPEC incubator features space suitable for Incubation the NIhaving a dream of owning limited manufacturing and business-to-business service ACC-JPEC Way their own business and companies. in their passion to follow For new startups, there through. For some, reis a contractual obligatirement or downsizing has freed them to go down tion that goes beyond a typical lease. Each business’s a different path. For others, it is an itch that they just financials are reviewed monthly and the owners are have to scratch. The JPEC acts as guide on the jourfrequently coached on different aspects of business, esney for hundreds of people every month. There is pecially in areas where there is weakness. The owner a great independent entrepreneurial spirit in North still owns the business and makes the decisions, but Iowa and Southern Minnesota. For those willing to there is a strong, experienced support net backstopput in the hard work and sacrifice that business ownping them and, hopefully, preventing them from making ership demands, there can be great rewards. uninformed decisions. Business Incubators: Myth and Reality There is a persistent myth that incubators are all about ‘cheap rent.’ If that were the case, anybody could slap the word ‘business incubator’ on any vacant building. Unfortunately, some do and then cannot understand why the businesses inside fail. Business incubation is really about the intensive application of expertise. Bricks and mortar are less important. That expertise may be marketing, financial, operational, something else or a combination of things. Ultimately, it is all about helping the entrepreneur achieve more than they would on their own. Certainly, there are businesses that make it on their own every day, but incubation significantly improves the odds of survival during those dangerous first years. One of our first tenants was a satellite office for an intellectual property law practice. The closest IP attorneys were in Minneapolis, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids; all about two hours away. Meeting with a patent attorney would require an entrepreneur to waste most of a day. Added to that, most ru21

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Unlike new incubators where funding shortages limit the types of services and equipment available, the NIACC-JPEC incubator employs the full assets of the college to help businesses help themselves. The JPEC holds a wealth of business experience, but community colleges have other things that few can offer; modern manufacturing equipment for prototyping, wet lab space for biotechnology and chemistry, access to both on and off site research libraries, specialized and general business training, access to different types of debt and equity financing, high speed wireless Internet connectivity and opportunities to network with other entrepreneurs. North Iowa Business Incubators: The Future Plans extend beyond the confines of the campus to embrace the entire nine-county community college area. From the outset, the plan was to make the NIACC campus a hub around which orbit several smaller satellite incubators, located in the surrounding counties. The satellite incubators will enable new companies to stay close to their local communities but have access to most of the same services available on campus. NIACC has been engaged in a dialogue with local economic de-

velopment directors about satellite locations. At the same time, federal grants are being pursued to help offset some of the costs associated with establishing some satellite incubators. The overarching objective is to create a North Iowa Regional Business Incubation System that will maintain a steady stream of new business opportunities for local residents. For more information on the business incubator at NIACC, contact Mark Olchefske at [email protected] or call 641-422-4191.

PolicyIssues Federal Policies that Need Attention By Erik R. Pages President EntreWorks Consulting

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hen community college leaders opt to introduce entrepreneurship education initiatives, they do more than simply add a new certificate or a new major to the curriculum. They also enter into a whole new set of community relationships and encounter a whole new set of opportunities and challenges. When it comes to programs, it’s not simply a matter of “putting butts in seats,” i.e. focusing maniacally on boosting enrollments in new courses and new curricula. When done right, entrepreneurship education efforts move institutions, faculty, and staff out of traditional comfort zones and into new partnerships with community leaders, business executives, economic developers, and other local stakeholders. This shifting mindset also applies to how NACCE and its members must begin thinking about public policy. At the national level, it’s no longer sufficient to focus solely on education spending levels and current doings at the Department of Education. Lots of Federal policy programs and decisions will affect your institution and, most importantly, your students and customers–the entrepreneurs. So, as you think differently–and more broadly–about your local role in supporting entrepreneurship and economic development, you should also consider thinking a little differently about how decisions in Washington affect what you do at home. Over the next year, this column is going to focus on this challenge by examining Federal and state programs

and policy decisions that could affect how you support local entrepreneurs. As we head into what will be an exciting and tumultuous election year, here’s a couple of key issues and debate worth following in the coming months. Small Business Innovation Research Program: The SBIR program requires that Federal agencies spend a portion of their R&D funds with small businesses. Thanks to SBIR, thousands of entrepreneurs get a leg up in terms of building a prototype, testing a product, or trying out new ideas. It is one of the few Federal programs that will provide direct grants to new businesses, and it involves real money–up to $2 billion per year. The entire SBIR effort is now being reviewed in Congress. Also being considered is an expanded program to help states and regions that lie outside of traditional technology hot spots. Congress is now holding hearings on the program, so the time is ripe to speak up in support of needed changes. Budgets for Key Economic Development Programs: President Bush’s FY2009 budget proposal is not very friendly to Federally-backed economic development programs. In fact, nearly every such effort faces major budget cuts or outright elimination under the Bush plan. Let me highlight two relevant examples. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which provides technical assistance, to small manufacturers, would see its budget drop from $89 million to $4 million. This total represents what some observers call “burial costs,” i.e. the amount of money needed to close the program. Similarly, the Small Business Administration’s various microloan programs are also slated for shutdown. Large coalitions are already in place to protest these proposed cuts, but a community college voice could also bring another perspective to the table. As we begin this regular column, I welcome any feedback or ideas you might have on NACCE’s unique role, perspectives, and potential influence on key public policy issues. Send all comments and perspectives to me at [email protected]. spring/summer 2008

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GettingStarted Entrepreneurship Education: Are We Having Fun Yet? By Belinda Kolb, Ph.D., ABD Manager, Entrepreneurship Program Business, Agriculture and Technology Division Laramie County Community College

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aramie County Community College (LCCC) embarked on a leadership journey in 2004-05 that enabled the development of two entrepreneurship certificates and an AAS degree in Entrepreneurship, obtained grant funding to support entrepreneurship education outreach to K-12, and provided new services to our community. Next fall’s program review creates the opportunity to implement new strategies to keep the young program both relevant and on a continued growth trajectory. This brief article attempts to highlight pivotal pieces in our recent journey in hopes of supporting readers starting a similar journey at their colleges. 1. Critical Fun: Follow your leaders. Sustainable programs begin with top administrative support to navigate internal and external processes. If this is a missing ingredient on your campus, then rethink, regroup, and get this piece in place first. 2. Opportunistic Fun: Find your partners in education, business, industry and government. Expertise, knowledge, financial support, and a spirit of giving back prevail in every community. Don’t be afraid to reach out, ask for help, and be inclusive. Work with your high school partners and consider dual credit articulation agreements for appropriate courses. Visit partners and share resources and ideas. 3. Authentic Fun: Keep the focus on your students. Do your market research and be attentive to your findings. LCCC entrepreneurship learners show early indications of a preference for online delivery and at least 25 percent of those taking courses since fall 2006 have previously earned college degrees. LCCC entrepreneurship student Daniel Wilson states, “… the entrepreneurship program at LCCC is not simply creating graduates; it is inspiring and equipping future 23

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business owners … (the program) helps students apply knowledge to their individual plans and ideas. ….it is all about the student and it encourages creativity and… turning dreams into reality.” 4. Enduring Fun: Expand your horizons. Attend NACCE, make friends, ask questions, and share expertise. This has proven to be effective for LCCC to leap frog along the entrepreneurship education learning curve. Without continued on next page

{DOWNLOAD NACCE LOGO} Did you know you can download print and on-line versions of the NACCE logos from our Web site to let everyone know your college is a proud member of NACCE? The link to obtain these logos is shared in EshipExchange, along with guidelines for proper use of the logo. See Heather Van Sickle’s message regarding the logos on the main page of EshipExchange.

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NACCE, our start-up phase at LCCC would have been much longer and the future more anxiety filled. 5. Total Fun: Celebrate National Entrepreneurship Week! In both 2007 and 2008 LCCC featured a week of events to inspire, inform and celebrate entrepreneurship. We first became aware of the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour (EET) through NACCE and hosted these exciting young entrepreneurs on cam-

Article

pus in 2007 and 2008 to connect with our students. Shauna Best, LCCC entrepreneurship student and workshop attendee, comments that, “… the (EET) workshop, however, was the very best part of the week. The presenters were very well informed and able to answer any questions put to them. They made the material interesting and entertaining. I was able to gather a great deal of information that I had no idea how to locate prior to my attendance at the workshop. The keynote speaker was a joy to listen to and extremely inspiring. I look forward to next year’s Entrepreneurship Week with great enthusiasm.”

Non-traditional Advertising Helps Connect Rural Business to Bank Loan By Lucretia King Director of Marketing and Public Relations Martin Community College

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he Martin Community College (MCC) Small Business Center, located in Williamston, NC, approaches its mission of connecting rural business owners and entrepreneurs with the information and resources they need for successful growth in a very pragmatic way–through word-ofmouth marketing and referrals. One such referral led a rural business owner to the center for assistance in securing a bank loan to relocate its store’s operations, gaining greater visibility and space to meet increasing product demand. In 2003 Sharon and Chris Smith, of Plymouth, NC, purchased Mackey’s Ferry Peanuts from a nearby farming couple looking to retire after 20 years of ownership. Housed in an old country store off of Highway 64, the business filled a niche market for handmade arts and crafts and homemade peanut products such as peanut brittle, peanut butter cookies, and roasted peanuts. Supported primarily by nearby customers and “beach traffic” visitors to North Carolina, the Smiths continued store growth by adding to the original list of goods sold and developing a mailorder side of the business. However, with the impending construction of a new four-lane highway to redirect traffic from the existing two-lane road, the store’s original location would be bypassed, and the Smiths would lose their prized roadside visibility and summer revenue. 25

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The owners of Mackey’s Ferry Peanuts were able to move and expand their business thanks to a link to a financing organization made for them through the Small Business Center at Martin Community College in Williamston, NC.

members spotlight After a number of unsuccessful attempts to secure a conventional loan, Sharon and Chris learned about the SBA 504 loan program. Through contacts made while attending past small business seminars, the couple was referred to MCC’s Small Business Center. A phone call and an on-site visit later, Georgette Chilton, center Director, was able to connect the Smiths to the loan program through SelfHelp, a community lender willing to provide the long-term financing they needed. Once their 504 loan was secured, the rural business owners used the funds to purchase land along the highway’s new route and construct a larger building to house their expanding retail shop, office space, and food preparation areas. In addition to modernizing the store’s facilities, long-term machinery and equipment were purchased to better facilitate on-site product packaging and shipping for the company’s budding on-line catalog business. MCC’s Small Business Center continues to attract its clients and seminar participants through the traditional advertising methods of newspaper announcements and flyer distribution. Being based in a rural service area also demands the use of a more personal approach, such as word-of-mouth marketing and referrals, for sustaining local support. Each recommendation and every display of hands-on assistance, like that given to the Smiths of Mackey’s Ferry Peanuts, ensures that the center’s organizational values are being demonstrated and its reputation remains in good standing with the public. For more information, contact Lucretia King at 252-792-1521, ext. 252 or lking@martincc. edu.

Member: Brad Kleinman Corporate College, a Division of Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland, Ohio Email: [email protected] Residence: Mayfield Hts, Ohio Organization: The Key Entrepreneur Development Center at Corporate College Occupation: Associate Director of the Entrepreneur Center First job: Started an online ticketing company for high schools called eHighSchoolTickets (managed $100K+ in startup capital.) Philosophy: Three words: Make It Happen Favorite Music: My taste is quite eclectic. Although I am a big fan of hip hop like Jurassic 5 and The Roots, I also love the oldies; Frank Sinatra, Otis Reading, The Beatles, The Monkey’s, and anyone else on the oldy station here (Magic 105.7) Favorite TV show or movie: Tough question. For TV, it would HAVE to be Southpark, but I also like The Shield, Weeds, The Sopranos, and Entourage. Movie: So many to choose from…Indiana Jones series, Star Wars, Terminator, Dumb & Dumber, Tommy Boy, Gramma’s Boy, etc. Favorite book: Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi What got me interested in my work: When you help people start or grow their own business, you’re not only helping them fiscally…you’re helping them leverage their passions and their strengths while providing value to our community and society. Success is... not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. (Ok, I stole that from Winston Churchill…thanks Winny) Pet Peeve: People who don’t smile and have fun. Life is too short not to do both as much as possible. Favorite Quote: “Work like you don’t need money, love like you’ve never been hurt, and dance like no one’s watching.” Current Projects: KeyEntrepreneurs.org, the online for the Entrepreneur Center; The 2nd Annual eMarketing Techniques Conference on May 2nd, 2008; Promoting our TV show;The eShow, Smart TV for Smart Entrepreneurs; Branding and licensing a new accountability system for clients If you’d like to be highlighted in a future issue, please email us at [email protected]

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DevelopingRightRelationshipsWithLocalUniversities Articulating the Value You Bring to the Table By Cristobal Valdez Provost, Detroit Lakes Campus Minnesota State Community and Technical College

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n the introductory column I provided for this publication, I discussed the daunting task of starting an Entrepreneurship Program at a small, rural campus in northwest Minnesota. Beyond the immediate realization of the benefits NACCE provided our efforts, we quickly looked for advocates, mentors, and/or partners in our region. As we reached out to local entrepreneurs, economic developers, and educators to expand our network, we were introduced to Bruce Gjovig, Director of the Center for Innovation at the University of North Dakota (UND) in Grand Forks, ND. Bruce connected us with program faculty including Jeff Stamp, endowed chair of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, to further explore UND’s progresses and processes. It should be noted that we spent the initial visits being in awe of Dr. Stamp. The admiration was appropriate; Jeff has developed the program at UND to elite status. In 2007, UND’s Entrepreneurship Program has been named one of the top ten “Best Schools for Entrepreneurs” in the nation, according to a survey of more than 900 schools by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazines, or in the top one percent of all programs nationally. He provides consulting work with major universities worldwide and was recently awarded a prestigious Professor of Entrepreneurship award. However, we soon realized that we, too, presented many strengths for a partnership. We took the time to sit down and recognize the benefits each institution brought to the partnership and came up with the following: Strengths UND Established and Recognizable Access to Research Established and Successful Curriculum Established Regional Network Entrepreneurship Expertise

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MSCTC Flexible and Responsive Practical Application Workforce Preparation Mentality National Network via NACCE Local Support for Entrepreneurship

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In addition to the above strengths noted on the table, UND quickly understood the potential opportunities to establish a pipeline of students and broaden their regional entrepreneurial network. To date, MSCTC and UND have tentative agreements to provide the following elements of entrepreneurship education, training, and services in the following areas: Shared Resources/Programs ENTR Certificate and Degree Curriculum

ENTR 366/166 Imagination, Creativity, Entrepreneur Theory Advisory Board Membership

Parallel Services

Potential Joint Opportunities

Summer ENTR Boot camps UND - College Students MSCTC - HS Students Student Organizations

Angel Investment

Business Plan Competition and Judging

Entrepreneurship Speakers Series

Business Incubation

We believe it took our comparing ourselves to UND to fully understand the strengths we either already had or could acquire quickly from some early mentoring. While we do acknowledge that UND has already established a great entrepreneurship program and will continue to thrive if we did not exist, we also recognize that we do bring many assets to the table in this budding relationship that will provide a

synergistic advantage to aspiring entrepreneurs in this region. For more information, contact Cristobal “Cris” Valdez at (218) 846-3778 or via email at [email protected].

Article Green Ideas Emerge as New Gold Standard for Prosperity By Ronald E.Thomas, Ph.D. President Dakota County Technical College

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obert Frost makes gold go green in his famous 1923 poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” For America’s entrepreneurs, Frost’s poem isn’t about diminishing returns or vanishing profits. The poem instead links the two colors, as gold bullion is linked to green bank notes, instilling the idea that green may be our most precious material. Today, most public entities, communities and businesses are familiar with the importance of the green sustainability movement. Survey the Web sites of your local and state government offices and you will

see very quickly that our public entities are making a concerted effort to address green sustainability through such programs as better environmental planning, use of alternative energy and required recycling. And most recently, the higher education community in the United States launched the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment to address global warming. To date, nearly 500 colleges and universities have signed this agreement. continued on next page spring/summer 2008

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The growing interest in the green sustainability movement is clear. But for the entrepreneur, are the employment/business opportunities compatible with the compliance and regulatory issues that are usually associated with the green movement? In a recent study Bezdek, Wendling and DiPerna (2008) reported that environmental protection (EP) has evolved into a major U.S. industry through the creation of an estimated 5 million jobs in the United States in 2003. EP has grown rapidly to become a major sales-generating, profit-making and job-creating industry.

read and digest the information on the green movement. For a start, visit the U.S. Green Building Council Web site at http://wsgbc.org/DisplayPage. aspx?CMSPageID=287 and read Making an Ecopreneur: Developing Sustainable Entrepreneurs. Step II. Connect With the Green Market. Tell your city or county leaders that you want to help host a green summit. Create your own green team and network with local companies, students and public officials. People love to showcase what they are doing.

From the early years, when sustainability was viewed more as a regulatory or compliance issue than a business opportunity, today’s entrepreneurs are turning the green concept into gold. In his article, “Toward a Greener Future,” Darin Painter (2008) suggested, “Sustainability can impact the wallet, not just the water and air.”

Step III. Start Crafting Your Ideas. Look at other business plans and tap into the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship web site (www.nacce.com) to familiarize yourself with the excellent resources of the Kauffman Foundation.

Entrepreneurship has always been about taking risks, finding niches and creating solutions. Today’s ideal type of “ecopreneur” as defined by Robert Isaak (Issak, 1998, as cited in Schaper, 1998) is one who creates green-green business to radically transform the economic sector. Regardless of whether the entrepreneurship venture is a green-green business such as Ben and Jerry’s or simply a green spinoff from an existing business, the business opportunities for the green entrepreneur hold great promise. “Don’t wait to touch bottom before you start swimming.” This comment, attributed to Luis Gomez, who served as advisor to Costa Rica’s Ministry of Environment and Energy, has a great deal of merit for the entrepreneur who is considering launching a green business. I am not suggesting that one needs to launch a green business because the timing and opportunities seem ripe. On the other hand, for the entrepreneur interested in some aspect of the burgeoning green movement, I do offer this five-step process: Step I. Understand the Green Movement. The research and literature available on the green movement is significant. Google the possibilities, 29

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Step IV. Develop the Plan. Green ideas are just ideas. Work with your business/entrepreneurship instructor and other professionals to help develop your business plan. Remember, you will need marketing, financial resources and a creative niche. Step V. Make It Happen. Robert Frost used eight lines to spin green leaves from threads of gold. Today’s entrepreneur will need more research and time to launch a successful green business. The opportunities are there. Good Luck. References: Bezdek, R. H., Wendling, R. M. & DiPerna, P.(2008). Environmental protection, the economy, and jobs: National and regional analyses. Journal of Environmental Management, 86, 63-79 Painter, D. (2008). Toward a Greener Future. Kodak’s Graphic Communications Magazine, 1, 7-10 Schaper, M. (1998). Making Ecopreneurs: Developing Sustainable Entrepreneurship. Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing Company

MarketingAnEntrepreneurshipProgram Ready, Set, Go…Now All You Need Are Students By Shane Turner Professor of Entrepreneurship Arizona Western College

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o, the faculty is on board, you’ve got the curriculum, the classes have been scheduled, and now all you have to do is fill the classes. This is the situation I found myself in when we started the entrepreneurship certificate program in October of 2006. Here are my top five tips for marketing a new entrepreneurship program; I hope you can find strategies for marketing your own, whether it is new or well established. #5 – Focus on the customer. In an effort to cast as wide a net as possible, it’s easy to waste resources or step on toes. It took me awhile to zero in on the appropriate customer for the credit program. I attended several chamber of commerce breakfasts before realizing that attendees weren’t interested in “going back to college.” Internally, proposals of creating a university transfer pathway troubled business faculty who feared I would be stealing enrollment. By focusing on those students who were interested in starting a business but hadn’t yet done so, I was able to avoid both pitfalls. #4 – Find out what free or low cost resources are available. Don’t ignore free resources that your PR/Marketing Department may have available. Because I asked the question, I was given access to some extremely valuable marketing tools. This included having one of my students appear on the front cover of the college schedule, getting a flash video promoting my program to appear on the front page of the college Web site (something that had never been done before), and having my program promoted on the “on-hold” message people hear when they call the college and are placed on hold. #3 – Seek out multiple streams of students. Don’t ignore the possibility that students could come from non-traditional areas. One source of students was a very successful high school DECA program. The

students added a diversity of ideas to the classes and earned college credit while still in high school, which is a really nice item to have a feature story written about in your local newspaper. #2 – Partner with internal champions. The eventual success of my program rests more with the efforts of people outside my program than from those within. I am a department of one, and while I’ve received tremendous support, there is only so much one person can do to promote a program. By identifying and collaborating with faculty who understand the value of entrepreneurship education, you’ll begin to enlist a “sales force” that can promote the program for you. It would be hard to find a better example of this than the work that Donna Duffy has done with Johnson County Community College. By taking existing certificates at her school and creating a side-by-side certificate that includes an entrepreneurship option, two things are accomplished. One is that any fear of competition is gone because no discipline-specific courses are removed in the entrepreneurship option certificate. The second is that it creates ownership for the faculty in the discipline, and they become an active salesperson for the entrepreneurship program. #1 – Partner with internal champions. I listed it twice because it’s that important. spring/summer 2008

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Who should attend? Community College: • Faculty • Presidents • Deans • Administrators • Continuing Education • Workforce Development • Grants and Development

Through entrepreneurial leadership, entrepreneurship education, and student business incubation programs you will learn how your community college will make an impact in your community’s economic future. For more information visit us at www.NACCE.com or call 413.306.3131 ext. 300

www.NACCE.com