St. Petersburg College (SPC) is continuing to support students and their goals with the help of a $100,000 Perkins grant. The grant is part of the Florida Department of Education’s Entrepreneurial Education and Training (EET) program and will help SPC’s students, faculty and staff cultivate their entrepreneurial mindset and launch high-quality businesses.

The award will be used to support training and curriculum for SPC faculty and teachers with Pinellas County Schools that will help them bring entrepreneurial concepts into their career and technical education (CTE) classes.
“Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in our local economy,” SPC Dean of Workforce Development Michael Ramsey said. “This funding will allow us to further develop the entrepreneurial mindset within the career and technical education students here at the college, as well as the school district. Our desire is to help them chart their path to business ownership, and the foundation we provide will propel them to ultimately become job creators for our community.”
On March 15, SPC will launch an online, self-paced Entrepreneurship Essentials course. In as little as eight weeks, individuals will learn how to develop an idea and launch a business or simply learn to think like an entrepreneur. The college partnered with the award- winning, nonprofit organization Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) to develop the course. NFTE is internationally known to offer programs that empower individuals to own their future.
Florida’s Perkins V State Plan commits to creating a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem through career and technical education. Business equity is the second largest source of wealth behind home equity, and for special populations, self-employment and the ability to effectively create value contributes to Florida’s greater economic security. In short, becoming an entrepreneur is a viable path to improving Florida’s economic and social mobility rates. CTE does not just prepare students to take jobs but to create the jobs of the future.
For more information about the Entrepreneurship Essentials course, visit now.spc.edu/jobtraining or contact Program Coordinator Sondra Seiter at seiter.sondra@spcollege.edu.