Published in the Independence Daily Reporter February 2019

We are ready to begin looking for tenants for the Entrepreneurs Bullpen at Fab Lab ICC. The Bullpen is a collaborative space where entrepreneurs and small business owners can work on their individual businesses while in an environment of collaboration and sharing of ideas. In the “olden” days, a few years ago, we called this kind of space a business incubator. Today, we still do at times as the business incubator term is familiar to more people. There are all kinds of names being used in the cities for this kind of space; collaborative work space, innovation hub, etc. In baseball, the bullpen is where pitchers warm up and prepare to enter the game. In our Lab, the bullpen is a place where entrepreneurs can warm up and prepare to enter the marketplace. We also have the Fab Lab connected to the Bullpen so that prototyping or production of promotional signs and materials is easily available.

Access to the Bullpen is available to Fab Lab members when they sign up for our Growth Accelerator Program (GAP.) The GAP is a set of tools designed to help entrepreneurs and small business owners grow their businesses. Participation in GAP incurs no other cost except the Fab Lab membership ($125 per year) and although it includes access to the Bullpen, business owners can take advantage of the GAP services even if they don’t need a permanent space in the Bullpen.

In the Bullpen, we’ll have four modular office suites available for those that wish to come in and have their offices all set up and waiting for them to sit down and work on their businesses. The “Move-In Special” is no rent charge for the first 6 months, then $10 per month for an additional 6 months. After the first year, rent increases incrementally. At any time the tenant has their permanent place of business ready, they can vacate, making the space available for the next entrepreneur. In addition to these suites, there will be plenty of work stations for those GAP participants that just want to have a place to put their stuff while they are working in the Bullpen or other areas of the Lab. There won’t be any rent charge for this Bullpen access. If a GAP participant needs to have a place to consult with clients or conduct meetings we can accommodate.

The Growth Accelerator Program (GAP) includes business services besides Fab Lab and Bullpen access. These services include:

Business coaching by me and other members of Fab Lab staff.

Fabrication and patent coaching by Doug Misch, former owner of Misch 4 x 4 Products.

Fab Advisor, a virtual tool to facilitate customized and personal collaboration and mentoring through a secure, private virtual forum. We help each GAP client develop their individually selected team of advisors that can be located anywhere.

Fab Lab Marketplace, an online store within our web domain to promote the business and eventually sell products.

Discount of 15% on materials and supplies purchased from Fab Lab ICC.

Montgomery County E-Community services in cooperation with Network Kansas, including Gap Financing, Destination Boot Camp, Economic Gardening.

The Growth Accelerator Program and Entrepreneurs Bullpen are works in process and we’ll be working, as we add clients, to make sure we are offering the services needed to help business start-ups and existing businesses grow. We’re eager to engage our first tenants taking advantage of our “Move-In Specials.”

 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks.

 

Published in the Independence Daily Reporter February 2019

In a previous article, well, maybe more than one, I’ve mentioned that there are many different styles of learning used by people to grow in knowledge about the world around them. The word “style” is not really the right word; it implies that people are able to choose a style of learning. Learning style is not a choice, it is innate, we are born with it and I’m not sure anyone really understands how or why we each come up with a learning style that works for us on an individual level.

After one of those previous articles an elderly gentleman stopped me on the street and suggested that I list some of the different learning styles. What follows is an assembled list from the Internet. There are lots of different learning styles listed by different companies and web sites. I’m not sure it matters whether or not we have a definitive list. What is important is to realize that for the last 100 years academia has embraced auditory learning (lecture by subject matter expert) as the primary pedagogy (means of conveying knowledge.) For the most part, those that learn best by one of the other methods have not fared well in school, many even being branded as “slow”, “dumb” or “failure.” Many times, we’ve not used those exact words with them but the implication is there regardless of what politically correct word was used at the time. Take a look at this list and see if any of these learning styles strike a chord with you. Although I came out ok being subjected to Auditory Learning, I learned a few years ago that I’m definitely a Musical Learner.

Auditory Learning

Auditory learning is a learning style in which a person learns through listening. An auditory learner depends on listening and speaking as a main way of learning.

The Linguistic Learner

The linguistic learner is one who learns best through linguistic skills including reading, writing, listening, or speaking.

The Naturalist

The naturalist learns by working with, and experiencing, nature.

The Musical or Rhythmic Learner

The musical or rhythmic learner is one who learns using melody or rhythm.

The Kinesthetic Learner

The Kinesthetic learner is a person that learns best by actually doing something.

The Visual or Spatial Learner

A visual or spatial learner is a person who learns best if there are visual aids around to guide the learning process.

The Logical or Mathematical Learner

The logical or mathematical learner must classify or categorize things.

The Interpersonal Learner

The interpersonal learner is someone who learns by relating to others.

The Intrapersonal Learner

The intrapersonal, as opposed to interpersonal, learner is someone who works and learns best when they are alone.

If you recognize yourself as one of the other learners, besides auditory, you may not have done as well at school as you were led to believe you should.

At Fab Lab ICC, we believe the reason project based or experiential learning is gaining ground in many K – 12 districts and some select community colleges (most of the 4-year universities will be slower to come around) is because the projects give students the opportunity to explore various learning styles in order to complete their projects. Lessons learned on a project are much more deeply imbedded in the mind than lessons memorized after hearing them from a lecturer or reading them from a text book. In life, whether working for customers or working for a boss, no one cares what kind of learner you are, only whether or not you can complete your projects successfully.

 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks.

 

Published in the Independence Daily Reporter February 2019

Adult Basic Education (ABE) in Montgomery County is truly a county-wide proposition. The ramifications of helping our economic development efforts and lowering the poverty level while helping people improve their lives are significant. In 2011, Independence Community College (ICC) joined a consortium led by Neosho County Community College (NCCC) in the creation of Eastern Kansas Adult Education. The consortium leverages available state and federal grant funding to provide these services.

According to NCCC president Brian Inbody, “Adult Education services are geared for those hardest-to-serve, and most of our initiatives are directed at individuals living in poverty and how we can help them improve their lives through increased basic skills and workforce skills. Changing a mindset is a powerful thing, and Adult Education can do just that.”

There used to be several locations in Montgomery County where people could receive ABE services. Some offered only computer-based curriculum. One thing I’ve learned since coming to ICC, taking traditional curriculum and boxing it up in a computer does not make it any easier to learn, especially if you didn’t do well in the class room anyway.

Now there is only one, ICC offering live, personal instruction. The closest alternate location is in Chanute and most potential ABE participants can’t afford that much driving several days each week for the year or two as they work toward what is commonly referred to as GED, however in our state, it’s called the Kansas State High School Diploma. Most of us take our high school diploma for granted. Many of these people don’t have one and they now realize getting one will change their lives for the better.

In the years since 2006 when I started at ICC there have been several periods of renewed effort toward increased economic development across Montgomery County and the surrounding areas. One of the first I remember was after the great flood of 2007. Today we have a good combination of economic development efforts by helping small business and entrepreneurs at the same time we try to lure large companies to come to the area.

One topic that’s dominated every meeting I’ve ever attended related to economic development has been the shortage of available work force and the skill-shortage of the work force we have. The dreaded “soft skill” shortage is always a big part of the conversation too.

We—Fab Lab ICC staff–discovered last summer that ABE participants represent a sizeable and untapped resource for trained, enthusiastic and versatile participants in the local and area economy, ready to learn whatever is needed to be successful, whether as engaged employees or as small business owners and contractors.

This all came to our attention last spring when, under the ever-present budget pressure of small, rural community colleges, ICC considered discontinuing the ABE program. We rallied some resources and convinced ICC to continue. In addition, we worked with long-time ABE instructor Dan Fossoy to move the ABE program to the Lab, moving toward incorporating project-based learning to comprise up to half of the learning time. We knew that Fab Lab experiential learning would energize the participants letting them see a new relevance for math, reading and science as necessary ingredients to make things work.

The funding for this program is less than it would cost for the instructor and administration if we did it outside of the consortium. Since this is truly a county-wide benefit, (approximately 33% of participants each from Coffeyville and Independence; the remaining, from other parts of the county) we are seeking resource partners to share in the cost.

The number of folks in the county that could benefit from ABE range from dozens to legions although historically many don’t participate. It is logical. These folks did not do well in traditional high school. Perhaps they don’t learn well with the one (out of ten methods of learning) traditional teaching method used in most high schools over the last 50 years. Perhaps they had family or life challenges get in the way. We believe the numbers will grow as participants tell their friends about the satisfaction of learning in the Fab Lab environment.

 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks.

 

Published in the Independence Daily Reporter February 2019

Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. I wish I could take credit for coining this phrase, but sadly I stole it after seeing it on a wall-art plaque. When we have a Growth Mindset, we don’t really lose as long as we learn something so we can do better next time. It says we have control over whether we win or not. On the other side of the coin, we have the Fixed Mindset; sometimes you win sometimes you lose. In the fixed mindset, winning and losing is out of our control. Growth mindset people learn that no matter what their natural intelligence, talents and abilities, they can work to improve themselves. These people also know that they have a lot of control over their lives, no matter what their circumstances. It’s their choices that determine life’s outcomes, not circumstances. Fixed mindset people, on the other hand believe they’ve been dealt a certain hand of intelligence, talents and abilities and that the hand won’t change much over time. This leads to a fear of trying anything new or difficult because failure means they’re not good enough and there’s nothing they can do about it. Fixed mindset messages are pervasive in our society. Do poorly on a standardized test in school and you won’t be successful. Do poorly on your SAT’s, not getting into that prestigious college and your life is over.

Sports, when done right, can help develop the growth mindset in athletes, fostering personal development and collaboration. Sadly, we can see many examples of sports gone awry, from many parents’ and coaches’ behavior on the little league field to actions by the professional athletes not only on the field but also in their personal lives.

Many of our institutions promote a fixed mindset. One of the most prominent is state-sanctioned gambling; we like to use the word gaming instead as it sounds much more acceptable.

If I was a politician—and I’m glad I’m not—and I were to say “I want to levy a tax against the poorest Kansans, taking away money they could be using to better care for themselves and their families.” I’d likely be run out of office. Yet this is what we’re doing with our state-owned casinos and state-run lotteries. It is these people that take up substantial space in the casino parking lots and lottery ticket lines in the convenience stores. There are huge negative implications resulting from gambling that affect much more than just the money we lose. Gambling promotes a fixed mindset that says we’re stuck in our life’s situation and we can’t get out of it unless we win the lottery. Sometimes you win, but most of the time you lose. If you’re trying to lead a region, say Southeast Kansas, out of poverty, more casinos and lottery tickets is not the answer. By the way, we can’t really blame the politicians for state-sanctioned gambling. We asked it, in the name of economic development and to support education, and they delivered.

If you want to know more about growth and fixed mindset and be shocked at how much it affects our youth and, indeed, all of our society check out “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol Dweck. Dr. Dweck has done much research and observation and she not only spells out the ill-effects of fixed mindset, but she offers great techniques on helping people change their mindset from fixed to growth. Fortunately, Fab Lab ICC activities of making things and learning to do things you couldn’t do before supports the change from fixed to growth mindset.

You’ll never see poker or craps tables or slot machines at Fab Lab ICC. You’ll never see a casino logo grace our walls on a sponsor banner. We want our theme to be “Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn.” Losing does not enter our mindset.

 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks.