Growing State Economies: Twelve Actions - National Governors ...

5.
Teach
entrepreneurship
skills and attitudes
at all education
levels.
For any state to have a thriving entrepreneurial climate, it must have a pool of
people who believe that they can be successful in starng companies and
transforming ideas into vibrant businesses. Not all states or regions have a large
pool of potenal entrepreneurs. But as with any other workforce training iniave, a pipeline
of entrepreneurs can be created.
Entrepreneurship is a set of skills that can be taught. Entrepreneurship educaon should go
from elementary school to college and beyond. Educaon begun in business schools and
engineering schools must connue later in life through execuve educaon programs.
According to Bill Aulet, who heads the Massachuses Instute of Technology’s Center for
Entrepreneurship, educang entrepreneurs goes beyond simply providing a class or a certain
type of curriculum. Teaching entrepreneurship requires providing experiences, such as
internships and compeons, that bring the realies of creang a company to life for
students and providing entrepreneurs and execuves with “real-me” training. 23
A University-wide Focus on Entrepreneurship
One of the best examples of a university-wide focus on entrepreneurship educaon is the Massachuses Instute
of Technology (MIT). MIT is known as a center for entrepreneurship and innovaon, but the university is not just
relying on its technology transfer office to be the source of new companies. MIT’s technology transfer office creates
about 30 new companies a year. MIT alumni, on the other hand, create about 900 new companies every year.
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