Kirkwood offers entrepreneur training via hometown/county locations
For eastern Iowa residents dreaming of being the next Bill Gates, Famous Amos or even Ron Popiel, Kirkwood Community College is offering solid knowledge to keep business dreams on track. Starting in January Kirkwood will offer a new session of its Entrepreneurial Certificate program.
The four-course curriculum is designed for completion in about one college semester, structured for busy people already pursuing jobs and charting their own new careers. Courses include an introduction to entrepreneurship, marketing, advertising, accounting and small business planning for more successful business and product launches. Students in the entire seven county Kirkwood service area will have access to the program through its county-based learning centers.
Most classes are set for evening hours in a fast-paced course structure. The classes will use a “blended-learning” style, incorporating the best aspects of online education and face-to-face class environments, via Kirkwood’s digital-quality distance learning classrooms.
The Kirkwood Entrepreneurial Certificate program is led by Business & IT Assistant Professor Bob Walker. He calls the program a “reality check that still encourages innovation” for area business developers.
“This has been an exciting program to build and grow here at Kirkwood. Already we have had a couple cohorts of new entrepreneurs come through the courses and take their ideas out to our local and regional economies. There now are information technologists, caterers and many other examples of creative, energetic new business start-ups that also have a well-grounded idea of what it takes to succeed.
Local small business advocates will tell you that the majority of small businesses don’t make it to their first or second anniversaries. We believe the students who complete this quick program do have the real-world information to make success more possible, more likely,” Walker said.
The classes in the Entrepreneurial Certificate program focus on testing feasibility of new business ideas, marketing plans, sound financial and accounting principles, and building a solid business plan that takes realistic situations into account. Students will gain insights into how various pieces of their planned business fit together and how they must be managed to increase the chances of success.
The program fits 12 hours of college credit into one semester of class time. The spring Entrepreneur cohort will meet in classes from January 14 through May 6. Courses will be held at Kirkwood learning centers in Belle Plaine, Iowa City, Monticello, Tipton, Vinton, Washington and Williamsburg centers, plus the Marion, Resource Center and Main Campus locations in the Cedar Rapids metro area.
More information on the Entrepreneurship Certificate program is available from Bob Walker, (319) 398-5526, or via e-mail: bob.walker@kirkwood.edu