The original BOSS program started 18 years ago at Indiana University East.
So, it’s fitting that founder Tim Scales is going back to the beginning with the new BOSS Experience.
Next week’s course will be made up of students who were born around that time. All 12 are new graduates or incoming seniors from six high schools in Wayne County.
Each will earn a $500 stipend for joining in the immersion program that is an introduction to entrepreneurship.
The students will spend each morning touring Wayne County businesses – and learning about their success stories. They will have lunch at local restaurants and then work on their own business plans and informational brochures during afternoon sessions on campus at IU East.
The overriding goal, said Scales, is to show that the county is a great place to live, to learn and to prosper:
“We want them to buy local, study local, stay local.”
Scales pioneered the original Business Opportunities for Self Starters and added the BOSS Experience two years ago. The new variation was designed initially for new graduates of IU East.
It represented the end of BOSS for them.
“In the past we have said goodbye; this year, it’s
hello,” said Scales, who is director of the IU East Center for Entrepreneurship. “I want to get the new students excited about entrepreneurship, to plant seeds and to help them grow over four years.”
The new focus fits with IU East’s vision of getting more connected and invested in the communities in Wayne County.
In this pioneer program, two students will represent each of the six high schools: Centerville, Hagerstown, Lincoln, Northeastern, Richmond and Seton Catholic.
“This will strengthen relationships with the schools,” Scales said. It’s an investment that he expects will grow.
In fact, he anticipates doubling the numbers of students in each of the next few years – and reaching nearly 100 in by 2027.
That growth should result in more students getting exposed to IU East’s offerings and to entrepreneurial possibilities in Wayne County.
“You’ve got to give them reasons to come here to college. I am going to do that,” Scales said.
He’s already forged deeper relationships with teachers and administrators in the six high schools as he’s talked up the BOSS Experience.
“I have had great experiences getting to know them and learning what they are doing in their schools,” Scales said.
This year’s BOSS Experience is funded by the School of Business and a private donor. Three IU East students will serve as group leaders and earn $750 stipends. The program will end with a lunch and displays of the students’ works on June 14 at IU East. Participants will include local business owners and school leaders, Scales said.