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Training Plan of Action

Applied Entrepreneurship Training Plan of Action

Training Plan of Action

Table of Contents TRAINING MODEL

THE PROBLEM

SOLUTION

TRAINING NARRATIVE

GOALS/OBJECTIVES

SUPPORTING RESEARCH

MARION KAUFFMAN FOUNDATION REPORT; THE ENTREPRENEUR NEXT DOOR 8 BLACK MALE IMPACT KAUFFMAN FOUNDATION INFO GRAPHIC

9 10

TARGET MARKET

EDUCATIONAL THEORY

VYGOTSKY’S EDUCATIONAL SCAFFOLDING MODEL AND THE ELEVATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP SYSTEM

VYGOTSKY’S EDUCATIONAL SCAFFOLDING MODEL AND THE ELEVATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP SYSTEM (CONT’D)

THE SILICON VALLEY MODEL VS. THE DELTA REGION

THE SILICON VALLEY MODEL VS. THE DELTA REGION (CONT’D)

CAPITAL FOR STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS

MARION EWING KAUFFMAN FOUNDATION

BLOOMS TAXONOMY OF EDUCATIONAL SCAFFOLDING

VYGOTSKY’S CONCEPT OF EDUCATIONAL SCAFFOLDING

Training Plan of Action BASIC FORMS OF TRAINING RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGN / INTAKE ACTIVITIES

CLASSROOM / VIDEO BASED TRAINING

SESSION SCHEDULE

TRAINING MANUALS

PRE-‐TESTING AND ASSESSMENTS

POST-‐TESTING / ASSESSMENTS

EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING / HOW TO TRAINING

PROJECT-‐BASED TRAINING

PROJECT-‐BASED TRAINING SCHEDULE

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS / NEEDS

DISTRIBUTION OF TRAINING RESOURCES

CERTIFICATE OF PROFICIENCY

DUAL ENROLLMENT AT HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL

ACCREDITATION AND CERTIFICATION OF TRAINING MATERIALS / RESOURCES

Training Plan of Action

Training Model Elevate Entrepreneurship Systems has a proven track record for developing entrepreneurial skills in youth and students. Elevate will work Mid-‐South Community College to deliver an applied entrepreneurship training program. This program will be video documented. This will provide Mid-‐South Community College and Elevate with the ability to develop visual content that can be uploaded and used for online learning, distance-‐based educational activities, and in developing a credit program that provides opportunities for high school students to take an entrepreneurship class, as a part of a college certificate program. Elevate and MSCC will capture the interest that high school students have in entrepreneurship and utilize that as a recruitment tool. This will help students’ transition into institutions of higher learning, while also supporting their entrepreneurial ambitions. Elevate believes that the development of a unique communications, training, and applied entrepreneurship program will serve as a model for improving student performance, assisting students with their transition into institutions of higher learning, and that these activities will support regional economic development activities.

The Problem The existing entrepreneurship education system is not effective in developing entrepreneurial ventures. This is pronounced in terms of enterprise development within low-‐income, highly minority, and rural communities of the Delta. While entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful forms of human development, currently very few entrepreneurial resources have reached the student population served by Mid-‐South Community College and man of the community colleges within the Delta Region.

Solution Through this project Elevate will implement an applied entrepreneurship education system that will produce entrepreneurial opportunities for students and community members in the Delta Region. This system will demonstrate how business creation can happen by combining applied entrepreneurship education with the use of technology.

Training Plan of Action Training Narrative The Elevate Entrepreneurship System Training model is the premier system for supporting and developing entrepreneurship in students. The system engages students and existing youth entrepreneurs in a dynamic set of activities that incorporate the delivery of some of the country’s leading educational models. These include models that have been developed by the Marion Ewing Kauffman Foundation. Elevate also incorporates the use of cutting edge technology to expose students to rich entrepreneurial experiences. The following diagram outlines how the Elevate Team implements its unique form of entrepreneurship training with students.

Classroom Training

Kauﬀman Sponsored Training Resources/ Curriculum

Video-‐Based Online Training

Enterprise Development Projects

Pre and Post Assessments

-‐

How To Projects

Training Plan of Action Goals/Objectives The following goals will be achieved through the delivery of the Elevate Entrepreneurship training System: • • • • • • • • •

Increase the number of student-‐owned enterprises at Mid-‐South Community College Increase students awareness of open source software, mobile applications, and online resources that can be used for enterprise development Increase students awareness of the need for enterprise development within the Delta Region Increase student’s local network with bankers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders Develop the entrepreneurial mind-‐set in the community members targeted by this program Increase student’s understanding of how businesses operate and the importance of their contributions to business organizations Expand student’s network of entrepreneurial resources within their community Insure that students understand the relationship between entrepreneurial success and educational success Improve student outcomes

Training Plan of Action Supporting Research Elevate has collected supporting research that identifies the importance of applied entrepreneurship education, particularly when dealing with individuals from low-‐income / impoverished communities. The World Economic Forum (WEF) produced a research report “Educating the next wave of entrepreneurs” in this report the WEF produced a report that stated the importance of entrepreneurship as a tool to assist low-‐ income individuals understand the importance and relevance of education. This research supports many of the strategies that Elevate has developed to build the entrepreneurial system at MSCC. This includes the cross-‐section of training, special events, and coordination of outside resources. This research has been collected from the World Economic Forum, the research report can be found at: http://www.weforum.org/reports/educating-‐next-‐wave-‐entrepreneurs

Training Plan of Action Marion Kauffman Foundation Report; The Entrepreneur Next Door The Kauffman Foundation has produced the entrepreneur next door report. This report provides a snapshot of entrepreneurial interest. The report outlined the fact that 70% of African American students wanted to start a business and that 55% of African American Males who were in graduate school were there because they wanted to utilize their education to launch an entrepreneurial enterprise upon graduating.

Training Plan of Action

Black Male Impact This project also presents a unique and dynamic opportunity for MSCC to cultivate relationships with black males who have an interest in entrepreneurship. Current research by the Kauffman Foundation proves that entrepreneurship has a direct correlation to education advancement and attainment among African American Males. “Approximately 26 of every 100 black men with graduate education experience report effort to start a new business” Kauffman Foundation. “Entrepreneur Next Door. 2002 “Black Males are twice as likely to start a business vs. white men of the same age and economic conditions” Kauffman Foundation. “Entrepreneur Next Door”. 2002 Numerous reports about the economic climate of the Delta Region have outlined the stark realities that the black male population faces in the region. This program provides a significant opportunity for MSSCC to impact the many challenges facing Black Males in the Delta.

Training Plan of Action Kauffman Foundation Info graphic The Kauffman Foundation info graphic provides an overview of the current state of entrepreneurship in America. The Kauffman Foundation Entrepreneur Next Door Report further expands upon the current entrepreneurship rates in Arkansas and within targeted communities/segments. This report will provide a basis for evaluating the typical entrepreneurial activity that occurs in Arkansas. Elevate will use this study to form a baseline for research and evaluation of the efficacy of the training program and the system solution presented to MSCC’s constituents. http://www.kauffman.org/multimedia/infographics/2013/kiea-‐1996-‐2012-‐infographic

Training Plan of Action Target Market Elevate Entrepreneurship Systems (EES) will focus its training recruitment efforts on the following groups: • • • •

Traditional students Non-‐traditional students Community-‐based organizations (churches, community centers, public housing facilities) Dislocated workers

Educational Theory Entrepreneurship Education in America has been designed to support the development of enterprises has traditionally been limited to those who have the proper support to even conceptualize launching a business.

Training Plan of Action Often times those students who are from impoverished communities do not have the opportunity to access entrepreneurship education. Entrepreneurship education has traditionally been entrusted to the academic community. This community typically has very few individuals who have actually developed, sustained, and built entrepreneurial enterprises. This results in an educational approach that is flawed and typically is relegated to the study of business and management principals, while these principals are important it is as equally important for students to learn how to organize resources, how to deal with the deployment of limited resources, and how to develop products/services without a limited amount of information. This is further explained in an interview sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation, where Gary Shoeniger, the founder of the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative (ELI) and the author of the Ice House System, and advisor to Elevate Entrepreneurship system explains why America has not seen the full potential of entrepreneurship education. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmHjEo9CRoI Often times, many of the entrepreneurship education programs are academically based, and are not effective in helping launch, sustain, or build businesses. In the United States the Department of Commerce reported that 60% of students in the United States seek to receive entrepreneurship training, while only 30% are even exposed to entrepreneurship education. Even when students do receive entrepreneurship education these programs are typically presented in a lecture-‐based or traditional classroom model. Both of these methodologies have proven to be ineffective in actually creating student entrepreneurs, impacting impoverished communities, and/or actually cultivating the entrepreneurial mind-‐set.

Vygotsky’s Educational Scaffolding Model and the Elevate Entrepreneurship System If one were to look at fundamental educational theories such as Blooms Taxonomy and/or Vygotsky’s concept of educational scaffolding it would be clear to see why the system is currently not fully capitalizing on the benefits of entrepreneurship education.

Training Plan of Action Simply, the current educational model is broken. There are too many entrepreneurial teachers who do not have true entrepreneurial experiences, who are delivering business management skills/information, and who do not understand how the entrepreneurial mindset is developed because they do not have that mind-‐set. Through the Elevate System Mid-‐South Community College will deliver a set of training activities that are transformative for students. Upon looking more closely at Vygotsky’s education theory of scaffolding one can see why this form of training will prove to be more impactful, and produce the results that many educational organization have sought to achieve with students. Elevate will relate to youth with images and concepts of entrepreneurship that can be understood. This will provide students with an understanding of how their culture fits into the conversation of entrepreneurship. Elevate will utilize the images of young entrepreneurs, pop-‐culture figures who support entrepreneurial thinking, and messaging/music that is relatable to the target audience. Next, Elevate will implement training applications that engage students in the process of adding real value to a raw product. Students will then be asked to deliver their products to potential clients, make sales presentations, and organize additional resources. Through this process, Elevate has provided the student with a second scaffold that can be routed in their ability to communicate, organize resources, and perform. The reward at this point is that the student is able to realize their profits from these activities. This provides a third scaffold for the student. This step helps the student build confidence, and supports the concept that more formalized activity will lead to additional profits and positive responses. During the next steps in the Elevate Training System students are presented with a competition for money and prizes. During this phase of the training Elevate seeks to engage the student in building a business model that can be presented, launched, and developed within their community. During this phase the student should be engaged in the process and seeking to receive training in communications, writing business plans, utilizing spreadsheets, building web-‐sites, designing business cards, and utilizing technology to launch a real business. During this phase of training students are engaged in working with 5-‐10 various software applications. Upon completing this training the student will participate in a business plan competition. This activity will require that the student engage in a public presentation of their skills.

Vygotsky’s Educational Scaffolding Model and the Elevate Entrepreneurship System (cont’d) Again, this provides the students with yet another form of support and encouragement. The goal is for the student to realize their own weaknesses, strengths, and how they can improve on their business model. During this phase of the Elevate Training System students will be encouraged to identify classes that can

Training Plan of Action support their efforts to expand, develop, or launch their business. The next step is to “Hand The Student Off” to an academic team that is prepared to help the student develop the management skills needed to operate the business. Elevate also encourages MSCC to explore the possibility of providing incubation services to those students who complete this process.

The Silicon Valley Model Vs. The Delta Region Entrepreneurship Education is one of the most powerful forms of human development. Often times this form of education has been distributed at the four year college level with students who have financial support and resources that can assist them in the transition from college student to entrepreneur. Probably the most powerful form of entrepreneurship education can be seen in Silicon Valley with the development of a technology-‐based entrepreneurial eco-‐system. The eco-‐system is pretty straight forward. Students who are in computer science have a number of events that promote and encourage entrepreneurial training and competition. Events such as “Hackathons”, Pitch Competitions, and mentor meet-‐ups are common in the Valley. Students utilize these events to form the traditional teams that are necessary to support the first phase of developing a technology based business. Typically the teams have someone who is technical / Chief Technical Officer, A business development person/ Chief Marketing Officer, and an overall leader / Chief Executive Officer/ CEO. These teams have completed their degrees at a Stanford, MIT, or other area school and during the process they have developed relationships and knowledge of venture capitalist, mentors who become advisors, and other essential players. Ultimately upon emerging from college the students have the ability to work with venture capitalist, angel investors, and entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas and recruit $500,000 to $1,000,000 in seed capital to support their idea. This fundamental process and eco-‐=system typically produces a rate of success of about 3% to 5%, which success being defined as a business that is able to operate for at least 5 years and/or that is profitably acquired.

The Silicon Valley Model Vs. The Delta Region (cont’d) Silicon Valley is the model for entrepreneurship education and it has produced one of the most rich regional sectorial economic development models that exist in the world. Through the Elevate Entrepreneurship System, we will replicate this system and demonstrate how entrepreneurial education can produce similar results with a population of students that are typically highly minority, impoverished, and who also may be educationally deficient in many areas. The goal will be to establish an “Eco-‐System” approach to cultivating entrepreneurs within the Delta Region.

Training Plan of Action This region typically has been synonymous poverty. The goal of this training will be to identify students who have entrepreneurial ambitions and to then take those ambitions and cultivate it through practical activity. The ultimate goal will be to engage the students in seeing how their educational development supports their entrepreneurial ambitions. The ultimate goal of this training will be to produce a more engaged student that has the ability to complete their academic studies. We also feel that through developing the proper supports and demonstrating to the students how they can organize their existing resources to create micro-‐enterprises that we will launch new companies, create a system of workforce development, and that we will expand the entrepreneurial mind-‐set.

Capital for Student Entrepreneurs The Delta Region has very few models for deploying capital to student entrepreneurs. Elevate proposes to change this model by building bridges with the following key groups: • • • • •

Local bankers who seek to improve the local economy of Delta Communities Accion Micro-‐lenders Kiva MakePAPER Crowd-‐Funding Platform and Social Impact Investors

Elevate recommends that the Delta Regional Authority and MSCC bring The Transform Finance Network, led by Morgan Simon to the Delta Region. Ms. Simone has experience in raising more than 600 Million Dollars in social impact investments through universities and colleges. Elevate recommends that Ms. Simon work with the team to identify and develop social impact investment models that can be deployed in the Delta Region. This will help the Delta Region achieve its mission of getting small amounts of capital to entrepreneurs who traditionally would not have an opportunity to access funds for their businesses.

Marion Ewing Kauffman Foundation The key to this training will be to utilize entrepreneurship education resources that have been vetted by the highest levels of academia to reach an audience that typi8cally would not be exposed to such resources. Elevate has established a partnership with the Marion Ewing Kauffman Foundation to use the Icehouse curriculum as a part of this delivery system. Elevate also has developed a relationship with makePAPER a software development platform that will also be used to utilize the latest social media and technology resources as a delivery mechanism with the targeted students.

Training Plan of Action

Blooms Taxonomy of Educational Scaffolding Blooms Taxonomy is considered to be a foundational and essential element within the educational community. The Elevate Entrepreneurship Training System utilizes this educational theory as the basis for the type of training that students receive. Our educational objectives will be achieved by utilizing the cognitive, affective, and Psychomotor (loosely knowing/head, feeling/hear, and doing/hands) elements of education. The student will first begin working on project based entrepreneurial activities. The student will then take those experiences and learn how to express their thoughts through writing activities, and finally the student will learn basic business information and utilize that to form a business plan and pitch. The combination of these activities will insure that all aspects of Blooms Taxonomy are used in the delivery of entrepreneurial education at MSCC.

Vygotsky’s concept of educational scaffolding Through this process students will also utilize Vygotsky’s concept of educational scaffolding. Students will have the opportunity to participate in micro-‐enterprise activities. These activities will take the students basic understanding of mathematics, English, and basic commerce to develop products, market those products, sell products, and to then be rewarded with the profits from these activities. Upon achieving the results of this activity the students will be encouraged to expand their knowledge and to learn how to write business proposals, develop pitches, and to engage with cultures that are different from their normal environment.

Training Plan of Action As the students progress through the training and activities they will see how their education is closely related to their entrepreneurial ambitions. The objective of this basic process will be to allow the student to see how enhancing their education can benefit their entrepreneurial ambitions. Through this process Elevate will work with the academic team at MSCC to insure that classroom education utilizes all possible “Learning Moments” through their curriculum to support this training strategy and to improve student performance.

Basic Forms of Training Recruitment Campaign / Intake Activities Elevate will utilize the BOSS Club Branding and a series of recruitment efforts to identify students who are existing entrepreneurs, who have an interest in entrepreneurship, and/or who are involved in vocational programs where there is a high-‐level of entrepreneurial activity. Elevate will reach these students and allow them to utilize the online registration tools to join the training sessions and activities. Upon enrolling in the training program students will complete intake information, assessments, and provide Elevate with permission to access academic records. This information will be shared with the research and evaluation team. This will provide the Elevate with a baseline of the student’s skills, current socio-‐economic conditions, and entrepreneurial attitudes/aptitude.

Classroom / Video Based Training The classroom training activities will be built based on the MSCC Entrepreneurial Curriculum that was developed in 2010 under the former Vice President of Academic Affairs. This curriculum provided a template based on the concept of building assessments rooted in practical activity. The curriculum also incorporated much of the concepts supported by Blooms Taxonomy. Elevate will coordinate entrepreneurship training activities at MSCC. These activities will be open to BOSS Club Members, students, community members, and high-‐school youth. Training activities will take place in the Renewable Energy Center.

Training Plan of Action Training sessions will be scheduled to accommodate students and community members. All participants will complete pre-‐testing and assessments. These assessments and testing will determine the participant’s entrepreneurial aptitude, current economic status, historical relationship with education/academia, socio-‐ economic conditions, and the participant’s environmental resources. Post-‐testing and assessments will determine be conducted to determine the participants growth upon completing classroom training. Classroom training activities will be conducted on a weekly basis. Each training activity will be 1.5 hours for weekday training activities and 3 hours for weekend training. The following table provides an outline of the training that will be offered and the dates of these training sessions. Elevate trainers will conduct 50% of these training sessions through in-‐person training and 50% will be conducted through video-‐conference/distance-‐based training activities.

Session Schedule Training Session Enrollment

Topic Pre-‐Testing / Assessments

Date 2.10.14-‐ 2.12.14

Time All Day

Training Plan of Action Training Session I

Recognizing Opportunity / Identifying Community Problems

2.13.14 / 2.15.14

6:00–8:00/ 10:00-‐12:00

Training Session II

LAB: Recognizing Opportunity / Comm. Problems Lab Activity / Ice House Interviews

2.20.14 2.22.14

Training Session III

From Idea To Reality

2.27.14 / 3.1.14

6:00-‐8:00 / 10:00-‐12:00

Training Session IV

Lab: From Idea To Reality

3.6.14/ 3.8.14

6:00-‐8:000 / 10:00-‐12:00

Training Session V

Direct Selling / Marketing / Branding Direct selling lab activity / Ice House Assessment

3.13.14 / 3.15.14

6:00-‐8:00 / 10:00-‐12:00

Training Session VI

LAB: Using Technology / Open Source Software

3.20.14 / 3.22.14

6:00-‐8:00 / 10:00-‐12:00

Training Session VII

Funding You Enterprise

4.3.14 / 4.5.14

6:00-‐8:00 / 10:00-‐12:00

Training Session VIII

LAB: Funding Your Enterprise

4.10.14 / 4.12.14

6:00-‐8:00 / 10:00-‐12:00

Training Session IX

LAB: Funding Your Enterprise /Start-‐Up Funding / Crowd 4.17.14/ Funding / Micro-‐Loans / Equity Funding 4.19.14

6:00-‐8:00 / 10:00-‐12:00

Training Session X

LAB: Completing Your Project

4.24.14/ 4.26.14

6:00-‐8:00 / 10:00-‐12:00

Summer Session

5.8.14/ 5.10.14

All Day

/ 6:00-‐8:00/ 10:00-‐12:00

Training Manuals Students engaged in the classroom training activities will receive the Elevate Entrepreneurship Systems Training Manual. The content of this training will be delivered to Mid-‐South Community College’s academic division. This information will be used to develop an entrepreneurship certificate of proficiency. This model will provide MSCC with an academic-‐based entrepreneurship education resource that can be used with high school and college students interested in entrepreneurship. The Certificate of Proficiency will be

Training Plan of Action built so a student can complete two entrepreneurial classes and two core business classes and earn a certificate of proficiency in entrepreneurship. The training manual has been developed to incorporate course work that has been developed by MSCC and Elevate through previous engagements. The MSCC Academic Team will work with Elevate to form entrepreneurship classes that can be supported through the traditional academic and community college model. (See attached training manual)

Pre-‐Testing and Assessments Upon enrolling in the Elevate Entrepreneurship Training Program students must complete pre-‐testing and assessments. These assessments will provide Elevate and MSCC with a snapshot of the student upon entering the training program. This will be used for comparison purposes when the student completes 50% of the training and again upon completing the training program. Students will complete the following assessments:

Training Plan of Action • • • • •

CRC Pre-‐Testing Pre-‐Testing and Assessments Review of Historical Academic Performance Environmental Interviews / Assessments Online Pre-‐Assessment

Post-‐Testing / Assessments Upon completing the training activities students will participate in post-‐testing and assessments. The following assessments will be given to students: • • • • •

Final Assessment Post Testing / Assessment Academic Performance To Date Online Post-‐Assessment Environmental Interviews / Assessments

Experiential Training / How to Training This form of training will engage students in a series of “How to Training” activities. Students will receive classroom training and then those skills will be reinforced with entrepreneurial lab-‐based training. These activities will show students how to organize their basic resources and create micro-‐enterprises. The Elevate Team will work with a team of 10-‐15 students. These students will expose the Elevate Team to their current environment and their resources. Elevate will provide the students with training that shows them how to take their existing resources and create entrepreneurial opportunities.

Training Plan of Action This form of training will serve as a laboratory that will demonstrate how impoverished students can utilize their current resources to create opportunity. The students will video document the process of discovering resources, adding value to those resources, aligning their educational resources to this process, and ultimately delivering a product at a profit. Through this experience students will gain entrepreneurial experiences and have opportunities to see how educational achievement can be merged with entrepreneurial activities. This training will be conducted as follows: • • • • • • •

Pre-‐Training Assessment Introduction of Training and Video Shoot Student Field Research of Resources Enterprise Mind-‐Mapping Training Session Execution of Product Development Training Session Post Production of Videos Post Training Assessment

Project-‐Based Training Elevate will show students how to organize class projects. These projects will engage students in actually creating a practice enterprise. This enterprise will engage the students in actually utilizing resources, adding value to those resources, and direct selling their product/service. Students will have the opportunity to capture the profits from these activities. This form of applied entrepreneurship education provides the students with a “REAL” world understanding of the requirements to develop a product, deliver a product to customers, create a profit, and how to work in a team. The students will complete journal entries that explain their experiences, lessons learned, and make connections with the realities and challenges faced by entrepreneurs.

Project-‐Based Training Schedule The following schedule will be used to implement these project-‐based training activities: Activity

Description

Start Date

Completion Date

Project Selection

Students will select a project-‐ based enterprise to implement

02.10.14

02.14.14

Project Planning / Mind-‐mapping

Students will then develop a strategy and mind map of their project

02.24.14

02.28.14

Training Plan of Action Purchase of Raw Materials

Students will purchase raw materials necessary to develop the project and/or deliver the service

03.03.14

03.07.14

Develop Sales strategy and Marketing Tools

Students will then develop marketing tools, sales strategies, and begin building financial projections based on those sales strategies

03.17.14

03.21.14

Assignment of Team Duties and Responsibilities

The students will assign duties to team members to insure that operations, human resources, marketing, and financial reporting is properly implemented

4.1.14

4.4.14

Develop Finance Strategy

The students will develop a finance strategy that allows them to achieve the maximum financial results from their project/activities

4.15.14

4.18.14

Review of Sales and Financial Activity

The students will complete a sales and financial activity report. This report will show students how to demonstrate their projects profitability an outcomes

4.15.14

4.18.14

Review of Project and Results

The students will have their projects reviewed and present their overall results

4.21.14

4.25.14

Technical Requirements / Needs Elevate will need access to a training room and the following resources: • • • • •

Video-‐based educational resources, Elevate will need to access YouTube and other video-‐based software programs Integration with Google Hangouts and/or Spreecast Flexible training room with access to video, lighting, and smartboards Mac laboratory / creative suite software Computer systems with Microsoft Office Suite

Training Plan of Action Distribution of Training Resources Elevate will distribute the training resource and content to MSCC Students through the development of an entrepreneurship program. This program will be delivered to students using the latest online education and technology.

Certificate of Proficiency Elevate will work with MSCC Staff to develop a certificate of proficiency. This certificate will incorporate two entrepreneurship classes with two traditional business classes. This will provide student with the opportunity to gain a certificate of proficiency in entrepreneurship. The goal of this program will be to engage students in the creation of business enterprises, and to then encourage students to continue their education. Long-‐term research should study the rate at which students who complete entrepreneurship training complete their degree program, continue into a four year program, continue into a master’s program, and who are improved in a socio-‐economic manner. Each of these factors should be used to determine the efficacy of the program.

Training Plan of Action Dual Enrollment at High School Level Elevate also seeks to promote the entrepreneurship educational program within high schools. The goal will be to develop a dual enrollment program that allows high school students to engage in entrepreneurial learning, while still enrolled in their high school program.

Accreditation and Certification of Training Materials / Resources Elevate will provide the Academic Team at MSCC with the data, assessments, and training manual associated with the training activities. The academic team will then review the training materials to determine if the training activities, assessments, and results can be certified by MSCC for distribution to other colleges, high schools, and communities.

Training Plan of Action