Simulated Workplace Entrepreneurship Education Pathway Program

The Simulated Workplace Entrepreneurship Education Pathway (SWEEP) program is funded by a POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) awarded to The EdVenture Group. The iCenter, along with the West Virginia Department of Education and West Virginia University, is a key partner for the program.

SWEEP delivers an experiential entrepreneurship curriculum framework for West Virginia Community and Technical Education (CTE) students. This four-course sequence provides theoretical and practical instruction and experience in developing and enriching entrepreneurship skills. The project will pilot ESHIP 1: Introduction to Entrepreneurship, in four locations during the fall semester: Mingo Central High School, Randolph County Technical Center, Spring Valley High School, and Wheeling Park High School. Students will study and develop entrepreneurial mindsets, problem identification and framing, and design thinking.

In addition to the high school pathway, the grant partners are working with James Rumsey Technical Center in Berkeley County, West Virginia, to create a school thinktank/makerspace in the creation of the Eastern Panhandle Community Innovation Zone. The space will provide existing and prospective entrepreneurs within the local community with business development and entrepreneurial support infrastructure to ideate, launch, and scale their ventures.

Spreading Entrepreneurship to High School students in West Virginia