Member News

Salt Lake Community College’s Entrepreneurship Forum

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 18:50:51 GMT

By Christopher Black

Department of Marketing Management

Salt Lake Community College, Salt Lake City, Utah

Each fall semester, the Salt Lake Community College School of Business hosts a weekly entrepreneurship forum. When I first became involved with the forum I was a little overwhelmed. Asking entrepreneurs to take so much time out of their day to come to the college to speak seemed like a big request. I could see the value of having entrepreneurs speak to students, but I was also concerned about how the forum topics would integrate with the class and how I would get all the needed speakers on board.

Fortunately, I found that entrepreneurs like to talk about what they have done and entrepreneurship students seem to want to hear from people who have successfully launched businesses and pick their brains for ideas. Further, I learned that I was not alone in this project. One teacher who had great skills with layout did the small flyers that we hung around the building announcing each speaker. Another instructor said that he was friends with Bill Child, who built up a retail furniture store that was later sold to Warren Buffet, and that he would arrange to have him come. Other instructors provided contacts to other dynamic speakers who now make up the nucleus of our speaker list. The instructional media department provided us with an enthusiastic camera and recording crew who record each speaker and provide CDs for student and instructor use.

The speaker format we now follow reflects the experiences I have had in organizing these forums and the insights my predecessor left with me. The first speaker of the term sets the tone for those who follow. For the last couple of years we have started the weekly forums with Samantha Simon. Samantha is an alumnus of the college so the students relate to her experiences. She started running a small convenience store and made award-winning jerky. She later sold that business and went into real estate work. She shared her “5 Tools of Success: Helping You Achieve More Money and More Joy in Owning Your Own Business” packet and put the students to work drafting their own plans of creating a future and becoming personally motivated to follow through.

Samantha also emphasizes the need to develop a relationship with mentors and offers help to those who e-mail her and ask specific questions. Because they have to write in answers as they discover them, even copying down the Web site addresses, they learn quickly that help is available but also that they have to ask and not expect her or other mentors to do their work for them.

The speakers present various topics of great interest to the students. We try to draw speakers from both large and small businesses. However, in discussing speaker preferences with the students, I found that they often could not relate or felt very intimidated by those whose companies had grown to be quite large so most of our speakers are drawn from the smaller companies. The topics discussed in the forum range from earning and building employee loyalty, creative financing options, business plan development, pitching ideas to prospective investors, ethical considerations, government relationships, stock manipulations and sustaining growth rates. We also include a panel of patent attorneys speaking on patents, copyrights and trademarks.

When one student suggested using a business tactic that previously had been identified as unethical, an attorney looked at him the way a tiger would view a wounded deer and reminded this now fully engaged student that they made their livings prosecuting people who did that. The resulting discussion was both enlightening and entertaining.

A major challenge of organizing the forum is lining up speakers. Not only do you have to find the entrepreneurs to speak but also you have to get them scheduled for each week. I start organizing my speakers for fall term in July. Each speaker is given a specific week and then asked for two or three alternate dates that they are available in case I need to make adjustments. It is not unusual to have a speaker call a week or two in advance of their assigned date and ask to reschedule. I have found that if I have to trade dates to accommodate someone, the speakers will often do it good-naturedly. It is important to keep the lines of contact open so the speakers don’t overlook your appointments when they are facing scheduling conflicts. One speaker dashed in to give his presentation on the way to the airport and then ran out to a waiting car so he would not miss his plane.

The benefits of the Entrepreneurship Forum are huge and varied. We have had speakers make sizable donations to the college of business or donations to the scholarship fund. Some of our presenters have also volunteered to serve as mentors and judges for our Delta Epsilon Chi competitions. Forum speakers have been quite willing to mentor students in business plan development and in preparing to meet with potential lenders or investors.

Someone asked me recently which of my classes is the most rewarding and fulfilling. Honestly, I can’t imagine trying to teach entrepreneurship without including the forum. The discussions the following week almost always include some questions or observations from what students heard the previous week. They feel they are hearing timely and beneficial information. The informal format has given them a chance to ask personal questions and get the answers that textbooks and even instructors may not be able to give with the credibility that the students feel they need.

The Flight Plan of a Successful Business

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 21:52:23 GMT

By David Siefert

Associate Professor, “Entrepreneurship Sinclair”

Sinclair Community College, Dayton, OH

What are the different phases of your business’s lifecycle? Do you have a “Flight Plan” for your business’s lifecycle? Does your “Flight Plan” help you to know where you are, and where you’re going?

Small businesses fail for many reasons. Seemingly, negative financial results are often times viewed as both the reason and result of the demise of a company. Mismanagement is another common factor that is considered by many as the reason for business failure. Often times both of these are the result of entrepreneurs/small business managers not knowing where the company is or where it is going. They simply “feel” their way through and react to the next attention-getter.

Consider the situation where a pilot is flying in a heavy storm at night over a large body of water and suddenly loses instrumentation! Pilots experiencing such crisis have indicated that being sight impaired and flying with no instrumentation, they did not know the “direction” they were moving or whether they were flying upside down or right side up! Flying by instinct may have been their only option, but it was not a comforting one.

Small business may not experience exactly what was described above, but they do experience the same situation – particularly if they operate their business through instinct or emotion. The outcome may not be failure, but at a minimum may result in lost opportunity.

There is a solution!

The Flight Plan

Before pilots depart they typically prepare and file a flight plan. The flight plan identifies where and when the airplane will depart, its destination, who and what cargo it is carrying, its flight path, the length of the journey – in time and miles, when it is expected to land, its fuel requirements, etc.

The flight plan is defined during the flight’s Preparation Phase. It is a map, a strategy, a tool to communicate the pilot’s intentions, as well as a means to track the flight in progress. It is also used to help the pilot navigate so as to keep the flight on course. It is important that the plane at all times is aligned with its destination. One degree off course will be devastating in the end if the flight path is not continuously monitored and adjustments made.

The E-Lifecycle

Like a pilot, each and every business normally progresses through what is referred to as the E-Lifecycle – a “business flight plan.” The E-Lifecycle is a key business planning and navigational tool.

Often times a business’s flight plan is considered to be the Business Plan. This is actually true. Unfortunately, there is a major area in the Business Plan that is missing – the E-Lifecycle flight plan! The following provides a brief overview of this powerful tool.

Functioning the same as a flight plan, the E-Lifecycle consists of six phases (see figure). Like the flight plan, the entrepreneur or business owner identifies and defines each of the phases – including the phase’s start point and endpoint – milestones. Each milestone has criteria and related quantifiable measure(s) and metric(s).

The E-Lifecycle is initially defined early during the Preparation Phase and is updated and maintained as the business moves through the lifecycle phases.

Every business during its journey moves through each of the E-Lifecycle phases – assuming there are no disruptions, e.g., introduction of new innovation, effects due to creative destructionism. Like an airplane, a business requires more energy, resources and assets during the “Take-off Phase,” less as it ascends and even less as it achieves cruising altitude. The E-Life Cycle helps to identify and define what is expected.

Business Plans typically do not identify or use the E-Lifecycle flight plan concept – where each phase is defined and strategies and resources determined and budgeted for. If a business is not strategically managed using the E-Lifecycle, like the earlier scenario describing the pilot who is flying without instrumentation, the entrepreneur, too, is “flying” their business with the potential of great peril.

Consider:

• incorporating the E-Lifecycle into business planning,

• using the E-Lifecycle to proactively plan the business’s direction - identifying the transition points (phases start and end points/milestones) for the business,

• developing a profile and strategy for each of the E-Lifecycle phases,

• using the E-Lifecycle to build a business’ flight plan supported by a resource plan, and

• using the E-Lifecycle “flight plan” to proactively monitor, track and adjust a business’s current state and position, and “flight path.”

Please feel free to contact me for additional information, questions or comments on the “E-Lifecycle” at david.siefert@sinclair.edu

Students Operate Recording and Video Production Firms

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 21:50:01 GMT

By Thomas J. Paczkowski, Director

Business & Industry Center

Fred L. Emerson Foundation Endowed Chair in Innovation and Enterprise

Cayuga Community College, Auburn, NY

An innovative, hands-on learning program at Cayuga Community College (CCC) is quickly turning students into experienced entrepreneurs. The college’s Telecommunications Department has launched new student-run enterprises and courses that allow students to learn the recording and video production industries by actually producing projects, then marketing and selling them. CCC is the only community college in New York State to offer courses that help an individual create, develop and then launch a new business in electronic media. The businesses are Cayuga Records and C3 Studios.

Students who participate in supporting Cayuga Records learn how to run a recording company from top to bottom. “Last fall, we had our first release on the Cayuga Records label, which is now available for purchase on the Cayuga Records website,” explained CCC Electronic Media Programs Director and Professor Steve Keeler. “The CD, ‘This is Why’, by CCC student Colin Wilson, was well-received and is now on the play lists of other college radio stations.”

Keeler says students are presently producing two recording projects: a poetry reading called “The Memory Unit” by published poet and Syracuse University’s creative writing department director, Christopher Kennedy, and a compilation CD of original music performed by CCC students. Also, a showcase venue the students have for local bands will provide a variety of opportunities for a series of audio and video recordings. The recordings as well as logo merchandise for both enterprises can be purchased on the Web site at www.cayugarecords.com.

C3 Studios is a student-run video and film production company that will produce original works while instructing the students how to develop and operate a media business. The operation already has three documentary video recordings ready for purchase through their Web site, www.c3studios.com. The titles include A Tale of Two Lakes, Duct Tape and High Heels and Please Pass the Salt Potatoes: A guide to unique upstate New York foods, part 1.

“The video A Tale of Two Lakes has found an audience with high school and middle school science classes,” said Keeler. “The documentary tells a great local story about ecology concerns that students can relate to because it’s about something they live near.”

Support for growing entrepreneurial opportunities in the classroom is coming from a number of funding sources, chief among them, the Kauffman Foundation, the Emerson Foundation, the First Niagara Foundation and the Stardust Foundation.

CCC’s telecommunications program is one of the most firmly established in the Northeast, first offering degrees in 1972. The department’s facilities provide students with constant access to state-of-the-art equipment and extensive hands-on experience. A practical approach to instruction emphasizes contact with established industry professionals in the classroom, studio and on-site internships.

“There is no limit to what a student will be able to achieve in this new atmosphere of learning,” said Keeler. “A student can take an idea, learn the skills to nurture and grow that idea and then develop their idea into a thriving new business, all with the support of the programs and instructors at CCC.”

Professor Keeler may be reached at Cayuga Community College 315 255 1743 ext 2282 or by e mail at keeler@cayuga-cc.edu

Salt Lake Community College Supports Women in Business from Here to Mumbai

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 21:45:15 GMT

By Joy Tlou

Director, Public Relations

Salt Lake Community College, Salt Lake City, UT

Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) has established a unique network of programs specifically designed to help women succeed as entrepreneurs. In 2007, SLCC formed a Women’s Business Institute (WBI) that partners with the Utah Small Business Association and strategically collaborates with the Salt Lake Chamber Women’s Business Center to provide specialized entrepreneurial training geared specifically to women. Several thousand women have already received the training and support they need to operate their own businesses.

“Women entrepreneurs face many challenges when looking to either start or grow their small businesses,” said Danielle Lower, Director of SLCC’s WBI. “By connecting them with access to capital and funding, access to education and skills training, or access to markets, we are removing the barriers women have faced in realizing their entrepreneurial vision.”

The WBI is a comprehensive resource center, supplying women with the full array of resources – from one-on-one counseling and mentoring, market research assistance, workshops and courses, even an entrepreneurial readiness assessment – they need to turn their ideas into successful businesses. In addition to fostering many of the kind of start-up successes business support centers traditionally assist, the Women’s Business Institute helps women who would typically never be involved in starting their own businesses.

In this vein, the WBI founded a collaborative venture with the Women’s India Trust, a non-profit organization in Mumbai, India, that offers training and education to women with little income. This partnership gives women in Mumbai everything they need to earn their way out of poverty – providing them with the skills training, access to micro-loans, and even the materials they need to create home goods such as bedspreads, pillow covers, tablecloths, and bags. The women then can take their goods to market locally or in markets around the world.

More than 60 low-income women received training in the college’s first trip to Mumbai; they are already profitably engaged and on their way to running independent small businesses. Recently, the WBI held a benefit luncheon promoting the Women’s India Trust – and bringing the goods made by the program’s participants to Utah for sale. “This benefit assures that SLCC will return to Mumbai to continue training women in India,” said Karen Gunn, Dean of SLCC’s School of Professional and Economic Development. “We believe an important part of our mission here at SLCC is to take the programs and services we’re already providing here at home and extending them to an international audience.”

Closer to Home

The women who have participated in the WIT program are making a significant global impact; they’re also living examples of what women from all backgrounds can do for their families, their communities and the world they live in when they have the skills to be productive in industry today. Of course, women in India are not uniquely capable of making these kinds of contributions. By focusing its efforts on creating similar opportunities for women closer to home, the WBI recently formed a partnership with the local non-profit group ArtForms.

This program uses the curriculum developed for the Women’s India Trust – under the theme ‘Common Threads’ – to train local refugees to start home-based businesses using their newly acquired sewing skills. Women in this program –who have come to Utah from Sudan’s Nuer tribe – acquire both practical sewing skills and the business savvy to capitalize on them.

“This program is a crucial opportunity for these refugee women,” said Danielle Lower. “ArtForms has done extraordinary work in providing these women useful skills; we’re looking to offer them all of the expertise and resources available here at Salt Lake Community College to build on that foundation so these women can take command of their futures.”

SLCC’s Fashion Institute has donated resources – including access to commercial sewing machines, cutting tables, instruction and classrooms – so participants in the program can excel. As part of the program, women take part in weekly instructional sessions that impart the skills necessary to start and manage home-based businesses. Currently a dozen women are enrolled in this program and are already making a difference in their communities.

“The work we’ve been able to do both for our local community and in India has been absolutely incredible,” Dean Gunn said. “It is exciting to be engaged in making a real difference to people from underrepresented and disadvantaged situations – whether here in the Salt Lake valley or in Mumbai, India – but also to see the ways the women in our programs are continuing to profoundly change their own communities for the better.”

Helping Small Businesses Help Us Out of the Recession

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 21:43:24 GMT

By Randy Nelson

Director, AWC Small Business Development Center

Arizona Western College, Yuma, AZ

As with the last few economic downturns or recessions everyone seems to be pointing to small business creation and growth to pull us out of our current situation. Why not? This strategy has worked very well and now small businesses create more jobs, higher sales, and more new technology than ever before. So if small business creation is to be stimulated, how and when will this happen?

First of all what would make owning and operating a small business more attractive to those currently, or recently working for corporate America? To me the attractiveness of corporate America lies in the following areas;

1. Health insurance

2. A steady rate of pay with chance for improvement

3. Retirement benefits

4. Educational opportunities

So if you see the following things happen, small business creation should explode in both creation and investment;

1. Mandatory health insurance

2. Decreases in current levels of pay

3. Current retirement opportunities lose significant
value

4. The cost of current educational opportunities

becomes unaffordable

You can probably see where I am headed now; the climate for small business creation is becoming more and more favorable. At the beginning we will probably see people who have been downsized or have had their earning power greatly reduced as those interested in self- employment. The momentum will probably build until we see more and more of the individuals with resources (financial, experience, and education) looking to create their own business as a viable alternative to working for the traditional Fortune 500 company.

What will be very important for the policy makers to remember is that their actions may have a very negative effect on small business creation. One of the trade-offs of working for a large company is that your job does not have to do everything. Someone else is always there to handle HR, marketing, accounting, safety, production, management, technology and whatever else they are paid to do.

Entrepreneurs are much more efficient and effective when “red tape” and other compliance issues are minimized. I have seen more and more individuals thinking about small business ownership scared away once they understand all the compliance responsibilities that go along with their business opportunity.

Unfortunately, the other potential killer of entrepreneurship is the politician, especially in an era of declining tax revenues. A few years ago our city was considered a boomtown of economic activity. Every politician enjoyed the additional revenues brought forth by an exploding economy. In many ways the cities and counties struggled to keep up with the growth and encouraged strategies like impact fees, aesthetic overlays, zoning delays, and many other barriers to entry for the small business person. With reduced tax collection we should be looking at reducing the barriers to entry for the businessperson. We have seen larger corporations relocate some or all of their operations overseas once the cost of doing business in the U.S. outweighs the challenges of conducting business from a more favorable location, or the costs of international trade is lower than local manufacturing.

Fortunately educational opportunities are still available through community colleges, small business development centers and others to help the entrepreneurs help us out of our current economic downturn.

Drowning in Green Ink: Eco-business Models in the Mainstream

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 21:39:19 GMT

Facebook Is Not Just for Kids Anymore

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 21:10:38 GMT

By Brad Kleinman

Chief eMarketing Officer

WorkSmart eMarketing

Have you heard of Facebook? Of course you have. It’s that Web site your kids are obsessed with. They’re posting pictures and videos, letting each other know about where the next party is at, messaging each other incessantly and participating in other time-wasting activities like virtually poking one another. How childish!

Facebook is just for kids…or is it? Take a look at some key growth trends:

• Facebook has over 175 million users and is growing by more than 700,000 users a day.

• More than half of Facebook users are outside of college.

• The fastest growing demographic is those 30 years and older.

And it’s not just the reach of Facebook that is astounding; user engagement is off the charts:

• More than 3 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide).

• More than 18 million users update their statuses at least once each day.

• More than 4 million users become fans of Pages each day.

More and more schools across the nation are beginning to jump on the bandwagon as they realize it is in their best interest to have a Facebook presence. Let’s explore some of the most powerful techniques you can employ to take advantage of Facebook to grow enrollment for your programs.

• Get a profile…join in the conversation.

My first recommendation for taking advantage of the Facebook platform is just to jump in and start your profile. Now you are able to connect (and stay connected) with business contacts you meet at your local chamber events, your open houses and programs, your online webinars, and everywhere else when the prospect asks, “Are you on Facebook?”

As you participate in Facebook and create events, post pictures from recent programs, communicate with contacts and more, people you are friends with see your actions (through the “Facebook News Feed”). This helps increase in the amount of touch points in which you are interacting with that contact. We all know that marketing for continuing education requires multiple touch points to entice a prospect to sign up for an upcoming program.

Place your events on Facebook.

The Facebook News Feed is incredibly powerful. One of the best ways to take advantage of it is through Facebook events because their algorithm places a lot of emphasis on pushing events to users if several of their friends RSVP for a specific event. For example, if you and a few others I am friends with RSVP for an upcoming conference, it’s highly likely for the event to creep into my feed…a few times over the course of time! The same goes for pictures, which is great for event promoters: past participants’ friends can see my friends at the event I hosted, and potentially make them think they want to be in the IN crowd the next time I host an event. The entrepreneur center at Corporate College in Cleveland Ohio places events on Facebook (and LinkedIn) and it has been a great place to connect to potential new customers.

Communicating with business contacts couldn’t be easier.

Once you are friends with a business contact on Facebook, it is very easy to message that person (via Facebook email or Facebook chat). Have an upcoming program on business planning you think the contact would be interested in? Send them an invite. Have a group of people in a certain market demographic that you want to focus on for market research? Use a Facebook Friend List to send the group of contacts a Facebook email to gauge their interest.

Facebook has created a robust system to help you easily stay in touch with one individual, or a group of people. For example, when you post something to your profile, such as an event, a Web site link, a picture, or a simple status update, friends of yours will see those updates through the Facebook News Feed. Make sure to add the ‘Add to Facebook’ button to your articles and pages of your Web site that you want your users to be able to easily share with their Facebook friends.

Try Facebook advertisements.

Facebook ads do not have a large CTR or click-through-rate, which means they do not perform very well in terms of users clicking on the ads. However, your payment is based upon CPC or cost-per-click, which means you only pay when someone actually clicks. Therefore, Facebook ads are a great option when you are running more of a branding campaign for your organization.

One fantastic benefit of Facebook ads is the ability to drill down to make sure your ad is viewed by a very specific demographic (such as males between the ages of 26-32 in Anchorage that like salmon). We have run campaigns that generated over 125,000 impressions (how many people viewed the ad), but we only had to pay $30 for the campaign because the click-through-rate was low.

Build your Facebook Page.

Facebook Pages are possibly the most attractive component of Facebook’s Business Services. You can create a ‘Page’ for your institution or your entrepreneurship department, and connect with people on Facebook just like a friend connects with another friend. Post events to your Facebook Page, update your status on projects your department is working on, and post pictures and videos from previous events.

As more and more people become a ‘fan’ of your Page, chances increase that your brand will be able to propagate virally on the Facebook platform. Another great benefit of Pages is the flexibility in customization by giving you the ability to build in custom graphics, forms, and more. Pages have many advantages over Groups because of flexibility and built-in traffic mechanisms.

With a price of $0 to get started on Facebook, and the platform growing at such an amazing rate, it’s time to develop your strategy for how you’ll take advantage. Jump in; the water’s getting warmer every day!

Program Development:Enhancing Entrepreneurship Education and a Vital Economy

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 20:58:40 GMT

By Judith Hogan

Dean of Business, Engineering and Technology

Middlesex Community College, Bedford and Lowell, MA

The Business Administration Department at Middlesex Community College had a vision to enhance our Entrepreneurship Program to better serve the needs of the Greater Lowell and Bedford, MA, communities. Building upon our current Small Business Management program, we hoped to cultivate entrepreneurship skills in students and increase our faculty knowledge of successful small business management skills. State Senator Steven Panagiotakos championed our plan with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and we received a $75,000 grant to implement a program to expand entrepreneurship education in our area.

Equally important was the opportunity to strengthen the potential for success of current and future small business owners in our region. We saw that as integral to the economy of our area. The goal of the initiative was to develop strong entrepreneurial skills leading to a talented, competent work force.

Armed with information provided thru NACCE from the Kauffman Foundation, we knew that 65 percent of students across the United States plan to start a small business, work in a family owned small business or grow an existing small business they already started in high school. In collaboration with our technical and comprehensive high school partners we developed several programs to foster small business skills in students and faculty alike.

The timing of our initiative was perfect. Our technical high school partners were investigating ways to incorporate entrepreneurship skills into their curriculum. In August 2007 the Massachusetts Department of Education developed new Vocational Technical Education Frameworks or Strands as they are known. Strand 5, Management and Entrepreneurship, requires that the technical high schools expose students to a variety of entrepreneurship knowledge including the analysis of basic business practices, management of business resources, managing, organizing, retrieving and reporting financial data, application of labor and civil rights law, guidelines to business practices and decisions, evaluation of the effects of community relations on companies, and the legal and ethical requirements of business practice and decisions. MCC assisted with the development of curriculum that helped the technical high schools implement this requirement.

We implemented vertical teaming strategies that identified the curriculum components of the high school and the community college programs. Also, this relationship created a seamless pathway from the high school to the community college entrepreneurship program.

Grant Activities

These activities were completed as part of this entrepreneurship grant:

• Vertical Teaming with MCC Business and Computer Applications faculty and Business and Computer Applications faculty from the high schools

• Entrepreneurship training for Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School and the Out of School Youth Development Center

• Online and classroom course development for use in the high schools

• Business Plan Competition for students

• Professional Development for MCC faculty–held at MCC and provided by the executive director of the Lowell Small Business Assistance Center

• Major entrepreneurship event for students from MCC and all the partnering high school groups– Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour held at MCC’s Bedford Campus

• Business Simulation Software–purchased requested software for high school and MCC faculty–MCC faculty investigated simulation software in collaboration with high school faculty and recommended software to be purchased.

We were fortunate to have an on-campus resource for entrepreneurship skills development. The Lowell Small Business Assistance Center, a collaboration of Middlesex Community College, the City of Lowell, the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and Community Teamwork Incorporated assisted with the implementation of the program. The executive director of the Center, Russ Smith, created a professional development seminar for our faculty. A professional development workshop for MCC faculty was also developed and presented to10 MCC Business, Engineering and Technology faculty. The participants incorporated the information learned into their course. Stipends were paid to the participants upon submission of a new syllabus highlighting the integration of entrepreneurship curriculum content in their course.

Terry Williams, of the Center, adapted an entrepreneurship program used at the Center for students at the Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School and the Out of School Youth Development Center, two other initiatives of MCC. Students participated in an entrepreneurship course that was an adaptation of the LSBAC’s Right Start Entrepreneur program. The program included workshops in Marketing, Finance, Introduction to Business, Sales and Business Law. The material, which was originally created for an adult audience, was adapted to provide dynamic and developmentally appropriate curriculum for the students.

MCC faculty assisted our high school partners in the development of three classroom modules on various topics in Entrepreneurship. Additionally they collaborated in the development of an on-line course designed to infuse entrepreneurship training into the standard curriculum.

One of the more exciting and rewarding components of the whole program was a Business Plan Competition held at Middlesex Community College for students from area high schools. Twelve students or groups of students participated in the competition. Cash prizes were awarded for the top six performing students or teams. All participants received a $25 award. MCC faculty and administration served as judges. DECA Business Plan and judging guidelines were used.

Additionally, a major entrepreneurship event, Extreme Entrepreneur, was held at the college’s Bedford campus and was conducted by a youth entrepreneurship training organization that presents this activity for schools and youth groups all over the country. The event included a young, successful keynote speaker, action workshops, structured networking workshops and an entrepreneur speaker panel. The organization provided media coverage for the event. We provided bus transportation to the campus for high school students. One hundred seventy area high school students attended. Students were truly energized by the event, and some commented it was the best field trip they ever had.

Finally, Business simulation software was purchased from the grant funds. This software will allow students to work virtually within a retail business, develop product, and marketing strategies and have their choices assessed by the software. Also, a year’s subscription to Hoovers was purchased. MCC faculty will be able to use the information provided at this site to access information about local and national businesses including sales, employees and financial data.

We are fortunate to have received another round of funding from the State. This will allow us to expand on the activities completed in 2008 and explore other ways to grow entrepreneurship skills in our area. The program was ambitious, but the rewards were many. All involved gained a much deeper understanding of the science and art that is entrepreneurship.

For more information about this program contact Judith Hogan at hoganj@middlesex.mass.edu

Building an Entrepreneurial Pathway One Campus at a Time

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 20:40:56 GMT

A promising effort is underway in California's Central Valley to create a replicable model for how community colleges and four-year schools can partner to build an entrepreneurial education pathway that takes students all the way from high school through to successful self-employment. Now nearing the end of the second year of a three-year initiative funded by the Coleman Foundation, the program is already producing promising results.

Known as the Community College Entrepreneurial Pathway project, the program unites 10 community colleges with the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at California State University, Fresno. The Pathway is an effort to build curricula, classroom content, and community support for the delivery of knowledge, skills, and actions for students seeking self-employment.

The program is the brainchild of Timothy Stearns, Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies at the Lyles Center. “Two fundamental considerations led me to the Pathway model,” he says. “First, we are a center of entrepreneurship and innovation that is focused on the Central Valley, which is a very large footprint of 100 miles in length. We have been trying to find ways to reach into communities outside of Fresno to provide programs and foster development for entrepreneurs. Having had opportunities to work with community colleges, including several in the valley, I began to realize they provided an excellent platform for engaging with people to reach into the community to foster more and more entrepreneurial opportunities.

“The second factor was that about 35 or 40 percent of our students are transfers from community colleges,” Stearns adds. “I was getting a number of transfers into my Entrepreneurship program, but there was a real mix in the types of skills and knowledge that they were bringing with them. I was interested in getting more uniformity in the message that would make these students much better when they got into the Fresno State program.”

Getting Started

Funded with just over $300,000 from the Coleman Foundation, the Pathways program began by identifying and supporting Coleman Scholars on community college campuses. These faculty members are the driving force behind the development and nurturing of entrepreneurship programs on their individual campuses.

The program has met its goal of putting Coleman Scholars in place at 10 community colleges. Through their collaboration – which includes nine group meetings per year to share best practices and other information – they are laying the foundation for a network of courses and programs that will form a consistent entrepreneurship pathway across the campuses. Coleman Scholars undergo National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) training and must attend the NACCE conference annually during the three-year program.

Program Director Marianne Dunklin has been in charge of recruiting the Coleman Scholars. “The program has been very positively received on the campuses,” she says. “The people who tend to teach entrepreneurship education at community colleges are really interested in making a difference in the lives of their students and entrepreneurship is a way to do that.”

“Becoming a Coleman Scholar attracted me because it was an opportunity to work closely with faculty from similar institutions on a subject about which I am very excited,” says Eric Nasalroad, Coleman Scholar at Reedley Community College. “Not only was it a medium for developing best practices and for gaining insight, it also provided a network of individuals who provided accountability and support. At Reedley, we have developed an Intro. to Entrepreneurship class, a CEO club, a Certificate in Entrepreneurship, articulated our intro class with Fresno State, and generated entrepreneurship ‘buzz' on campus. We are currently developing an Entrepreneurship Center in hopes of launching an incubator in the future. Our outreach to high school and to disciplines other than business has increased dramatically. These things would not have been possible without the guidance, accountability, and support that comes with being a Coleman Scholar.”

A Moveable Model

The Coleman Foundation is pleased with the progress they've seen in the California program and is already beginning work in Chicago that is loosely based on the Pathways program. “There will be tweaks and modifications as necessary for the unique aspects of the geography as the model is put into use in other parts of the country,” says Coleman Foundation Program Manager Clark McCain. “But in broad strokes being able to connect a four-year school, a community college and high schools is a good model that can take a variety of forms.

“We are very supportive of making these connections between community colleges either upstream or downstream,” he adds. “We want people to know that there is an interest at the four-year setting in what happens at the two-year setting. It's important to communicate that there are four-year schools out there that have an interest in working with people at community colleges.”

For additional information on the Community College Entrepreneurial Pathway, contact Genelle Taylor, associate director of the Lyles Center, at (559) 294-2045 or via e-mail at genellet@csufresno.edu.

Growing a Comprehensive Entrepreneurship Center in a Small Town

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 20:36:27 GMT

By Cristobal Valdez

Provost, Detroit Lakes Campus

Minnesota State Community and Technical College, Detroit Lakes, MN

This is the first article in a series of four chronicling the development of the M State Business and Entrepreneurial Services (BES) in the rural community of Detroit Lakes, MN. By way of introduction, the vision of the BES is to develop and strengthen entrepreneurial services in West-central Minnesota; the center was envisioned as a comprehensive entity that would be the centerpiece of entrepreneurial activity in the region. The BES was initiated in March 2007, and the college has actively grown this entity for nearly 18 months.

As we researched successful entrepreneurship ventures on other campuses, we heard one resounding theme: the need to acquire college-wide buy-in and ownership. We have successfully experienced a high level of integrated leadership, and we attribute that to the following three constructs of the BES: educated administration, engaged core group, and experienced advisory board.

Educated Administration

Early in this venture, the M State administration conducted thorough research regarding best practices in community college entrepreneurship. Our greatest source of information has been the NACCE organization. One or more representatives have attended the annual conferences and both symposiums since we began our endeavor. The NACCE resources on staffing, capacity, structure and operations have been invaluable. This connection also led us to successful models at Springfield Technical, Johnson County, North Iowa Area, and Dakota Technical college campuses. These visits were instrumental in the development of our strategic and business plans.

Engaged Core Group

Our first design was to develop a “core” group of campus leaders to conceptualize and oversee the development of the services to the community. We had representation from administration, faculty and staff; the core group’s composition included five faculty members ranging from Administrative Management to Web Development. We included the Dean of Academics, the interim Director and the Campus CEO. This group was charged with developing the mission, vision and business plan including marketing and financial plans.

For those interested in developing entrepreneurship services on your campus, we highly recommend a development team that represents a cross section of the major stakeholder groups from within your college. We found great success from the opportunities for discourse (and, at times, outright disagreement), multiple perspectives, and participatory leadership.

Experienced Advisory Board

We recruited a cross-section of economic developers, entrepreneurs, banking and lending professionals, manufacturers, marketing researchers, and community leaders. This group, along with the Angel Investor Network, has pushed the BES to organize and expand our service area to a larger region. They have also fostered the promotion of entrepreneurship via our Speakers Series, which invites successful local entrepreneurs to share their experience and insight with the community.

To date, the BES has secured over $300,000 in grant funding for start-up, operations and training. We have strong partnerships with the local SBDC, economic development, and employment agencies. Our recently created Business Entrepreneurship program has nearly 40 students enrolled. By the time this article reaches print, we will have hired our first permanent director with a charge to open an incubator by fall.

We feel fortunate to experience such a great deal of success so early on in this effort. Moreover, we feel compelled to share our experiences with others who desire to contribute to the economic and business development in their communities.

For more information about Business & Entrepreneurial Services of M State, contact Cristobal “Cris” Valdez at (218) 846-3778 or via email at
cris.valdez@minnesota.edu .

Experience Is the Best Teacher at Everett Community College

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 20:28:22 GMT

By Lynne Munoz, M. Ed.

Director

Everett Community College School of Business Design, Everett, WA

Everett Community College student Tyeson Penella was nervous. The biggest loan he'd ever requested was an advance in his allowance.

This time, he was asking a panel of business experts to loan his team of EvCC students money to start their own T-shirt business.

The panel–made up of two bank executives, the director of the Northwest Women's Business Center, as well as representatives from EvCC's School of Business Design–gave loans to three team– students who worked for three quarters to create and run their own businesses. All teams repaid their loans and together donated more than $2000 back to the program to help more students start businesses next year.

“Experience really is the best teacher,” Tyeson said. “It was really tough, but working with real money to make our business possible motivated us to work hard to make it successful.”

That kind of experience is the core of Everett Community College's School of Business Design. Created in 2006, the school offers a 90-credit Associate's Degree in Entrepreneurship and the 15-credit Certificate in Entrepreneurship. The first group of 20 students graduated in June 2008.

The program combines traditional business courses, which are the core of EvCC's successful business administration program, and innovative entrepreneur courses to create unique opportunities for students and the community to experience entrepreneurial business education.

The goal of the School of Business Design at EvCC is to redefine traditional business education, going beyond business planning by focusing on hands-on business experiences and innovation. Students have the opportunity to start, run and liquidate a business, and use their skills on marketing, design and consulting projects for women and minority-run businesses in Snohomish County.

Some entrepreneurial programs continue to teach business problem-solving in a very linear, how-to, one-size-fits-all fashion, leaving little room for imagination, innovation and creativity. The School of Business Design teaches entrepreneurs to continually innovate their products, services and business practices to stay competitive.

The classroom experiences continue to extend the learning environment into real businesses and emphasize hands-on learning, creativity and teamwork. During the past academic year, SBD students have worked with over 20 local businesses to develop marketing plans, business plans, and multiple design projects for local businesses. The quality of student work has been extremely high, and they have presented to business advisory boards and local city councils for the City of Marysville and the City of Snohomish.

The SBD program of study has developed a successful learning model that breaks down artificial barriers between learning about business and applying learning to business functions. With entrepreneurship education grounded in applied practice that is linked to foundational business theory, graduates develop the relevant skills that employers demand and that support entrepreneurial success. Graduates benefit from the nearly seamless transition from the classroom to advancing in their chosen technical field or to starting their own ventures. The link between education and practical application with results will help insure their future success.

We have been excited by the way students have exceeded our expectations for the first two years of the program. The SBD has worked with several local business and community organizations to provide hands-on support for the business projects. Students in the SBD program have been involved in student project teams and participated with local business owners and city projects. Listed below are highlights from their work:

Marketing Plans
Business students worked with more than a dozen community businesses, including the nearby cities of Snohomish and Marysville. This winter, students will work with the City of Snohomish's Economic Development Director on a citywide business-marketing plan. Several business owners provided hands-on practicum and internships for students.

High-Profile Projects
In a partnership with the City of Marysville, student teams created and presented design concepts for the city's new 100,000-square-foot city hall and campus. Students and faculty worked directly with the mayor and his staff during the quarter and presented culminating projects in person with the city of Marysville. The student work was featured in local newspapers and at a Marysville City Council meeting.

Student Businesses
School of Business Design students created four businesses and ran them for two quarters. Each team was able to repay their initial cash loan of $1,200-1,500 and return a profit after all expenses were paid. Future teams will donate their profits back to the School of Business Design to perpetuate the funds for future teams.

Regional Conference
School of Business Design students and staff hosted the fourth annual BizArt conference in February 2009, which is an artist led business conference for entrepreneurs in our region. Over 100 participants and presenters attended the successful event, and plans are underway for next year.

We expect at least 20 new students will enter the program during Fall 2009 and complete the coursework to earn an Associate's degree in Entrepreneurship. Finally, we expect internal and external evaluations will show significant progress meeting our objectives and developing a culture of innovation and change through entrepreneurship within the college and the communities it serves.

Miami Dade College Grows Entrepreneurship Education Awareness

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 20:21:42 GMT

By Stephanie J. Etter, D.Sc., Director, School of Business

Miami Dade College, Miami, FL

Theodora Laing, Chairperson, Business Department

Miami Dade College, North Campus

At Miami Dade College (MDC), Miami FL, an intensive effort is underway to increase entrepreneurship education awareness in the region. The college's School of Business has begun championing entrepreneurship as a viable career option and is using a variety of methods to spread the word and increase collaboration among high schools, colleges and universities.

Outreach to High School Students

In spring 2008 the college's North Campus hosted over 300 Miami-Dade County Public School (M-DCPS) Entrepreneurship Academy students for the inaugural Entrepreneurship Academy Day. The day consisted of presentations ranging from personal stories of successful, local entrepreneurs to the process of financing a new entrepreneurial endeavor. Students had the opportunity to attend special breakout sessions about current movements in entrepreneurship, including virtual entrepreneurship and new developments in e-commerce. The day also included a panel discussion with the presidents, CEOs, CFOs and founders of many local, popular businesses.

At the end of the spring semester, an MDC School of Business representative visited graduating seniors at eight high schools to speak about entrepreneurship education at the college and field questions from interested students. Representatives also provided enrollment information for entrepreneurship courses for the fall semester.

Outreach to High School Faculty and Administrators

MDC's School of Business and Meek Entrepreneurial Education Center will participate in the First Annual South Florida National Foundation for the Teaching of Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Pathway to Entrepreneurship College Fair, being held this fall. The fair will bring together high school, community college and university educators, advisors and administrators to discuss programs, partnerships, advising and the future of entrepreneurship education in the region. The fair concludes with a panel discussion titled "Rising Entrepreneurs in a Changing Economy.”

Outreach to College Faculty

At the 2008 NACCE Convention, MDC was awarded a Coleman Foundation Grant to further the entrepreneurship education of our faculty by providing scholarships to NFTE University. The opportunity to attend this exceptional training has increased faculty awareness of entrepreneurship teaching opportunities. Consequently, the number of faculty interested in teaching entrepreneurship courses at MDC's eight campuses has more than doubled.

Outreach to the Community

The Carrie P. Meek Entrepreneurial Education Center is a major outreach center of Miami-Dade College's North Campus. The Meek Center focuses on entrepreneurship, economic and community development and offers a vast array of college credit and non-credit courses for both degree and non-degree seeking students. Students at the Meek Center can obtain workforce and business skills training to enter the labor market or become successful entrepreneurs.

Program Offerings

Miami Dade College began offering the courses required for its College Credit Certificate in Entrepreneurship as well as the A.S. Degree in Marketing Management – Entrepreneurship in the fall of 2007. In spring 2008 the College awarded 11 College Credit Certificates in entrepreneurship, with almost all of them being awarded to associate of arts students who plan to pursue baccalaureate degrees.

Future Entrepreneurs Creating Change

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 20:04:09 GMT

By Rebecca M. Evans, MSBE

Associate Professor Accounting/Business

Blue Ridge Community College, Weyers Cave, VA

The power of entrepreneurial education can be seen in many places from Maine to Alaska. However, a true testament to the power of entrepreneurial education can be seen in a group of students working to create economic opportunity on an island off the coast of Haiti. LaGonave, Haiti, provides its 80,000 residents with no electricity, limited water resources, no medical care, or industry. Most of the inhabitants of the island are unemployed and live on less than $1 per day.

Using the vision, passion, and determination of any successful entrepreneur, 46 student members of the Blue Ridge Community College SIFE Team developed a business plan to establish the first rabbit farm on the island of LaGonave in the village of Zabricot. Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) is a global nonprofit organization that challenges students to take what they have learned in the classroom and apply their knowledge to better their communities. BRCC SIFE students developed a plan to introduce rabbits to the island, provide supplies and assistance needed to build the farm, and also to educate villagers on how to run a business, care for livestock, and successfully sell their product.

Materials to construct the farm were shipped by cargo container to Haiti. Training materials were developed and translated into Haitian Kryeole by BRCC students who were fluent in the language. Training videos on rabbit handling, meat processing, and cage building were also developed to allow cooperative members the ability to study the material. As there is no electricity on LaGonave co-op members were provided battery operated DVD players for training purposes.

Eleven months of research and planning culminated in a group of four students traveling to LaGonave. Over the course of five days students assisted in clearing land and building the cooperative. Students trained villagers on rabbit care, breeding, nutrition, solar disinfection of water, meat processing, record keeping, business ethics, and how to effectively work as a team. Sixteen-hour work days ended with the students dirty, sweaty, and hungry but excited to know the cooperative was moving forward and the people of Zabricot were working hard to create a farm that would create opportunity for their village.

The Zabricot Cooperative is in business! Two litters of rabbit have gone to market and the sale of rabbit meat produced on the island was a first! The sale resulted in proceeds of 5,600 HTG (Haitian Gourde) or $146 U.S. dollars, equaling over a year of income for the average Haitian. The proceeds were reinvested into the cooperative and also used to buy food. The members of the Zabricot Cooperative are working to build their business. Future onsite classes are planned by BRCC students to increase production, improve rabbit nutrition, and strengthen recordkeeping skills.

Blue Ridge Community College has proven that the success of entrepreneurial education is not always measured by a letter grade but can also be found in the actions of entrepreneurial students who are paying it forward by using their knowledge to create opportunity for others.

Rebecca Evans may be reached via e-mail at Evansr@brcc.edu or via phone at 540-453-2366.

Young Entrepreneur Profiles - Q & A With Rahim Fazal

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 18:37:09 GMT

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of profiles of young entrepreneurs prepared for Community College Entrepreneurship by best-selling author Michael Simmons, co-founder and CEO of the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour (EET), http://www.extremetour.org , and a past keynote speaker at NACCE.

Michael Simmons Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour brings the country’s top young entrepreneurs to college campuses to spread the entrepreneurial mindset during a half-day conference. Started in 2006, the tour has visited over 60 schools nation-wide and has received the Innovation Award from the National Association of Development Organizations and the Program of the Year award from Northern Michigan University.

Rahim Fazal, CEO and Co-Founder of Involver (http://www.involver.com), is a three-time entrepreneur with extensive experience in the media, marketing, and technology spheres. While still in high school, Rahim co-founded a Web-hosting company and negotiated its sale for $1.5M during senior year. In September 2008, Rahim was named one of America’s “Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30” by Inc. Magazine. Rahim is an advisor to and speaker on the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour (www.extremetour.org). He attended Douglas College in Vancouver, BC, Canada from 2004-2006.

Q:What do you think the most important things community colleges can do to help encourage and support young entrepreneurs?

A:Give young entrepreneurs practical training that can be applied in the real world to start – or help grow – a business immediately. I always found it harder to pay attention in classes where the information was predominantly theoretical or was something I may or may not apply in the future.

Q:What do you think the most important things professors can do to help encourage and support young entrepreneurs in their classroom?

A:Encourage students to put on the hat of an entrepreneur and walk through and discuss real business problems using case studies. The closer you can make the classroom experience to actually starting a real business, the more students will be engaged.

Q:What do you know now that you wish you had known when you were starting your business?

A:Starting a business is easy. Growing a business is a lot harder :)

Q:What were the critical success factors that helped you become a successful entrepreneur?

A:Surrounding myself with great people – business partners, team members, advisers, investors — and parents.

Q:Why did you choose to become an entrepreneur?

A:To join the adult world on my own terms. Starting at the bottom of the corporate totem pole was not appealing to me. I was much more attracted to the idea of succeeding or failing on my own terms.

Q:How did you come up with and test your business idea?

A:Talked, talked some more and talked again to potential customers. I see a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs make the mistake of spending months and a lot of money brainstorming a new idea, but never talk to the customer. I’ve found that the more advice you get from a customer, the more likely they are to purchase from you in the future.

Q:What was your biggest challenge in getting started?

A:Finding the right people who shared the dream. I actually ended up starting my first business with my best friend.

Q:How did you go about getting your first customers?

A:We gave the product away for free. We had enough confidence in our product that we believed that all our customers needed was to taste our product to be hooked to it. We were right!

Q:How did you keep yourself accountable to consistently spend your free time working on the business?

A:It helps to have a co-founder, because they keep you accountable. When you’re by yourself and don’t have any deadlines, it’s very easy to procrastinate.

Embedding the Entrepreneurial Learning Spirit in Our College Community

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 18:29:18 GMT

By Angie Taylor, Ed.D.

Vice President, Workforce Solutions

Gateway Community and Technical College, Florence, KY

The creation of the Entrepreneurial Learning College is making a powerful difference in the ownership of learning outcomes for students, faculty and staff at Gateway Community and Technical College.

The Entrepreneurial Learning College (ELC) team wanted to embrace not only programs for student entrepreneurs, but to go deeper into the culture of our college integrating Gateway’s core values in our entrepreneurial mission. Gateway has a firm belief in meeting the dynamic learning needs of students, faculty and staff, sustaining an atmosphere where they are all full partners in their learning. Lastly, we believe in facilitating teamwork, collaboration, and interactive learning that engages both students and facilitators (faculty and staff).

MV2 teams (Mission, Vision and Values) have been created for the purpose of fostering the work that will move Gateway closer to meeting each of its strategic goals. An Entrepreneurial Learning College sponsor is assigned to each team with a charge of supporting the team in entrepreneurial learning and thinking initiatives. These initiatives focus on activities that engage and empower team members, asking questions to prompt further discovery around discussion topics, and, most importantly, encouraging innovative problem solving. The ELC sponsors meet regularly to discuss entrepreneurial projects and ways to improve support to the MV2 teams.

The ELC sponsors challenge all learners to think of innovative ways to help them and their students take more responsibility for their own learning, and to create innovative learning opportunities to provide internal and external service to the college and community. The ELC sponsors encourage faculty and staff to reach higher when planning their professional development activities and leadership goals for the year.

As an Entrepreneurial Learning College, our guiding principles provide the foundation for the work by asking entrepreneurial learning questions:

1. Critical Thinking: Has the learner evaluated the risk and resulting reward?

2. Willingness: Is the learner willing to not only try new initiatives and processes, but to also stop doing things that don’t work?

3. Empowerment: Is the learner encouraged to manage his/her own learning experience?

4. Risk-taking with resilience: Is the learner encouraged to take a risk and if there is failure, is resilience taught and supported?

5. Innovation/Creation: Is the learner demonstrating innovative or creative ideas?

6. Collaboration: Does the learning experience/program incorporate more than one resource?

These guiding principles have helped move successful programs forward, such as the Innovation Center where grant projects are incubated until successful. More importantly, the entrepreneurial learning experiences are forming solid criteria for developing future programs.

Becoming an Entrepreneurial Learning College is a driving force of Gateway’s success. All learners are encouraged to develop innovative approaches to problem solving, and recognize the learning opportunities in their daily work with a focus on making a difference.

Hands Across the Waters: U.S. and U.K. Colleges Collaborate

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:26:52 GMT

By Carlene M. Cassidy, Director

Entrepreneurial Studies Institute

Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, MD

What started as just an idea at the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) Summer Symposium two years ago is beginning to take shape as a way for students on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean to earn credit while gaining invaluable cultural experiences and firsthand knowledge of global business and entrepreneurship.

Officials at Greenwich Community College in London, Bexley College in London and Wirral Metropolitan College in Birkenhead are working with Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) in Arnold, MD, Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, FL, South East Community College in Lincoln, NE, and Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield, MA, to develop a business studies degree that gives community college students an opportunity to experience how businesses operate in different cultures.

Up to this point, the colleges have been comparing the structure and operations of college systems in the two countries. Representatives from the American colleges visited the United Kingdom last summer and representatives from those colleges were visiting the colleges in the United States this spring. Valentina Keller, head of education and training and HE coordinator at Greenwich Community College, Karen Ingram, head of school of higher and continuing education at Bexley College, and Peter Trigg, vice principal at Wirral Metropolitan College, visited AACC in February, where they received an overview of various academic departments, outreach and internship programs and admissions, registration and transfer procedures.

The college partners also have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a degree program in business studies, which would be an associate degree in the United States and a Foundation Degree in the United Kingdom. The partners are mapping curricula to make sure of the transferability of the courses and degree program.

“We want to provide that globalization experience because these students will operate in a global economy,” said Ingram of Bexley College.

They hope to start with a six-to-eight-week program in summer 2010. The partner colleges are structuring the degree to focus on small businesses and entrepreneurship in each country, including opportunities for innovative internships with employer support.

Many aspects of doing business in the U.K. are different than in the U.S. For instance, cultural differences require international businesses to adapt their TV marketing to avoid offending viewers. In addition, business practices and employment laws vary between the two countries.

One of my ESI students, Christian Hendricks, said he is anxious for the program to begin. He sees the exchange as an opportunity to learn another country’s customs and culture before he is put in a paid position responsible for starting or marketing a project in that country. The international experience also would be an asset to a potential employer, he added.

Cost is a concern, so all the colleges are looking for funding sources for their students. But for now, they are focusing on designing the curriculum so it will fit with the colleges on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The goal is to create learning opportunities that give our students a competitive advantage in the global economy.