Entrepreneurship: Overview

Turtle Mountain Community Colleges is an integral part in providing workforce resources that support and spur local economic development. Likewise, entrepreneurs create economic opportunities and build enterprises through careful planning and risk taking. By developing entrepreneurs, TMCC provide the catalyst for new businesses and a flexible, creative, business savvy and well-educated workforce. Therefore, young entrepreneurs that remain within the community are a major building block in the potential economic revitalization, particularly on the Turtle Mountain Reservation and other American Indian communities that suffer high poverty and unemployment.

The Entrepreneurship coursework involves both experiential learning and academic content. The objective is to teach keen business insight in an atmosphere that cultivates creativity, opportunism, autonomy, risk-taking, and initiative. The skill taught in traditional classroom setting is supplemented with methodologies to make new products or find new markets. As a practical lesson, students may conceptualize, start, and operate their own business. Entrepreneur students may partner with local businesses to enhance their business idea. Also, local business can partner with the Entrepreneur program to assist in curriculum, mentor students, provide internships, or allow job shadowing.

The Entrepreneurship program is designed for persons preparing for careers as small business owners, as an employee in a small business or to specialize in a particular business of their choosing. Courses are designed to provide a broad range of general business knowledge and specific specialized skills. Associate of Applied Science Degrees combine career-technical courses with general education courses not intended to transfer to bachelor degree programs, although certain courses may be accepted at some institutions.

Program Outcomes:

1. Demonstrates knowledge of and skills in business functions, including financial accounting, management, business law, marketing, finance, operations and communications.
2. Communicate clearly, effectively and professionally.
3. Uses technology effectively.
4. Comprehend and/or exhibit professional behavior.
5. Demonstrate and apply management skills at the tactical and operational levels.
6. Demonstrate effective decision-making and problem solving skills in the basic areas of business and operations.
7. Demonstrate human relations skills.
8. Demonstrate personal leadership roles, functions and styles.
9. Apply consumer behavior knowledge in marketing, products, services and ideas.
10. Demonstrate effective decision-making, planning, organizing, leading, skills and abilities in advertising.

Career Opportunities:

• Working for a business, civic or tribal group involved in economic development
• Middle management positions of retail, wholesale, industrial, manufacturing and small business organizations
• Small business owner start-up
• Employment in existing businesses
• Small business managerial and supervision positions