An update from the Crisp Small Business Resource Center

The fall semester has been both exciting and challenging for the Miller School of Entrepreneurship‘s Crisp Small Business Resource Center.  Much of the emphasis has been on serving small businesses by providing them with access to student projects and connections with faculty expertise. Small businesses continued to receive assistance from student-led consulting teams, including projects in the Small Business Management and Family Business courses. Each class was offered in an accelerated 7.5-week block, which presented unique challenges and opportunities. The block schedule allowed students to work with different types of companies that cannot commit to a full semester because of their business cycles, including a hemp farm, Christmas tree farm, and a vegetable farm.

The fall also featured the launch of the pilot program Accelerate Rural NC, the Crisp Center’s intensive small business training program for rural businesses.  During the 10-week program, an impressive group of mentors and guest speakers provided entrepreneurial training to help the 12 participating companies grow and investigate new product lines. The program director, Dennis Tracz, did an incredible job developing an accelerator program on par with the top programs in the country, featuring a 30-member mentoring network of former executives, consultants, and entrepreneurs. All participants strengthened their e-commerce capabilities and many developed new products that will drive future success. The program was funded by a grant from NC Idea’s Ecosystem Partners program.

The Crisp Center also recently launched the Faculty Alliance program that encourages faculty from across the campus to add course modules that will benefit regional small businesses. Several faculty members have applied for the program, and the first selections will be made in December for course modules to be delivered in the spring semester.

The Crisp Center continues to pursue a growth strategy heavily reliant on grants in the short-term with a long-term focus on sponsored and fee-based programming. Currently, there are $1.1 million in grant applications in progress or under review. These new grants are focused on expanding Accelerate Rural NC’s reach and providing access to capital for growth startups in eastern North Carolina.

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