Across the nation, a revolution is occurring in how
community colleges view their role in serving their communities. Seeking to
bolster local economies, many community colleges, including the 300-plus
members of the National Association for
Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), are adopting a holistic
approach to fostering and supporting entrepreneurship and business growth. Not
only are these colleges educating entrepreneurs, their presidents are using an
entrepreneurial mindset to implement creative solutions to existing problems. The
use of technology has been part of their innovation solutions.
Entrepreneurial Presidents Facilitate an
Entrepreneurial Culture
According to NACCE President and CEO Heather Van
Sickle, these entrepreneurial colleges have cultures requiring an
entrepreneurial mindset for all who work at the college. “They focus on the
foundational elements: the right people, the right culture, to increase the
talent base in their community and add value that only the community college
can in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. This culture results in an environment
fertile for starting and sustaining successful businesses in the greater
community.”
An Entrepreneurial President in Action at CVCC
Catawba Valley
Community College (CVCC) in Hickory, North Carolina, is a prime example of
an institution that has enthusiastically embraced an entrepreneurial mindset. Garrett
Hinshaw is president at CVCC and also the incoming chair of the North Carolina
Community College Presidents Association.
“North Carolina’s economic system is continuing to
evolve through the economic downturn that we just experienced,” says Hinshaw.
“It’s important for us to look at all opportunities for new business
starts-ups, especially those that are innovative and scalable and that will
create jobs. We need new businesses that will have a long-term positive impact
on the ecosystem and will make our state competitive in a global market.
“My role as a community college president is to
make every effort to inspire entrepreneurship and make sure it’s a priority for
all of our programs here at Catawba Valley Community College,” Hinshaw adds. “Part
of that is bringing in innovative programs like HP LIFE e-Learning that can help
students learn business and IT skills and turn their business ideas into
realities. Good IT skills and knowledge are critical to effectively managing
and growing a business. IT affects every part of a company from bringing
products and services to market quickly to interacting with customers. HP LIFE e-Learning is just one
example of the incredible role technology is playing in fueling learning, business
and community development and economic growth.”
Entrepreneurship
Can Revive an Economy; Community Colleges are the Hub for that Revival
The economy of Hickory and its surrounding region
was dominated by manufacturing for many decades. That all changed during the
economic downturn. “Now it’s critical for us to focus on entrepreneurship as a
new way of inventing jobs and assuring that our citizens have access to
quality, relevant jobs for the future of this region,” says Hinshaw. “One of
the key things that we’ve continued to do is support our existing manufacturers
through our Advanced Manufacturing Solution Center, looking at ways to affect
that bottom line so those companies can create jobs that are going to make a
difference in our region.
“We are creating an environment where every new
idea has a chance to succeed,” he adds. “Through HP LIFE e-Learning and the different programs
we’re initiating at our college we want to ensure that all citizens have the
ability to get beyond friends and family and into the marketplace where they
can grow a business, create jobs and obtain follow-on funding.”
Entrepreneurial
Presidents Take Calculated Risks
Hinshaw believes it’s very important for the
leaders of all 58 of the community colleges across North Carolina to think
about the calculated risks they must take to make their environments relevant. “For
example, right here on our campus, we’re created a 28,000-square-foot simulated
hospital, which is the largest east of the Mississippi,” he says. “This has
changed healthcare training in our region. We have to take existing resources
and assure that they are relevant for the 21st century. We’re taking
a former restaurant and turning it into an innovative corporate development
center that features small business support. As a leader in higher education we
always have to think differently in terms of how we do things, how we reach our
constituents, how we ensure our citizens have the right skills and access to
the resources they need. We have to be willing to take those risks and then
work hard to make sure that our commitment and our focus remains on those.
According to Hinshaw, the Hickory community was
built by entrepreneurs who knew how to make things and were real craftsmen. “This
area is going to continue that tradition, but we just have to change the way we
think and change the way we do business,” he says, “and technology like HP LIFE
e-Learning is helping us do that. We’re seeing those manufacturers who are
sustained here changing the way that they reach out to the community and how
they engage with each other and really changing how we do business here in the
Catawba Valley region.”
Watch this video to learn more
about how one community college president in North Carolina is using an
entrepreneurial mindset to restore the local economy.
About
Catawba Valley Community College
Located in Hickory, NC, Catawba Valley Community College is an innovative,
comprehensive community college that fosters and promotes a multitude of
learning experiences, enabling and empowering its students, faculty, staff, and
stakeholders to identify and to serve higher purposes in their lives and in
their communities. CVCC was founded in
1958 and welcomed its first class of 77 students in 1960. Today, the college
serves over 5,000 students with career training in a wide variety of technical
and industrial fields through its Business, Engineering Technology,
Environmental and Life Sciences, Health and Human Resources, and Industrial
Technology Divisions. Also, many students transfer to a four-year college after
completing their first two years at CVCC.
About NACCE
The
National Association
for Community College Entrepreneurship
(NACCE) is an organization of educators, administrators, presidents and
entrepreneurs, focused on inciting entrepreneurship in their community and on
their campus. NACCE has two main goals: 1. Empower the college to approach the
business of running a community college with an entrepreneurial mindset; and 2.
Grow the community college’s role in supporting job creation and entrepreneurs
in their local ecosystem.
Founded in 2002, NACCE is at the
heart of the "entrepreneurship movement.” Through membership, an annual
conference and exhibition, regional summits, a quarterly journal, monthly
webinars, a dynamic list-serv, and training resources, NACCE serves as the hub
for the dissemination and integration of knowledge and successful practices
regarding entrepreneurial leadership, entrepreneurship education and student
business incubation. These initiatives and resulting actions advance economic
prosperity in the communities served by its member colleges. NACCE is a
founding member of the White House-led Startup America
Partnership. For more information, visit http://www.nacce.com. Follow us at @NACCE, like us
on facebook.com/NACCE, and join our LinkedIn group.