Development Of An Information Technology Plan For A Virtual Enterprise Program At A Community College

This project proposed a technical solution to support the development of a Virtual Enterprise program at a community college. The college is located in a rural area that does not have large manufacturing or service-based businesses generating jobs. Consequently, many jobs are created by entrepreneurial endeavors. Traditional small start-ups are risky though. Many young people must leave the area to get better, higher-paying jobs. Individuals, especially students, need an opportunity to try out promising business ideas for practice, using a virtual global market on the Internet. A program of this type would provide valuable business experience to students from all vocational disciplines, enhancing their preparation for employment. The community might retain more of its talented people, and benefit from further economic growth. To encourage entrepreneurial endeavors in the community, the goal of this project was to develop a plan that details the technical and classroom resources as well as the activities necessary to implement a Virtual Enterprise program at the community college. The plan would discuss requirements for the facility, personnel, servers, workstations, local area network, Internet access, software, projectors, multimedia classroom equipment, fax machines, and furniture. The plan would address the various needs of the multiple stakeholders. The Virtual Enterprise facility would simulate an office environment where students have office space and equipment. According to the Marion Kauffman Foundation (Kauffman, 2001), entrepreneurial studies is one of the fastest growing fields of study in the business administration discipline with over 1500 programs currently being offered at four-year Virtual Enterprise IT Plan 6 colleges in the United States. The national trend indicating increased interest in entrepreneurial education is clearly evident in the local community as well. A recent business plan competition funded by a wealthy businessman who owns both local and national businesses was well received by the local community, with over 200 applicants attending the first kick-off meeting. The Virtual Enterprise program and facility is envisioned to support community college students, high school technical preparation programs, and the local community.