Miller School wins grant to accelerate small businesses

The Crisp Small Business Resource Center in the Miller School of Entrepreneurship recently received an NC IDEA Ecosystem Grant to launch a pilot rural accelerator program starting in the fall 2020 semester. This program, called Accelerate Rural NC, is designed to increase the resiliency of rural communities in eastern North Carolina. It will focus on helping businesses gain access to global markets with innovative products. Key components of the accelerator include e-commerce development, development of high-value offerings for niche markets, export training, and creation of innovative business models based on customer discovery.

“By providing high-value offerings and broadening marketing reach globally for market niches, a business can have increased pricing flexibility and sales opportunities while reducing the risk associated with local markets,” said David Mayo, director, Crisp Center.

Accelerate Rural NC will be administered in three phases: pilot, development and expansion. Year one of the program will be a pilot focused on developing curriculum and processes for a single county with three participating communities.  The development phase will last two years and focus on content collection for expansion.  The expansion phase will leverage existing assets at ECU, local governments and non-profit organizations to provide programming across eastern North Carolina.

The first cohort of small-business owners will start in September 2020. Participants will focus on value creation for key customer segments with a special focus on web-based channels for value delivery. New businesses will have the opportunity to move into a partnered incubator facility free of cost for 12 months while establishing a foothold in the market. After successful incubation, the business will select a storefront location from community partner inventory at a subsidized rate.

“Connecting businesses to global markets decreases reliance on local customers but better meets the needs of niche customer segments,” added Mayo.

Accelerate Rural NC joins RISE29 as two key university programs aimed at building an entrepreneurial ecosystem in eastern North Carolina.

“The Miller School is excited to involved in both initiatives,” said Dr. Michael Harris, director, Miller School.

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