a stack of entrepreneurship books

Why A Little Mental Turbulence Can Be a Good Thing for Early-Stage Startups

July 26, 2022

  After welcoming each new cohort of idea-driven participants to Entrepreneurial Mindset Training, facilitator Joel Barrett issues a warning: Turbulence Ahead.  Barrett is a business development consultant with the Missouri Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He and his colleagues use the Ice House model to redefine entrepreneurship as the self-directed pursuit of opportunities to create value for others by discovering and solving problems—and he has firsthand experience with the…

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Categories: Entrepreneurial Culture, Entrepreneurial Learning, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Entrepreneurial Workforce, Entrepreneurship Training, How to Think and Act Like an Entrepreneur, Human Flourishing, Human Potential, Learning & Development, Workforce Development

black woman working from home

Adding to the Startup ‘Knighthood’ in Florida

July 19, 2022

  As each new cohort enters the Self-Employment Workshop Program in Tampa, Florida, facilitator Carol Minor sets the tone by knighting the participants as finishers.  “You can’t do anything halfway,” she tells the group with her trademark spunk. “You can shift and pivot, but you can’t start something and not see it through.”  Minor starts on an upbeat note, but she’s a realist. She knows not everyone will finish the first eight sessions, where she…

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Categories: Entrepreneurial Learning, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Entrepreneurial Workforce, How to Think and Act Like an Entrepreneur, Human Flourishing, Human Potential, Learning & Development, Workforce Development

a public library

Libraries and Entrepreneurship: A Natural Fit

July 12, 2022

  Workforce and economic development are hot topics at libraries across the country—and many are tapping into ELI’s Entrepreneurial Mindset Training as a key resource.  All public libraries in Georgia, Virginia, and Delaware offer free ELI training to staff and patrons. Many regional and local institutions do, too. For example, from the Mid-Continent Public Library in the metro Kansas City area to Spokane Public Library in Washington.  Nashville Public Library joined these ranks in the…

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Categories: Entrepreneurial Culture, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Entrepreneurial Workforce, Entrepreneurship Training, Human Flourishing, Human Potential, Learning & Development, Workforce Development

group of people in a lecture

Kindling a ‘Go Before You Know’ Mentality Across Northeast Iowa

April 28, 2022

  When Northeast Iowa Community College offered its first Ice House courses in 2020, it ignited what one faculty member described as a “virtuous brush fire.” People would hear about the Ice House program and want to get involved, explained Seth Gilbert, NICC Director of Organizational Development. That’s especially impressive considering that the college has 12 campuses and centers across eight counties covering 5,000 square miles of rural northeastern Iowa. The college implemented the Ice…

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Categories: Entrepreneurial Mindset, Entrepreneurial Workforce, Entrepreneurship Education, Human Flourishing, Human Potential, Learning & Development, Student Success

boardroom meeting

How the City of Albuquerque Grows Entrepreneurial Thinking From the Inside Out

January 25, 2022

  Many cities have worked to attract entrepreneurs over the past decade. Albuquerque, New Mexico, is among them—but in an innovative twist, the fast-growing Southwestern city also worked to foster an entrepreneurial mindset from the inside out.  City leaders aren’t looking for municipal employees to start their own businesses. Instead, they’re following the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative’s definition of entrepreneurship as the self-director pursuit of opportunities to create value for others.  Here’s the story of how…

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Categories: Employee Engagement, Entrepreneurial Culture, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Entrepreneurial Workforce, Human Flourishing, Human Potential, Learning & Development, Partner News, Redefining Entrepreneurship, Workforce Development

Contagious Enthusiasm for Entrepreneurial Thinking in Bermuda

September 28, 2021

  Having a second job—or even a third or fourth—is typical for the staff who work with small and medium-sized businesses at the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation (BEDC). These entrepreneurial thinkers are passionate about the self-directed pursuit of opportunities to create value for others.  Donte Hunt, Ondreyah Rochester, and Dennis Carter all work within the Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (MSME) unit.  Hunt does graphic design and creates websites. Additionally, he is in the last…

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Categories: Entrepreneurial Workforce, Human Flourishing, Workforce Development

Lessons in Economic Recovery from Small-Town America

May 27, 2021

  Around 100,000 businesses shut their doors in 2020. Two-thirds of small business owners say it was their most difficult year in business. Now that the worst of the COVID pandemic is behind us, organizations like the bipartisan Economic Innovation Group are watching closely for signs of how the recovery will play out. In their recent analysis of U.S. Census Small Business Pulse Survey data, EIG found that more than a third of businesses anticipate…

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Categories: Entrepreneurial Culture, Entrepreneurial Workforce, Human Flourishing, Workforce Development

e-commerce revenue on a laptop

NetWork Kansas Builds Entrepreneurial Thinking Through E-Communities

February 23, 2021

  All across Kansas, residents are taking a deep dive into entrepreneur-led development thanks to NetWork Kansas and its E-Commerce Programs.  Over the past 14 years, 66 e-communities have been established in the state’s 105 counties, providing $21.5 million to businesses and leveraging an additional $99.2 million (via bank loans, owner down payments, resource partner loans, and more). In addition to financial assistance, e-communities have played a significant role in changing how people think about…

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Categories: Entrepreneurial Culture, Entrepreneurial Learning, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Entrepreneurial Workforce, Entrepreneurship Training, Human Flourishing, Human Potential, Workforce Development

Cultivating Curiosity: The New Learning Imperative

May 30, 2019

Photo by Stephen Hickman on Unsplash Learn How to Think (and Act) Like an Entrepreneur Part 4/8 Among the most distinguishing characteristics I’ve noticed among entrepreneurs, is an unusual desire to learn. It’s not that they are great students in the traditional sense, (in fact, in many cases, it’s quite the opposite) yet they always seem to be engaged in learning, usually through non-formal and informal means. For example, they learn through observation and inquiry,…

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Categories: Employee Engagement, Entrepreneurial Culture, Entrepreneurial Learning, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Entrepreneurial Workforce, Entrepreneurship Education, How to Think and Act Like an Entrepreneur, Human Flourishing, Human Potential, Learning & Development, Student Engagement, Student Success, Workforce Development