The National Association for Community College
Entrepreneurship (NACCE), the nation’s leading organization focused on
promoting entrepreneurship through community colleges, has announced that Chris
Bustamante, president of Rio Salado College and Shari Olson, president of South Mountain Community College
have joined its new Presidents
for Entrepreneurship Forum. Through this program, 186 community college
presidents nationwide have committed to increase the focus on entrepreneurship
at their institutions and the impact these colleges have on the economic wellbeing
of the communities they serve.
Rio
Salado and South Mountain Community College are both part of the Maricopa
Community College District located in the greater Phoenix area.
“South
Mountain Community College has helped thousands of our students realize their
dreams of going into business for themselves,” said South Mountain Community
College President Shari Olson, Ph.D. “As an institution, we are firmly committed to this initiative.”
About the Presidents for
Entrepreneurship Forum
The Presidents for Entrepreneurship
Forum is in response to the Obama Administration’s Startup America Call to Action to stimulate economic growth state
by state by encouraging entrepreneurs to start their own businesses. NACCE is a
founding affiliate of the Startup America
Partnership, an alliance of the country’s most innovative entrepreneurs,
corporations, universities, foundations, and other leaders.
According
to NACCE Executive Director, Heather Van Sickle, the Presidents for Entrepreneurship Forum is a way for community
colleges to advance entrepreneurship and create jobs across the country.
Community college presidents who join the Forum make five commitments:
• Develop transparency of
community college and community assets
• Create internal and external
teams dedicated to entrepreneurship
• Increase entrepreneurs’
engagement in community colleges
• Engage in industry cluster
development
• Create broad exposure to their
college’s commitment to entrepreneurship.
“The
five commitments were developed based on NACCE’s observations of what was
working best on member campuses,” said Van Sickle. “After observing the
entrepreneurship-related activities of our members over a period of years, we
started to see commonalities among the more successful institutions,” she said.
“One of the major things that clearly makes a difference is the commitment by
leadership to entrepreneurship.”
About NACCE
The
National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), which celebrates
its 10th anniversary this year, is an organization of educators,
entrepreneurs, and distinguished business development professionals providing
quality programs and services in entrepreneurship education and serving as
advocates community-based entrepreneurship. Founded in 2002, NACCE is at the
heart of the "entrepreneurship movement.” Through membership, an annual
conference and exhibition, a quarterly journal, monthly webinars and podcasts,
a dynamic list-serve, and other resources, NACCE serves as the hub for the
dissemination and integration of knowledge and successful practices regarding
entrepreneurship education and student business incubation. These programs and
courses advance economic prosperity in the communities served by its member colleges.
NACCE is a founding member of the White House-led Startup America Partnership. For more
information, visit http://www.nacce.com. Follow
NACCE on Twitter at @NACCE and like
the NACCE – National Association for
Community College Entrepreneurship page on Facebook.
About Rio Salado College
Rio Salado
College was established in 1978 by the Maricopa Community College District to
provide the next step in education for non-traditional students. The college,
headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, was recently recognized as the fastest
growing community college in the nation serving more than 67,000
students annually. In addition to providing high-quality instruction for 100+ degree and
certificate pathways, Rio Salado is dedicated to providing flexible,
affordable access through; adult
basic education, collaborative
partnerships, early
college initiatives and online learning.
About South Mountain Community College
South
Mountain Community College (SMCC) has served the higher education needs of Phoenix, Ahwatukee, Guadalupe and
Laveen for more than 30 years, offering associate degrees, certificates of
completion, courses that transfer to universities and technology training to
more than 10,000 students annually.
SMCC is one of the ten Maricopa Community Colleges.