They’ve started many successful businesses and are now helping returned missionaries in the Philippines do the same.
Stephen W. Gibson, an entrepreneur in residence at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management, and his wife Bette Gibson founded the Academy for Creating Enterprise (ACE) to benefit members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cebu City, the second largest city in the Philippines.
“We created the academy to instruct Filipino returned missionaries how to start, build and run small businesses.” Stephen Gibson said. “The returned missionaries then return to their home wards and stakes and teach local members the same things they learned at the academy.”
Students apply to the academy in the same way they would apply to college. To be eligible for the 25 openings every eight weeks, applicants must have a current temple recommend and must obtain ecclesiastical endorsement from their local priesthood leaders.
While at the academy, students participate in group case studies, weekly devotionals, and individual business planning sessions. Graduates leave the academy not only with an increased business knowledge but also with individual business plans they can use to create and run their own micro enterprises.
The Gibsons spent 19 months in the Philippines, during which, they saw nearly 200 returned missionaries graduate from the academy. They hope an additional 550 students will graduate from the academy within the next few years.
“We wanted to establish something that could be turned over to and run by local people, and we’ve done that,” Stephen Gibson said. “The academy is currently manned by four of our graduates and one member who has his master’s degree in economic development.”
The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally and internationally ranked programs in accountancy, business management, information systems, public management, organizational behavior and entrepreneurship. The mission of the Marriott School is to educate men and women of faith, character and professional ability who will become outstanding managers and leaders throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School's graduate and undergraduate programs.
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Writer: S. Wade Hansen (801) 378-1512
