North Carolina Rising

Teaching Entrepreneurship

Students from Caldwell County Schools are getting a R.E.A.L. education. "R.E.A.L." stands for North Carolina Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning. It's a mouthful, but simply put--it teaches students skills for starting a business.

On this day, students are meeting business owners and then planning their own strategy. Teacher Lori Baswell explains, "My hope was for them to see not every business is a cookie cutter business. Each has its own challenges....They have to find their way."

Developing cost analysis, building surveys, and marketing plans are all part of the students' assignment. Michael Gregg says, "It’s not as easy as we think it is."

Not easy at all. Local business owners offer students a reality check.

Patricia Hendrix owner of Patty's Cakes explains the need to have all the right ingredients before you start. "When you’re looking you need to do your research prior to. There were so many things I didn't know and had to learn, learn the hard way."

To encourage budding entrepreneurs, Scott Hamiliton, President of Advantage West, the state's economic developer for North Carolina's 23 most western counties, convinced Google to sponsor a national contest called Juicy Ideas. During the 2010 competition, students had to use public data to create an application to help the local community. The team from Asheville Buncombe Community College designed a site spotlighting hiking trails and other outdoor activities. And they nearly came out on top.

Student Steve Greenhoe explains, we "missed first place by six one hundredths of a percent....pretty impressive."

It's especially impressive when you consider the competition. Stanford may have edged out AB Tech, but this community college team from western North Carolina beat students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Students are learning there are possibilities in rural communities. To quote one educator,
"Where you are is less relevant than what you're doing." And what they're seeing is they can develop businesses where they want to live instead of where they have to live.