News from Small Business Management - September, 2011

Minnesota Mentors…a wonderful program—one that serves students, employers and communities across the state. - Chancellor Steven Rosenstone

In his first ten days in office, our new Chancellor had the opportunity to comment on the innovative approach and impact of Minnesota Mentors (AKA small business management) in delivering management education.

Minnesota Mentors is a statewide collaboration of small business management programs of Minnesota West and South Central College. The two programs act as a single department to deliver the approved statewide curriculum. Our program consists of three components: 1. Content is delivered online using a live webinar format. 2. Follow up one-on-one mentoring sessions anchor the material and make it relevant to the student’s business. 3. Twice a semester, the entire cohort physically gathers in either Hutchinson or Waseca for an evening of leadership skills training designed for an interactive group format.

This will be the second year that the small business management departments have collaborated as Minnesota Mentors. The results continue to be impressive. Nationally, the survival rate for new businesses is an abysmal 20%. Business owners who complete the Minnesota Mentors diploma see their success rate at a stunning 92% (20 year history). This is important because microbusinesses (10 employees or less) account for 50% of all Minnesota employees and 64% of all new jobs (SBA).

Congratulations to Dan Sprague for being named the Minnesota Mentor of the Year! At the summer meeting of the Minnesota Association of Small Business Management Instructors, Dan was unanimously elected to this honor for his contributions to the association and his innovative approach in designing and delivering the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program for the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s office of civil rights.

As it turns out, Minnesota hosted the national convention for highway heavy construction and compliance this August. MnDOT asked Dan to give a presentation on lessons learned over eight years delivering DBE training. Unfortunately, Dan was sidelined at the last minute by open heart surgery to replace a failing aortic valve. (He’s fine now and doing great…although his body isn’t quite sure what to do with all this new oxygen being delivered by his refurbished heart.) Chad Oudekerk donned the prescient prognosticator’s outfit and created a credible imitation of Johnny Carson’s “Carnac the Magnificent” to a delighted group of participants. MnDOT surveys indicated the innovative session was rated one of the best at the conference. Nice work, Dan and Chad.