Recent expansion of Entrepreneurship at St. Edward will empower students to engage with accounting, business economics, finance, ethics, and legal structure, as well as innovation: the core of entrepreneurship.  Moreover, students will have the opportunity to present their business innovation or product ideas in contests within St. Edward, as well as outside the school competing regionally and across the US.  Over the 2019-20 school year, we'll also pilot the Student Investment Fund, where students learn about equity analysis and portfolio management, while investing real money.  

 

We believe the expanded offerings, which will total up to three years of classwork including economics, will offer the student a solid framework for further study in college, should they choose business or entrepreneurship, where the latter is a growing area of study at many universities.

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Named in honor of Ken Layden, a 1980 graduate of St. Edward High School, the Layden Entrepreneurship Program was founded in 2008 with the goal of promoting entrepreneurial competencies in the young men of St. Edward High School. The course is built upon a framework provided by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Planning The Entrepreneurial Venture, and is supplemented by guest instructors from the St. Edward community and the Greater Cleveland area. The Layden Prize is an endowed scholarship providing funding for higher educational learning or furthering their entrepreneurial studies to the winners of the annual business competition.​

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GOALS

• Instill in students an appreciation for entrepreneurship as a business strategy, lifestyle, and worldview

• Engage students in real-world problems of practice through the business planning process

• Inspire student leadership and teamwork in a competitive environment

• Develop ethical and moral decision making skills in future leaders of society

• Increase the general business knowledge and business communication skills of students

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Students meet with the teacher and guest experts in the business community. Students learn in class, online, and independently, developing their communication skills in the practice of entrepreneurial thinking and business planning.  Mentorship by volunteers from alumni and local business communities is an essential component of the course.  Students compete in teams of two for the Layden Prize.

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ABOUT KEN LAYDEN '80

After graduating from St. Edward in 1980, Ken Layden received his BA in Business and Finance from The Ohio State University in 1984. His passion for business, combined with his entrepreneurial spirit, helped Ken achieve great success as a business and marketing leader for some of America's top companies. His fond memories of his time at St. Edward inspired him to set up a unique program to educate young men in the field of business and entrepreneurship.  Ken wished to enable future generations to achieve the kind of success that he enjoyed throughout his life.  Ken died in January of 2008 after years of a courageous battle with cancer.

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Special thanks to our benefactor, Veale Foundation for their assistance and support of St. Ed's Entrepreneurship Program.