RCC begins ‘Ice House’ Entrepreneurship Program

Robeson Community College is bringing the Ice House Entrepreneurship program to students on Monday, February 27, made possible through the First Americans’ Pathway to S.T.E.M Success grant.

“Ice House is an entrepreneurial mindset for success,” stated Scottie Locklear, the facilitator for the event. “It teaches you eight important life lessons that can empower anyone to succeed, no matter their chosen path.”

The program is based upon the book, Who Owns the Ice House? Eight Life Lessons from an Unlikely Entrepreneur by Clifton Taulbert and Gary Schoeniger. It is a true story about an ordinary person who developed an entrepreneurial mindset through life lessons and skills taught at an early apprenticeship.

The authors wrote the book to capture the essence of the unlimited opportunities that the right entrepreneurial mindset can provide, based upon lessons learned from Taulbert’s Uncle Cleve, who owned an ice house during a time of legal segregation in the deep south, along the Mississippi Delta. Uncle Cleve was able to overcome the barriers to become a successful African American businessman using the principles defined in the book.

“The book teaches that although the world has drastically changed since the 1950’s, the life lessons presented in the book never change,” stated Locklear.

Those life lesson being choice, opportunities, action, knowledge, wealth, brand, communication, and persistence.

“Reading the story shows how you have to think before you act because the choices you make today could impact you tomorrow,” Locklear said. “Having the mindset of an entrepreneur is not just about how you run the business but also about how you live your life and how you react to the circumstances around you.”

The seminar will run from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in Building 9, Room 901 and is open to all students across campus. All students attending will receive a free copy of the book and will also receive a certificate of completion at the end.