Press Release
Contact: Robert Albright |
Phone: 919-549-7500 ext.123 |
CED Joins Statewide Effort to Support NC’s Rural, Minority Entrepreneurs
Kellogg-Funded Project to Develop Comprehensive Entrepreneurship Delivery System
August 9, 2005, Research Triangle Park, NC – The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) today announced its participation as a project team member in the Rural Entrepreneurship Development System (Rural EDS) for North Carolina. This statewide project, led by the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, is the result of a $2 million grant awarded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in April 2005 to create a comprehensive entrepreneurship development system to serve rural and minority entrepreneurs in low-wealth areas of North Carolina.
CED joins a coalition of 21 state agencies, nonprofit organizations, universities and community colleges that are working together on the two-year, statewide effort. The project one of six to receive funding from a pool of more than 180 applicants nationwide 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.
“As a team member, CED will work closely with other groups on the Rural EDS project to bring high-level business development expertise to the most economically distressed areas of the state. We look forward to broadening existing partnerships and building new coalitions,” said CED President Monica Doss. “Like a rising tide lifting all ships, this project will play a key role in promoting a vibrant entrepreneurial culture across North Carolina.”
Plans call for a series of regional workshops to begin this fall, with scholarships available to rural leaders in the most economically distressed parts of the state. Informational materials will be developed to assist community leaders, business resource providers and entrepreneurs in growing local business ventures.
CED’s primary involvement with the Rural EDS project will be helping develop guides on building entrepreneurial networks and angel networks. CED will also serve on EDS workgroups that focus on access to capital, community leader training and project communications.
The grant was awarded as part of a national program to create Rural Entrepreneurship Development Systems, in commemoration of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's 75th Anniversary. The program is designed to boost economic activity in rural areas by helping local leaders establish community networks that support the growth and development of entrepreneurs and their job creating ventures. Kellogg's $12 million investment in six regional projects is expected to stimulate national and state interest in rural entrepreneurship and leverage significant investment in rural communities.
About the Rural EDS for North Carolina: The Rural EDS for North Carolina is statewide project to create a comprehensive entrepreneurship development system to serve rural and minority entrepreneurs in low-wealth areas of North Carolina. Led by the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, this two-year project is the result of a $2 million grant awarded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in April 2005. The intended outcome of the Entrepreneurship Development System is to have a system in which all types of entrepreneurs in North Carolina’s 85 rural counties understand how to access education and training opportunities, technical assistance, capital sources, and entrepreneurial networking. For more information, visit ncruralcenter.org/stories/kellogg.asp or contact Leslie Scott, Director, Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship, or Michelle Hall, Entrepreneurship Development System project coordinator, N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, Inc. 919/250-4314.
About CED: The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, headquartered in Research Triangle Park with a divisional office in Wilmington, is a private, non-profit organization formed in 1984 to stimulate the creation and growth of high-impact companies in various North Carolina innovation centers. CED provides education, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, seminars, workshops and programs on entrepreneurial management and finance. CED is the largest and oldest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 4,000 members representing over 1,100 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms. www.cednc.org.
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