Entrepreneurship is a hot topic these days. We are particularly encouraged by the number of programs available to high school and college students. The State of Iowa Department of Education has Entrepreneurial Education Consultants who work with businesses, students and educators to promote awareness of the possibilities students can have in starting their own business. The state entrepreneurship program has created a task force in the last year to find ways to offer more resources to potential business owners and students.

“We many, many times raise students to go be able to work for somebody, but they don’t honestly look at the mindset that they could create their own business and be an entrepreneur,” said Janet Woodruff, an Entrepreneurial Education Consultant in Iowa. “Some of the students are so creative and so innovative, especially with technology. There are so many things students can do.”

One key point, states Woodruff is that “entrepreneurs help create jobs and stimulate the state’s economy.”

Classes across the state of Iowa are offered to help build the foundation of what it takes to be successful as an entrepreneur. More and more high schools are adding entrepreneurship classes to their curriculum.

To see what your state and others are doing to promote entrepreneurship, visit the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education website at www.entre-ed.org. If you click on the “Take It On” link, you can then select your state and see programs and activities that are going on in your state.