AUGUSTA – A weekly television program focusing on entrepreneurship and successful business practices has come to Maine to film two shows on the state’s small-business leaders and entrepreneurial spirit.

Broadcast internationally by public television stations, “Small Business School” profiles real stories and successful experiences of the nation’s small-business owners and employees, reaching 90 million households via more than 200 PBS member stations in the United States alone. The program is used as an instructional tool in many colleges and universities for students learning about economics and business.

Maine’s “Small Business School” show will feature interviews with state leaders, including Gov. Angus King, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Steven Levesque, Maine & Company Executive Vice President Joe Wischerath, and Maine Small Business Development Center Director John Massaua, among others.

The program also will feature a selection of entrepreneurs and successful businesspeople from the state’s midcoast region who were chosen by their communities, as well as a segment about the Maine PBS program “Made in Maine” with Lou McNally.

“Small Business School” has been shooting on location in Maine for four days during the first two weeks of June. The filmed segments will be produced into two half-hour shows, which will be broadcast in every major market in America through PBS member stations and in over 300 principal cities around the world. The first of the two shows on Maine is scheduled to air in the United States in early September and the latter in early November.

According to the show’s executive producer, Bruce Camber, “Small Business School” is similar to a “how-to” series, such as the popular “This Old House,” but intended for small-business owners. “We tell the stories about today’s pioneers and quiet heroes – stories about people who create jobs, create wealth and make the world a better place,” Camber said. He also indicated that the taping of a third show on Maine artists is likely to occur as well, but when this program will air is uncertain.