Building an entrepreneurial economy

Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship

Homegrown businesses represent an important way to build and sustain rural economies. Through the Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship, the center helps North Carolina and its communities develop policies and programs that encourage the start-up and growth of locally owned companies of all shapes and sizes. Read more about the guiding principles behind this work.

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Support Systems

The Rural Center works to develop regional networks that encourage business startups and expansions. Two multiyear projects have targeted the creation of entrepreneurship support systems involving a broad range of business service providers and community leaders. A new effort is aiding short-term projects that develop resources for entrepreneurs.

• Five regional collaborations received $10,000 grants in November 2010 to assist entrepreneurship development projects. Funded projects, to be completed within six months, address youth entrepreneurship, business plan development and business networks. Learn more.

• A three-year project that began in 2008 focuses on deepening and sustaining entrepreneurial support in the southeast and northeast regions of the state. Learn more.


• From 2005 to 2008, the Rural Center led a project focused on improving and broadening entrepreneurial support throughout the state’s 85 rural counties. The project, known as Entrepreneurship Development System for Rural North Carolina, was funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Learn more.

Self-Employment

New Generation Ventures makes self-employment an attractive and attainable career option for rural young adults, ages 18 to 30. The program is open to young people who commit to launching a business in one of North Carolina's 85 rural counties. Ventures supports young entrepreneurs with business counseling, scholarships for business training, networking opportunities and access to new forms of capital. 

Project GATE, or Growing America Through Entrepreneurship, helps laid-off workers explore options for starting their own businesses. It provides access to free, one-on-one business counseling and scholarships for business management and vocational training. Project GATE is part of a federally funded demonstration that involves several statewide partners.

Alliance

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Alliance (formerly the Business Resource Alliance) is an active group of state and regional agencies that support and champion entrepreneurs. The Rural Center has helped to convene the alliance for nearly seven years. The alliance in turn joined the Rural Center and other partners to help to launch the N.C. Entrepreneurship Summit and the Hop on the Bus high school business plan competition.

Training

Training retreats bring together teams of local leaders to learn the principles of creating an entrepreneurial community and then return home to implement their new strategies. The training is called Energizing Entrepreneurship, or E2 Express, depending on the duration. Read more about upcoming seminars or ways to make your community more entrepreneur-friendly.

Contact

Leslie Scott, Director, Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship

N.C. Rural Economic Development Center

4021 Carya Drive

Raleigh, NC 27610

Telephone: 919-250-4314

Fax: 919-250-4325