Tennessee State University Leads Grant Project to Offer Entrepreneurial Training to Youth and Adults

Starting a business isn’t easy – especially when living in a rural area limits resources. A new initiative led by Tennessee State University offers rural residents the chance to sprout their entrepreneurial desires.

The program, “Building Our Future Through Entrepreneurial Development,” is part of a $1.5 million grant initiative designed for economic development and business promotion of limited resource and under-served community residents. The School of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences at TSU was selected among 15 historically Black land-grant education institutions to receive funding to help provide entrepreneurship training and benefits to rural youth and adults in Tennessee and Mississippi.

With funds received through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1890 Rural Economic Opportunity Development Initiative, TSU plans to use part of its $75,000 award to develop a comprehensive leadership and entrepreneurship program.  “This program will equip youth and adults with tools needed to develop them into successful entrepreneurs,” said Dr. Barbara Canada, assistant professor in the School of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences and specialist in the cooperative extension program.

“We plan to facilitate the appropriate training needed for existing and aspiring entrepreneurs to improve their financial and management skills. We also want to give them an informational network for communicating with prospective and existing entrepreneurs about their businesses and about information technology resources that are available from various public sources,” she added.

Lee Sammons, interim extension director for Hardeman Country, works with residents in rural areas who are ready to take the leap at entrepreneurship.

“Sometimes rural residents are slightly intimidated by all the details of starting a business. They think because they don’t live in a big city that they can’t succeed or find clientele,” he explained. “We will work to give that educational training they need to operate, generate and sustain business as well as help them with tools for advertising, social media and mentorship”

Directed by Dr. Canada, the project includes a field team led by Sammons and Warren Stamps, along with TSU faculty Dr. Surendra Singh, Dr. Tyrone Miller and Jonell Hinsey. The initial phase of the project began in October 2009. Additional training for rural residents is scheduled to begin this July.