Iowa Students Head to West Lake Okoboji for Summer Entrepreneurship Studies

Summer classes, camps and special programs to stimulate and sustain K-12 students' interests in science and math will be found all across the country during the next few months. A less frequently occurring phenomenon will be taking place in the Great Lakes Region of Iowa, helping a select group of college students to combine entrepreneurship, rural economic development, and recreation.



Twenty-four students from three Iowa state universities will participate in a week-long program at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory on West Lake Okoboji designed to enhance their understanding of rural entrepreneurship opportunities within the state. The facility traditionally offers undergraduate and graduate experiential science courses in a natural setting.



In the new program, students will participate in entrepreneurial simulation and seminars with successful entrepreneurs and business and community leaders. Activities include working in teams on a computer-based simulation that incorporates the creation and operation of a new business and a fundraising round where teams present their plans to community volunteer venture capitalists.



Gov. Tom Vilsack made the announcement of the first Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute earlier this month. The college credit institute is a joint effort of the State Board of Regents, the Iowa Department of Economic Development, the Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Centers, and the Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation.



“We see the Okoboji Institute as a test of economic gardening strategies for entrepreneurial development throughout the state,” said Gov. Vilsack. “Plant the seeds, cultivate gardens of opportunity and raise a new crop of businesses. The strategy is to develop nurturing places for entrepreneurs within regional business communities, introduce students to the quality of life throughout Iowa and help them succeed with new business ideas as they emerge from the state’s entrepreneurial training centers.”



Funding for the program, anticipated to cost as much as $50,000 with full scholarships, is being raised through donations by private sources, businesses and organizations. Housing for the students is provided by local residents of the Iowa Great Lakes area. More information is available at: http://www.governor.state.ia.us/news/2006/may/may0206_2.html