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Galatoni School of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Ivy Tech Community College Evansville Graduates First Class with Certificate in Entrepreneurship, Already Its Graduates Leverage Skills Related to Fundraising, Business Planning and Marketing Skills doing.
Twenty students completed 16 credit hours over two semesters and earned one of the first Entrepreneurship Certificates. Some started their companies before class started, and some started their businesses during or after class.
The school’s head of entrepreneurship and innovation, Chase Coslett, said the program was designed to respond to students’ entrepreneurial journeys.
“It’s non-traditional academics. No tests. No quizzes. It’s about starting a business that you’re passionate about,” Coslett told Inside INdiana Business.
In class, we developed a variety of ideas for businesses such as beauty salons, cleaning businesses, and food trucks. The age of the students was equally diverse.
“There were 18-year-olds who had just graduated from high school, and others who were probably in their second or third career,” Coslett said.
Named after South Bend businessman Larry Galatoni and his wife Judy, the school was founded with the support of a regional innovation and startup education called RISE. RISE executive director Iris Hamel said the idea came from a community-focused entrepreneurship program she started in South Bend in 2014.
“Our motto was to connect students from the ground up with the community and help them build themselves while launching startups,” Hamel said.
When Ms. Hummel brought the idea to Ivy Tech, she worked with colleges to quickly track students past the usual business-class prerequisites and into the program quickly.
“Business students didn’t really want it,” Hummel said. “We were looking for designers, engineers, people with the passion and skills to learn how to monetize.”
Ivy Tech has piloted the program in Indianapolis and has since expanded to campuses in Evansville, Bloomington, Fort Wayne, South Bend/Elkhart, Lake County, Lafayette, Marion, Columbus, and Muncie. added programs to 70 high schools across the state.
Student and community benefits
The curriculum of this certificate provides students with a path towards network-heavy entrepreneurship.
“Learning happens because you connect with real leaders who share the problems they face, the work they do and their business models,” Hammel said. “That’s what makes it come to life.”
“It’s not what you know, but who you know,” says Christopher Johnson, talent connection manager at Ivy Tech Evansville. It is especially meaningful for business owners, he said. Learning entrepreneurship is also important.
“From taking calculated risks to driving a new age of innovation, it’s the mindset that drives the planet we live in,” Johnson said. “Those who master this way of thinking will move the world.”
The program is also intended to benefit the City of Evansville. According to Ivy Tech’s annual report, 96% of his entrepreneurial students plan to stay in their community after completing their course, and 86% said their community would be a good place to start a company. said to be the location.
Indiana “is one of the best states in the nation to own and run a business,” Hummel said. “This is a really viable way to make a living and promote economic development.”
business plan
Alumnus Edward Donaldson said the program has helped his business grow faster. He is launching his online training his platform that allows people facing housing insecurity to obtain information that will help them build trust with their renters.
“I learned that having a business plan is very important,” said Donaldson. “And networking and building relationships is key to the growth and development of any successful business owner.”
Another graduate, Tiffany Templeton, already had a business. During her class, she rebranded her hair salon, discovered how to set up a website, and learned about social media.
“I feel like I embodied the program,” she said. “Ever since I was little, I always wanted to learn entrepreneurship.
Joshua Marksbury joined the program after starting a company that specialized in manufacturing carbon nanomaterials. At first, I thought I didn’t need a curriculum.
“I had a product. I had a business plan,” he said. “But when I started talking to them and went through the process, I knew I definitely needed to attend the course.”
Success story
Marksbury did the right thing. His firm won $20,000 in Elevate Ventures’ regional pre-seed investment competition. Hummel said the nonprofit venture capital and the Indiana Center for Small Business Development share beliefs about what makes Galatoni School graduates stand out.
“Students said they knew what it was like to be an entrepreneur,” Hammel said. “They understand the job. They understand the disability. They understand the stress and how to deal with that difficulty.”
But Coslett says the program’s most important success is the confidence its graduates gain throughout the program.
“Many of these people had an extreme fear of public speaking,” Coslett said. “At the end they were in front of people. They were selling themselves.”
That’s exactly what happened to entrepreneurial graduate Alfonso E. Vidal, who wanted to turn his love of photography into a business. Daniela Vidal, Alfonso’s mother and president of Ivy Tech Evansville University, said the program helped Alfonso overcome his fears.
Daniela Vidal said, “Through this program we have seen him develop a great deal of self-confidence. I was scared,” he said.
The Evansville Project also succeeded in allying its members.
“We’ve all become one big family. We graduated but still have group chats. We all leverage, keep in touch and network with each other to grow our business. ,” Templeton said.
Challenges as an Entrepreneur
These entrepreneurs need each other’s support to grow their business. One of the biggest challenges they face is getting out of the startup realm, implementing business systems, and starting to scale.
“At the same time you [are] Even if you’re in business, you still have to run the business,” Hammel said. “You’re the cook, you’re the dishwasher, you’re the prepper, you’re the hostess. You’re still everything.”
Hummel said Indiana has ample capital to invest in high-growth, high-potential startups. Unfortunately, small operations don’t have that many resources.
“If you’re a single-mother household or a small business, the same kind of financial and mentoring support isn’t always available,” he says. “So we are trying to build an ecosystem that supports all businesses.”
Financial support was a pain point for Templeton. She wanted to know how other Evansville entrepreneurs were finding ways to fund their businesses. With the help of her program, Templeton overcame that obstacle.
“We learned about bank loans and how to get grants through different programs in the area.
what’s next
Corsett expects two groups (50 students total) to start the Ivy Tech Evansville Entrepreneurship Program in the fall of 2023. Anyone with a business vision is a good candidate for qualification, but the ideal candidate has several characteristics, Hammel said.
“Are they hungry? Are they humble? And will they hustle? Those are three key aspects,” Hammel said.
Combining these traits with our curriculum helps future entrepreneurs build confidence and pursue their dreams.
“When you visit at the beginning of the year and come back at the end of the year, you will see a complete transformation of humans,” Hammel said.
Templeton said the program helps students become stronger people. She and several other graduates plan to take it to the next level and earn a technical certificate in entrepreneurship. The school also offers an Associate of Applied Science degree.
“Only when you’re an entrepreneur are you confronting yourself,” Templeton said. “You are not fighting anyone else. You are not competing for position. You are the one.”
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