West Virginia Governor’s School of Entrepreneurship to Accept Applications for Interested Students

​The first ever West Virginia Governor’s School of Entrepreneurship kicks off July 5th at Marshall University.

School director Dr. Jonathan Butler said this is an opportunity for West Virginia’s students to learn about how not to just create employment for themselves, but for others as well.

“We want the students to begin to think entrepreneurially (sic) and think in ways that they can seize opportunities even in their local communities to create businesses and create jobs,” he said last Thursday on the MetroNews-affiliated “The Mike Queen Show” during the Thursday Morning Conference Call on the AJR News Network.

The three week workshop will run through July 26, and offer a chance for students to get a crash-course in a more alternative education.

“Exposing the students to entrepreneurship as a viable career alternative,” he said. “For many people, it’s something new. Something that they don’t think about.”

Dr. Butler said the education of young people needs to be about more than what kind of job one can get after college.

“You can’t discount youth,” he said. “I think they’re our future, and that’s really the major goal of the School of Entrepreneurship is to begin to change mindsets and expose students to opportunities and mentor them in a meaningful way.”

60 slots are available, but Dr. Butler is expecting 600 applicants. You must submit a short one-minute video presentation as part of the application.

“It’s just a matter of having that mindset to seize it and being willing to take the risk because it’s a little scary,” he said. “When you decide, ‘hey I’m going to start this,’ it’s scary. But with encouragement there is opportunity out there everywhere.”

The three week camp will include workshops, recreation, and close partnership on projects with other students.