Ice House Entrepreneurship Program starts Oct. 8

An initiative of The Kauffman Foundation, the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program is a 10-week entrepreneurial curriculum in Denver starting on Oct. 8. It's the third such program offered this year and one of a number offered in other cities.

Born of the book, Who Owns the Ice House? by Clifton Taulbert, the Ice House Entrepreneurial Program classes will be held weekly for 10 weeks, Wed. nights 5:45-7:15 p.m. "The program is "hybrid," with multiple online components complementing the in-person dates. The fee is $250; scholarships are available.

The program's facilitator is Mike O'Donnell. "It's really about getting people to think why some people are successful and others or not," he says, describing eight "common sense" business lessons from Taulbert as the basis.

Working with his Uncle Cleve in the ice house in Glen allan, Mississippi, in the 1950s, Taulbert's book "grounds a lot of his successes in business back to working with Uncle Cleve," says O'Donnell, describing students as "a cross-section" of the population. "It's really about getting people to think entrepreneurially."

O'Donnell is Executive Director of the Colorado Lending Source. Founded in 1990 and headquartered in LoDo, the public-private nonprofit helps catalyze growth among Colorado-based small businesses.

"We've probably touched $2.5 billion in our 23 years," says O'Donnell of the 44-employee organization. "We've helped create 20,000 jobs at 2,500 businesses."