This story is part of an initiative led by the CEOs of Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) to highlight entrepreneurship and innovation across Indiana's universities. Learn more about the initiative here.
This article was originally published by The Herald-Times. Click here to read the original article.
Ivy Tech Community College is committed to the success of our students and the communities we serve. Our Entrepreneurship program plays an active role in helping students develop and start their small businesses right here in the Bloomington area. Our students learn to ideate and validate their ideas with customer research, form a business plan, complete financial projections, learn to present through our Duke It Out Pitch Competition, and start their businesses.
There have been some exciting things happening that have made the Entrepreneurship program even more impactful over the past year. First, we recently launched a new short-term, accelerated program for small business owners who are already up and running but want to grow or simply strengthen areas like marketing, finance, legal and more. This enables us to support existing
business owners and help them become more operationally stable during this challenging time for small businesses.
Additionally, we piloted an Ivy Tech Venture Fund at the Bloomington campus in 2025 to invest in businesses launched by our Entrepreneur Certificate graduates. Through a grant from the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), we were able to secure $20,000 in funding, plus a $10,000 gift from a generous program donor, and invested a total of $30,000 across eight alumni businesses. We procured assistance from local service businesses to help our alumni with critical needs like Quickbooks consulting, digital marketing, non-profit management, and legal assistance. The funds supported both our alumni entrepreneurs and local service businesses to conduct short-term projects for our former student business owners. The economic impact of increased sales, revenue, and new jobs has been incredible based on the growth of Ivy Tech alumni businesses right here in our community.
We are currently receiving additional funding from NACCE to pilot a statewide Ivy Tech Venture Fund, deploying over $20,000 to campuses that are NACCE
members. Once we complete those investments later this year, we will expand to raise funds to grow the program statewide and at the Bloomington campus into
the future. If you would like more information on how to access the Entrepreneurship program to start or improve an existing business or even learn
more about how you can support our students and alumni, please let us know. We are open for business! The Entrepreneurship program at Ivy Tech is Next Level Jobs-eligible, meaning tuition could be completely covered with the state's Workforce Ready Grant for students who qualify. Contact Steve Bryant at
sbryant32@ivytech.edu or Sueann Graham at sgraham116@ivytech.edu.
Steve Bryant is Executive Director, Gayle & Bill Cook Center for Entrepreneurship and Regional Director, South Central Indiana Small Business Development Center
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Across Indiana, our universities are fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators who are shaping our state's future. In collaboration with our university partners, CICP is excited to share and amplify those stories; which highlight students, faculty, and alumni who are turning ideas into action. By celebrating these efforts, we aim to strengthen the connections between higher education, industry, and community, and to shine a light on the innovation happening throughout our state. Click here to learn more about this initiative.
