Can entrepreneurship be taught: options for colorado entrepreneurs expand to keep up with startup trend.

• Author: Ford, Tess

Webster's Dictionary defines an. entrepreneur .as "a person who starts a business and is willing tu risk loss in order to make money."

While the word has undoubtedly earned buzz-worthy status in recent years in Colorado's professional landscape, where 98 percent of businesses are considered small, entrepreneurship is clearly more than just a trend.

"Entrepreneurship is experiencing an all-time popularity," said Karl Dakin, Sullivan Chair in Free Enterprise at Regis University. "I believe that this popularity reflects a longterm trend away from industrial, monolithic business structures to community, social enterprise collaborations."

As one of the fastest-growing states, Colorado has become a fertile breeding ground for entrepreneurs. Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs are all nationally recognized as hotbeds for startups.

"Everyone from outside of Colorado describes Colorado as a 'high energy' place that is better for starting new businesses," Dakin said.

Sure, Coloradans' collective self-perception as risk-takers lends itself to the challenges of starting a business. But can the skill sets and personal traits necessary for cultivating companies be taught?

Academia seems to think so.

According to Dakin, a recent report from the Council on Graduate Schools shows that entrepreneurship was the second largest area of growth in courses and degree programs.

As more people infiltrate the state from afar, in-state schools are trying to get a piece of the action, attempting to stay on top of the trend by adding programs to their standard business curriculums, some formalized, some more flexible.

"This increase in entrepreneur education is in direct response to a weak job market," Dakin said. "If the goal of higher education is to prepare a person for a career, then higher education must incorporate entrepreneur education into its curriculum to address the growing number of students who plan to start and: operate their own businesses."

Here are some of the offerings in Colorado for the next generation entrepreneurs:

University of Colorado Boulder

Deming Center for Entrepreneurship

It seems only natural--given Boulder's high number of high-tech. startups--that the university would capitalize on the excitement. Thus CU's Leeds School of Business added the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship.

For undergraduates, the school offers. a certificate of Entrepreneurial Studies; for grad students, CU offers an MBA program with a concentration...