Northeast Iowa Community College to Offer New Entrepreneur Certificate

Northeast Iowa Community College to Offer New Entrepreneur Certificate


Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) is partnering with StartupDubuque to offer an Entrepreneur Certificate, starting this year.

The new Entrepreneur Certificate at NICC will teach participants how to build a successful business plan, prepare financial statements, and marketing and selling on social media platforms.

“It’s really a void that NICC had in our area. We had an entrepreneurial class but didnt have any strucuture or any sort of certificate to present to students,” said Jay Wickham, Executive Director of NICC Iowa Small Business Development Center and StartupDubuque. “We heard from many of our students that they’d be interested in that because they’re already taking many of the various business classes and this would be a good way to round out the entrepreneruial component.”

Sponsored in part by an Iowa Economic Development Authority grant, the NICC program will provide full reimbursement for one course, a$775 value, to all students who complete the three Entrepreneur Certificate courses by the end of 2019. Students must complete all three courses to receive reimbursement.

The certificate is open to all students, as well as current or future business owners in the Dubuque area, who want to develop, enhance or grow their business.

Students will also have the option to receive free advisory services from StartUp Dubuque and participate in mentoring internships with local businesses.

“We will be implementing mentorship with real entrepreneurs in the community to assist students to make it more of a real-life experience,” Wickham said. “We have a network of small businesses that we’ve worked with over the last five years that are willing to do some mentorship and training for those people that are interested in starting a business.”

Students enrolled in the Entrepreneur Certificate program will complete the following courses:

  • Intro to Entrepreneurship
  • Intro to Accounting or Financial Accounting
  • Social Media Marketing or Business Law

All of the coursework required for the certificate is also available online, Wickham told Clay and Milk.

Students can apply successfully completed course credit to the completion of an academic program of study at Northeast Iowa Community College or transfer coursework to a four-year university.

Jake Slobe, Managing Editor, Clay & Milk

Share this post