Participation in community economic development is a dynamic process requiring proactive participation in strategic planning and involvement in broad-based community partnerships. Within this context, what are the implications for two-year technical colleges? Traditionally, community and technical colleges react to industry or societal needs when these needs become obvious and urgent. However, current developments in the national and international economy suggest the need to begin emphasizing a proactive commitment to community development in two significant ways: (1) by improvement of the quality of education and training services and programs, and (2) through integration of technical postsecondary education with community development (Melville & Chmura, 1991; Phelps, 1992).
Assuming a leadership role in community economic development appears to be a natural role for two-year postsecondary institutions. They make up the bulk of higher education institutions; are located all across the nation in rural, urban, and suburban areas; and usually have closer ties with key community stakeholders (Farnsworth, 1991; Kopecek, 1991). Some states have already demonstrated the benefits of the participation of community/technical colleges in providing technical assistance and technology transfer to small businesses (Carmichael, 1991). Of these opportunities, business incubation offers perhaps one of the most comprehensive strategies to promote entrepreneurship, help create jobs, stimulate growth, and revitalize rural areas or depressed neighborhoods. Business incubators provide commercial space at low cost and a host of business services to help entrepreneurs survive successfully in the early stages of business development (National Business Incubation Association [NBIA], 1992).
Though many studies have been conducted on business incubation, the focus has been on financing and operational management based primarily on input from incubator managers (e.g., Campbell, 1987; NBIA, 1992). Other studies have focused on the participation of four-year colleges to support the incubation concept, especially in high technology enterprises and development (e.g., see Mian, 1993). The contribution of two-year colleges to business incubation is rather modest, and few studies have described their involvement in this concept within the context of economic and entrepreneurship development. As new challenges and demands are derived from global economic competition, an understanding of business incubation and opportunities for a more active role in economic development--learning from the experiences of two-year colleges--is critical to provide future direction for postsecondary technical-education institutions (Office of Technology Assessment, 1990; Weinberg & Burnier, 1991).
Case studies have been widely used in business, industry, and various educational fields such as law and management. Case studies can be used for education and training purposes to (1) describe situations or events of interest, (2) encourage problem solving, (3) stimulate critical thinking, (4) generate group discussion, and (5) train personnel using different case study scenarios. Indeed, case studies can be a valuable resource to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and understanding to both classroom and professional development in vocational education and two-year college administration.
However, few case study resources focusing on the participation of two-year colleges on economic and entrepreneurial development in the community are available. This lack of adequate case study resources was the primary reason for the development of these business incubation case studies. Concurrently, these case studies serve a complementary purpose as a national survey of business incubator managers and entrepreneurs to develop a shared understanding of entrepreneurship and the involvement of two-year colleges in community development efforts (see Report 1, Hernández-Gantes, Sorensen, & Nieri, 1996a).
This report presents nine cases studies which were undertaken by the National Center for Research in Vocational Education (NCRVE) to research the role of two-year colleges in economic development and entrepreneurship. Project findings showed that entrepreneurs served by postsecondary technical education institutions face the same issues experienced by the population of entrepreneurs at large. Hence, the challenges lie in understanding the potential opportunities and implications for curriculum and instruction, for participation in partnerships with business incubation, and for the support of a variety of business services to the community of entrepreneurs as a whole.
Each case study is introduced with a brief description of the setting to position the reader in terms of the economic context, regional culture, and characteristics of the particular location. The component on education and training services is described separately to provide more details on content, delivery format, instruction arrangements, cost, and impact on entrepreneurs.
The perspectives of entrepreneurs, incubator staff, college staff, and students are embedded throughout each section in order to (1) enrich the descriptions with personal insights of participant stakeholders, (2) provide personal evaluations of experiences derived from participation in business incubation or college courses, and (3) feature the perspectives of minority and female entrepreneurs on their business incubation experiences.
Case studies are organized in categories to position the reader within the contextual dimensions shared by individual cases. Hence, case studies are arranged in three categories representing urban, suburban, and rural settings. Within each category, three case studies which represent different approaches to business incubation and varying levels of community/technical college involvement are presented. This arrangement will assist the readers in understanding the implications for program implementation and the variety of challenges and opportunities affected by different circumstances found in the communities.
Case studies included in each category represent efforts to support business incubation by community/technical colleges, private nonprofit organizations, and other public/private partnerships. Some case studies feature college programs or courses with the focus on entrepreneurship and/or development of expertise on business operations needed to start and run a business. In only a few cases was there a clear connection between business incubation and college coursework on entrepreneurship. However, the readers should be able to identify various opportunities to integrate these efforts and the possibility to offer other related services in the community. Finally, to provide a consistent format, all case studies were reviewed and edited to provide a balanced depth and breadth of descriptions in terms of content and length.
Case studies are discussed collectively at two levels: the first level includes a discussion of the involvement of two-year colleges in economic and entrepreneurship development in the community to set the stage for the second level of discussion. That is, the readers are allowed to interpret the case studies in light of the potential use for them as administrators, instructors, or students. For this purpose, a set of discussion questions is provided for key areas relevant to the involvement of two-year technical institutions in economic and entrepreneurship development in the community. The objective is to stimulate critical thinking by the readers and to point out guiding questions to those interested in implementing particular efforts or for use as instructional and learning activities.
A complementary guidebook is also available to those users interested in learning more about the practical applications of the information presented here. This guidebook describes specific opportunities for participation of two-year technical colleges in economic development and entrepreneurship in the community (see Report 3, Hernández-Gantes, Sorensen, & Nieri, 1996b). This guidebook is derived from the set of guiding questions on relevant areas of practice mentioned above.