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A-B Tech Celebrates National Entrepreneurship Week

Asheville High students work on their business plan during National Entrepreneurship Week at A-B Tech.

A-B Tech's Business Administration Department sponsored several events during National Entrepreneurship Week Feb. 25 through March 1. The National Entrepreneurship Week activities were made possible through a $3,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

A-B Tech students watched the PBS Special "These Kids Mean Busines$ " a documentary on the various entrepreneurship educational programs throughout the United States. Programs highlighted included: Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning (REAL) Enterprises, the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Food from the Hood, Entrenuity, and C.E.O. Academy. Dr. Joseph Fox, Business Administration chair, is in the documentary providing entrepreneurship training as a REAL certified instructor for a group of participants at a Rhode Island entrepreneurship conference.

Activities continued with outreach to local high schools. A presentation was made to the faculty of Buncombe County Early College related to Entrepreneurship Week when A-B Tech proposed a two-year Entrepreneurship degree and a business start-up simulation for high school students.

Students from four classes at Asheville High School participated in an all-day business start-up simulation using REAL Enterprises' curriculum. Students had four hours to generate a business idea, prepare paperwork for a loan to the "REAL Bank" to start the business, describe the business image, prepare a customer service plan, hire employees, develop policies for an employee manual, develop an advertisement campaign, and develop a skit.

Members of A-B Tech's Phi Beta Lambda Business Club assisted with the simulation. A-B Tech's Entrepreneurship members, Mike Arriola, Senior Area Manager for the U.S. Small Business Administration, and Sharon Oxendine, Center Director for the Northern Region Women's Business Center MountainBizWorks, judged each team's presentation, as well as their paperwork. The two judges were joined as judges by Kathy Toler, A-B Tech Marketing Instructor, and Phi Beta Lambda member, Beth Hahn.

Fox said A-B Tech has applied to the North Carolina Community College System Office to offer a two-year Entrepreneurship degree. The College is also in articulation talks with Western Carolina University to establish a 2+2 program. A-B Tech students would complete the first two years of entrepreneurial training at the Asheville campus. Students would then complete two more years at the Enka campus, where Western Carolina University faculty members would teach the remaining courses. "A-B Tech students will be able to get a four-year Entrepreneurship degree without leaving the county," he said.

Business Administration

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