News

Rural Center-led team wins $2 million W.K. Kellogg grant to boost entrepreneurship in rural, minority communities
A North Carolina team led by the Rural Center has been awarded a $2 million grant from W.K. Kellogg Foundation to create a comprehensive entrepreneurship development system that will serve rural and minority entrepreneurs in low-wealth areas of the state. The project will help rural communities develop a range of services for their small businesses, including education and training opportunities, technical assistance, access to capital, and business-to-business networking. The project – one of six to receive funding from a pool of more than 180 applicants nationwide – will use a community-based approach to boost entrepreneurship with a series of regional workshops slated to begin this fall, information tools to save entrepreneurs time and money and allow them to grow their ventures, and education and training scholarships for community leaders. The Rural Center's Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship will serve as lead partner of the project team - a coalition of 21 state agencies, nonprofit organizations, universities and community colleges that came together in November 2003 to improve services for small businesses. To find out more about North Carolina's plan to create a rural entrepreneurship development system, call Leslie Scott, director of the center's Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship, at (919) 250-4314. For more information about this project, click here.

‘Jobless’ recovery over as North Carolina’s economy shows slow, modest growth
For the first time in four years, North Carolina’s annual unemployment rate has dropped sufficiently to be on par with the U.S. rate, according to data from the N.C. Employment Security Commission. North Carolina’s ‘jobless’ economic recovery ended last year as the state experienced slow, modest gains in the job market during 2004, the first year of consistent job growth since 2000. The state added 76,400 jobs during the year and the unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 percent from a high of 6.7 percent in 2002. However, the state’s economy grew at a significantly slower pace than that of the U.S. last year – a modest 2.5 percent compared to a U.S. rate of 4.4 percent. The “Carolina Economic Forecast,” produced by the Belk College of Business at UNC-Charlotte, predicts North Carolina will add 66,500 jobs in 2005 and will end the year with an unemployment rate of around 5 percent. And though the state’s overall economic forecast appears good for 2005, some state economists say it could be a very bad year for textile and apparel workers in the wake of the Jan. 1 lifting of remaining quotas on foreign-made goods. Recently released import data shows there is good reason to worry – in the first three months of 2005, U.S. imports of textile and apparel products from China rose more than 63 percent from last year. In addition, the state lost 2,625 textile and apparel jobs during that period, with 16 companies announcing closings and layoffs. To find out more, read the spring edition of the center’s quarterly report, the North Carolina Rural Economy.

North Carolina to pilot program aimed at increasing financing for rural homeownership
North Carolina is one of six states chosen to pilot a U.S. Department of Agriculture program to boost rural homeownership rates by increasing financing for new home construction. By partnering with local financing agencies in California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, USDA hopes to increase the number of affordable new homes for low-to-moderate income rural families. Loan guarantees from the USDA will enable lenders to offer 30-year, fixed rate construction loans that will finance 100 percent of the cost of building a new home - including the lot, construction costs, closing costs and interest payments- while the house is being built. The pilot projects are expected to begin producing home loans in the next 60 days. For more information on the pilot program, visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development office website.

North Carolina mourns loss of Lois Britt, longtime advocate for agriculture and education
Lois Britt, who became the state’s first woman to serve as county director for the Cooperative Extension Service, died last week at the age of 69. Britt, a member of the Rural Center’s board of directors who also chaired the center’s Agricultural Advancement Consortium, had a 34-year career in cooperative extension - 14 years as director in Duplin County - before retiring and joining Murphy Farms as vice president of public relations. In 2000, she became special assistant to the president of Murphy-Brown LLC. Britt served on the National Pork Producers Board of Directors, the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, and the Executive Committee of the N.C. Forum for Research and Economic Education. She was a past president of the N.C. Agribusiness Council. Outside of agriculture, Britt served on the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and was appointed to the Chancellor's Board of Visitors for N.C. State University. Among her many awards were the N.C. Pork Council Hall of Fame, N.C. 4-H Lifetime Achievement Award, NCSU Watauga Medal, the 2003 Volunteer Service Award given by the National Agricultural Alumni and Development Association, the 2002 Distinguished Alumnus for Agriculture by the N.C. State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents Distinguished Service Award and the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.

top of page

Reports and Research

Report ranks six North Carolina regions among the top 20 in the U.S. for small business start-ups
A new report from the U.S. Small Business Administration finds six of the top 20 regions in the nation for growing new small businesses are right here in North Carolina. The report, “A National Assessment of Entrepreneurship and Regional Economic Growth and Development,” gave high marks to Charlotte, Hickory, Morganton, Raleigh, Washington and Wilmington for their ability to support the growth of innovative business start-ups. The survey broke the nation into 394 regions and ranked them according to their success in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation. Raleigh was rated the second most innovative entrepreneurial area in the U.S. behind Fort Collins, Colo. North Carolina Commerce Secretary Jim Fain said the survey proves North Carolina is a leader in business innovation. The report’s summary stresses the importance of entrepreneurship in building stable, diverse regional economies. More information about the survey is available by contacting the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy at (202) 205-6533 or by e-mail at mailto:advocacy@sba.gov

Report offers 20-year look back on the success, challenges of microenterprise field
The Aspen Institute takes an in-depth look at the now 20-year-old microenterprise field in its new report, “Opening Opportunities, Building Ownership: Fulfilling the Promise of Microenterprise in the United States.” The report considers the forces in the mid-1980s that helped shape the microenterprise field, its phenomenal growth in the years since, and the success and weaknesses of the services available for the estimated 20 million Americans who own a ‘micro’ – or very small – enterprise. In its conclusion, the report recommends eight directions that can help transform the industry and position it for long-term growth and sustainability. To read the full report, click here.

top of page

Meetings and Events

Banks looking to boost services to Latino and Hispanic customers invited to June 21 meeting
Members of the banking community are invited to participate in a June 21 meeting in Raleigh to identify strategies for boosting financial services to their region’s growing Latino and Hispanic population. The public meeting will consist of two parts, an overview of Federal Reserve’s International ACH Service to Mexico and upcoming innovations to help facilitate receiver accounts in that country, and a panel discussion that will give bankers a chance to pose questions or discuss concerns with regulators from the Federal Reserve, FDIC, Office of the Comptroller of Currency, National Credit Union Association and the Office of Thrift and Supervision. The meeting will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. at the RBC Centura Regional Corporate Center in Raleigh, 3201 Beechleaf Court. A limited number of seats are available. To reserve a seat, call John Meeks at (919) 787-8727 or mailto:jmeek@fdic.govor Carl Neely at (704) 358-2173, mailto:carl.neely@rich.frb.org

Sept. 30 is deadline to present proposals for next spring’s Globalization of the American South conference to be held at UNC-Chapel Hill
UNC-Chapel Hill is preparing to host a second interdisciplinary conference on the globalization of the American South March 2-3, 2006. The conference, sponsored by the University Center for International Studies in collaboration with the Center for the Study of the American South, will explore the economic, political, and social challenges and opportunities the southern United States faces because of globalization. Conference sponsors are inviting interested scholars, policymakers, practitioners, artists, filmmakers and other professionals whose work touches on these issues to make speaker or panel presentation proposals. The deadline for submitting a proposal is September 30. For more information visit the website, contact Dr. Niklaus Steiner, executive director at the University Center for International Studies, at mailto:nsteiner@.unc.edu.

Save the Date: Southeast Wireless Symposium to be held Nov. 16-17 in Asheville
The e-NC Authority’s annual conference on wireless technology trends will be held in Asheville November 16-17. The third annual Southeast Wireless Symposium will present the latest developments in the wireless industry with a special focus on increasing broadband deployment in rural areas. Last year’s symposium drew some of the nation’s foremost Internet technology leaders, as well as political officials, educators and local economic development officials. For more information on the 2005 symposium, call Donna Sullivan at (919) 250-4314.

top of page

top of page

Funding Sources

Golden LEAF to hold ‘how-to’ session for potential grantees June 27 in Ashe County
For organizations interested in applying for a Golden LEAF Foundation grant, there will be an informational session held on June 27 in West Jefferson. The deadline for the next annual grants cycle is August 1. A foundation representative will be on hand with information on the application process, eligibility requirements, managing a previously funded grant and to answer questions. The session will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Ashe County Arts Council, 303 School Avenue. To find out more about the next grants cycle, or about the informational session, contact Pat Cabe or Courtney Mills at the Golden LEAF Foundation at (888) 684-8404 or pcabe@goldenleaf.org or cmills@goldenleaf.org. For directions, contact the Arts Council at (336) 846-ARTS.

Organic growers eligible for grants to cover certification costs through N.C. Department of Agriculture
North Carolina’s organic farmers are eligible for reimbursement for a portion of their certification costs through a federal grant program administered by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The department recently received word that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has extended a $20,000 grant to the state through 2008. Growers must submit an application for the grant or must reapply to receive the cost-share funds for re-certification. Growers will be eligible to receive up to 75 percent of their organic certification costs, up to $500, under this program. To qualify, growers must have been certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent between Oct. 1, 2004, and Sept. 30, 2005. To apply for these funds, contact Kevin Hardison at the N.C. Department of Agriculture, (919) 733-7136, ext. 232, or download an application.

top of page

From the N.C. Press

N.C. Associated Press: Golden LEAF turning a new leaf?
The Golden LEAF Foundation could become a major player in the increasingly competitive incentives game, if its board approves and the Internal Revenue Service signs off on a proposal to allow the charity to offer financial subsidies to companies that locate in North Carolina's poorest counties. The foundation was created in 1999 to distribute half of the state's proceeds from a legal settlement with cigarette companies to help tobacco-dependent communities recover from the crop's decline. Golden LEAF gets about $70 million a year in settlement money and has about $405 million in assets. In April, the foundation agreed to give about $15 million to a nonprofit agency that would have given the money to coax a Gatorade plant to Edgecombe County. Gatorade decided not to build the plant. A proposal expected to come before the Golden LEAF board in September would allow the tax-exempt foundation to distribute grants directly to corporations in addition to nonprofit or governmental entities, if the IRS approves.

The Insider: Senate panel approves incentives fund to lure small businesses
The Senate Appropriations Committee recommended approval of a bill last week that would provide state grants to small businesses by piggy-backing on an existing federal grant program. The bill calls for the creation of the One North Carolina Small Business Fund, allowing matching grants for companies that apply for innovation and technology-related grants through the U.S. Small Business Administration. The proposal would allow companies to receive $3,000 to offset half the cost of applying for the federal grants and would award $100,000 matching grants to firms that win the awards. "Small business has been the lifeblood of North Carolina," said Sen. Walter Dalton, D-Rutherford, a co-chair of the committee. But two senators, Katie Dorsett, D-Guilford, and John Kerr, D-Wayne, questioned whether the legislation needed tougher reporting requirements to make sure that the recipients did the required business within the state's borders. The grants would be funded from the existing One North Carolina Fund, controlled by the governor. Besides creating the new grant program, the bill also extends the sunset of the Jobs Development Investment Grant program for another two years. That program provides cash grants to new or expanding businesses based on a percentage of their payroll tax withholdings.

Raleigh News and Observer: N.C. loses esteemed rural health care leader
Jim Bernstein, a former assistant secretary with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and a national leader in the improvement of rural health care, died June 12 of bladder cancer. He was 62. Bernstein retired from state government Sept. 30 after working 31 years to improve health care in rural North Carolina. He launched the nation's first state-level office of rural health, devoting himself to attracting doctors, nurses and clinics to isolated communities that needed them. Today, the impact of Bernstein's work is plain: 83 clinics launched with Bernstein's help continue to operate independently across the state. "He was the father of rural health nationally. It's not just North Carolina," said Tork Wade, who worked alongside Bernstein for three decades and succeeded him as director of the N.C. Office of Research, Demonstrations and Rural Health Development.

One of Bernstein's biggest accomplishments was recruiting doctors to rural parts. One of his biggest rewards was watching the health of rural communities improve. In some communities with new clinics, infant mortality rates fell by half. Bernstein's goals evolved over the years. Today, the office he launched continues to oversee the rural health centers program, but it also runs a health program for farm workers; a prescription assistance program for the poor; and a program that aims to improve health access for the urban poor. And Bernstein wasn't done. Though he retired in the fall, he had stayed on, without pay, as an adviser on rural health issues for Health and Human Services Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom. He also planned to continue working for a nonprofit foundation that focuses on rural health. "We had lots of things we were going to do," Hooker Odom said Monday. "It's just one of the saddest days in my life."

top of page

Copyright by N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, Inc. 2002. We encourage you to share this UPDATE with interested individuals, organizations, or agencies. Material may be reproduced in electronic or print form. We ask that you please cite the Rural Center as the source.

Your subscription to this electronic newsletter is for Rural Center use only. We will not distribute or share your email identification with others. To be removed from this mailing list, please send an email to ruralpartners@ncruralcenter.org with unsubscribe in the subject line.

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
Kelly Tucker Griffin, UPDATE production manager
Elaine Matthews, vice president for communications and development
4021 Carya Drive, Raleigh, NC 27610
(919) 250-4314 Fax: (919) 250-4325
http://www.ncruralcenter.org/