March 30, 2021
Tallahassee Community College is continuing to support students and their goals with the help of a $100,000 Perkins grant. The grant is part of the Florida Department of Education’s (DOE) Entrepreneurial Education and Training (EET) program and will help TCC students, faculty and staff cultivate their entrepreneurial mindset and launch high-quality businesses.
The award will be used to establish an Entrepreneurship Academy (EA) for the Gadsden County School District, which allows TCC to advance career and technical education through entrepreneurship education and training. The grant will aid in four areas:
- Certify 10 teachers in Gadsden County schools (elementary, middle and high) as facilitators of the Ice House Curriculum (entrepreneurship)
- Create or enhance two student led businesses, a café and digital print shop
- Support two cohorts of student entrepreneurs in a school-year long program that will culminate with a business pitch competition
- Establish a professional entrepreneur business speaker series for students
“We understand how vitally important it is to invest early in the dreams of our students by exposing them to entrepreneurship,” said Kimberly A. Moore, Vice President for Workforce Innovation/TCC2WORK & Be Essential. “Locally, over 70% of our businesses have 10 or fewer employees and through this collaboration our goal is to fuel the creation of many more businesses that allow our students to experience the American dream of business ownership in their backyards.”
The Figgers Foundation has committed to making a financial investment in each of the student run businesses. Freddie Figgers, chairman of The Figgers Foundation will also participate as an entrepreneurship lecturer and mentor.
“Our partnership with Tallahassee Community College and the Gadsden County School District will help students succeed as they develop the skills and acumen to be entrepreneurs and future business leaders,” said Carolyn Newman, Executive Director of The Figgers Foundation. “It’s our mission to create opportunities for young people through education and mentoring.”
The Gadsden School District states partnering with Tallahassee Community College to execute the Gadsden Entrepreneurship Grant is an excellent opportunity to build Career and Technical Education instructional capacity and to empower CTE students with real-life skill-sets to build the businesses of their dreams. It is one thing to dream of owning your own business and yet another to have practical knowledge and plans to make dreams come true.
Florida’s Perkins V State Plan commits to creating a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem through career and technical education (CTE). Business equity is the second largest source of wealth behind home equity, and for special populations, self-employment and the ability to effectively create value contributes to Florida’s greater economic security. In short, becoming an entrepreneur is a viable path to improving Florida’s economic and social mobility rates. CTE does not just prepare students to take jobs, but to create the jobs of the future.
For more information, contact the Workforce Development Division at (850) 201-8760 or workforce@tcc.fl.edu.