Middlesex Community College (MCC) in Massachusetts has received a $250,000 grant from the Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund (EEVF) to help student entrepreneurs start or grow a small business. MCC is one of only four colleges in the U.S. to receive an EEVF grant, which includes a strong community-engagement component, from planning through post-launch, with mentors and matching funds coming from the local business community.
EEVF founders Chip and Stuart Weismiller established the million-dollar venture fund to provide seed grants to community college foundations for community-based new business start-ups.
Arizona
Central Arizona College (CAC) was awarded a $225,000 Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grant from the National Science Foundation. The goal of the grant is to encourage students from minority backgrounds to pursue a career field focusing on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). CAC plans to develop a curriculum for an advanced fabrication and joining program to prepare advanced welding process technicians.
Florida
Derrick Stephens of Refreshment Services Pepsi & Vending and Heather Mitchell, executive director of the TCC Foundation. (Photo: TCC)
Tallahassee Community College (TCC) received a $10,000 gift from the Panacea Waterfronts Partnership to create the Panacea Waterfronts Partnership Endowed Scholarship to help local students who want to enroll in a degree or certificate program at the college.
Long-time TCC community partner Refreshment Services Pepsi & Vending contributed to the Dr. Pepper, Snapple, SunKist Scholarship. Derrick Stephens, a company representative, presented a $500 scholarship to student Anthony Love who won a text competition on TCC’s campus in January.
Oregon
Mt. Hood Community College will use a $892,711 state student success grant to recruit and support first-generation, low-income and underrepresented college students. The grant will fund student success specialist staff, who will work with students on college navigation, career planning and basic computer literacy. They will also help students apply for community-based organizational support and federal student aid, scholarships and federal job training funds.
Texas
The Alamo Colleges District will partner with tech firm Codeup on a $2 million grant project to train unemployed and underemployed residents for in-demand information technology jobs. The U.S. Department of Labor grant will funds $3,500 scholarships to help cover the cost of the 18-week Codeup Full-Stack program for participants.
Washington
Big Bend Community College’s (BBCC) computer science program is getting an upgrade thanks to a donation of computer equipment from Microsoft. The equipment is valued at $60,000.
Microsoft’s Datacenter Community Development team donated laptops, servers and more that the college will use to support students working towards a systems administration–data center specialization certification. Microsoft also has invested $30,000 in scholarships for students in the program.
“Technology changes so fast, and when it gets old it is just not as useful,” said BBCC computer science specialist Tom Willingham. “So having this equipment donated really helps bring us up to speed.”
