Will History Repeat Itself In A Positive Way?

From our latest edition of Talk Business Quarterly:

Dr. Fitz Hill is hoping that history will repeat itself and not repeat itself at the same time.

The president of Arkansas Baptist College in downtown Little Rock sees an opportunity in his historically black college’s mission to create future generations of entrepreneurs and he’s building a system to accomplish that goal.

“If you go back and look in communities that are sometimes underserved and without any opportunities, you find true entrepreneurship within that community, but it’s not always focused in the right direction,” Hill said.

He calls it “negative entrepreneurship” and he’s referring to drug and criminal activity where the youth in the blocks around his campus have hustled a buck for decades, taking risks with their money and their lives in dangerous and life-threatening ways.

Hill wants to end that cycle.

He’s casting a wide worldview to create a new model of hope that involves the study of Third World countries, urban America, current corporate titans, and lessons from the era of segregation.

In the first half of the 20th century when African-Americans were denied service at “whites only” establishments, it led to a sub-economy of black entrepreneurs.

Hill sees a new society of those who may be left out ranging from young students with little credit history or work experience to those with criminal records looking to assimilate back into everyday life in a productive way. Traditional jobs and lending resources are likely to be scarce for these individuals.

“You have students who have an entrepreneurial identity, but they don’t always know how to apply those principles in a positive way,” Hill explains. “When you give them an opportunity to focus, you give them a mindset that they’ve never thought about.”

Arkansas Baptist, with assistance from former Alltel CEO Scott Ford, is launching the Scott Ford Center for Entrepreneurship and Community Development in the fall of 2012. The 11,000-sq. ft. center will house a micro-lending program that will give loans ranging from $50 to $5,000 for start-ups and expansions. It will also provide mentorship opportunities with experienced business leaders who can help guide new enterprises and provide real-world advice.

The center will be offering The Icehouse Project, a special course designed to immerse participants in eight life-lessons that are fundamental concepts to building an entrepreneurial mindset. Arkansas Baptist is one of the initial sites selected to launch the pilot program, which was developed by Pulitzer Prize-nominee Clifton Taulbert and Gary Schoeniger.

“This will kind of be like a think tank, or the hub, that can help young people coming out of school, particularly in our business department and entrepreneurship programs, and try to stimulate them to think about working for themselves rather than going to be employed by somebody else,” Hill said.

He’s travelled to Rwanda to see that country’s advanced micro-lending programs. Hill has also studied inner-city urban campuses at Brown University and Rutgers University to understand the infrastructure and safeguards built into their micro-loan programs.

“When you’re loaning money and microlending, it’s not an easy task to say we’re going to do this because you have to be very accountable and very consistent,” Hill said. “It’s helping people that ordinarily are not invested in. It’s trying to give a hand up, not a hand out.”

Hill is hoping that the Scott Ford Center will become so successful that it transitions an unlimited number of graduates from micro-loans to traditional bank loans. He is also laying the groundwork for the next generation of potential donors to give back to Arkansas Baptist College in appreciation for their success.

“As far as how big it will get, we hope this will become our signature academic program because we’re giving people a mindset of entrepreneurship,” he said. “I don’t know where it’s going to end. When you find a way to serve people, then there’s no telling how big you can grow because that’s what we’re called here to do on this earth.”