Our July 2009 newsletter spoke of the merits of entrepreneurship in rural schools. This month we expand on that topic with the stories of three small schools at work building future entrepreneurs: Cody-Kilgore, Leeton, KS and Bancroft-Rosalie (in our backyard).

Cody-Kilgore High School – Students at Cody-Kilgore, a school located in a Nebraska town of 149, wanted to start a student-run and community-owned grocery store. They had been without a store for 10 years, traveling 70+ miles round trip to purchase food. The teachers contacted the Center for Rural Affairs, and the idea quickly grew into a student business incubator with a grocery store as the flagship business.

The Center connected the teachers with the services of Gregg Christiansen, an Entrepreneurship Education Specialist in Nebraska. The school began steps to integrate an entrepreneurial foundation in their curriculum through the Extension service’s EntrepreneurShip Investigation curriculum. A U.S. Department of Agriculture grant is helping to fund the project, but the hours of in-kind time from the teachers and community are amazing.

The project’s focus is education. The students will build a business plan; develop skills in marketing, business transition, facilitation and leadership; and purchase and maintain equipment for the store and incubator. Training, technical assistance and consultation will be provided by the Center for Rural Affairs and other service providers.

Leeton High School – Leeton, Missouri, population 600, experienced a similar situation to Cody’s. They lost their grocery store 10 years back. When gasoline hit $4 a gallon, instructors at Leeton saw an opportunity to teach students practical business ownership skills and keep dollars in their community. Students in business, entrepreneurship and shop classes took on the job, and it quickly became a town project. The store has been up and running since January.

Bancroft-Rosalie High School – Youth entrepreneurship is also alive and well in Bancroft, Nebraska, population 520. The school participates in the SAGE Program (Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship). SAGE is more than entrepreneurship – it includes social enterprise, global entrepreneurship, civic engagement, environmental stewardship, and the establishment of a student-owned business.

Students have just developed a business called “Paw Prints,” an after-school snack shop that also sells school merchandise online and at home sporting events. Through SAGE students will gain hands-on experience owning and operating a business from the beginning planning phases to business succession. They have the opportunity to connect with other students on an international scale.

Projects like these are not only developing future entrepreneurs, they are developing future leaders as well.

Find out more about: Gregg Christiansen’s services through www.nde.state.ne.us/entreped/index.shtm, the EntrepreneurShip Curriculum at http://4h.unl.edu/esi, Leeton’s story at www.ruralgrocery.org/leeton-grocery.pdf; or visit with Kathie Starkweather at kathies@cfra.org or 402.438.8496.