North Carolina’s small businesses are the backbone of our state’s economy. Our state and our people benefit most when these companies prosper and grow. Those of us in the General Assembly are clearly aware of this and we focus much of our effort on making North Carolina a great place to do business.
These efforts and our state’s business climate have been recognized throughout the nation and the world. A recent study commissioned by the Council on State Taxation and conducted by Ernst & Young found that North Carolina places a lower state and local tax burden on businesses than any other state. In addition, North Carolina is ranked seventh in benefits received by businesses relative to their tax burden. Our reputation as a business-friendly state assists in our efforts to strengthen our economy and improve our unemployment, as recent important job announcements throughout the state show.
The following information highlights just some of the ways state government works to preserve the well-being of North Carolina’s small businesses.
Thank you as always for your interest in state government. If you have any questions about this information or anything else that I can help with, please contact me. I am always glad to be of service.
Community Colleges
_In recent years, North Carolina communities have experienced tremendous job loss, particularly in the manufacturing industry. This has resulted in an unprecedented number of people going to our community colleges to learn new skills and retrain for new jobs. Enrollment continues to soar at these institutions. In this year’s budget, we fully funded enrollment growth in community colleges to ensure that students are not denied services because of enrollment growth ($58 million for fiscal year 2009-10 and $99 million for fiscal year 2010-11). A well-educated and well-trained workforce benefits all businesses in this state, whether they are large or small.
_The Small Business Center Network housed within North Carolina community colleges also plays an important role in assisting small businesses throughout the state. We allocated $5.35 million to the program this year so that it can help North Carolinians start and grow their own small businesses. Each community college in the state is home to a small business center, meaning that such a center is located within a 30-minute drive of almost all North Carolinians. Many of the services offered are free of charge.
_The North Carolina Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning, or NC REAL, is a non-profit organization within the community colleges that helps encourage entrepreneurship and small business creation. NC REAL’s training programs and curriculum have helped thousands of people create jobs throughout our state. This year, we appropriated $250,000 for both the 2009-10 fiscal year and the 2010-11 fiscal year.
_We also continued to appropriate funds to the community colleges for the NC Military Business Center so that it can continue with its important work. The primary purpose of the center is to help small- and medium-sized businesses throughout the state that are seeking federal contracts, with a focus on military-related contracts. The center also helps highly-trained military personnel transition to civilian employment and recruits new defense-related businesses to the state. We appropriated $1.25 million in recurring funds for the center.
University System
_The University of North Carolina is home to the Small Business and Technology Development Center. The center provides business consulting services and management education to growing small businesses. Although the main office is located in Raleigh, the center operates 10 regional service centers in 17 offices throughout the state.
Department of Commerce
_The One North Carolina Small Business Fund within the Department of Commerce received $700,000 this year. The program provides matching funds for businesses trying to obtain federal research grants under the Small Business Administration.
_In 2007, the General Assembly created the NC Green Business Fund. This fund was established to provide grants or loans to small businesses involved in a variety of “green” industries, such as renewable fuels or energy-efficient building technologies. This year, we allocated $5 million of federal stimulus money to support this program.
_The Business ServiCenter within the Department of Commerce provides information about state and local programs and resources to help growing small businesses. The center provides one-on-one consultation over the phone or in person about issues such as identification of business resources and licensing requirements and can also supply referrals to other state, federal, and local agencies. Much of this general information is also available online at Business Link North Carolina, www.blnc.org. The department also has a small business ombudsman, who assists in resolving issues with state agencies.
Aid to Non-profits
_The General Assembly provides funding to a variety of non-profits that help foster the growth of small businesses. These agencies include the Rural Center, the Golden LEAF, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, the Community Development Initiative, the Institute of Minority Economic Development, and others. In addition to ongoing efforts that help small business gain access to capital, this year we appropriated $500,000 to the Rural Center to assist existing small businesses. The Rural Center combined this money with funds from the Golden LEAF to develop an initiative in conjunction with the Self-Help credit union that will allow Self-Help to make loans in the amount of $27.5 million to small businesses.
Notes
_There has been some concern recently about a proposal that may change the U.S. history curriculum in our public schools. First, I want you to know that this plan is just a draft and has not received final approval. The contentious part of the proposal is that it calls for starting the study of U.S. history in high school at about 1877, leading some to worry that our schools would ignore the early history of our nation. The proposal, however, would actually increase the study of history in our schools by adding a full year of study of U.S. history in the fifth grade and another full year of study of North Carolina and U.S. history in middle school. Existing standards already require two high school courses in government and history and study of North Carolina history in fourth grade.
_The state Office of the Commissioner of Banks continues to offer a free program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. People seeking help can call 1-866-234-4857 (8:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m., Mon.-Fri-; 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Sat) to be connected with a HUD-approved counseling agency that can help you over the phone or provide face-to-face counseling. For more information, visit www.fightNCforeclosure.org.
Prepared with the assistance of the Speaker’s Office of Communications
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Regular Reports On What Is Happening In the NC General Assembly of Interest to citizens in District 51 by Representative Jimmy Love
