LITTLE ROCK Select Arkansas community colleges plan to offer entrepreneurship curriculum beginning this fall with an eye toward fostering economic development, the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges announced Thursday.
Eight of the state's 22 two-year schools will offer an associate of business degree and certificate in entrepreneurship using curriculum developed by the NorthWest Arkansas Community College Division of Business and Computer Information.
Other two-year institutions may join the collaboration later.
"Arkansas can no longer rely on traditional economic development strategies," said Ed Franklin, executive director of the association.
Each year, more than 10,000 Arkansans are seeking to start new businesses, he said.
Arkansas Capital Corporation Group will partner with the consortium with the prospect of loaning business start-up funds to students with worthy business ideas, said C. Sam Walls, CEO of the group.
"We're in the business of financing businesses," Walls said. "When they develop entrepreneurial projects ... when they're ready to start their companies, we're a source of capital."
More often than not, the capital is in the form of a loan, he said. The group rarely has the opportunity to loan money for business ideas that college students develop, he said.
Franklin said the association would also look into e-centers and student incubators.
If each college can produce five businesses that each employs 10 people, it would create 110 companies and more than 1,000 employees, Franklin said.
In addition to the degree track, the Arkansas Delta Training and Education Consortium is partnering with Arkansas State University to develop a career pathway in entrepreneurship to be delivered to 12 counties in eastern Arkansas through the AZTEC University Center at Mid-South Community College in West Memphis.
The pathway will include multiple entry and exit points at the high school, community college and university levels, including a certificate of proficiency, technical certificate, associate degree and baccalaureate degree.
"For a lot of Arkansans, the traditional higher education model is just not attainable," said Glen Fenter, president of Mid-South Community College. "Everyone is busy trying to figure out how to take care of their immediate needs."
The pathway allows students to move in and out of education pipelines and the work force while continuing to progress, he said.
The eight schools in the consortium include Arkansas State University-Beebe, East Arkansas Community College, North Arkansas College, NorthWest Arkansas Community College, Ouachita Technical College, South Arkansas Community College, Southern Arkansas University-Tech and University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville.
Pulaski Technical College and Southeast Arkansas College will join the consortium in October.
