Thousands of students from grades K through 12 in Metro Detroit had the opportunity to hear Dr. Randall Pinkett, author of “Campus CEO,” underscore the need for students to start developing their own businesses.
Pinkett, the first African American winner of the fourth season of “The Apprentice” on NBC starring billionaire Donald Trump, was in Detroit recently to address Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP) open house at Cobo Hall.
DAPCEP, whose mission is to increase and motivate minority students to pursue careers in science, mathematics, engineering and technology, organized the event as an ongoing effort to inspire students.
“You don’t have to wait until you are out of college to start your own business,” Pinkett said. “The system is naturally set up to direct graduates to get a job. Why not create your own job?”
Pinkett said his book teaches students how to become entrepreneurs and shows them what it takes to run a profitable business.
Student entrepreneurship is a growing trend on college campuses, he noted.
“There is a growing number of schools encouraging young people to become business owners,” Pinkett said. “Students can use their schools as a resource to help them start a business. I used my classes to write my business plans.”
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s report of nearly 2,000 colleges and universities showed entrepreneurship courses have been up from about 300 in 1985.
Pinkett, 34, is founder and CEO of BCT Partners, a multi-million dollar technology business he started as an undergraduate student at Rutgers University.
“If our country is going to achieve any kind of economic empowerment, we’ve got to be in the entrepreneurship game,” Pinkett said. “Entrepreneurship is the way to go.”
Even though the playing field is not level for African Americans to compete equally in the marketplace, Pinkett said, “the color of business is green.”
DAPCEP director Jason Lee said Pinkett’s life as an upcoming entrepreneur inspired engineers like him.
“We were looking for a keynote speaker for the Open House. We wanted someone who demonstrated what can be accomplished when an individual is armed with academic preparation and the entrepreneurial spirit,” Lee said. “I could think of no one better than Dr. Randall Pinkett.”
Lee said DAPCEP values the commitment of students and parents to the organization in providing quality programs designed to expose young people to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“We have used this forum to educate the community about services and opportunities available in the Detroit metropolitan area.”
Over 4,200 students (grades K-12) are presently serving in DAPCEP’s academic programs and 95 percent of those are African Americans, Lee said.
DAPCEP can be reached at (313) 831-3050.
