Small Business

This is the second sequence in the Small Business stackable certificates. Students are required to complete nine additional units, beyond the Small Business Certificate of Preparation, to further deepen their knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship, business ethics, and economics.  Small businesses represent 3/4 of American businesses today. The curriculum is aligned with the demands of a network of private and public entities. Students gain meaningful core competencies necessary to successfully start, own, maintain, and nurture the complexities of a business. Students develop long-term strategies to ensure small businesses or operations are enriching experiences and rewarding careers. When this certificate is paired with the CALGETC pattern, the student will meet the criteria for the AA, Liberal Arts, emphasis in Business & Technology.

Accounting, Business, Economics and Management courses continue being taught consistently, and small business stackable certificates will provide a more direct pathway for students wishing to pursue small business competencies, rather than alternate broad approaches to the AA, Liberal Arts, emphasis in Business and Technology., Business degrees, overall, have consistently been heavily sought after by our incarcerated students and we anticipate growth for local learners in the business division with this improved pathway. 

The Small Business certificate is designed to provide students with academic and practical skills for entry-level employment at small business entities. The goals are to develop basic competencies in accounting, finance, business law, marketing, management, ethics, entrepreneurship, and economics.

The Small Business certificate supports the College’s Institutional goal to deliver and continuously improve upon quality educational programs emphasizing student learning leading to certification and personal growth and career enhancement.  The Small Business program supports this goal by offering a Certificate of Achievement and courses in accounting, business, economics, and management serve to fulfill transferable requirements and/or electives.

The small business courses can be taken for lifelong learning.  The program also supports the College goals by engaging in regular assessment, which leads to the identification of course and program weaknesses, and encourages relevant solutions to make ongoing improvements to the quality of the small business certificate.

The Small Business Certificate of Achievement requires completion of 25 units of required coursework in accounting, finance, business law, marketing, management, entrepreneurship, ethics, and microeconomics. These courses provide students with the essential knowledge and skills needed to start, manage, and sustain small business operations.