Page 159 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

148 Craig Schroeder

an indication to teachers and school administrators. A variety of studies on
youth entrepreneurial traits and economic and social impacts are available
on the Internet. One excellent resource for learning more about young en-
trepreneurs is the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. 1
Another indicator is that entrepreneurial students may not pay attention
in class because they are bored in school or daydreaming about the project
on which they are working. Because they may not understand how class-
room learning relates to their entrepreneurial interests, it is easy for these
students to lose interest in class.
It is important to stress that these traits are not excuses for students do-
ing poorly in school. Instead, the main point is that low academic achieve-
ment may be an indicator of a young entrepreneur and that these students
can be engaged in ways that make core subjects more relevant to them.
For example, an entrepreneurship class can incorporate math, accounting,
language arts, library research, and other topics into the curriculum. When
entrepreneurial youth can combine these core subjects with an idea they are
passionate about or a problem they want to solve, academic achievement can
improve because these students can have a deeper understanding of academic
subject matter through practical application (Stern 1994).
Another characteristic of young entrepreneurs is that they may already be
in business. They may have one or more microbusinesses and even employ
several classmates or siblings. Ask around town if people know of youth
with a small business, and look for flyers in the local coffee shop. Teachers
and fellow students are also good sources of information about young peo-
ple who operate their own businesses.
Some rural communities have clustered these entrepreneurial youth into
school- or community-based entrepreneurial ventures. An excellent exam-
ple is Rothsay High School’s Storefront in Rothsay, Minnesota (U.S. De-
partment of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement
1995). This program began with the purchase of a hardware store and lum-
ber yard that became a student-run corporation and reopened the commu-
nity’s grocery store. Students, with teacher support, combined learning from
the classroom with real-world business experience.
A support structure for entrepreneurial youth is also important because
students may not be well connected to adults in economic development
roles, so they may not know where to turn for help in creating a business
plan around their idea or accessing capital. They may also need help in one
or more of the primary functions of a business—production, management,
and marketing. On a scientific level, research by the National Institutes of
Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, as reported in TIME Magazine
in May 2004, indicates that teenagers do not have fully developed brains
for decisionmaking, responsibility, and risk assessment (Wallis and Dell
2004)—attributes important to successful entrepreneurial enterprise.