National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship

The first entrepreneurship education courses at community colleges started in the early 1970s. In 2001, Springfield Technical Community College and the Entrepreneurial Institute at the Springfield Enterprise Center at STCC in Massachusetts began to research and investigate entrepreneurship education practices at community colleges across the country. At that time, only about 10% of 1,200-plus community colleges had any type of entrepreneurship education as part of their curriculum. At the same time, both the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and the National Commission on Entrepreneurship recognized that community colleges were ideally positioned to be catalysts for fostering economic vitality through entrepreneurship education at the community college level.

In response to these findings, NACCE was created to establish entrepreneurship education as a core offering to foster economic development through community colleges. An inaugural conference in 2003 with 150 attendees was held with the support of a $100,000 grant from S. Prestley Blake, the co-founder of Friendly Ice Cream Corporation.[7][8] NACCE went on to receive a $50,000 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City and a $20,000 grant from the Coleman Foundation of Chicago.

The Coleman Foundation continued its support of NACCE with a series of annual Elevator Grant Competitions and other competitions at the Annual NACCE Conference.[9][10] The purpose of these competitions, which resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in grants going to NACCE members, was to identify best practices in entrepreneurship education.

In 2011, NACCE launched the Presidents for Entrepreneurship Pledge (PFEP), which encourages all community college presidents to endorse five commitments that will ensure that community colleges are involved in the national discussion about how to increase entrepreneurship.[11] This initiative was inspired by the Obama White House's launch of Startup America, a program in which NACCE participated, along with the American Association of Community Colleges via a grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to fund a Virtual Incubation Network at community colleges.[12] Through the PFEP, community college presidents commit to 1) Form teams to focus on entrepreneurship; 2) Connect with entrepreneurs in the community; 3) Collaborate with industry in your region; 4) Focus on business and job creation; and 5) Share stories through events and the media.

In 2014, a quantitative research study that included responses from over 900 individuals, validated the effectiveness of the PFEP pledge with statistically significant relationships for the first four out of five commitments.[13]

In 2015, NACCE named Rebecca A. Corbin, Ed.D., as its second president, succeeding Heather Van Sickle, who had served as president from 2005 to 2015.

In 2017 NACCE started its nationwide communities of practice, enabling entrepreneurial practitioners and leaders to share best practices and thought leadership. In 2019, 400 participants attended the ESHIP Summit to network and share best practices for ecosystem building. In 2020, NACCE launched the Women in Entrepreneurship Center of Practice and the Global Entrepreneurship Center of Practice, bringing its total number of centers of practice to nine.

In 2020, NACCE launched the Maker Fellows, a new program by Citizen Schools’ Makers + Mentors Network in partnership with community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), school districts, and community partners across the country. Through the program, 25,000 K-12 students obtain access to maker-centered learning opportunities.[14]

In 2021, NACCE represented community colleges in policy discussions at the White House, state governor's offices, the Small Business Administration, and in local communities across the United States.

The organization participates in a number of annual entrepreneurship celebrations, including National Entrepreneurship Week, Global Entrepreneurship Week, and other observances that bring together entrepreneurial ecosystems responsible for creating opportunity in local, national, and global communities.[15][16]

NACCE's annual conference provides the opportunity for community college professionals to gather together to identify opportunities and create positive organizational and community change through entrepreneurship. Each year at the conference awards are presented for Entrepreneurial College of the Year, Entrepreneurial President, and Lifetime Achievement.[17][18][19]

NACCE's first hybrid conference, hosted in 2020, NACCE drew more than 625+ attendees.[20] In 2021, NACCE hosted its 19th annual conference in Minneapolis with an unprecedented number of speakers and forums, breaking previous virtual and in-person attendance records. The conference closed with NACCE's Future Building Summit, which brought together innovative thinkers from higher education and philanthropy, public officials, and policy makers to chart a unified course of economic recovery and equity, leveraging the resources of community college entrepreneurship.[21] As a result of this work, NACCE will build resources in 2022 through its "Foundations of the Future" program, an offshoot of the summit. Also in 2022, NACCE will celebrate its 20th anniversary, and host its annual conference October 2–5 in Boston, Massachusetts, in the state where NACCE was founded.

NACCE works to establish partnerships with companies and nonprofits that share its interest in advancing entrepreneurship. In 2020, these partnerships enabled NACCE to provide members with grants of over $2 million, among other benefits. Current partnerships include:

Appalachian Regional Commission - NACCE has partnered with the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to promote the efforts of community colleges in a multi-state region and to ensure their leadership in opening the door wider for entrepreneurship in Appalachia.[22]

Burton D. Morgan Foundation - NACCE partnered with the Burton D. Morgan Foundation to support Northeast Ohio community college teams by providing scholarships to attend NACCE's national conference.[23]

Citizen Schools - NACCE is a key program supporter of the Makers + Mentors Network and has partnered with Citizen Schools to expand its efforts to support makerspacers and maker-centered learning in NACCE member colleges and the communities they serve. Many of NACCE's member colleges are currently hosting maker fellows who are building capacity in their organizations to catalyze making as a means for career development, workforce development, mentoring, and STEM education.[24][25]

Direct Selling Education Foundation – The Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) is a nonprofit public education organization affiliated with the Direct Selling Association. Since 2011, DSEF has worked with NACCE to offer a jointly developed curriculum on direct selling at NACCE member colleges. The Direct Selling Entrepreneur Initiative seeks to increase the awareness of direct selling as an entrepreneurship strategy and a viable pathway for individuals to start their own businesses.[26]

Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund (EEVF) – The Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund (EVFF) began working with NACCE in 2017. The initial investment of $1 million came from Chip and Stuart Weismiller, who launched the EEVF to support community colleges in assisting community-based startups, scaling existing businesses, and implementing proven replicable business models. In early 2020, a new grant from the EEVF is enabling NACCE to continue the work started in Phase One and expand the program to additional member colleges. During Phase II, matched dollars to this additional grant of $100,000 resulted in more than 100 new businesses in participating communities.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation – NACCE partnered with the Kauffman Foundation for the ESHIP Summit, which was launched in 2017 to bring together entrepreneurship ecosystem builders.[27] In 2021, the Kauffman Foundation sponsored NACCE's Future Building Summit, hosted as part of NACCE's Annual Conference.

IBM Skills Build - IBM recently launched IBM SkillsBuild, which brings together skills-based learning programs, ""Open P-TECH" and SkillsBuild." Through IMB SKillsBuild, students, educators, job seekers, and the organizations that support them can access free digital learning, resources, and support focused on the core technology and workplace skills needed to succeed in "new collar" jobs. The program enables faculty to take advantage of an educator resource portal or toolkit to support learning outcomes and student success.

Institute for Veterans & Military Families (IVMF) - The IVMF[28] mission is to empower service members, veterans, and their families through actionable research, innovative programs, and insightful analytics. Programs include: STRIVE (Startup Training Resources to Inspire Veteran Entrepreneurship), which is delivered in partnership with NACCE member colleges, Hillsborough Community College (Tampa, FL); and East Tennessee State University (Johnson City, TN). The program leverages networks and educational resources in local communities to support and advance aspiring veteran entrepreneurs, as well as veterans who have recently started a business and need support to navigate common barriers to startup success.

Intuit Education – In fall of 2021, NACCE launched an Educator Resource Hub that provides members access to the Financial Management for Entrepreneurs Curriculum and additional resources. The hub creates a community of educators who share best practices and learn from one another, helping future entrepreneurs gain financial management tools and skills required for long-term business success. Eleven additional NACCE member colleges completed the second phase of Intuit’s Financial Management for Entrepreneurs Curriculum Initiative pilot program, an expansion of the inaugural program started in 2018-2019 with six NACCE member colleges.[29]

Michelson 20MM Foundation - More than 80 NACCE members have used the Michelson IP curriculum in their classrooms since 2016 when NACCE began partnering with the Michelson 20MM Foundation to close the intellectual property education gap in community colleges.[30]

Michigan State University Center for International Business & Research (MSU CIBER) - NACCE has partnered with MSU CIBER to promote the goal of providing superior education, research, and assistance to businesses, public policy makers, academics, and students on international business and trade. NACCE hosts workshops in partnerships with MSU CIBER on a variety of topics including internationalizing a community college and global entrepreneurship.[31]

National Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education - NACCE and The National Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education (EntreEd) have partnered through EntreEd's America's Entrepreneurial Schools Initiative (AES), a national school designation designed to drive K-12 entrepreneurship for every student, every year. The designation recognizes outstanding K-12 schools (public, private and career centers) that deliver entrepreneurship education to all students and provides best practice professional development and support across all grade levels for schools to attain this goal. NACCE members help with outreach and implementation for schools they serve.[32]

The Philip E. & Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation – The Philip E. & Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation awarded NACCE a grant as part of a three-year partnership to collaborate with community colleges to build entrepreneurial mindset training and business opportunities in the skilled trades. In honor of the foundation, NACCE established the Philip E. & Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The center expands nationwide support of entrepreneurship and training in the skilled trades. Since the inception of NACCE's “Pitch for the Trades” competition, 15 community college teams have received awards totaling more than $250,000.[33][34]

NACCE has worked with a number of partners with resources for entrepreneurship educators, including Amazon (Small Business Academy), HP Life Foundation, the Manodharma Foundation, Bellevue University, Indiana Wesleyan University, Pulse Technology, Skillsline, and others.