Eight North Carolina Community Colleges Join National Entrepreneurship Forum

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CONTACT: Heather Van Sickle
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EIGHT NORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY COLLEGES JOIN NATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP FORUM

National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship Moves Entrepreneurship Forward by Engaging Community Colleges to Join New Presidents for Entrepreneurship Forum

Springfield, MA –May 1, 2012 -- The National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), the nation’s leading organization focused on promoting entrepreneurship through community colleges, has announced that eight North Carolina community colleges have joined its new Presidents for Entrepreneurship Forum. Through the program, presidents of community colleges throughout the country commit to increase the focus on entrepreneurship at their institutions and the impact these colleges have on the economic well being of the communities they serve.

The initiative is in response to the Obama Administration’s Startup America call to action to stimulate economic growth state by state by encouraging entrepreneurs to start their own businesses. NACCE is a founding affiliate of the Startup America Partnership, an alliance of the country’s most innovative entrepreneurs, corporations, universities, foundations, and other leaders. To date, over 170 community college presents have joined NACCE’s Presidents for Entrepreneurship Forum.

The North Carolina community college presidents who have joined the forum are: Garret Hinshaw, Catawba Valley Community College; Tony Zeiss, Central Piedmont Community College; Steve Thornburg, Cleveland Community College; Rose Johnson, Haywood Community College; Walter Bartlett, Piedmont Community College; Dale McInnis, Richmond Community College; Charles Chrestman, Robeson Community College; and Stephen Scott, Wake Technical Community College.

"With decreasing public funding for education, it is more important than ever for community colleges to generate significant revenue on their own,” said Tony Zeiss, president of Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, NC. "No other organization is dedicated to helping us with this task. I encourage all of America’s community colleges to take advantage of the benefits NACCE and its Presidents for Entrepreneurship Forum have to offer.”

"As a national organization supporting entrepreneurship development, NACCE touches the lives of students and community members across the country,” said Ron Thomas, NACCE board chairman and president of Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount MN. "NACCE has an obligation to lead the way in providing assistance to entrepreneurship education programs, which are an essential part of the economic recovery at local, regional, national and global levels.”

According to NACCE Executive Director Heather Van Sickle, the Presidents for Entrepreneurship Forum is a way for community colleges to advance entrepreneurship and create jobs across the country. The Forum was launched at the White House in January 2011 and works to dramatically increase the prevalence and success of American entrepreneurs.

Community college presidents who join the Forum make five commitments:

• Develop transparency of community college and community assets

• Create internal and external teams dedicated to entrepreneurship

• Increase entrepreneurs’ engagement in community colleges

• Engage in industry cluster development

• Create broad exposure to their college’s commitment to entrepreneurship.

"The five commitments were developed based on NACCE’s observations of what was working best on member campuses,” said Van Sickle. "After observing the entrepreneurship-related activities of our members over a period of years, we started to see commonalities among the more successful institutions,” she said. "One of the major things that clearly makes a difference is the commitment by leadership to entrepreneurship. So we want to put something in front of leadership that they can actually commit to. We want to create a national network of institutions sharing these commitments and see what impact that can have on communities.”

About NACCE

The National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) is an organization of educators, entrepreneurs, and distinguished business development professionals providing quality programs and services in entrepreneurship education and serving as advocates for "entrepreneurship movement.”

Through membership, an annual conference and exhibition, a quarterly journal, monthly webinars and podcasts, a dynamic list-serv, and other resources, NACCE serves as the hub for the dissemination and integration of knowledge and successful practices regarding entrepreneurship education and student business incubation. These programs and courses advance economic prosperity in the communities served by its member colleges.

For more information about the Presidents for Entrepreneurship Forum, or to join NACCE, visit http://www.nacce.com. Follow NACCE on Twitter at @NACCE and like the NACCE – National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship page on Facebook.

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