Case Studies

Fab Lab ICC Makes a Big Impact in a Small Community     Location: Independence, Kansas Fab Lab ICC launch: March 2014  Total visitors: 35,000  Size: 15,000 square feet    Entrepreneurial Mindset course: Offered once per year   OVERVIEW: In rural southeastern Kansas, agriculture and manufacturing dominate the local economy. However, there are still vestiges of the hard adjustments that residents had to make as coal mining and oil industry jobs disappeared several decades ago. The…

Prompting a Powerful Shift in Mindset to Spark Small Business Startups Location: Kansas City, Missouri Number of new businesses in 2022: 46  Amount of increased sales in 2022: $55.1 million  Number of participants in most recent Entrepreneurial Mindset Training: 18    OVERVIEW: People reach out for a wide range of services from the Missouri Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Some have an idea for a startup but aren’t sure…

The Evolution of a Pioneering Entrepreneurial Mindset Program   Location: Overland Park, Kansas Number of degree-seeking students: 16,000  Number of continuing education students: 12,000    Years offering entrepreneurial mindset courses: 15   OVERVIEW: The metro Kansas City area straddles two states, Missouri and Kansas. It is home to a wide range of industries, neighborhoods, and populations. Johnson County Community College, located on the Kansas side in the state’s wealthiest county, attracts a diverse cross-section of students…

Entrepreneurial Mindset as a Tool for Persevering After Incarceration Location: Northampton, Massachusetts  Number of employees trained in Ice House facilitation: 10 Number of inmates in the facility: 120 Participants per session: 6-8   OVERVIEW: Because promoting reintegration is central to the mission of the Hampshire County Sheriff’s Department, educational programming is a high priority. The typical sentence length in its correctional facility is two and a half years. During that time, the department encourages and…

Mindset as the First Step to Small Business Success Location: Hillsborough County, Florida Number of consultants: 5 Number of subject matter experts: 8 Number of workshops in the first six months of 2022: 100+ Total number of people who attended: 1,300  Number who complete each 8-session Ice House series: 10-12 Number who have completed the 39-hour Self-Employment Workshop Program since it launched in 2021: 30    OVERVIEW: Each year, thousands of Tampa-area entrepreneurs and small…