News

Clean Water Bond legislation introduced as short legislative session convenes in Raleigh
North Carolina lawmakers convened the legislative short session last week with a budget surplus and a weighty agenda that could have them in Raleigh through the summer. One of the major proposals before legislators is a $1 billion clean water bond issue to help local governments fund drinking water and wastewater projects. Sen. John Kerr III and Rep. Bill Owens have each introduced bills that would put a bond referendum before voters this November. Senate Bill 1281 and House Bill 1809 are similar pieces of legislation that would allocate proceeds from the sale of general obligation bonds to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and to the Rural Center for grant-making. Both bills call for bond funds to be fully expended in 2010. The Rural Center announced earlier this year that it would take a lead role in advocating for a proposed bond issue on the heels of its water resources study that found North Carolina’s aging public water, sewer and stormwater systems will require $16.6 billion over the next 25 years for repairs and improvements. The findings raise serious questions about how local governments will foot the bill for their water infrastructure projects, given that more than 60 percent of North Carolina communities cannot qualify for loan programs and the marked reductions in federal and state grant programs that once provided funding. To learn more about the center’s Water 2030 Initiative, visit the website at www.ncruralcenter.org. To read the full text of HB 1809, click here. To read the full text of Senate Bill 1281, click here.

New data sheds light on North Carolina’s changing population
The U.S. Census Bureau released detailed information on population and migration patterns recently that reveal some interesting and even surprising trends across the state. In addition to 10 economically distressed counties in the rural northeast that lost residents from 2000 to 2004, population losses also occurred in Watauga County and in Anson County, which sits adjacent to rapidly growing Union County. In fact, 16 counties across the state lost as much as 5.2 percent of their population in the four-year period, including Anson, Bertie, Columbus, Edgecombe, Halifax, Hyde, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Northampton, Pamlico, Tyrrell, Warren, Washington, and Watauga. The data also suggest that populations along North Carolina’s western and eastern boundaries are aging – that is, young people native to those counties are leaving home, most likely to seek work elsewhere. Census data also show that North Carolina is an increasingly popular place to call home, both for U.S. and international residents. In fact, North Carolina is fifth in the nation on domestic migration, as people move here from other parts of the U.S. Five counties, including Brunswick, Johnston, Mecklenburg, Union and Wake, added more than 10,000 U.S. residents from 2000 to 2004.

North Carolina earns a “C” on integrating electronic data systems into school curriculum
Despite recent efforts to enhance technology-based learning in North Carolina schools, a recent report finds the state has done only a fair job of putting electronic data into a form that local educators can easily use to boost student learning. A joint report by the Maryland-based nonprofit Editorial Projects in Education and Education Week analyzed the structure and quality of states’ computerized data systems. Researchers found that only 28 states provide current state assessment results to educators through a centralized data system, and that most states cannot identify the teachers that are increasing student performance over time. Further, only 26 states train teachers to use data to shape classroom instruction. Report authors graded the states on a set of 14 data-driven performance indicators, giving the country as a whole a “C-plus” and North Carolina an overall grade of “C.” The state scored lowest in its effort to help schools access technology, but scored high marks for its work to boost schools’ use of technology. Virginia and West Virginia earned the report’s highest marks, with grades of “A-minus” and “A,” respectively, while Nevada fared the worst with a grade of “D-minus.” To read the report in its entirety, click here.

Reports and Research

Counties in the Southern U.S. have highest concentration of consumers with weak credit scores, study finds
A new report finds that one in five borrowers in a typical Southern county has a credit score that suggests they are risky from a lender’s perspective, and that is especially true of borrowers living in North Carolina’s rural southeast and northeast counties. The findings were released last week as part of the Brookings Institution report, “Credit Scores, Reports, and Getting Ahead in America.” According to research gathered from 1999 through 2004, the organization finds credit reports and scores are playing an increasing role in the economic mobility of today’s consumers. Without a good credit score, consumers often find it difficult to buy or rent a decent home, purchase and insure a vehicle, and afford their utility deposits and payments. Employers are even beginning to use the scores as part of the job application process. Among the report’s major findings: consumer credits scores vary greatly across counties; home ownership rates and county per capita income are closely associated with high consumer credit scores; and the proportion of mortgage borrowers across the state making their house payments 60 or more days late jumped by 108 percent over the five-year period. To read the full report, visit the website.

New study finds nearly half of working-age Americans with average incomes lack health insurance
A recent study by a national health care foundation finds that 41 percent of working-age Americans earning $20,000 to $40,000 annually lacked basic health coverage for all or part of last year – a substantial increase from 2001 when just 28 percent of moderate income people were uninsured. The Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based organization that advocates on health care policy, released the report, “Gaps in Health Insurance: An All-American Problem,” last month. The report cites sobering statistics on the nation’s growing health care crisis, including: 67 percent of the nation’s 48 million uninsured Americans live in a family where at least one member works full-time; 21 percent of working-age adults – regardless of their insurance status – are currently paying off medical debt; and 59 percent of uninsured adults with a chronic health problem either did not fill a prescription at all or skipped medications because of their inability to pay. To read the full report, click here.

CED’s annual venture capital report finds N.C. companies increased investments by 40 percent in 2005
The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) has released results from its annual Venture Report, which highlights North Carolina venture capital investing in 2005. The report was released as part of CED’s 23rd annual Venture conference in May. Among its major findings: North Carolina companies raised more than $530 million in venture capital investments in 2005, a 40 percent increase over 2004; the state is now ranked 8th in the nation for total venture capital investments; and investments in biotechnology have ramped up in recent years, as evidenced by North Carolina’s third ranking for total dollars raised by life science companies last year. To read the full report, click here.

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Meetings and Events

National Small Business Innovation Research conference to be held May 17-19 in Louisville
Kentucky will host the 2006 Spring National SBIR Conference on May 15-18, 2006, in Louisville. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) are federal grant programs designed to stimulate technological innovation and provide opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The programs provide over $2 billion to small businesses through federal programs to help entrepreneurs take their ideas from conception to reality. The event, which will take place at the Louisville Marriott Downtown, will give participants multiple opportunities to meet and network with federal SBIR and STTR program managers, fellow attendees including SBIR/STTR award winners, and successful entrepreneurs from around the country. This year’s conference will attract some of the nation’s brightest innovators and researchers, cutting edge entrepreneurs and the federal government’s small business grant makers. For further details on the conference, or to register, contact Mahendra Jain at (859) 255-3613 x 230.

Global economic challenges the focus of annual economic developers association meeting to be held June 5-9 in Charlotte
ACCRA, a national association of economic developers, will hold its annual conference in Charlotte June 5-9. Participants will learn strategies for competing in the global economy. Specifically, participants will learn about three key economic drivers – financial services, tourism, and motor sports – that are well entrenched in the Charlotte region. Participants will also learn how to think regionally, that is, about the importance of regional collaborations that cross state boundaries and appeal to fast-growing entrepreneurial companies. Workshops will include creative new analytic techniques for economic developers, along with the latest data sources and research tools. For more information on registration fees, accommodations, directions and to download a registration application, click here.

Southern Innovation Summit to be held June 4-6 in New Orleans
This year, the Southern Growth Policies Board will host its Southern Innovation Summit June 4-6 in New Orleans. The conference will focus on the creation, accumulation and application of knowledge for the South's businesses, universities, citizens and governments, and develop strategies for increasing innovation as part of the South's economic growth policies. In addition, the conference will feature the release of the 2006 Report on the Future of the South, with keynotes and panel discussions featuring Southern Growth Chairman Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, Southern Technology Chairman Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue and Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, among other notable figures. Register by May 8th and save up to $40 on conference registration fees. To register online, or to download registration forms, visit here.

Rural Center to hold second E² Energizing Entrepreneurship workshop June 27-29 in Ridgecrest
The Rural Center’s Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship and state business service providers will lead a three-day training retreat to prepare rural leaders to stimulate entrepreneurship development in their communities. “Energizing Entrepreneurship in Rural North Carolina” will be held June 27-29 at the Lifeway Ridgecrest Conference Center in western North Carolina. The workshop is part of a two-year initiative by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to build an effective entrepreneurship development system in the state. The center held the first E² workshop in eastern North Carolina last fall, where participants reported the training to be highly valuable for their communities. Participating communities are asked to send a team of four-to-eight people who will work together to learn about comprehensive entrepreneurship development strategies and then take that knowledge home and help put it into action. The fee to register is $400 and includes meals, housing and course materials. To find out more or to register for the training, contact Michelle Hall at the Rural Center, (919) 250-4314.

Funding Sources

Entrepreneurial incubator grant applications due to the Rural Center by May 19
A grant program that offers ‘bricks and mortar’ funding to help get entrepreneurial incubators up and running in small cities and towns will accept grant applications through May 19. Offered through the N.C. Department of Commerce’s Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program, the grants will give local governments and their partners an opportunity to secure up to $350,000 in funds for the construction or expansion of entrepreneurial incubator facilities. Such facilities help entrepreneurial start-ups survive in the business’s early days and improve its chances of long-term success. Grant awards will be announced in August. For questions concerning applicant eligibility, rules and other matters, contact George Sherrill at (919) 715-6559. To submit an application, contact Leslie Scott at the center at (919) 250-4314.

From the N.C. Press

Goldsboro News-Argus: Class will recognize ‘forgotten’ governor
A 19th century North Carolina governor often overshadowed by another state leader who came along at the turn of the century is getting some overdue recognition, thanks in part to members of the 2006 class of Leadership Wayne County. Curtis Brogden served as governor from 1874 until 1877, but history concentrated more on the accomplishments of Wayne's other governor, Charles B. Aycock, who served from 1901 to 1904. Aycock's gift for oratory and his sudden death while still a public figure, however, did leave an indelible mark on the state, local historians say. The fact that Brogden was a Republican during a time when the South was chiefly Democratic also didn't help his legacy. The class, which has spent the year learning about various aspects of life in Wayne, decided to correct at least part of the disparity. Members, with the help of several donors and other volunteers, arranged for a new historical marker along U.S. 13 that corrects a misspelling of Brogden's name. Brogden was born in the Mar Mac area. The class also has cleaned up Brogden's gravesite in Willow Dale Cemetery and a family cemetery near the homestead where he was raised and returned to live out his life. Brogden was a champion of the rights of blacks during the Reconstruction era, said class President Charlotte Trepoy. That did not leave him with much of a local legacy in a segregated Wayne County, she added. She said class members discovered that Brogden was "pretty much written out of the history of Wayne County."

Triangle Business Journal: Judge throws out Dell incentives lawsuit
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging $279 million in state and local incentives granted to Dell Inc. Wake County Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood found in favor of state and local governments and Dell, whose lawyers argued last week that the plaintiffs in the case could not challenge the constitutionality of the incentives because they have not suffered "a direct and irreparable harm." Former North Carolina State Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr, lead counsel for the seven plaintiffs in the case, said that he plans to file a notice of appeal in the case as early as next week.

N.C. Associated Press: Bill would keep illegals out of state-funded jobs
Illegal immigrants seeking jobs with public employers or businesses contracted with the state would be ineligible for employment under a bill filed Wednesday, May 10. The measure, filed by Sen. Robert Pittenger, R-Mecklenburg, would require employers to participate in a federal work authorization program to verify that new employees are in the country legally. Also, all individuals would need proof of legal presence in the state to receive social services under the proposal.

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The mission of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center is to develop, promote, and implement sound economic strategies that improve the quality of life of rural North Carolinians, with a special focus on individuals with low to moderate incomes and communities with limited resources.

N.C. Rural Economic Development Center
Michelle Taylor, UPDATE editor
Courtney Kilpatrick, UPDATE production manager
Elaine Matthews, vice president for communications and development
4021 Carya Drive, Raleigh, NC 27610
(919) 250-4314 Fax: (919) 250-4325
www.ncruralcenter.org