Berea College and EKU Craft Business Partnerships
Published May 11, 2009
EKU’s College of Business and Technology has a co-op program that places students at companies. Left: Draper Building is a landmark on the campus of tuition-free Berea College, where students work their way through school.
Madison County’s business community is well served by two institutions of higher learning.
Between the two of them, Berea College and Eastern Kentucky University offer degree programs that produce well-qualified workers, conduct workforce-training initiatives for area businesses and industries, and sponsor small-business development programs for new companies.
“Our degree programs provide students with both the conceptual and applied knowledge and skills they need to be successful in their chosen academic areas,” says Bob Rogow, dean of EKU’s College of Business and Technology. “The college has an excellent cooperative education program that places students, while they are earning their degrees, with local and regional businesses and firms. Many of the co-op students become full-time employees for the companies with which they co-op.
“In addition, the college is vitally involved in assisting existing and startup businesses through its Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Technology, and the EKU Small Business Development Center.”
Indeed, CEDET has become a go-to resource for companies of all sizes and types since it was established in the mid-20th century, says Ian Moores, executive director. “We help [entrepreneurs] with the foundation of building a business – to remove some of the risk factor,” Moores says. “We get a lot of feedback from around the area, and people really like what we do.”
At Berea College, the longstanding requirement that students work their way through school also resonates well with the business community, says David K. Tipton, dean of labor.
“The college develops partnerships with a wide variety of organizations in the community and region to provide opportunities for students to work and perform internships in settings related to their major as well as in community-service settings,” Tipton says. “Some local organizations accept placements during the academic year, but most off-campus work occurs during the summer.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Antony Boshier
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