Tarrant County College, one of the region’s top economic generators, has been be selected to participate in the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE)’s two-year Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund (EEVF) Program Phase II. As a participant, TCC will receive a grant to provide seed funding and loans to aspiring entrepreneurs who are women, people of color, veterans and others who do not qualify for traditional business financing.
In addition to accessing grants/loans through TCC for business seed funding, entrepreneurs can obtain skills required to be business owners. TCC will offer a collaborative learning environment and system of support for community-based start-ups, scale-ups of existing businesses and the implementation of proven and replicable business models.
The partnership between NACCE and the Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund (EEVF) addresses one of the country’s most urgent needs—supporting local economies via entrepreneurship. Underscoring TCC’s commitment to serving the community, the College will offer entrepreneurship education to help the Tarrant County region create more jobs, increase productivity and be a leader in innovation.
“NACCE has a long tradition of leading the way for entrepreneurship and innovation in higher education. TCCD is pleased to serve as a Center of Practice and resource hub for NACCE’s 340+ member community colleges and universities across the nation,” said TCC Chancellor Eugene Giovannini. “Our participation in Phase II of the pilot will amplify our impact in creating new businesses and jobs to support a national economic recovery in the months and years ahead.”
“Entrepreneurship and startup communities are key indicators of a region’s economic health,” said Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Chris Strayer. “Fort Worth is a thriving city for entrepreneurs and this partnership will strengthen those communities by connecting small-business owners and entrepreneurs of all ages, backgrounds and skillsets to the resources they need to launch and scale their businesses.”
Phase I of the project began in 2017 with an initial investment of $1 million from Chip and Stuart Weismiller, who launched the Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund in order to support community colleges who are best positioned to assist community-based start-ups, scale-ups of existing businesses and the implementation of proven and replicable business models. Earlier this spring, NACCE announced a gift of $100,000 from the Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund (EEVF) to continue the work initiated in Phase I and expand the program across the nation.
“We are delighted to build on the success of the first phase of the EEVF pilot by onboarding five leading community colleges that will work together to leverage existing academic resources, spur local matching dollars and create new, everyday businesses,” said NACCE President & CEO Rebecca Corbin. “This work has never been more important than it is today with the national and global crises at hand. NACCE is working diligently to raise additional funds to support these colleges in their efforts and to provide matching dollars for their local communities.”
The footprint of this program stands to grow exponentially in the year to come, with the anticipated launch of more than 100 businesses in Phase II communities before the end of 2021. NACCE is committed to raising additional funding, expanding the program and its impact for the foreseeable future.
Four other schools were selected to participate in EEVF Phase II: Catawba Valley Community College (North Carolina), Dabney S. Lancaster Community College (Virginia), Salt Lake Community College (Utah) and South Mountain Community College (Arizona).
Learn more about the Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund at www.nacce.com/EEVF.