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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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,…
Read moreSteidle: The future of work is entrepreneurial
November 30, 2018
Why do so many people not understand the power of entrepreneurship? Perhaps the word “entrepreneurial” gives them hives or they have no idea how the word even applies to them. After all, they are not interested in starting a business so why should they care? Ice House Facilitator and founder of the Innovation Agency, Samantha Steidle answers this question and more in a blog post initially posted in the Roanoke Times. Read Now …
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Driving Engagement & Innovation in Government
May 3, 2018
(updated on 4/9/2019) Declining Government Employee Engagement Employee engagement is a significant challenge for government agencies. In fact, employee engagement is lower in public sectors than in private sectors. And, while 71% of state and local government employees are not engaged in their work, 17% of those employees are actively disengaged, working against the mission of the organization. Actively disengaged employees are more likely to miss work, quit their job, have more accidents, and…
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Entrepreneurial Fab Labs Drive Rural Economic Development
April 4, 2018
Entrepreneurial activity is widely recognized as the primary engine of economic growth. By inventing new products and services or improving those that already exist, entrepreneurs create new jobs that generate wealth, revitalize communities, and improve the overall quality of lives. And, fab labs have emerged as a mechanism to stimulate entrepreneurial behavior by providing the community spaces with the equipment and tools needed for tinkering, experimenting, and building. One rural fab lab is “on track…
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An Entrepreneurial Mindset for the New World of Work
March 19, 2018
The world is changing rapidly. From artificial intelligence, robotics, and self-driving cars to the new “gig” economy, the evidence of dramatic change is abundantly clear. Suddenly, the rules for survival have changed and the mindset that once enabled us to succeed is rapidly becoming obsolete. We are at the dawn of a new workforce revolution; one that requires everyone to think like an entrepreneur. Download NACCE Journal Article
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An Entrepreneurial Drive to Be Better
November 27, 2017
In the fall of 2017, over 400 Algonquin students engaged in the Ice House Student Success Program, a course focused on empowering students with an entrepreneurial mindset at the onset of their academic journey. Sherryl Fraser, chair of General Arts and Sciences, led the implementation. “After training faculty to become Ice House Certified Facilitators, we embedded the Ice House Student Success Program in our curriculum and strove to instill the persistence and determination of an…
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How Do You Improve Employee Engagement? Start with an Entrepreneurial Mindset [Infographic]
October 5, 2017
Gallup reports that 87% of employees around the world are not engaged in their work, a colossal waste of human capital. Nearly one in four employees are actively disengaged, working against the mission of the organization. Yet, nearly all humans want to be engaged in work that matters. The difference between those who will flourish and those who languish in the workplace is mindset. So, what is your workplace mindset? We all have a…
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Can Government Workers Learn to Think Like Entrepreneurs?
August 30, 2017
(Updated 4/9/2019 to reflect the current number of city employees that have been through the program) If you’re like most people, the word entrepreneurial is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of government employees. For many, the word ‘bureaucrat’ is often used as a derisive term to describe government workers who may be seen as lazy, unthinking, and unproductive. And, recent Gallup research seems to confirm some disturbing facts: unhappy state…
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