75+ YEARS OF SUCCESS

The U.S. Small Business Administration reports that 50% of startup businesses fail in the first 5 years, so it’s saying something when a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational organization like DECA has made it 75 years (and counting!). DECA has made a lasting impact in the lives of over 150,000 Washington graduates because we not only teach entrepreneurship—we practice it. We evolve, stay cutting edge, and innovate to bring students the best leadership and entrepreneurial opportunities available.

In 1947, Washington became one of the first states in the nation to be chartered by DECA. Back in the 1940’s, what we call Entrepreneurship and Marketing Education today was called “Distributive Education”. Washington was one of the first to see the value and power of amplifying education through the applied academics available through the “Distributive Education Clubs of America” (our original name). The world of business innovated and advanced and so did DECA. Distributive education became marketing and entrepreneurship education. Clubs of students evolved into communities of business and education leaders championing and cheering for the future of our youth. An America-based organization fostered the idea of the American Enterprise System available for all freedom-loving entrepreneurial-minded people around the world.

Washington DECA has proven for over 75 years that the more you study the more you know, the more you practice the further you go, and the more you give the more you grow.