Stimulating enterprise development in rural communities
From its earliest days, the Rural Center has addressed the critical importance of small and growing businesses to the economy of rural North Carolina.
In 1987, its first year, the center commissioned an analysis of capital markets statewide to determine gaps in business finance and make recommendations for corrective action. Two major Rural Center programs developed as a result: the nationally recognized Microenterprise Loan Program and the recently expanded Capital Access Program. The center also has supported entrepreneurship education, the development of business incubators in rural communities and organizations that provide technical support to small businesses.
As the 21st century got under way, the center sought ways to further enhance entrepreneurship, seeing in it the potential to help stabilize a rural economy buffeted by the decline of the manufacturing sector and upheavals in agriculture. In October 2003, it established the Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship to stimulate and support the development of micro, small and medium-size enterprises in North Carolina's 85 rural counties. Please visit the Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship to learn more about current initiatives and to access a growing range of resources for rural businesses.
