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Entrepreneurship Programs Cultivate Active Labor Pools

A new University of Arizona (UA) study indicates that entrepreneurial education offers big advantages for graduates and the companies they lead or work for. The study provides insight for business leaders, particularly in high-tech industries, because entrepreneurial alumni are more likely to be involved in new product development and high-tech employment.

By Susan Hardy Brooks Business Xpansion Journal

High-tech employers and corporate executives should consider the UA research results when making business expansion decisions that include new hires. The research confirms that colleges with entrepreneurship programs may offer an employee pool that will be more involved in new product development and R&D activities than the typical business graduate.

The study, prepared for the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership http://www.emkf.org/ by UA economists Alberta Charney and Gary D. Libecap, surveyed alumni from UA’s Eller College of Business and the Berger Entrepreneurship Program. Department heads and other UA administrators were also included. The Berger Entrepreneurship Program, founded in 1983, is one of the oldest programs of this type in the country and has graduated 594 students.

Business leaders may also gain insight from another study, the “Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, (GEM) released in August. The GEM is an annual study of entrepreneurship and economic growth conducted by Babson College and funded by the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City.

The report indicates that even though there has been a slump in entrepreneurial activity in recent years, activity held steady in 2002. The report also says that Americans were optimistic about the climate for starting new businesses.

“This report makes a powerful case for stepping up the best efforts of the Kauffman Foundation and others to get more entrepreneurs in the pipeline,” says Carl Schramm, president and CEO, Kauffman Foundation. “It is vitally important to have a thriving entrepreneurial class today, but we also have to think ahead and work harder to groom new generations of entrepreneurs who will continue to innovate, create jobs and contribute to a more prosperous national economy.”

There is a strong link between entrepreneurship education and job creation, according to the GEM. High-tech start-ups should probably consider a community’s pipeline of entrepreneurial educated students as a factor in site location.

Entrepreneurs should look for communities that will provide tax and other incentives for those who invest in new and growing businesses. The GEM study shows a continuing decline in venture capital available to entrepreneurs.

Babson College, located in the Boston metro area, is recognized internationally as a leader in entrepreneurial education. In addition to its undergraduate programs, Babson offers master’s of business administration degree, and custom master’s of science and master’s of business administration programs with a strong entrepreneurial component.

The University of Arizona and Babson College were recently recognized as first Tier Colleges in Entrepreneur’s April Top 100 Entrepreneurial Colleges issue. Baylor University’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and the University of California at Berkeley’s (UC Berkeley) Haas School of Business were also rated as top tier entrepreneurial colleges.

At Baylor, the center’s mission is to support the local and national business community by facilitating new business activity and furthering the goals of established businesses.

The center offers several outreach programs that should benefit company executives who are considering starting or growing a business in Texas or anywhere else in the country.

The Innovative Evaluation Program is designed to give a new product or idea an objective evaluation to help entrepreneurs determine the likelihood for commercial success. And although Baylor is located in Waco, Texas, any individual, regardless of location, can submit business ideas or inventions for an in-depth marketability analysis.

Baylor also has a FastTrac Entrepreneurial Training Program, which was first piloted at the University of Southern California, and an Institute for Family Business designed to provide resources to help family businesses survive and prosper through the generations.

UC Berkeley has several innovative programs to benefit the corporate executive as well. The UC Berkeley Entrepreneur’s Forum conducts regularly scheduled events with speakers, panels and seminars on issues high-growth companies face. The forum attracts entrepreneurs, investors, industry analysts and students for networking and candid discussions about issues.

For young companies with CEO who want to find a location for support and growth, UC Berkeley also offers the Partners for Entrepreneurial Leadership (PEL) program. Through PEL, master’s of business administration students are placed in the young companies for the summer and many students continue company projects in their second year in the master’s of business administration program.

Some of the projects of interest to corporate executives have included research on prospective investors, business and financial planning, developing new computer systems and analyzing and implementing new marketing and distribution channels.

Corporate executives who would like to know more about Entrepreneur’s Top 100 Entrepreneurial Colleges may visit http://www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges for more information.

Susan Hardy Brooks is a business/industry education and marketing consultant in Tuttle, Okla. E-mail her at [email protected].

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