Community Development through Entrepreneurship - Essay Example

According to Chad Moutray, Chief Economist and Director of Economic Research at the Office of Advocacy for the U.S. Small Business Administration, entrepreneurship is the key to the education and survival of communities.  Moutray (2009) believes that entrepreneurship education continues to keep our economy sustainable through innovation and new venture creation (Community College Entrepreneurship, Winter/Spring 2009, p. 5).  Many communities and economic development boards across the country are turning their focus toward creating a strong entrepreneurial support structure to encourage entrepreneurial job growth (Community College Entrepreneurship, Winter/Spring 2009, p. 5).  Communities are therefore partnering with higher education institutions—namely, community colleges—to seize the entrepreneurial opportunities that exist to respond to the needs of the communities they serve.  These partnerships are developed to create jobs and promote the economic development condition of the community.

While entrepreneurship programs have been increasing across the country, few studies have been done to document the impact of those programs, including the graduates of those programs, on the economic development of their communities.   The commitment of key individuals in both the community college and the community is critical to the success of entrepreneurship education, and this commitment to entrepreneurship education is vital to economic development. 

Historically, the community college has embraced change and has been proactive in fulfilling the needs of the communities. In The Next American Economy, Dr. Craig Follins, (2011), President and Chief Executive Officer of Follins Workforce Strategies, emphasized that “Community colleges are going to be the retraining providers for most of the folks that have been displaced. We’re [community colleges] nimble.  We’re malleable.  We’re located close to where most Americans live” (p. 138).  Therefore, community colleges must be leaders in promoting entrepreneurship education on their campuses.  Today’s community college environment provides a positive link to the local concerning to wforce development.  This study will explore economic development through entrepreneurship and the role community colleges in Ohio play in economic growth through entrepreneurship education.

From 1999-2009, the economic landscape has transformed from big business strategies into smaller-based entrepreneurial type thinking (Roy, 2009, pp. 1-2).  The reliance on human capital has created a need for the entrepreneur, catapulting entrepreneurship education as a catalyst in the growth of the American economy (Community College Entrepreneurship, Winter/Spring 2009, p. 6).