Economic Gardening through Entrepreneurship Education

Economic gardening
through entrepreneurship
education
A service-learning approach
David E. Desplaces, Fred Wergeles and Patrick McGuigan
Abstract: This article outlines the implementation of a service-learning
approach in an entrepreneurship programme using an ‘economic
gardening’ strategy. Economic Gardening through Service-Learning
(EGS-L) is an approach to economic development that helps local
businesses and students grow through a facilitated learning process.
Learning is made possible by appealing to the action orientation of
entrepreneurs and supplying students with a real laboratory in which to
implement, test and experience theory. Economic gardening effectively
strengthens businesses in the community and promotes community
awareness by bringing businesses, students, academics and community
leaders together in a receptive and proactive environment. The authors
draw on first-hand experience from programmes at various institutions
and include in their discussion some preliminary results with regard to
civic attitudes.
Keywords: service-learning; economic gardening; entrepreneurship;
entrepreneurship education; economic development
David E. Desplaces is Assistant Professor of Global Commerce in the Marketing & Supply
Chain Department, School of Business, College of Charleston, 5 Liberty Street, Suite 300,
Charleston, SC 29401, USA. E-mail: desplacesd@cofc.edu. Fred Wergeles is President of
Connecticut Economic Gardening Group, West Simsbury, CT, USA. E-mail:
fredw@ct-egg.org. Patrick McGuigan is an Assistant Professor at Touro College, New
York, USA. E-mail: Patrick.mcguigan@touro.edu.
Service-learning and entrepreneurship
education
Service-learning combines service objectives with
learning objectives and works on the assumption that
the activity will change both the recipient and the
provider of the service. Service-learning has been
shown to add value to the education of diverse
disciplines, including nursing (Sadla et al, 2003),
literacy learning (Clark, 2002), computer science and
engineering (Linos et al, 2003), teacher education
(McKenna, 2000) and business (Gujarathi and
McQuade, 2002; Salimbene et al, 2005). However,
there appears to be no literature on the use of
service-learning and entrepreneurship. Service-learning
is appropriate to entrepreneurship because
entrepreneurship academics endorse the view that
entrepreneurs are action-oriented and that their learning
INDUSTRY & HIGHER EDUCATION Vol 23, No 6, December 2009, pp 1–12

is consequently experiential (Cope, 2005; Rae and
Carswell, 2000).
Entrepreneurship and innovation are increasingly
seen as at the heart of the organization (Beer and
Walton, 1987; Stajano, 2008). To add future value, the
management team must be able to exploit processes
and products to the limit of their potential in
hypercompetitive global markets. Educators must play
a crucial role by keeping their courses relevant and
applicable to practice, so that students not only gain a
theoretical understanding of entrepreneurship but also
have opportunities to put knowledge into practice (Wei
et al, 2007). Rooted in the experience of learning
(Dewey, 1938; Kolb, 1984), service-learning provides a
vehicle for bridging the gap between theory and practice
by giving students the hands-on experience they need
to appreciate the theory they have learned. Service-learning
and entrepreneurship can be seen as a perfect
pedagogical fit (Kenworthy-U’Ren et al, 2006), which
has been linked to economic development (Steinberg
et al, 2006; Misner, 2004) and human capital
development (Desplaces et al, 2006). However,
service-learning must be understood as both a process
and an outcome (Bringle and Hatcher, 2002; Clarke,
2003).
An effective implementation of service-learning
should emphasize three purposes: to strengthen the
student’s learning, to provide benefits to the community
and to illuminate the broad backdrop of social justice,
culture and society as a whole (Saulnier, 2003). A
review of the literature on service-learning across
academic disciplines demonstrates that it has positive
outcomes for students, educators and the community.
The benefits vary in intensity according to the
implementation (Wei et al, 2007), but generally it
improves students’ motivation and enthusiasm
(Sanderson and Vollmar, 2000; Zlotkowski, 2001),
facilitates students’ understanding of course material
(Traynor and McKenna, 2003; Johnson and Johnson,
2005), promotes awareness of citizenship through the
improvement of students’ cognitive and ethical
perceptions (Giles and Eyler, 1994; Butin, 2003;
Guthrie and Navarrete, 2004), promotes a desire for
community engagement among educators (Butin, 2003),
and spreads knowledge and innovative ideas in the
community (Alexander, 2001; Reid and Slazinksi,
2003). Furthermore, by transcending experiential
learning and embracing the tertiary elements of
service-learning in an entrepreneurial context, educators
provide communities with new tools and techniques for
more efficient operations, outreach and access to
opportunities (Wei et al, 2007).
This paper examines a unique approach to
service-learning: ‘Economic Gardening through
Service-Learning’. Through individual learning,
this economic development strategy leverages a
collaborative group of private, public and academic
resources that allows the professor to engage students in
the relevant context of their community while enabling
self-discovery and the development of personal
competencies.
The engaged student
This service-learning programme provides opportunities
to higher education students which have an extensive
impact on their learning power. Students often elect to
study entrepreneurship because they have a desire to
control their future and believe that an entrepreneurship
course will provide ‘real’ and practical lessons.
Partaking in a service-learning programme allows the
student to see the correlation between his or her studies
and the world of work. Similarly, it allows the teacher
to gain valuable insight into how the students will
behave in a real-world setting and thereby to acquire
critical intelligence on how to customize the study
programme more effectively.
Students often complain about courses that entail a
significant amount of work, but our experience with
service-learning has been that students become so
engrossed that they will willingly put up with
inconvenience to complete their projects successfully.
The service-learning model elevates the student to a
consultant role, and so the student feels valued in ways
he or she has not previously experienced. By simulating
the role of a consultant, the student is empowered to
draw conclusions and formulate a plan of action,
yielding tangible results.
Students have been trusted to change the entire
layout of retail outlets, implement marketing
programmes and suggest value-added changes leading
to a fundamental shift in the revenue model of a small
business. In some cases, the needs of the business are so
vast that the students are overwhelmed in attempting to
satisfy as many needs as they can. Students become
involved in many aspects of business operation –
marketing, financial, sales, infrastructure, advertising,
branding, management and customer relations.
Watching them realize their full potential makes a
service-learning programme stimulating to implement.
The economic gardening concept
A long-term strategy for economic prosperity, economic
gardening is an approach to economic development that
helps to strengthen local businesses by providing them
with a customized market analysis – including industry,
customer and competitive data – that will bring them
Economic gardening
2 INDUSTRY & HIGHER EDUCATION December 2009

new growth opportunities. Economic gardening
combines information with analytical resources to
provide businesses with customer prospects and sales
lists, market and industry forecasts, competitor analysis,
technology trend assessments, real estate development
site analysis, geographical information system (GIS)
mapping and analysis, and much more.
The economic gardening concept was first developed
in Littleton, Colorado, where it was used in 1987 as an
alternative to the traditional economic development
practice of recruiting outside businesses to relocate in
the community. The fundamental principle of economic
gardening is to build the business base from the inside
out by providing essential support to local entrepreneurs
and businesses. This support can include:
• business needs assessments;
• competitive and market analysis;
• networking opportunities;
• training in innovative business practices; and
• access to additional business services.
The economic gardening service-learning
approach
Initiated by the Connecticut Economic Gardening
Group (CT-EGG), Economic Gardening through
Service-Learning (EGS-L) is a variation on the Littleton
model and is designed to leverage a collaborative group
of private, public and academic resources to provide the
above services in support of business development
initiatives. The rationale is that sustaining a robust and
vibrant regional economy is largely dependent on the
learning that can occur between students, businesses and
the respective community. CT-EGG was started by
economic development activists and supporters in the
Hartford region of Connecticut in cooperation with the
University of Hartford’s newly-created Institute for
Entrepreneurship and Economic Development.
The development of service-learning through
community partnerships is part of a civic reawakening
for higher education institutions (Jacoby, 2003). For this
partnership to be meaningful, service-learning must not
be treated simply as a ‘learning laboratory’ that is part
of an assignment (Steiner and Watson, 2006), or just a
‘hit it and quit it’ initiative by an academic institution
(Cushman, 2002); rather, it should be part of an explicit
acknowledgement of the interdependence of the
community and the academic institution. This
synergistic relationship has transformational
implications (Bushouse, 2005; Enos and Morton, 2003)
for students, businesses and the community. Figure 1
shows the four essential partners if EGS-L is to gain
traction in the community – academia, businesses,
municipalities and consultants, each facilitating the
exchange and development of human capital (Steinberg
et al, 2006) necessary to regional economic
development through service-learning.
During the past four years, the CT-EGG, in
partnership with the University of Hartford, has
provided business analyses to over 100 companies in the
Greater Hartford region. Concurrently, the University of
Hartford has given over 175 of its undergraduate and
graduate students an opportunity for a hands-on learning
Figure 1. The EGS-L partnership.
Economic gardening
INDUSTRY & HIGHER EDUCATION December 2009 3

Economic gardening
experience, which cultivates entrepreneurship skills as
well as individual community citizenship. This model is
currently being piloted and duplicated at the College of
Charleston in South Carolina. The programme offers
various services for small businesses:
• Competitive and market analysis. Providing timely
and pertinent information to local businesses is the
primary component of the economic gardening
process. To create opportunities, businesses require
information on market trends, customers,
competitors, emerging technologies, regulatory
issues and socio-political developments.
Unfortunately, most small businesses and
entrepreneurs do not have the personnel or financial
resources to collect and analyse all the available
information.
• Operational support. Universities and private
consultants (acting as mentors for the students and
ensuring quality control of the analytical products)
will provide hands-on operational support to help
businesses grow. By tapping the talent and resources
at the university, this programme can act as the arms
and legs for small businesses.
• Networking and funding opportunities. Helping
businesses make connections with public and private
support infrastructures fosters an entrepreneurial
environment, increases business prospecting and
opens access to new markets. In addition, the
economic gardening initiative seeks to provide a
platform for new businesses to connect to a wide
variety of financial resources in the state (such as
venture capital and angel investors) and to state and
federal programmes.
• Innovative business practices. The economic
gardening programme will provide training to
business owners using appropriate consultants and
university resources selected to meet the particular
needs of the individual business. The training will
include management and operations best practices to
improve business performance.
• Additional business services. Small businesses may
require additional business services, such as legal,
marketing, sales, accounting and human resources or
other administrative functions. This programme can
act as a clearinghouse, helping to identify regional
resources for small businesses.
• Keeping university students in the region. An
underlying, yet fundamental goal of our economic
gardening concept is to keep the bright professional
students who participate in the programme working
and living in the region. Through this programme,
students are provided with a unique hands-on
experience that promotes the development of
professional skills that they will be able to use on
graduation.
EGS-L partnership
The economic gardening process
The economic gardening process follows a rigorous
recruitment procedure (see Figure 2), which identifies
and selects those companies that will deliver the highest
value to the client and ensure that students’ efforts and
learning are fruitful. The selection criteria include a
pre-qualification survey by the business owner, followed
by an evaluation by the EGS-L executive committee and
participating university. The selection and subsequent
processes may be summarized as follows.
Review and selection of clients. The EGS-L programme
and the host university collaborate with the local
chamber of commerce and business development
resources to review and select small businesses that
Figure 2. The EGS-L process.

would particularly benefit from students’ support and
would provide the students with an appropriate
service-learning experience. The chamber of commerce
and/or other business development agencies play an
essential role in recommending potential clients. They
are often used to screen viable candidates for the
programme, which cannot afford to lose clients in the
middle of a semester, leaving the affected students
struggling to find another feasible project.
Academic partnership. CT-EGG worked early on to
secure the necessary partnership with the college and
university. The dedication of the academic director is
essential for the smooth running of the programme.
Matching needs to available services. Businesses are
selected according to the course offerings as well as
their nature, while bearing in mind commercial
interests. For example, no competing businesses
participate in the same semester to avoid the leaking of
competitive intelligence information in the classroom.
Business needs assessment. During the initial meetings
between the students and local business owners, the
students conduct a comprehensive survey of the
companies’ business plans, marketing efforts, product
development activities, advertising and signage,
customers, pricing, human resources and competition.
Analysing business needs. Based on this survey, the
students identify one or two of the company’s most
critical needs and explore the impact of improving the
company’s performance by addressing those factors.
Student research. The students conduct in-depth
research related to the business needs and examine how
other companies have approached similar challenges. In
particular, they are looking for proven solutions that
have had a positive impact on business growth. For
example, students working with a retail consignment
shop investigated the impact of creating a better in-store
experience by modifying the clothes-rack layout. In
another case, students investigated how better signage
would attract more customers and researched local
zoning regulations for the optimum signage solution.
Project reporting. During the course of the project,
students report their progress on a weekly basis to their
professor and a CT-EGG contact person. If additional
resources are required (such as consultants with
particular expertise), CT-EGG will make arrangements
for the supplementary support. Weekly reporting is an
important element of the programme’s control structure
as it allows us to deal with students struggling with
deadlines, lack of timely responses from their clients or
Economic gardening
problems with team members’ commitment to the
project.
Final report. On completion of their project, the
students prepare a written report of the findings and
recommendations and a brief summary presentation for
the business owner. Sharing the findings with the
business owners enhances the learning of the entire
group.
Evaluation, feedback and lessons learned. The EGS-L
programme director conducts a comprehensive
360-degree evaluation of the projects. Separate surveys
are carried out of the business owners, students and
professors to assess the value of the projects and so that
any lessons learned can be applied to enhance the
overall process.
The EGS-L model
This entrepreneurship programme has practical
relevance because it delegates the learning activities to
the students. Using a consulting model approach as a
framework, the student consultants develop the rigour
needed to engage with and systematically analyse their
clients’ needs – a process which increases their personal
competencies and their opportunities for self-discovery.
Figure 3 outlines the programme framework and
interactive components, which are now described in
detail.
The consulting process is necessary to install the
academic legitimacy called for in the service-learning
literature (Young et al, 2007). During the initiation
phase, students are trained in client relations while the
municipality and school coordinator work to match the
students’ skills and interests with the best business
learning context. While acting as ambassadors of their
institution in the community, students must conduct
themselves in a professional manner. They are also
provided with an overview of the meaning of service-learning
and they discuss their expectations in detail
with both CT-EGG and their faculty adviser. They must,
furthermore, respond to a pre-qualification survey listing
their skills and relevant experience. The information
collected is also used to help match a student’s prior
experience with the particular needs of businesses.
Students are offered given the opportunity to bid for
specific businesses and, more importantly, to request
team-mates – the programme operates a ‘buddy’ system,
in accordance with which students visit the businesses
in pairs. This system is also useful in respect of security:
the paired students meet business owners during regular
daytime operating hours in an effort to minimize any
risks to their safety. Although there has been no actual
threat to date, some students have reported awkward

Figure 3. Economic Gardening through the entrepreneurship education model.
moments with their clients, reinforcing the desirability
of ensuring that they always visit the businesses in
pairs.
On another note, the process of ‘bidding’ for
businesses is important in helping to secure the
commitment of students as we seek to establish the best
match for them. We have found that students who
‘select’ their business are more committed to their
project than students who are ‘assigned’ to a business.
In their first weekly report, students often speak of their
excitement to be working with their ‘chosen’ firm.
Each business also completes a pre-engagement
questionnaire, which includes its personal learning
objectives and what it hopes to share with the student-consultants.
These responses typically detail clients’
expectations and provide important information for the
students before they actually meet their client, and are
discussed thoroughly with the faculty adviser.
A consulting kick-off event marks the beginning of
the observation phase of the course. This event is
designed to give school and community leaders an
opportunity to define in a public forum their
expectations of the programme, its goals and, more
importantly, the significance of the learning process that
students, businesses and the community at large will
undertake. At the event, students and businesses meet
for the first time in a formal professional environment
(such as City Hall).
Students are instructed on how to engage with
business owners, and this training includes job
shadowing, so that they can develop an appreciation for
the unique context of their business partner. Although
business owners are often very busy, they appreciate the
opportunity to share their knowledge and experience
with students who are charged to report on the needs of
the business. Faculty members work with community
service providers (the Small Business Development
Center, SCORE – Service Corps of Retired Executives,
consultants) to develop students’ diagnostic skills
so that they reap the maximum benefit from their
consulting project. Staying on task and visiting their
business/client at least twice a week for the first five
weeks is critical to success; this practice establishes a
rapport with the business owner, who may at first be
sceptical and resistant towards the relationship.
While conducting the needs assessment, students
and businesses work to develop a bond – a true
partnership – that is discussed in the student’s weekly
report provided to the instructor and EGS-L staff. This
important mechanism is designed to keep students on
track by monitoring any problems and ensuring weekly
reflection. The reports thus not only track the number
of hours spent on various aspects of the project, but
also allow students to reflect on what they have
accomplished in the past week, what they plan to
accomplish in the following week, and what they have
learned from the experience to date. The reports are
kept confidential and will be shared only if there is any
reported danger or harm associated with the project. The
instructor responds to individual reports weekly (which
can be a time burden) to ensure that students are on
track and have timely feedback about their efforts.
Economic gardening

Weekly reporting re-emphasizes the professional aspect
of the course and the student–client relationship. Similar
approaches in management consulting courses have
been shown to raise the self-efficacy of students (Richter
and Schmidt, 2008).
Furthermore, we have found that students grow
increasingly comfortable sharing or discussing their
experience in the classroom within the second week
of visiting the business. This results in an enriched
‘experience’ for all students on the course, especially
in the preliminary diagnosis phase, which requires
students to share their findings with the class and to
identify areas of concern and/or opportunities for
learning. Students are asked not to devise solutions
in this phase, but rather to identify areas requiring
attention and about which the business owners lack
knowledge. They use in their analysis an EGS-L
designed instrument comprised of six categories: firm
demographics, marketing, inventory, human resources,
operations and financial performance. All the
information collected is guarded under the
confidentiality agreement signed by the students,
instructor and business owner at the start of the
semester.
In conducting extensive research, students develop
the knowledge and expertise to assist the business
during the best business practices phase. They must
learn to process the information collected in the needs
assessment phase of the project and identify its
relevance for their business client. Often, they are under
pressure from business owners who seek to ‘push’ their
own solution on to the students. The EGS-L model
works to guard them from such pressure by engaging
the entire class in a discussion and information-processing
exercise that will lead to the research and
identification of practical solutions. Using the ‘train the
trainer’ approach (Desplaces et al, 2006), students
carefully seek teaching moments and opportunities to
help their business partner to visualize practical
solutions that can realistically be implemented. During
the analysis phase, they identify possible solutions and
work to provide step-by-step instructions for their
clients, including methods, processes, pricing and
procedures backed by the necessary documents or
reference needed to support their solutions. In a library
research session, students are encouraged to identify
reliable industry sources or organizations that might
lend legitimacy to their recommendations.
By the time they present their findings and solutions
to the businesses and other guests in a public forum, the
students have learned to generalize and apply long-term
solutions. Because they have to present their
recommendations to an audience in a time-pressed and
professional way, students gain valuable training for
Economic gardening
future employment. On the whole, they have to date
done an outstanding job in fulfilling the expectations
of the instructor, business partners and community.
Although most display nervousness at first, they
typically report that working with a real client and
solving real problems constitute an invaluable learning
experience.
Finally, students, businesses and community partners
are given the opportunity to provide feedback on their
experience. Students complete a community citizenship
survey and a course survey. The final class assignment
includes a self-reflection essay focusing on the student’s
personal development and learning. In their course
evaluations, students have often remarked that this
service-learning course was the one that most helped
them to prepare for the working world. Faculty
members frequently receive e-mails from former
students, thanking them for teaching them how to
diagnose problems, research best business practices and
develop practical solutions. Businesses are asked to
provide feedback on their personal learning and the
degree to which their objectives at the start of the course
had been achieved. Community partners help us to
identify aspects of the programme that could be
improved.
EGS-L built-in learning
Although service learning has been shown to enhance
students’ technical and civic capabilities (Godfrey,
1999), many service-learning programmes fail to clarify
the type of learning that takes place. Some argue that
this is because of the lack of structured opportunities for
reflection. Bringle and Hatcher (2002) and Clarke
(2003) suggest that service-learning must be understood
as both a process and an outcome.
With this in mind, we have used Kolb’s (1984)
experiential learning cycle to guide the learning process
and Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy of learning behaviours
as the learning outcomes for EGS-L in our effort to
provide a structure for participants to reflect on the
meaning and relevance of their learning experience (see
Table 1).
Kolb’s experiential learning cycle (ELC) can be used
to demonstrate the impact of service-learning on
students, business owners and the local economy
(Steinberg et al, 2006). Kolb’s work centres on a
‘simple description of the learning cycle – of how
experience is translated into concepts, which in turn are
used as guides in the choice of new experience’ (Kolb,
1984, p 235). Kolb’s ELC describes the role of
experience, which is at the core of the learning process.
If effective learning is to occur, individual participants

must embark on a period of reflection about their
service experience.
Steinberg et al (2006) argue that in the first stage of
the ELC, the individual, group or organization becomes
actively engaged when the student endeavours to get a
better understanding of the needs of the businesses, as
well as of the challenges and opportunities in the
community. In the second stage, the parties involved
Table 1. Teaching entrepreneurship through service-learning.
Economic gardening
process
Consulting
process
Service-learning
Experiential
learning cycle
Learner’s
educational experience
Type of learning Students Business owners
Municipality/agency and
school select businesses.
Project Initiation
Knowledge –
Structured
education
Students complete the
business matching,
pre-engagement survey and
commitment forms, and are
trained in client relations.
Knowledge
Structured
education
–
Students are matched to
businesses.
Knowledge
Structured
education
–
Project Kick-Off/press and
community leaders.
Observation/
Experience
Experiencing
Skills/attitudes
Progressive
education
Progressive
education
Students conduct needs
assessment, shadow
business owners and produce
weekly reports.
Skills/attitudes
Semi-structured
education
Semi-structured
education
Students hand in needs
assessment and signed
confidentiality agreement.
Students analyse needs -
hand in interim report and
present preliminary results to
class for feedback.
Preliminary
diagnosis
Sharing
Knowledge/
skills
Structured
education
Semi-structured
education
Students research practical
and prioritized
recommendations, including
details regarding resource
requirements. Best practice
research
Processing
Knowledge/skills/
attitudes
Semi-structured education
Students draft their business
assessment and cover letter.
Knowledge/
skills
Structured
education
–
CT-EGG gives feedback to
students.
Knowledge
Progressive
Education
Students edit and print final
report and letter, and present
their findings to CT-EGG.
They receive feedback from
professor and client on their
interaction and
professionalism. Students
submit post-engagement
survey.
Analysis/report Generalizing
Knowledge
Structured
education
Semi-structured
education
Students present findings to
business owners.
Knowledge
Semi-structured
education
Progressive
education
Agency and employer survey
or meeting. Students submit
self-reflection.
Feedback
Applying/transfer
of learning
Knowledge/
attitudes
Progressive
education
Semi-structured
education
Economic gardening

analyse and reflect on the experience while observing
positive changes in themselves as they encounter a great
deal of diversity (for example, in race, income,
education and/or experience). In the synthesis stage,
students and business owners interpret the events by
infusing meaning into their relationships. Students and
businesses are asked through weekly reports or status
checks to report on their personal learning. Finally, the
students and entrepreneurs assess their learning and how
the experience has helped them to grow and prepare for
the future.
Although learning in such a context is a fluid
experience (Kolb and Kolb, 2005), its outcomes must
be structured. The seminal work of Bloom et al (1964)
identified three educational activities or types of
learning – skills, knowledge and attitudes – that readily
fit the EGS-L model. Skills are marked by the
development of the psychomotor abilities of the learner.
Knowledge is created through the development of
mental skills or cognition. Attitudes are developed in
feelings or emotional areas. This taxonomy of learning
behaviours can be thought of as the goals of the learning
process. Therefore, students and business owners
engaging in the EGS-L model acquire different skills,
knowledge and attitudes.
Business owners exhibit enthusiasm for the prospect
of no-cost value-added consulting provided by
university students, and in the first step of the EGS-L
the municipality or government agency embraces the
opportunity to expand the services provided in support
of economic development. The agency, in partnership
with EGS-L, works to educate business owners about
the eligibility requirements for the programme (which
include completing a pre-qualification survey). The
main requirements for eligibility are: being in business
(that is, the activity in question should not be a hobby),
being an established entity (including being a registered
business) and belonging to the local chamber of
commerce.
Students are challenged to look at a business from a
consulting perspective, which is radically different from
the perspective of an employee or customer. They learn
that a good understanding of the consulting process will
increase their chances of running a successful project.
During the third stage of EGS-L, students awake to the
importance of being adaptable, as they may not be
allocated to their preferred business (they select up to
three businesses they would like to work with). They
also quickly see the benefits of asking probing
questions, which helps them to develop a real interest
in the business to which they have been assigned to.
Furthermore, students learn social etiquette and
gain a true appreciation of how to conduct business
transactions in a professional setting (presentations
Economic gardening
made by local officials, school administrators and
EGS-L staff emphasize the meaning and importance of
the project and the local press is often in the audience).
During the business needs assessment stage, students
learn how to interview and, more importantly, how to
distinguish what is important from what is not. They
discover that the participating business is unlikely to
disclose information freely. Moreover, a firm may not
offer an accurate picture of its business as it may find it
hard to identify its operating problems. The structured
needs assessment documents used by the students help
firms to identify their limitations and lead them to
acknowledge their need for guidance if they are to
realize their potential. Small businesses are limited by
the skills and experience of their managers and the
managers’ advisers – most do not have formal advisers.
Next, the students must report their findings and
experiences to the entire class, sharing the problems that
emerged from interviewing and from shadowing the
business operation. Techniques or best practices for
managing owner resistance are shared among the
students, the instructor and the EGS-L staff. While the
weekly reports are specifically concerned with the team
projects and with reflections on the learning experience,
the students also realize the diversity of issues faced by
small businesses. They learn to prioritize tasks and to
focus on what can realistically be researched to add
value to the business. Business owners who are
contacted by the EGS-L or university staff for feedback
report the value of such interaction, often stressing the
diversity of ideas or solutions that have emerged from
engaging the students.
Researching best practices marks a major milestone
in the project. While distinguishing among available
best practices, students learn how to structure a problem
and the associated solution. This includes engaging in
informal discussions with the business owner and other
EGS-L partners to gain a deeper understanding of the
issues faced by the business. Students understand that
they are working on real solutions to real problems and
ultimately appreciate the meaning of the service-learning
project by seeing the larger picture (the
survival of a business that is usually part of the
community). At the same time, the firms learn that they
may not always recognize their own problems and they
also discover the substantial resources that are available
to help their business grow.
Although most of the students are business majors,
many learn for the first time the art of crafting a
technical report and preparing an effective business
presentation. They learn the value of doing their
homework properly at each stage of the process and
that if they accept criticism they will achieve a better
finished product.

Finally, the EGS-L staff conducts a 360-degree
evaluation. Students are asked to reflect on their
personal learning experience, which goes beyond the
course evaluation. Business owners are also asked to
reflect on the experience: this process includes ranking
the professionalism of the students, the degree to which
their objectives have been met and whether they have
gained any personal insights. Other community partners
are asked to provide feedback on the process, the
framework and the objectives of the initiative in an
effort to improve future engagements.
Preliminary results: measuring the impact
on civic attitudes
Since one of the primary objectives of service-learning
is to enhance civic attitudes (and Battistoni, 1993; Boyte
and Holland, 1999; Ehrlich, 1997), we used Mabry’s
(1998) civic attitudes scale to measure the possible
impact of this approach to learning on students’
attitudes. The scale, with a reported pre- and post-course
alpha of 0.80 and 0.81, respectively, asked respondents
to respond to five statements concerning their beliefs
about others and about themselves using a five-point
scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree). Thirty-four
students responded – they were enrolled in three
service-learning based entrepreneurship courses that
used the EGG-L model at two different institutions. A
reliability test on the sample indicates an alpha of 0.85
and 0.71 for the pre- and post-course administration of
the scale.
A paired sample analysis using pre- and post-course
results did not indicate a significant difference, but
demonstrated a positive change (the mean score of
21.51 in the pre-course survey increased to 21.96).
These results were consistent with Mabry’s (1998)
findings: Mabry also reported no significant increases
in the scores for male respondents. We believe that the
lack of significance was partially due to the self-selection
of the students who chose service-learning
based courses. A course exit review indicated that
over 85% of non-senior students who followed the
programme would sign up for another service-learning
based course during their academic career – indicating a
positive experience. Further research should seek to
compare non-SL based courses to EG-SL based courses.
Conclusion
Entrepreneurship is multifaceted, but the myth of the
entrepreneur as a particular type of action-oriented
individual pervades many definitions of what constitutes
an entrepreneur. Service-learning provides a vehicle for
bridging the gap between theory and practice, and gives
the student a chance to apply theory and simultaneously
test the entrepreneurial myth. Economic gardening is
ideal for implementing a service-learning approach,
because its purpose is to benefit the community at large
by promoting economic development and community
engagement. A more narrowly-defined agenda would
preclude the myriad goals of service-learning.
The educational goals of the EGS-L model are the
minimum outcomes of this service-learning approach.
Learning is a process that unfolds during successive
interaction, and the economic gardening approach stages
the interaction into a developmental process. For
example, during the needs assessment phase students
learn specific skills and attitudes: how to conduct
interviews, how to ask difficult questions, how to ask
the right questions, how to compile meaningful
information and how to recognize problem areas. They
also develop a sense of responsibility to help others or
their community, as is indicated by the positive change
in the civil engagement scores. Firms in this phase are
learning how to ask for help and are learning to accept
that help – and they receive what may be critical
feedback about their business and business practices.
Community leaders learn about the needs of local firms
and about implementing economic development efforts
in a cost-effective and efficient way.
Kolb and Kolb (2005) argue that, for learning to
occur in the context of a fluid experience, the outcomes
must be structured and the programme must be
outcome-driven. The key aspect of the EGS-L model is
its stage approach, which structures the outcomes over
the course of the project and entails a requirement for
practical solutions. A recurring challenge is to keep the
students and business to the structure as they develop
new attitudes towards each other. The businesses have
so many needs and the students are often action-oriented
to the point of zeal that they have to be counselled in
the benefits of working in accordance with a structured
plan towards well-defined goals.
The EGS-L model helps all participants to make the
change from a reactive to a proactive mode to a
proactive mode, in which they work towards the desired
results and increase their personal learning.
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