NCGrowth clients share their perspectives on the value of partnering with NCGrowth. The Engagement Week video highlights how NC Growth supports small business resilience, showcasing real-world efforts that help businesses adapt, and thrive.
How do we efficiently supply the resources that small and rural communities need to build and sustain businesses? Conference on Market-Based Solutions for Reducing Wealth Inequality speaker Dionne Griffin McGee offers her thoughts.
Public education and small business anchor institutions recover slowly after disasters, as observed in Western North Carolina’s continuing recovery from Hurricane Helene. One organization offers a lesson on the benefits of getting funding to these sectors faster.
Save the date for this drop-in style event showcasing the work of NCGrowth and the Kenan Institute on February 25.
More than four years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we examine the essential elements that build small-business resilience, emphasizing the importance of personal fortitude and intangible resources in ensuring business survival.
Join NCGrowth for the South Carolina Small Rural Business Workshop in Walterboro, S.C., on Saturday, July 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT.
For small businesses, AI promises to handle financial and operational tasks, freeing up workers for other duties and creating new efficiencies. We offer seven focal points for small businesses planning for AI integration.
As a destination for both migration and business growth, North Carolina must reassess the capabilities of local entrepreneurial and small-business ecosystems to ensure that its diverse population of aspiring entrepreneurs and small-business owners has equitable access to opportunities.
Designed for family business leaders, non-family executives, business-owning families and future leaders, this UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Family Enterprise Center online course is a unique opportunity to create a thoughtful roadmap for succession in family business. Come explore family business continuity challenges and common practices for successfully leading family-owned enterprises. Emphasis is placed on the importance of open, transparent communication in the family; the creation of a shared vision for the business; and the alignment of family and business goals.
Save the date for the Family Enterprise Center's 9th Annual Family Business Forum "Communication in the Family Business."
Small-business owners say they’re just beginning to recover from the sudden blow that hobbled many of them during the early 2020 pandemic restrictions. Now mixed economic messages have them wondering what to do next, according to a Washington Post story. “There is so much that’s up in the air, and uncertainty affects small businesses much more so than it does larger ones,” said institute Director of Research Paige Ouimet.
As venture capital markets have surged in recent years, early access to capital remains highly localized. We examine changes that can help investors connect with underrepresented entrepreneurs outside traditional funding hubs, from innovative organizations to improvements in transportation.
Maryann Feldman, the S.K. Heninger Distinguished Professor in the UNC Department of Public Policy and faculty director of Kenan Institute affiliated center CREATE, testified before the House Subcommittee on Research and Technology on Wednesday.
CREATE, an economic development center at the institute, worked with civic and business leaders in Rocky Mount last summer to plan a Black Business Matters District downtown in an effort to address the racial wealth gap in the area. Executive Director Mark Little will join CREATE’s Rocky Mount partners on a panel at 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 24 to share their work as part of Carolina’s Engagement Week.
On Wednesday, Feb. 9, North Carolina Secretary of Commerce Machelle Baker Sanders joined UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Dean Doug Shackelford for a virtual discussion. Sanders discussed the many challenges facing rural North Carolina and the solutions that are being proposed to make the state's businesses and citizens thrive post-pandemic.
Thirty-five percent of respondents from the Carolina Across 100 Survey said that loss of small business had a negative impact on their community during the pandemic. There is good reason to fear this loss. Small businesses play a vital role to their communities. Specifically, they provide economic mobility, breed innovation, deliver crucial services for communities and drive economic growth.
As the pandemic forced shutdowns across the globe, U.S. government entities at the federal, state and local levels worked swiftly to secure known drivers of economic growth and job creation – including entrepreneurial ecosystems and small businesses. And while the programs implemented were widely lauded as successful, the story of who benefitted – and who did not – is more complex. This week’s Kenan Insight explores our experts’ key findings around the roles of policy and implementation in supporting equal access to opportunity.
The COVID-19 pandemic increased economic inequities in a number of ways, including in access to external capital – and while 2020 marked a break-out year for venture-backed firms, the pandemic hit many main street businesses hard. In this Kenan Insight, we explore the forces driving the haves and have-nots in this new economic climate, as well as actionable policy solutions as government support programs wind down.
As the U.S. economy begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and businesses grapple with ongoing labor shortages, the debate around increasing the federal minimum wage – which hasn’t budged in over a decade – has returned to the fore. In this Kenan Insight, we examine whether now is the right time to raise the standard minimum, why these benefits may come at a cost, and what approach might work best given the inevitable tradeoffs.
The 2020 U.S. economic downturn fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic generated both big losers (such as restaurants and the hospitality sector) and big winners (such as high tech and online retail), leading economic commentators to call the recession “K-shaped.” As the pandemic evolves in 2021, this K-shaped recovery will go global; though some countries, notably the U.S. and China, are securely tethered to the largest economic booster rocket ever built, a sizable swath of the world will continue to suffer weak growth.
Mark Little, executive director of CREATE, was recently profiled in an article by Rice University, his alma mater. The article highlights Little’s varied career and collaborative approach to his work.
As a second wave of COVID-19 cases makes its way around the world, the danger to the U.S. economy is clear. In this Kenan Insight, we examine the potentially damaging effects of the ongoing pandemic on an already battered workforce, and make the case for why Congress must act quickly to ensure economic stability.
Urban Investment Strategies Center Director Jim Johnson weighed in on the initial surge and subsequent decline in Black bookstore sales during the COVID-19 pandemic in a recent article by CNN Business.
The list of stores that have closed or gone bankrupt in 2020 reads like a “who’s who” of venerable retail giants. Although retailing has been experiencing tectonic shifts for several years, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated both challenges and opportunities. In this Kenan Insight, we explore four major trends in retail, with a particular focus on food retailing.
Fireside Chats are a continuing series of talks hosted by Launch Chapel Hill and the UNC Entrepreneurship Center. This series features real talks with real entrepreneurs: the good, the bad and the ugly of their entrepreneurial journey thus far, not just the shiny success stories. Our third chat features Alex Brandwein, the Founder and Owner of Brandwein's Bagels.
This lunchtime conversation will feature sales experts Lilly Ferrick and Chris Morrison, two entrepreneurs and Scale School instructors who have each helped hundreds of entrepreneurs re-define their sales processes and create sales systems that are repeatable and scalable.
As North Carolina's entrepreneurs, industries and communities move forward amidst COVID-19, Kenan Institute affiliated center NCGrowth is helping to make sure they have the tools to succeed when business can fully re-open again.
Business incubators are taking on a greater role in the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems, but debate continues over whether, how and in what situations they work. In this Kenan Insight, we explore what makes incubators successful and how communities can determine if one is right for them.
Mark Little, executive director of CREATE, a Kenan Institute-affiliated center, has been named to the inaugural North Carolina Black Entrepreneurship Council (NC BEC). The council was founded by NC IDEA, a private foundation committed to supporting entrepreneurial ambition and economic empowerment in North Carolina.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $300,000 CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's NCGrowth University Center to boost their capacity to support regional economic development strategies in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Join us on June 10 as we launch our incubator guide, alongside Hillary Sherman, of EDA, Thom Ruhe, of NC IDEA, and others directly involved in managing existing incubators. We will explore how to assess the feasibility of an incubator, ways to foster strong, resilient small business communities with or without an incubator, and how incubators have been impacted by COVID-19.
Join NCGrowth-SmartUp on Wednesday, May 27, as we discuss mental health amidst COVID-19. Joined by a panel of experts, we’ll explore resources and strategies to help business owners and their essential workers manage stress and anxiety in this turbulent time.
COVID-19 is causing unprecedented implications for our economy. Millions are filing for unemployment relief, many industries were forced to temporarily cease operations, and some businesses will remain closed indefinitely. Join us as we explore the Economic Impact of COVID-19.
Join us this Wednesday, May 13, from 1-2pm EDT for our next webinar. This webinar is part of a larger series, in partnership with the UNC Entrepreneurship Center, titled “Navigating the Great Pause”. Wednesday’s webinar is titled “Small Business Support and Success Amidst COVID-19” and will feature Lowcountry Local First, of Charleston, South Carolina.
The UNC School of Government’s Development Finance Initiative (DFI) provides financial and development expertise to communities interested in neighborhood redevelopment and redevelopment, downtown revitalization or affordable housing projects, among other initiatives. DFI helps these communities attract the private investment necessary to successfully finish their desired projects.
Join us as personnel from the Development Finance Initiative (DFI) discuss best practices for local governments as they consider implementing a loan program for small businesses. We will also hear from The City of Fayetteville and The City of Belmont, two communities who successfully created small business emergency loan programs to provide bridge loans to local businesses impacted by COVID-19.
In the latest webinar collaboration with NCGrowth, Entrepreneurship Center Executive Director Vickie Gibbs spoke with three current and former clients of NCGrowth about COVID-19’s impact on small business.
During this panel, business owners and operators will hear from a panel of experts regarding leadership, financial and operational adjustments need to make in your business during this time of “the new normal.” Attendees will receive a survey two days before the session to let panelists know the questions you would like addressed.
Please join NCGrowth and the UNC Entrepreneurship Center next Wednesday, April 29, from 2-3pm as we hear from business owners impacted by COVID-19. How did they decide whether to apply for one of the offered loan packages? How did they have to pivot to meet new constraints and demands?
During this panel, business owners and operators will hear from a panel of experts regarding leadership, financial and operational adjustments need to make in your business during this time of “the new normal.” Attendees will receive a survey two days before the session to let panelists know the questions you would like addressed.
During this panel, attendees will learn from three leading experts on how to assess their own situation, create calm and create a foundation from which to make sound decisions. Panelists with expertise in financial, personnel and legal issues will provide insights. In addition, there will be an expert who will guide businesses on assessing where they stand and developing a framework and timeline of tasks to be accomplished.
In the" Leading Your Organization and Maintaining Strong Culture in the midst of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt)" session, panelists will talk specifically about how to keep your team positive and motivated in these challenging times. They will share leading indicators to assess if people on a team are struggling, tips for keeping yourself positive and suggestions for creating a sense of team and togetherness virtually.
Hosted by CREATE, the SBA, the UNC Tax Center and the UNC Entrepreneurship Center, this webinar experts will discuss how to determine which federal aid programs are best for your business, including the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and others under the CARES Act.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put 18 million jobs at small businesses in the U.S. at risk – which could as much as quadruple the nation’s total unemployment rate. The effects of both the coronavirus and recent government relief programs were explored by a panel of Kenan Institute-convened experts during a press briefing held yesterday. The full recording of this briefing—along with a deeper-dive analysis on the specific implications of the financial downturn on small business employment by Kenan Institute Research Director Professor Christian Lundblad and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Professor Paige Ouimet—is available in this week’s Kenan Insight.
A panel of experts convened by UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and its affiliated Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise will be offering a press briefing via webinar examining the massive implications the COVID-19 market disruption has, and will continue to have, on small business employment, including a projected 11.5 percentage point addition to the overall U.S. unemployment rate by small business layoffs. They will also examine the role relief legislation can and should play in mitigating the economic effects of the pandemic. Join tomorrow, Tuesday, March 31, at 11 a.m. EDT.
The webinar will outline how to apply for U.S. Small Business Administration business disaster recovery loans. SBA District Director for North Carolina Thomas Stith and Senior Area Manager Patrick Rodriguez will present via Zoom covering the administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program for coronavirus related economic disruptions.
On Saturday, March 21, the Small Business Investor Alliance released a survey focusing on the effect COVID-19 is having on small businesses across the U.S. Kenan Institute Executive Director Greg Brown and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Ph.D. candidate Matteo Binfarè provided data analysis.
To help separate fact from fiction and legitimate concern from panic, the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School convened six top faculty researchers to discuss the likely effects of the pandemic on business and the economy.
A slate of experts from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and its affiliated Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise will be offering a press briefing via teleconference on the tremendous effects of COVID-19 on business, workers and the economy at large. Join tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17, at 11 a.m.
Small businesses are an undeniable engine of growth for the United States, comprising 99 percent of all U.S. firms and driving nearly half our total economic activity. Yet small business owners across the country lack sufficient capital to succeed, grow and scale. The Kenan Institute has conducted a new analysis on the role of the Small Business Administration’s SBIC program in providing capital to the often-overlooked small businesses operating outside of metropolitan centers, as well as those owned by women and underrepresented minorities. Greg Brown, executive director at the Kenan Institute and professor of finance at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, discusses the findings in this video.
Small businesses are an undeniable engine of growth for the United States, comprising 99 percent of all U.S. firms and driving nearly half our total economic activity. Yet small business owners across the country lack sufficient capital to succeed, grow and scale. The Kenan Institute has conducted a new analysis on the role of the Small Business Administration’s SBIC program in providing capital to the often-overlooked small businesses operating outside of metropolitan centers, as well as those owned by women and underrepresented minorities. You can access an overview of our findings, as well as key takeaways for business and policy leaders, by clicking below.
An inside look at the plenary sessions of the fourth annual Frontiers of Entrepreneurship conference, which convened practitioners, policymakers and academics to discuss the most challenging issues in the field of entrepreneurship and set the agenda for future research and policy.
On Wednesday, Feb. 5, Maryann Feldman, Heninger Distinguished Professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina, adjunct professor of finance at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and director of the Kenan Institute-affiliated center CREATE, testified before the Subcommittee on Research and Technology, part of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. The hearing, titled "America's Seed Fund: A Review of SBIR and STTR," discussed the role of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program in helping to move the results of federally funded research into commercial development and generating new economic growth.
On Nov. 19, NCGrowth visited High Point, North Carolina, to learn more about the city’s unique legacy, recent developments and future revitalization efforts.
Vickie Gibbs, executive director of the Entrepreneurship Center, and Maryann Feldman, director of CREATE, were featured in a recent News & Observer piece that looks at the growth of new businesses in the Triangle and how that's impacting the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region.
As Global Entrepreneurship Week begins, Professor Ted Zoller, faculty director of the Kenan Institute-affiliated UNC Entrepreneurship Center, discusses what UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School is doing to drive innovation in entrepreneurship education and prepare the next generation of entrepreneurs for success.
The third annual Kenan Institute Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Conference convened thought leaders from academia, industry and government to debate the most challenging current issues in the field of entrepreneurship and set the agenda for future research and policy. It was held on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2019 at The Breakers Palm Beach.