Business students learn from MapQuest founder

Nov. 27—Area high school business students learned about successful business startups during the Innovation Vision event that included insights from MapQuest founder Chris Heivly.

The recent event for local high school business students featured a keynote address from Heivly who spoke to students about "Fort Building" and the principles of successful startups.

Heivly shared his personal fort-building experiences and outlined five basic elements that are common to both fort-building, startups and startup communities.

The five elements include socializing an idea without fear, identifying and marshaling people you trust, gathering minimal resources closest to you to build confidence and momentum, acting on the smallest and simplest forms of the idea, and action that involves building your fort, according to his book, "Build the Fort."

Students enjoyed lunch, tours of the Hub Station in Hudson, and an overview of resources available to local entrepreneurs through both the Hub Station and through the Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute Small Business Center.

Students also learned about the Camp Enterprise program, a partner program of CCC&TI, Google, Foothills Impact Rotary and The Hub Station.

Camp Enterprise is a three-day bootcamp experience for high school students interested in entrepreneurship or creating their own startups in the future.

Local high school students are encouraged to apply for Camp Enterprise.

For more information, contact CCC&TI Small Business Center Director Carmela Tomlinson at 828-726-3065 or by email at ctomlinson@cccti.edu.