EPRHAIM, UT – November 14, 2016 -- The National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), the nation’s leading organization focused on promoting entrepreneurship through community colleges, has announced that President Gary Carlston of Snow College has taken its Presidents for Entrepreneurship Pledge. Through the pledge, presidents of community colleges throughout the country pledge to take five action steps that will increase their focus on entrepreneurship and the impact these colleges have on the economic well being of the communities they serve.
With the economy still lagging in many regions of the United States, more than 200 community colleges throughout the country have signed the entrepreneurship pledge, and by doing so, have committed to playing a greater role in stimulating economic development in the communities they serve.
“Snow College is committed to promoting entrepreneurship. Anyone, anywhere can be an entrepreneur, and we encourage this spirit of innovation among our students, employees, and communities. Beginning Spring semester, the college will be holding monthly Launch Lunches for students, faculty, and staff to discuss startup ideas. We will also establish a college-wide Entrepreneurship Committee, spreading innovation and problem solving to every corner of our campuses. We also are developing relationships with academic entrepreneurship transfer programs, including the Lassonde Institute and Eccles School at the U of U. We have more to come, and we invite others to join in this exciting initiative.”
About the Presidents for Entrepreneurship Pledge
The Presidents for Entrepreneurship Pledge is in response to the Obama Administration’s Startup America call to action to stimulate economic growth state by state by encouraging entrepreneurs to start their own businesses. NACCE is a founding affiliate of the Startup America Partnership, an alliance of the country’s most innovative entrepreneurs, corporations, universities, foundations, and other leaders.
According to NACCE President and CEO Rebecca Corbin, the Presidents for Entrepreneurship Pledge is a way for community colleges to advance entrepreneurship and create jobs across the country. Community college presidents who take the pledge commit to these five action steps:
• Develop transparency of community college and community assets
• Create internal and external teams dedicated to entrepreneurship
• Increase entrepreneurs’ engagement in community colleges
• Engage in industry cluster development
• Create broad exposure to their college’s commitment to entrepreneurship.
“The five action steps were developed based on NACCE’s observations of what was working best on member campuses,” said Corbin. “After observing the entrepreneurship-related activities of our members over a period of years, we started to see commonalities among the more successful institutions,” she said. “One of the major things that clearly makes a difference is the commitment by leadership to entrepreneurship.”
ABOUT NACCE
The National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) is an organization of educators, entrepreneurs, and distinguished business development professionals providing quality programs and services in entrepreneurship education and serving as advocates for community-based entrepreneurship. Founded in 2002, NACCE is at the heart of the "entrepreneurship movement.” Through membership, an annual conference and exhibition, a quarterly journal, monthly webinars and podcasts, a dynamic list-serv, and other resources, NACCE serves as the hub for the dissemination and integration of knowledge and successful practices regarding entrepreneurship education and student business incubation. These programs and courses advance economic prosperity in the communities served by its member colleges. For more information, visit http://www.nacce.com. Follow NACCE on Twitter at @NACCE and like the NACCE – National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship page on Facebook.
ABOUT SNOW COLLEGE Snow College, founded in 1888 by Utah pioneers, is a two-year college with campuses located in Ephraim and Richfield, Utah. Serving more than 5,000 students, the college has been nationally recognized for its student success rates, affordable cost-for-value, involvement opportunities, and exceptional teaching. Learn more about Snow College at www.snow.edu.
