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Imagine, develop, and market exciting new products and services with the guidance of proven entrepreneurs!
“ I plan to use what I have learned at the Entrepreneurship Institute to make me more confident and secure in my ideas. Everyone has been so supportive; I have felt like I’m part of a real community while I have been here.”
Do you want to turn your creativity and innovation skills into profit?
At the Entrepreneurship Institute you bring your passion and curiosity to a transformative and world-expanding dive into creativity and innovation. Learn how to develop, produce, and market new products and services with your own ideas and interests. With the guidance of proven entrepreneurs and examples from experts, everyone at the Entrepreneurship Institute joins an active network of peers and future collaborators that work together, empowering you to leverage your own unique business ideas and propel your ambitions into future success.
College credits available.
For information regarding this Institute’s sliding-scale tuition support, please click here.
Check out this media from recent years of the Institute.
Link to Other GIV Institute Videos
This Institute offers embedded college credit! Details about this credit will be announced in February, 2025.
Every rising junior and senior who completes the Institute is eligible for these credits. Some minor additional assignments may be required beyond the Institute activities. The experience of being at the Institute is the same whether a student chooses to pursue this credit or not.
Please note that colleges charge extra tuition and fees on top of GIV tuition for granting credits, but students can utilize a Dual Enrollment voucher to fully cover the college tuition. The Dual Enrollment program guarantees free college tuition for most rising VT juniors and seniors. For other financial support options, contact us and we can help.
Important Note: students need to apply for this credit before attending the Institute. Instructions on how to apply and support will be provided.
For more information contact us at [email protected].
Every day is a unique experience filled with expert-led instruction, hands-on investigation, field trips, and immersive learning. We work to build a community around our experiences and share in our passion for everything we explore.
**The schedule is slightly different each year and announced when you arrive!
GIV’s supportive Institute structure is endlessly enriching, empowering, and engaging.
7:00 AM: Breakfast
9:00 AM: Morning Workshop
10:00 AM: Work In Teams to Develop A Product
12:00 PM: Lunch and Free Time
3:30 PM: Continued Supported Team Time
5:00 PM: Dinner
6:00 PM: Team Presentations
7:30 PM: Evening Workshop
8:30 PM: Evening Activities
10:30 PM: End of Day
Tamie-Jo Dickinson is a National Board Certified Business Teacher and teaches business and entrepreneurship classes at CVU, Champlain College, CCV, and through the Governor’s Institute. She has decades of teaching under her belt and is skilled at making complex topics seem easy and attainable. Her passion is teaching accounting and entrepreneurship. She provides training opportunities for teachers around the state on how to implement entrepreneurship into their curriculum, and her students have been winners of many state-wide business plan competitions. She also taught International Business, and she has traveled to Ireland, Wales, England, Turkey and Haiti with her students.
Tamie is a certified Jazzercise Instructor, which means she is a franchise owner! She teaches adult classes twice a week, and she has taught programs for young children during the summer. She loves making and selling products using her Cricut, and she spends every free minute with her three dogs: Hank, Rico, and Rudy!
A native Vermonter, Laurel has traveled extensively, as well as lived in several states/cities, Europe, the West Indies/Caribbean and Saudi Arabia, however, as she says, “Vermont is really at my heart – it’s home!”
She taught for several years in secondary and post-secondary education – business, entrepreneurship, personal finance, hospitality/tourism and assisted students in service learning, co-operative education and internship programs. In addition she spent many years in the hotel/hospitality industry (she is a CHA – Certified Hotel Administrator) in key operational, general management, marketing, training and franchise development positions as well as served on several local, state and national hospitality, convention and tourism boards. Laurel has also owned and operated her own small hospitality and consulting businesses. Currently, she works full time for the Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC) as a Business Advisor/Start-up Specialist, teaches part-time in the Women’s Small Business Program and enjoys painting in watercolors and mixed media.
