National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship

The National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) is a non-profit membership organization founded in 2002 on the campus of Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is an organization of educators, presidents, and entrepreneurs focused on igniting entrepreneurship in their communities and on their campuses. Its mission is to provide leadership and sustainable, scalable resources to foster entrepreneurial thinking and action in one of the largest entrepreneurial ecosystems in North America. The association represents a dynamic community of technical and community colleges, including more than 2,500 faculty, staff, administrators, and presidents who serve nearly 4 million students.

NACCE's vision is to make community colleges North America's pre-eminent source for entrepreneurship education, support and inspiration.^[1] Through an annual conference, symposiums, a web site, an e-newsletter, webinars, a quarterly journal, centers of practice, member blogs, podcasts, and other services, NACCE helps its members share information about entrepreneurship education. NACCE also provides curriculum and other tools that can be used in the classroom and in communities to facilitate entrepreneurship projects and progress.

In 2019, NACCE published Community Colleges as Incubators of Innovation, a book by expert contributors whose essays were edited by NACCE CEO and President Rebecca Corbin and Ron Thomas, a former NACCE board president and retired president of Dakota County Technical College.^[2][3] Also in 2019, NACCE's annual conference saw a record attendance of 514.^[4] In 2020, NACCE published its second book, Impact ED: How Community College Entrepreneurship Creates Equity and Prosperity, by Rebecca Corbin and entrepreneurship faculty members from Hillsborough Community College, Andrew Gold and Mary Beth Kerly. Also in 2020, NACCE moved its national headquarters to a campus of Wake Technical Community College in Cary, North Carolina,^[5] while still maintaining an administrative office in Springfield, Massachusetts.

History[]

The first entrepreneurship education courses at community colleges started in the early 1970s. In 2001, Springfield Technical Community College and the Entrepreneurial Institute at the Springfield Enterprise Center at STCC in Massachusetts began to research and investigate entrepreneurship education practices at community colleges across the country. At that time, only about 10% of 1,200-plus community colleges had any type of entrepreneurship education as part of their curriculum. At the same time, both the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and the National Commission on Entrepreneurship recognized that community colleges were ideally positioned to be catalysts for fostering economic vitality through entrepreneurship education at the community college level.

In response to these findings, NACCE was created to establish entrepreneurship education as a core offering to foster economic development through community colleges. An inaugural conference in 2003 with 150 attendees was held with the support of a $100,000 grant from S. Prestley Blake, the co-founder of Friendly Ice Cream Corporation.^[6][7] NACCE went on to receive a $50,000 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City and a $20,000 grant from the Coleman Foundation of Chicago.

The Coleman Foundation continued its support of NACCE with a series of annual Elevator Grant Competitions and other competitions at the Annual NACCE Conference.^[8][9] The purpose of these competitions, which resulted in tens of thousands of dollar sin grants going to NACCE members, was to identify best practices in entrepreneurship education.

In 2011, NACCE launched the Presidents for Entrepreneurship Pledge (PFEP), which encourages all community college presidents to endorse five commitments that will ensure that community colleges are involved in the national discuss about how to increase entrepreneurship.^[10] This initiative was inspired by the Obama White House's launch of Startup America, a program in which NACCE participated, along with the American Association of Community Colleges via a grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to fund a Virtual Incubation Network at community colleges.^[11] Through the PFEP, community college presidents commit to 1) Form teams to focus on entrepreneurship; 2) Connect with entrepreneurs in the community; 3) Collaborate with industry in your region; 4) Focus on business and job creation; and 5) Share stories through events and the media.

In 2014, a quantitative research study that included responses from over 900 individuals, validated the effectiveness of the PFEP pledge with statistically significant relationships for the first four out of five commitments.^[12]

In 2015, NACCE named Rebecca A. Corbin, Ed.D., as its second president, succeeding Heather Van Sickle, who had served as president from 2005 to 2015.

In 2017 NACCE started its nationwide communities of practice, enabling entrepreneurial practitioners and leaders to share best practices and thought leadership. In 2019, 400 participants attended the ESHIP Summit to network and share best practices for ecosystem building. In 2020, NACCE launched the Women in Entrepreneurship Center of Practice and the Global Entrepreneurship Center of Practice, bringing its total number of centers of practice to nine.

NACCE observed Global Entrepreneurship Week 2020, which included 40,000 events and 180 countries.

In 2020, NACCE also launched the Maker Fellows, a new program by Citizen Schools’ Makers + Mentors Network in partnership with community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), school districts, and community partners across the country. Through the program, 25,000 K-12 students obtain access to maker-centered learning opportunities.^[13]

Also in 2020, NACCE moved its national headquarters to a campus of Wake Technical Community College in Cary, North Carolina,^[14] while still maintaining an administrative office in Springfield, Massachusetts.

In 2021, NACCE launched its new bimonthly podcast, “Making Our Way Forward,” to inspire and ignite entrepreneurial efforts at member colleges and their communities. The podcast highlights the stories of everyday entrepreneurs, including but not limited to women, people of color, immigrants, veterans, and more.^[15]

Annual Conference[]

NACCE's annual conference provides the opportunity for community college professionals to gather together to identify opportunities and create positive organizational and community change through entrepreneurship. Each year at the conference awards are presented for Entrepreneurial College of the Year, Entrepreneurial President, and Lifetime Achievement.^{[16] [17] [18]}

In 2020, NACCE exceeded previous Annual Conference attendance by drawing 625+ attendees to its hybrid conference.^[19]

Partnerships[]

NACCE works to establish partnerships with companies and nonprofits that share its interest in growing entrepreneurship. In 2019, these partnerships enabled NACCE to provide members with grants of over $2 million, among other benefits. Current partnerships include:

Amazon - The Amazon Small Business Academy program includes a grant to NACCE to help fund curriculum development and instruction of digital business courses in community college classrooms around the country. The classes cover the fundamentals of online business strategies, marketing, merchandising, inventory management, and more. The curriculum provides sixteen hours of beginner, intermediate and advanced content, created in collaboration with NACCE and the program's lead schools.^[20]

Appalachian Regional Commission - NACCE has partnered with the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to promote the efforts of community colleges in a multi-state region and to ensure their leadership in opening the door wider for entrepreneurship in Appalachia.^[21]

Bellevue University – This non-profit, accredited university with more than 50,000 graduates, has partnered with NACCE as a Premier Transfer Partner institution for NACCE's member community colleges. Bellevue University's Premier Partner Network is the nation's largest partnership network for community colleges, connecting 50-plus network institutions with opportunities ensuring students are ready for lifelong leadership in their community. Students can transfer associate degrees to Bellevue University, accelerating bachelor's degree completion and enabling affordability.^[22]

Burton D. Morgan Foundation - NACCE partnered with the Burton D. Morgan Foundation to support Northeast Ohio community college teams by providing scholarships to attend NACCE's national conference.^[23]

Direct Selling Education Foundation – The Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) is a nonprofit public education organization affiliated with the Direct Selling Association. Since 2011, DSEF has worked with NACCE to offer a jointly developed curriculum on direct selling at NACCE member colleges. The Direct Selling Entrepreneur Initiative seeks to increase the awareness of direct selling as an entrepreneurship strategy and a viable pathway for individuals to start their own business.^[24]

Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund (EEVF) – The Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund (EVFF) began working with NACCE in 2017. The initial investment of $1 million came from Chip and Stuart Weismiller, who launched the EEVF to support community colleges in assisting community-based start-ups, scaling up of existing businesses, and implementing proven replicable business models. In early 2020, a new grant of $100,000 from the EEVF is enabling NACCE to continue the work started in Phase One and expand the program to five additional member colleges. The partnership between NACCE and EEVF addresses the urgent need of supporting local economies via entrepreneurship.^{[25] [26]} To date, more than 50 businesses were started with a total of nearly $600,000 expended through students grants or loans. The program stands to grow in the year ahead with the launch of more than 100 businesses by the end of 2021.^[27]

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation – NACCE partnered with the Kauffman Foundation for the ESHIP Summit, which was launched in 2017 to bring together entrepreneurship ecosystem builders.^[28]

HP Foundation - The HP Foundation and NACCE have partnered since 2013 to bring HP Life e-Learning resources to NACCE members. Most recently, they launched a new competition for community college students across the US—the Student Entrepreneurship Challenge: Solutions for Sustainable Impact. The competition invited NACCE students to develop solutions to local challenges that support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically number four: quality education.^[29] Today, NACCE continues to support HP’s endeavors by encouraging members to take advantage of its many free resources.

Indiana University Center for International Business & Research (IU CIBER) - NACCE has partnered with IU CIBER to promote the goal of increasing the country's capacity for international understanding and trade competitiveness. To that end, IU CIBER is providing NACCE members who are looking to internationalize their curriculum with the current best practices in international education. Resources include free videos and classroom pedagogy.

Intuit Education – Eleven additional NACCE member colleges completed the second phase of Intuit’s Financial Management for Entrepreneurs Curriculum Initiative pilot program, an expansion of the inaugural program started in 2018-2019 with six NACCE member colleges.^[30]

Manodharma Foundation - Manodharma is a nonprofit organization focused on cultivating and promoting robust and sustainable partnerships between higher education institutions in the United States and India. NACCE partnered with Manodharma to offer fully funded travel scholarships to NACCE leaders to meet and connect with inspiring founders and visionaries of social and educational organizations across India.^{[31] [32]}

Michelson 20 MM Foundation - More than 70 NACCE members used the Michelson IP curriculum in their classrooms during 2020, up from 50 in 2019. Since 2016, NACCE has partnered with the Michelson 20MM Foundation to close the intellectual property education gap in community colleges.^[33]

Michigan State University Center for International Business & Research (MSU CIBER) - NACCE has partnered with MSU CIBER to promote the goal of providing superior education, research, and assistance to businesses, public policy makers, academics, and students on international business and trade. NACCE hosts workshops in partnerships with MSU CIBER on a variety of topics including internationalizing a community college and global entrepreneurship.^[34]

National Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education - NACCE and The National Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education (EntreEd) have partnered through EntreEd's America's Entrepreneurial Schools Initiative (AES), a national school designation designed to drive K-12 entrepreneurship for every student, every year. The designation recognizes outstanding K-12 schools (public, private and career centers) that deliver entrepreneurship education to all students and provides best practice professional development and support across all grade levels for schools to attain this goal. NACCE members help with outreach and implementation for schools they serve.^[35]

The Philip E. & Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation – The Philip E. & Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation has awarded NACCE a $900,000 grant as part of a new three-year partnership to collaborate with community colleges to build entrepreneurial mindset training and business opportunities in the trades. In honor of the foundation, NACCE has established its first named Center of Practice, the Philip E. & Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The center will expand nationwide support of entrepreneurship and training in the skilled trades. This new Center of Practice enables community colleges to apply innovative approaches to workforce development and business creation through skilled trades. It also provides women, people of color, veterans, and others who are under-resourced with an opportunity to become entrepreneurs and provide for their families. The Ratcliffe Foundation began working with NACCE in 2019 by awarding a grant fund of $100,000 to host the “Pitch for the Trades” competition, which NACCE held during its annual conference. Sixteen teams from throughout the country competed, resulting in five community college teams receiving awards ranging from $8,000 to $22,000.^{[36] [37]}

Verizon Foundation - In 2020, the Verizon Innovative Learning (VIL) Young Men of Color and Rural Young Women programs graduated more than 4,000 students, including those from 49 NACCE participating colleges. Also in 2020, Verizon won the prestigious "Best Commitment to Education Award" sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

References[]

External links[]

National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE)