CEO partners with Amazon to design the new Amazon Small Business Academy

Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization partners with Amazon to design the new Amazon Small Business Academy

Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) is proud to have partnered with Amazon to design new curriculum for Amazon Small Business Academy (ASBA).

ASBA provides a suite of free, interactive resources and tools for small business owners and entrepreneurs to help start, build, launch, and scale their businesses online.

The new ASBA experience features three self-service educational tracks – “Start,” “Build” and “Launch”. The tracks address both the tactical fundamentals, as well as the skills, that small business owners need to build self-reliance, confidence and perseverance. The program is free, open to any small business owner or entrepreneur and can be accessed at smallbusiness.amazon. Nearly 60% of products sold in Amazon’s store come from selling partners—most of which are small and medium-sized businesses—and Amazon will continue to invest in resources to give entrepreneurs and small business owners access to guidance and information to help them succeed.

CEO's council of academic experts informed ASBA on topics along with curriculum outlines and learning objectives. CEO is also providing a bench of experts (professors and small business owners in residence) who are serving as guest specialists in live weekly “office hours” as a supplement to educational webinars and on demand learning.

Giles Hertz, J.D., CEO president, said that CEO has a 40-year history of serving the needs of small business owners and entrepreneurs, through the scores of members who have launched businesses or partnerships much like this. However, “never has a curriculum been created that is so accessible and accommodating for any stage of startup to learn how to scale and grow their venture,” Hertz said. “Small business owners who take advantage of this academy can use these tools to think more entrepreneurial, and that directly services the mission of CEO.”

Meet the CEO faculty experts: 

• Derek Abrams, M.B.A. Abrams is the associate professor of practice, entrepreneurship and innovation, and associate director of the Center for Innovation and Commercialization, at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). Abrams specializes in entrepreneurial and international finance and serves on the board of directors of the Texas University Network for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 
• Kostas Alexiou, Ph.D. Alexiou is an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at The University of Tampa. Alexiou specializes in strategy, marketing and entrepreneurship and is an accomplished researcher. He has published in the Journal of Business Venturing and Organizational Dynamics, among others. 
• Sara Cochran, Ph.D. Cochran is a clinical assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Indiana University. Cochran specializes in gender in entrepreneurship and women entrepreneurs and serves as a director-at-large on the board of directors for the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE). 
• Eric Liguori, Ph.D. Liguori is the founding head of the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Rowan University (NJ). Liguori specializes in human resources management, leadership and entrepreneurship and served as the president of USASBE and the managing editor of the Journal of Small Business Management. 
• Bob Milner, M.B.A. Milner is the director for the Center of Entrepreneurship Engagement at Sam Houston State University (TX). Milner specializes in business mentoring, startup expense strategy and business modeling. He is a decorated veteran and successful family small business owner. 
• David Rahn, M.B.A. Rahn is the director of the e-Incubator at California State University, Chico. Rahn specializes in strategy and digital entrepreneurship and is a serial entrepreneur, having launched and developed software companies to scale. 
• Sharon Simmons, Ph.D., J.D., C.P.A. Simmons is an associate professor and academic programs director at Jackson State University (MS). Simmons specializes in entrepreneurial accounting and finance and serves on the board of directors of CEO. 
• Rebecca Wilson, M.B.A. Wilson is a professor of entrepreneurship at Harris-Stowe State University (MO). Wilson specializes in finance and entrepreneurship and has been recognized as a Small Business Administration (SBA) Emerging Leader. 

The Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO), is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to “inform, support and inspire college students to be entrepreneurial and to seek opportunity through enterprise creation.” From its inception in 1984, the organization has grown to approximately 16,500 members, representing nearly 250 college- and university-based chapters.