Entrepreneurship Everywhere
Sample Entrepreneurship Education
Programs in the United States
UTAH
American Fork High School
Cavemen Creations—A Scrap Happy Approach to Entrepreneurship
Kristi Belliston, Senior High School Teacher
FACS Department
Janice Comer-Miller, Business Teacher
American Fork High School
510 North 600 East
American Fork, UT 84003
801-756-8547
Focus: Senior high school
Abstract: Did you know that in 1996 there were approximately
500 scrapbooking stores throughout the United States? And by this year the number of stores had increased to over 2,400? The scrapbooking
fever has caught on in the United States, and young entrepreneurs of
all genders are cashing in!
Cavemen Creations—A Scrap Happy Approach to Entrepreneurship is a creative and innovative way to get your students excited about
entrepreneurship. Students want to be involved in this fast-growing
and creative industry. American Fork High School has their students
involved in running a scrapbooking business. Students learn fundamentals
in scrapbooking (including design, layout, and electronic applications)
and then incorporate these skills into running a small business related
to the scrapbooking industry. Their students have created and marketed
a scrapbooking product that has put American Fork on the map.
The instructors have successfully combined three ATE (Applied Technology
Education) curricula: Family and Consumer Sciences, Business, and
Social Studies.
Millcreek High School,
True Colors Interior Design
Karen R. Nielson, Teacher
Family and Consumer Science
Millcreek High School
25 East Telegraph St.,
Washington, UT 84780
435-628-2462
Fax: 435- 628-8206
Email: knielson@mhs.wash.k12.ut.us
Web site: http://www.mhs.wash.k12.ut.us/
Focus: Alternative high school serving at-risk students grades
10–12
Abstract: True Colors Interior Design is a School-to-Careers–based company started and operated through the interior design class
at Millcreek High School. The students manufacture, package, and market
lotion to a variety of schools and to individuals in town.
After attending a vocational seminar on lotion making, we thought this
would be a great School-to-Careers venture for my students. I taught
them the various ingredients and what the function of each ingredient
was. They were instructed on how to mix ingredients and on quality control methods.
They then had to formulate the ingredient proportions and determine the quality level they wanted for their lotion. They decided on scents and
colors and experimented until they came up with a formula they felt
good about. They chose the bottle shape and size and a name for
the product (Sweet Secrets Silkening Body Lotion). The class then invited
a graphic design company in to help us design our label in class and
look at the various requirements and functions the label needed to perform (it had to be waterproof,
etc.).
A small sample of marketing research was done to determine how much
we could sell, and how much lotion we should make to begin with. Production
then began. The students have taken ownership of this company
from the beginning. They are excited and proud of the product they make.
If asked questions about the company or the product, the students
can fully answer the questions with confidence and knowledge.
The success of our company and product has been overwhelming. The students
have discovered they can make it as big as they are willing to go.
Unique features of the project include:
- Start-up monies were from a School-to-Careers grant.
- The product formula was developed and marketed by students.
- The administration was against the idea at first, and didn't think
we would be successful. It was only after we had the product ready
to sell that they came on board. When they realized this was going
to be a successful business and could see what it was doing for the
students, we had their full support.
- Lotion is produced in the fall and spring for a two-week period.
- Students produce approximately one hundred bottles an hour.
Salt Lake Community College
Director
Center for Entrepreneurship Training
Salt Lake Community College
8811 South 700 East
Sandy, UT 84070
801-255-5878
Fax: 801-255-6393
Focus: Provide applied skill training for the individual seeking
to start or grow a business.
Geographical Area: Salt Lake and Tooele Counties in Utah
Age Level: Males and females age 30 to 65
Key Partners: Vocational Education Department, state office
of education; U.S. Small Business
Administration; Utah Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs); local
chambers of
commerce; Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership; Centurion
Bank/American Express
Foundation; Larry H. Miller Foundation.
Abstract: The Center for Entrepreneurship Training (CET) provides
entrepreneurial training
opportunities for residences and company personnel in Salt Lake and
Tooele Counties in Utah.
Three-fourths of the operating funds for the center come from a grant
from the state legislature.
One-fourth comes from residual revenues generated from the tuition paid
by students attending the
training courses.
The CET also develops new curricula for courses. Jump Start Entrepreneurship
for Single
Parents, funded through the Kauffman Foundation, is one such course.
Another is Managing
Business Growth, a course curriculum funded by Zions Bank Corporation.
The CET has been in
operation since April 1990. Currently there are 28 courses, conferences,
and workshops being
offered by the CET. Course topics include free enterprise, marketing,
sales, bookkeeping, financial management, and Quick Books Pro.
Francom has helped more than 800 students each year to complete training
courses en route to starting
and expanding small businesses. The center sponsors courses in business
planning, accounting,
marketing, financial management, valuation, credit repair, financing,
etc. Currently more than 30
courses are offered each semester. Francom also currently gives counseling
to one-third of the clients of
the Sandy Small Business Development and Assistance Center. He
was the primary
instigator for bringing the statewide Small Business Development Center
program to Salt Lake
Community College, which is now the host institution for the state's
13 regional SBDCs.
The CET targets the adult learner. This determines the delivery format for the education process. Most participants are adult men and women, age 30 to 65. The overall
delivery philosophy is to
facilitate an activity-based forum for interactive and experiential
training where the student is
encouraged to participate on a 60-40 basis with the facilitator.
The CET has developed a 10-module curriculum, instructor's guide, and
program guide for
Jump Start Entrepreneurship for Single Parents. The CET has developed
a 12-module curriculum entitled "Managing Business Growth," which challenges
the viability of start-up companies seeking bank SBA financing. It looks
at a company from the banker's point of view.
The CET, with the aid of a $90,000 Jump Start II grant from the Kauffman
Foundation, has
developed a unique training program directed to and designed for single mothers. In
addition, this program, as it has been observed, works very well with
the economically
disadvantaged of many cultures and ethnic backgrounds. This new curriculum
has been used in
numerous workshops, typically located at local community recreation centers
and at community
schools within the public school system. Approximately 400 participants,
half of whom are ethnic
minorities, have received the training, and 33 percent have begun businesses.
The program's goal is to
provide self-employment and development skills.
The purpose and content of this program are as follows:
- Show by experience and example the evolution of a training program
from concept stage
to full-blown curriculum development and professional certified delivery.
- Demonstrate the value of doing research on the demographics and
psychographics of the
target audience for a training program—making the difference between
a high-quality
program and a mediocre program.
- Experience an activity from the instruction guide manual to simulate
the desired classroom
interaction to enable the adult learner to fully participate and thereby
maximize the desire
and capability to learn.
- Gain an understanding of the need to select and train trainers to
insure program continuity and quality and the unbiased nurturing of each student.
- Portray the necessity and value of developing strategic alliances
with resource partners—e.g.,
WorkForce Services, JTPA, State Office of Education, local housing
authorities,
community recreation centers, WIC centers, and city and county business
licensing offices—to attain support via tuition scholarships, mentoring programs,
and remedial job skill
development where needed.
The CET, in partnership with Larry H. Miller, has built a 37,000-square-foot training and conference center. This center has a
holding capacity of 600 people and can be divided into eight smaller
rooms for conference
break-out sessions. The total cost of the complex (when completed in
2006) is estimated to be $31 million. This center will contain a business incubator, a distance education
center, a training hotel, a
Western Governors University Service Center, a full-service financing
center, and other services.
The Larry H. Miller Entrepreneurship Training Center will provide a
symbolic effect as the
"lighthouse" to show the way to those individuals struggling
to start a small business. At this center,
mentoring, experiential and facilitative training, a creative crucible
thinking studio, and contact
with the successful entrepreneur will be available.
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