Cornell University's Entrepreneurship Education & Outreach Program: Evaluation and Proposal. A White Paper.

In 1997-1999, the Department of Agriculture, Resource, and Managerial Economics of Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences conducted an entrepreneurship education and outreach program that was based on the Premier FastTrac Curriculum, which is a model delivery tool for entrepreneurship education. In 1997-1998, the program was actively promoted throughout New York. Of the approximately three dozen community entities that originally expressed interest in becoming licensed for FastTrac training, five obtained licenses and one conducted a pilot training course but never became organized enough to apply for a license. Together, the sites produced 58 program graduates in 1997-1998 (335 graduates had been projected). The program was evaluated in July 1998, and prospective candidates who had not actively pursued becoming affiliated with FastTrac training sites were interviewed by phone in December 1998. Data from the evaluation and the interviews, and a review of other studies and literature were used to develop a proposal for meeting the challenges uncovered during the evaluation and development of an effective small business education to serve New York's diverse communities. Appended is a case study of why the attempt to develop of an entrepreneurship program in Tompkins County, New York, failed. (MN)