Jim Correll: Fostering Entrepreneurship in Montgomery County

Jim Correll's journey into entrepreneurship education was anything but conventional. After starting a photography business in 1976, moving through manufacturing, surviving the internet bubble burst of 2000, and even running a sharpening business in Coffeyville, Correll found his calling when Independence Community College posted an ad in 2006 for someone to start an entrepreneurship program. They weren't looking for traditional academics—they wanted someone with real-world business experience, nuts and bolts knowledge. Correll, who describes himself as a career "misfit," not having done any one thing more than 5 years at a time, was exactly what they needed. He went on to establish the Fab Lab at ICC in 2014and spent years developing programs that would fundamentally change how entrepreneurship is  facilitated or supported in the community.

The turning point in Correll's approach came in 2011 when he discovered the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program. Unlike traditional business education that starts by telling people how hard it will be and how much money they'll need, the Ice House program focuses on inspiration first. Named after Clifton Taulbert’s uncle who owned the only ice house in a small Mississippi-delta community in the late 1950s,despite having no privilege or advantage. The program lets entrepreneurs tell their own stories. Correll realized that when people see others just like themselves succeed—often without money, without college degrees, without perfect upbringings—they become willing to put in the hard work required. Since 2012, approximately 175 people have completed the Ice House program through Correll's classes, with potentially a third to half going on to start their own businesses.
We are often presented with only one path forward. Go to school, get a degree, find a job, work for someone else until you retire. And if you learn a trade? Great, go work for someone. Become an electrician for a company. Be a plumber for a boss. Move to the city where the "real opportunities" are. Then we sit around wondering why everyone leaves, why small towns are dying, why people seem unfulfilled. Here's the truth nobody mentions: if you're an electrician, you could own an electrical business. If you're a plumber, you could serve your own community on your own terms. Montgomery County has problems that need solving right now, and you don't need permission from a corporation in Wichita or Kansas City to solve them.

When Jim Correll teaches entrepreneurship in Montgomery County, people almost always say the same thing: it changed how they think. Not just about business—about everything. Because once you realize you're a problem solver, once you understand that entrepreneurs are just people who decided to try, you can't go back to feeling helpless. Some entrepreneurs go on to build companies. Others become the kind of employees every business wants—self-starters who show up ready to make things better. Either way, you're no longer just another cog in someone else's machine.

For those interested in starting a business, Correll's advice is refreshingly practical: start small and start part-time. Rather than betting everything on an untested idea, he encourages people to keep their current jobs while building their business gradually. This approach allows entrepreneurs to learn what works, adjust their products or services, and avoid being stuck with expensive commitments like building ownership before they're ready. With resources ranging from the Ice House classes (six-week sessions) to makerspace memberships and coaching, to a strong partner network, Correll and the Life Skills Academy are working to create an ecosystem where entrepreneurship isn't just encouraged—it's made accessible. As Correll puts it, economic development in Montgomery County comes from "growing within" as well as from recruiting outside businesses, making local entrepreneurship support more beneficial to the county than ever.

In addition to being an entrepreneurship coach for the Life Skills Academy, Correll serves on the Independence Chamber of Commerce’s Business Entrepreneur Support Team (BEST)  and partners closely with MCAC & SBDC.

Jim Correll, Montgomery County Entrepreneurship Coach
jim@correllcoaching.com
Life Skills Academy | 115 West Myrtle Street, Independence, KS 67301.