GCU’s Entrepreneurship Chair spreads a wealth of knowledge in Colombia

As President of Canyon Angels at Grand Canyon University’s Colangelo College of Business, Tim Kelley is used to setting up limited liability companies for $85 in 15 minutes.

And as part of a group of professors and entrepreneurs, he wants to do the same for potential Colombian entrepreneurs.

“It’s become a very pragmatic course, and the spirit of entrepreneurship at the grassroots level is just wonderful to see,” says Kelley, who is also chair of entrepreneurship at his university.

This marks Kelley’s third year teaching in the Develop Your Model of Entrepreneurship program, founded by John Dobson, associate professor at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Dobson has taught entrepreneurship classes in countries including Canada, China, Colombia, France, Honduras, Mexico, Malaysia, Nepal, Spain, the Philippines, Uganda and England.

The program aims to provide entrepreneurs in developing economies with access to global entrepreneurship education.

The one- to two-day workshops are held in collaboration with multiple cities in Colombia, as well as the Bogotá Botanical Gardens and several universities, Kelley said.

Enrollment was about 100 during Kelley’s first year, but has since grown to 170 in cities like Bogotá and Cúcuta, Kelley said. Representatives from four universities in Venezuela drove as much as eight hours just to attend sessions in Cúcuta, near the Venezuelan border.

Kelley and his fellow group of professors from Harvard, the University of California, San Diego and Clark are looking for ways to help informal entrepreneurs become registered businesses despite the thick layers of bureaucracy in places like Latin America and Africa.

Many countries in those regions, Kelley says, follow a civil legal system in which entrepreneurs must contact a local notary, who in that system is comparable to a magistrate judge. It often takes thousands of dollars and months to integrate that process.

Kelley said Colombia has tried to limit upfront costs and reduce regulatory burden, but payroll taxes and income taxes under a graduated system bring a new set of challenges for emerging markets.

Nevertheless, he notes an increasing interest rate.

“They look at it as the path to economic development, so you don’t have people dependent on government,” Kelley said. “They literally work to serve each other. It is a beautiful model. That’s why capitalism works.”

Sometimes a trip to Colombia takes a team of four to six teachers to visit farms and some of the more than 12,000 micro-urban farmers.

“We’ll literally say, ‘Where are your customers? Let’s go talk to them,'” Kelley said.

“We will show them a business with the food they grow.”

Kelley’s interest began four years ago when he met professors from Clark and Harvard at an entrepreneurship training conference at Notre Dame.

They discovered that Kelley often visits Mexico and Latin America with a passion for entrepreneurship while also speaking fluent Spanish.

This led to an invitation to participate in the Develop Your Model of Entrepreneurship program. Kelley quickly offered his services.

“I love it,” Kelley said. “It’s my mission in life. That’s why I’m passionate about entrepreneurship and the opportunity to spread the Gospel, so to speak, of freedom.

“It’s what I do. Every chance I get, I go everywhere.”

And that increases GCU’s status in the entrepreneurial world.

“When they hear about our program, they are shocked by what we have to offer,” Kelley said. “And no university has anything comparable. “They are very intrigued by what our ecosystem is.”

That has led to Kelley holding seminars and Zoom calls with multiple groups. “It’s a great opportunity to spread GCU’s great work around the world,” Kelley said.

GCU News Senior Writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at (email protected)

***

Related content:

GCU News: Listening to mom pays off for the Canyon Challenge winner

GCU News: Here’s the pitch: Canyon Angels students learn from experts