UW, CWC Collaborate to Offer Entrepreneur Essentials Course

The University of Wyoming’s College of Business and Wyoming Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (WyCEI), in collaboration with Central Wyoming College (CWC), will offer the Entrepreneur Essentials (e2) course starting June 17.

In this intensive education program, participants will learn the key frameworks and tools, and answer essential questions, to effectively launch or grow their businesses. This program can help entrepreneurs move from the idea stage to working on a prototype or selling a completed product or service.

The program is built on the highly successful Start-Up Intensive (SUI), a 10-week program hosted in Jackson. More than 140 Wyoming entrepreneurs have taken SUI over a six-year period, with 77 percent of those graduates operational after three years. Twenty percent of those graduates have raised significant private investment capital.

Over the last several years, 36 entrepreneurs participated in e2 from all corners of Wyoming, including Sundance, Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie, Lander and Jackson -- 93 percent of whom would recommend the course to a friend. The hybrid format of the course offers bookended on-site instruction the weekends of June 17 and Aug. 5 in Riverton and Casper, with intervening virtual components. This format encourages participants to connect face to face at the beginning and the end of the course and allows for participation across Wyoming. Entrepreneurs have the option to join 100 percent virtually.

“I’m thrilled to be making good use of the years of investment and refinement made to SUI and e2 and look forward to offering the e2 course across Wyoming,” CWC President Brad Tyndall says.

“The partnership between UW and CWC has developed over the last several years and has the opportunity to really serve Wyoming entrepreneurs as they look to start new businesses,” says Rob Godby, interim dean of UW’s College of Business.

“The topics covered in e2 -- including business models, market research, financials, legal and communicating the story -- will really help entrepreneurs move the needle on their startups,” says Penelope Shihab, director of WyCEI.

In fact, 82 percent of last year’s e2 participants made demonstrable progress and moved from the idea stage to working on a prototype or selling a completed product.

WyCEI is a UW initiative under the umbrella of the Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP), which was created at the request of Gov. Mark Gordon in 2021 to modernize and focus Wyoming’s efforts to develop a resilient workforce and economy. WIP involves UW, the state’s community colleges, the Wyoming Business Council and the Department of Workforce Services, with an emphasis on developing innovative solutions that support and enhance Wyoming’s economy, workforce and sources of revenue.

“Entrepreneur Essentials will, hopefully, be rolled out across the Wyoming Innovation Partnership as UW continues to build strong relationships with Wyoming’s colleges,” Shihab adds.

As part of WIP, scholarships are available on a case-by-case basis that will reduce the price of e2 from $624 for the six-week course to $100.

The deadline to register is Wednesday, June 15. More detailed information regarding the course and registration is available on the course website at www.cwc.edu/essentials/.

For more information, email the instructors, CWC’s Mary King-Arcand at mking@cwc.edu or UW’s Peter Scott at pscott5@uwyo.edu.