Growing Alabama's Workforce From Within: The Rise of the CEO Program

Growing Alabama's Workforce From Within: The Rise of the CEO Program

By Chris Egelston, Community Engagement Leader, Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship

Economic developers often focus on recruiting outside employers to their communities. A growing number in Alabama are taking a different approach: investing in the high school students already there.

In just a few years, Alabama has gone from zero CEO Program communities to five active chapters in Decatur Morgan, Madison, Athens Limestone, Tuscaloosa and Monroe counties, with more in development. The growth wasn't driven by a state mandate. It happened because five communities independently reached the same conclusion: building a stronger economy starts with developing the talent already on the ground.

Finding Entrepreneurs Before College

Ellen Didier, founder and CEO of Red Sage Communications in Decatur, was among the first to bring the program to her community. She saw it as a way to identify "latent entrepreneurs" in students before they ever reached college, giving those headed to higher education a reason to return home, and giving a network and practical guidance for starting a business to those who were not college bound. What surprised her most, she said, wasn't the businesses that resulted, but how much the experience changed the students themselves.

The CEO (Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities) Program, run by the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship, asks a lot of its students. Over a full school year, they spend 90 minutes a day touring more than 40 local businesses and hearing from as many guest speakers, learning career-readiness skills and entrepreneurial thinking directly from business leaders. Rather than simply observing, students launch two real businesses – one as a class, one individually – each exchanging real products and services for real money.

By graduation, CEO alumni have hands-on business experience and a contact list that includes local bankers, chamber executives and economic development leaders. For smaller communities that can't out-bid larger metro areas for major employers, that homegrown network can matter more than any single recruitment win.

What Employers Notice

John Joseph, executive director of The E-Center in Decatur, said he initially expected the program's value to lie in the businesses students created. Instead, he came to see the real outcome as a shift in how students see themselves, how they learned to persevere through failure and recognize constructive criticism from destructive criticism. Supporters describe graduates, even those who never start a company, as walking away more confident and more job-ready than a transcript alone would suggest.

A Funding Partner, Not the Driving Force

Innovate Alabama has supported the program's expansion, funding chapter fees for eight additional CEO programs and backing production of a documentary, "$1 to $100: Learn to Earn," which followed Decatur, Morgan and Madison students through a one-week challenge to turn a single dollar into $100. Shannon Allen, Innovate Alabama's executive director of talent strategies, said the organization committed to the partnership almost as soon as it heard the pitch.

Still, state funding isn't what convinces communities to organize local investors and open their businesses to teenagers. That groundwork is driven locally, with support from chambers of commerce and economic development organizations.

A Model for the Broader Footprint

Nationally, 82 CEO programs now operate across 10 states, spanning 377 high schools and more than 7,000 alumni. Eight of those programs are in four of SEDC's 17 member states: Alabama, Missouri, Kansas and Florida. Alabama's experience suggests the model doesn't require unique local conditions, just willing chamber and economic-development leadership, local investors and students ready to participate. Midland Institute provides the framework, training and support to help new communities get a program off the ground.

Chris Egelston is the Community Engagement Leader at the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship and has helped launch more than 30 CEO programs nationwide. He can be reached at cegelston@midlandinstitute.com or 813-575-3627.