THE CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL STUDIES

Our Story

The Center for Entrepreneurial Studies is a Maine corporation that was created by Bonita Lehigh and her Entrepreneurial Program students in the Spring of 2018.  It was this group's desire to create a thriving organization where students could obtain work to advance themselves, remove personal barriers, raise aspirations, discover passions, and create their own business.  The non-profit was created because Entrepreneurship students felt that other classmates enrolled in other Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs were missing out on a great potential career pathway where students could be more in charge of their learning.  That pathway is entrepreneurship and being your own boss.  In doing so, the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies will ultimately assist the individual with work/job creation, personal growth, business knowledge; and the State of Maine with economic development.  A win-win for all involved.  Not all people are made alike, nor are their issues.  We work with the individual, meet them where they are at (without judgment), raise the bar, and help one another to grow.  The individual is then required to "pay it forward" to another person in need once the individual is settled into a successful path.  The issues that CES will be addressing and involved with aside from Entrepreneurship are (alphabetical):

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• Addiction - Drugs and Alcohol

• After School Programming

• Apprenticeships

• Career & Technical Education (CTE)

• Economic Development

• Employment

• Health & Wellness

• Homelessness (Youth)

• Internships

• Labor Shortages

• Leadership Opportunities

• Manufacturing

• Mental Health

• Mentoring

• Patriotism

• Poverty

• Recreation

• Students leaving Maine

• Volunteering...and most likely more!

There is nothing more empowering and fulfilling than owning one's own business.  If we look back to our childhood, who didn't want to have a lemonade stand to make a little money?  The same very simple concept can be applied to young adults, just at a higher more rigorous, and more serious "community interactive" and "real-world" level.   Yes, as human beings make our own choices, but sometimes, due to age, students are unable to navigate through a situation without adult support.  We are providing the roadmap and are breaking down barriers through our business community's assistance.  It is upon us in the Business Community that we need to help make this change in the educational culture.  If we want our community to flourish, we need to be involved now.  It will make our work a little easier in the long run.