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Federal reps observe Project GATE at Small Business Center Posted on 20/9/9/30 SOURCE: REIDSVILLE REVIEW
In1986, the Charlotte Observer reported, "If rural and urban areas don'twork together, they might not work at all."
At the time those wordswere written, the decline of North Carolina's rural areas and rise ofits urban areas were in full swing. This was economically unhealthy foreverybody because rural areas provide services, goods and labor tourban areas, and without strong rural areas, the urban strength becomesunstable.
In 1987, to help raise the declining living standards inrural areas, the nonprofit N.C. Rural Economic Development Centerwas created. Its mission was and continues to be to help develop,promote and implement economic strategies that will improve the qualityof life of rural North Carolina residents. One of those ways is throughthe growth of entrepreneurship.
The Small Business Center at RockinghamCommunity College partners with the NC Rural Center. This partnershipis helpful to existing and future entrepreneurs by giving them a localperson who can guide them through the complexities of loan applicationsand proven successful small business practices.
Recently, the RCC SmallBusiness Center received a visit from federal representatives ofProject GATE (Growing America Through Entrepreneurship), a federalgrant administered by the NC Rural Center. Through GATE, would-beentrepreneurs can apply for scholarships to help them in their businessventure. Because the grant is new, federal representatives are in theprocess of gathering data from facilities like the RCC Small BusinessCenter, who use the money to train future business owners. RCC waschosen because as a primary GATE site (one of eight in the state), itssmall business center is considered top notch based partly on the number of individuals inits programs and the success stories.
Debi Joyce is the on-site GATEcounselor at RCC. She has REAL (Rural Entrepreneurship through ActionLearning) training and regularly teaches the "How to Start a SmallBusiness" course. Since many GATE scholarship recipients are enrolledin the course, the federal representatives attended one of her classesto observe.
After the visit, Barry Ryan, entrepreneurship associate atthe NC Rural Center, said, "They loved what Debi is doing and were veryimpressed by the interactive nature of the class" Something Joycecredits, in part, to the support and assistance of local businessowners.
"Four other states were chosen to demonstrate the GATEproject," Ryan said, "but they said North Carolina is proving to be themodel." - Barry Ryan, NC Rural Center entrepreneurship associate
SOURCE: REIDSVILLE REVIEW |
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