Extension, Outreach, and
Distance Learning
Arts and Humanities
The McGuire Center’s Rural Entrepreneurship Initiatives target four key populations, from elementary education through mature business enterprises, in order to create and foster an entrepreneurial culture in Southern Arizona. Each initiative fits with broader regional population-specific goals
- K-12: IdeaFair uses the traditional science fair model and steps of scientific investigation as a method of exploring problem-based business solutions. The project will prepare students to better understand entrepreneurial principles, establishing a foundation for solving problems in their homes, schools, and communities.
- Collegiate: Entrepreneurship Curriculum Development – Working in partnership with regional community colleges and UA South, this project will build on the K-12 experience by engaging students in higher-level involvement with entrepreneurial principles. It will enable exploration into the range of environments where the principles can be applied to address problems of the community and the economy.
- Online Courses in Entrepreneurship: The McGuire Center is offering three separate non-credit courses in entrepreneurship. These distance-learning courses offer working professionals a flexible and convenient option for advancing their new venture concepts in an online classroom environment, with regular interaction with McGuire Center faculty. Learn more and register through the University of Arizona Outreach College.
- Emergent Entrepreneurs: IdeaXchange establishes a social network among emerging and existing entrepreneurs to share information and receive experienced, hands-on guidance regarding all aspects of business formation and growth.
- Mature and Successful Entrepreneurs: Rural Entrepreneurship Society will capture the experience and vision of IFA regional leaders in order to have a powerful impact on communities. The Society focuses on regional assessments of resources, opportunities, challenges, and policy recommendations in order to celebrate entrepreneurial achievement.
Producing a sustainable innovation-based economy is at the crux of Governor Janet Napolitano’s Innovation Frontier Arizona (IFA). An integral component for IFA is The University of Arizona’s Rural Entrepreneurship Initiatives – focused on stimulating both entrepreneurial opportunity and entrepreneurial thinkers.
IFA unites some 40+ partners, including UA’s McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship and the College of Academic Outreach, in its goal to align education, workforce development, and economic development. The Rural Entrepreneurship Initiatives are focused around building entrepreneurial capacity through community programs designed to serve new and would-be entrepreneurs and K-20 education. The outcomes will include new opportunities and individuals who are prepared to identify and act on them.
Rural
Two primary projects of the Rural Entrepreneurship Initiative include the IdeaFair for K-12 students and the Curriculum Development Workshop series.
- K-12 IdeaFair uses the traditional science fair model and steps of scientific investigation as a method of exploring problem-based business solutions. The project will prepare students to better understand entrepreneurial principles, establishing a foundation for solving problems in their homes, schools, and communities. The pilot IdeaFair is underway in Spring of 2009, with additional IdeaFair programs scheduled for the 2009-2010 academic year.
- Entrepreneurship Curriculum Development – The series titled, Developing and Delivering Principles-based Entrepreneurship Curriculum is presented throughout Spring 2009 for educators in Southern Arizona who are charged with advancing the development of a competitive workforce facing the challenges of the current economy. The three-workshop series will offer the educator an opportunity to share and develop location specific, just-in-time modules in entrepreneurship. It will enable exploration into the range of environments where the principles can be applied to address problems of the community and the economy.
Regional
Pima County IdeaXchange: IdeaFunding 2008: Almost 300 participants registered for the 13th annual IdeaFunding on October 30. Panelists at the sessions addressed new venture issues, such as intellectual property, seeking funding, and building the right team. Keynote addresses were made by University of Arizona President Robert Shelton and John May, an internationally recognized expert on angel investing. The event culminated in a Desert Angels Screening Dinner. Pima County IdeaXchange partners include representatives from the Arizona Center for Innovation, Desert Angels, Hecker and Muehlebach, PLLC, Innovation Frontier Arizona, Inside Arizona Business, Pima Community College Small Business Development Center, Southern Arizona Technology Council, Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, Inc. and the University of Arizona’s McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, Office of Technology Transfer, and Office of Corporate Relations.
- Regional IdeaXchange: In partnership with members of the Innovation Frontier Arizona Entrepreneurship Track, the McGuire Center is soliciting nominations from regional business communities to form groups representative of the business culture and human intelligence network in each region of the four border counties. The local IdeaXchange groups will be made up of region assets who know the needs of their regions, understand opportunities, and are ready to act on them.
For additional information, please contact us.
