The inaugural “Best Practices for Teaching Entrepreneurship” Conference held June 5-7, 2008 at Colorado Mountain College-Timberline Campus proved to be a learning experience for all participants. Educators and entrepreneurs from around the state met together, created partnerships and collaborated to improve their skills and knowledge to assist students to become effective entrepreneurs.

The Coleman Foundation and the CMC Foundation were co-sponsors of the conference. The conference opened the evening of June 5 with a reception at the National Mining Museum and Hall of Fame, which included guided tours of the museum. The following day, the educational sessions were held on the Timberline Campus of Colorado Mountain College. Topics included Career Programs and Clusters for High Schools presented by Gail Anderson and Cindy Le Coq, program directors from Colorado Community College System; Revitalizing the Entrepreneurial Spirit: Academics and the Real World by Warren Munick, CMC; Promoting the Entrepreneur in Youth by C.J. Juleff, Vice President, Young Americans Center for Financial Education and Mary Stecklein, K-12 Career and Technical Education consultant; Teaching Innovation and Creativity by David Blackburn, Chaffee County High School; Reality Language® - Empowering Educators to Build Community by Dr. Gaye Teipel; One Stop Entrepreneurship Education with Nicole Fazande, Jim Rodkey, Randy Rudasics and Dr. Susanna Spaulding, CMC; and Experiencing Entrepreneurship: Hayden Ranch by Bob Ogle, CMC. Dr. Alan Davis, Professor, College of Business, UCCS, delivered the keynote speech discussing the "Rise and Fall of a Startup: How a Failure Can Be a Success," and Dr. Terrance Boult, El Pomar Chair of Innovation and Security, UCCS, gave the lunch speech on “Beyond the B.S.: Innovate!” about a new bachelors degree that he developed in innovation (B.I.).

On Saturday morning, a panel of experts from state and regional partners and resource agencies discussed how their organizations support entrepreneurship. Panelists included: Dawn Bray-Jenks, Colorado Workforce Center; Judy Green, Corporate and Community Education at CMC in Leadville; Gloria Perez, Full Circle; Jim Rodkey, SBDC/Entrepreneur; Randy Rudasics, Small Business Resource
Center, CMC in Steamboat Springs; Heather Scanlon, Leadville/Lake County Chamber of Commerce; Beth Shaw, CMC Business and Industry; Stephanie Steffens, Colorado Office of Economic Development; and June Walters, Northwest Loan Fund.

The winners (first place tie) of the Entrepreneurial Spirit Award were announced at the conclusion of the conference - Stephanie Olsen, entrepreneur - Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad, Lake County Board President and Attorney at Law, and Federico Montes, entrepreneur and owner of Manuelita's Mexican Restaurant. Other nominees included: Sandy Schrawder, The Inn at Buena Vista; Larry LaDue, Sustainable Solutions; Andy Kagan, Copper Spur Metalworks; and Dr. Terry Boult, UCCS.

Participants were enthusiastic about the conference and Susanna Spaulding, Director of CMC's Entrepreneurship Program, is already planning for the June 2009 conference.