Beyond the Lemonade Stand: Involving Your Community in Entrepreneurship Education November 4, 2007 Presenters: Malinda Todd and Leslie Scott
3,600+ of North Carolina students take Small Business/ Entrepreneurship 2,000+ Students take REAL Entrepreneurship Courses 10,000+ Participate in 4-H Entrepreneurship/Economic Programs 80,000+ Student impacted by Junior Achievement Number reached by entrepreneurship programs Around 100,000 Number of North Carolinians under the age of 19 2,410,000
Testing Entrepreneurship often discounted as vocational training Classroom structure not set up for hands-on learning
Change it Yourself
Think of people in your community that are interested in youth entrepreneurship. Some possibilities include: Teachers Young People Chamber of Commerce Members Small Business Owners Small Business Service Providers (SBDCs, Incubators) Members of Service Organizations
Created a team to build entrepreneurship development Team included local chambers, local governments, economic development office, community college. Held workshops throughout the county Encouraged teachers and community organizations to learn how to teach entrepreneurship Brings local business owners and business support providers into the classroom
Knowing what exist in your community gives you a good starting point Involve a wide-range of people in the assessment– school teachers, church representatives, after school programs, community colleges Think strategically about all age groups Think about the number of students reached
The energizing Entrepreneurship for Rural America is a national curriculum that North Carolina has used to inspire locally based entrepreneurship development strategies Communities send diverse teams to the three-four day workshop Teams leave the workshop with a strategy to build entrepreneurship in their communities
4-H– Offers programs in entrepreneurship, economics, and financial literacy Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts both offer badges in entrepreneurship and business Junior Achievement REAL (Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning) there are programs in several states DECCA and FBLA- Programs that teach business and marketing in the high schools
Put together community support teams with people knowledgeable about small businesses to provide advice and to small business Match business mentors to young people or to teachers Provide materials to classes that are teaching entrepreneurship Help plan and raise funds for field trips to small businesses
Approach the local school system- Superintendent, business and marketing teachers, board of education Approach local organizations that can access existing curriculum- boy scouts, 4-H Approach organizations that have the capacity to add new entrepreneurship programs– community colleges, after school programs, community development corporations
Partner with local organizations if possible Good partners should either work with youth or be involved in entrepreneurship (or both) Possible partners include ◦ Summer camps ◦ Universities ◦ Workforce Development youth councils ◦ Churches ◦ Councils of Government ◦ Community Development Groups
Many organizations offer curricula and facilitator training for entrepreneurship ◦ NC REAL ◦ NFTE ◦ Kauffman ◦ More at
Worked with regional Conservation organization to create a youth camp that taught entrepreneurship and conservation Students created business ideas in the growing eco- tourism industry Students learned the importance of developing sustainable businesses that celebrate their community
Contact Information Malinda Todd NC REAL Enterprises 3739 National Drive, Suite 110 Raleigh, NC phone: ext Leslie Scott N.C. Rural Center 4021 Carya Drive Raleigh, NC Phone: