Secretary of State highlights business climate during visit

N.C. Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall visited New Bern for a business roundtable to discuss the Rural Resources for Innovators, Start-ups and Entrepreneurs N.C. initiative.

Marshall was joined by several small business owners, economic developers, small business advocates and area leaders at the Craven Community College’s Volt Center Friday.

Her office has hosted about 23 business roundtables in various counties across the state to promote the Rural RISE N.C. initiative, which puts helpful resources in the hands of business creators early on.

Through the initiative, new business owners in 93 North Carolina counties have access to a comprehensive guide that connects them with small business lenders, counselors and more within their community.

The Rural RISE initiative was prompted by a 2021 survey, conducted by Marshall’s office, to determine who is starting businesses in the state, why and what resources they need to be successful.

Marshall’s office began pondering these questions due to an explosion of new businesses in North Carolina in 2021. Although she didn’t expect it, Marshall said the increased business activity coincided with the COVID pandemic.

“Our data shows that over the last four years, North Carolina has been on fire for business creations,” Marshall said. “In mid-2020, (while) we were on lock down, all of a sudden we were experiencing this explosive growth in new business entities.”

In 2021, almost 180,000 new businesses filed with the Secretary of State’s office, which was a jump from the approximately 120,000 filed the year before. Although there has been a slight drop since 2021, at least 160,000 businesses filed in consecutive years.

However, Marshall’s office found that one in four new businesses in N.C. close by their third year of operation and half close by their seventh year.

“We know that we’ve got a very short window of time to help these new businesses with resources,” Marshall said. “That’s why we launched Rural RISE, to help businesses get immediate access to crucial resources that bring these business owners the success that they want.”

The new business survey initially focused on COVID-era 2020 businesses but comparative data was collected for 2018-21. New businesses that provided email addresses with the Secretary of State’s office were included in the survey.

The survey found that funding, government regulation and back office help were the largest obstacles small business owners faced when they first started.

The survey also found that many small business owners weren’t aware of the various resources within their community through local colleges, nonprofits and local government.

“The disturbing, disturbing fact was that when asked, community college was one of the choices on the drop down list, but only 8% said they had utilized the services of community colleges,” Marshall said.

“The community college is one of our absolute best resources here in North Carolina and so many people just don’t know about it.”

Marshall also praised Craven Community College for its Small Business Center, which provides free counseling, training and resource information for entrepreneurs.

Other area resources Marshall mentioned include the Small Business and Technology Development Center of N.C. at East Carolina University, Craven County’s Economic Development Department and the Craven 100 Alliance, as well as the Havelock Chamber of Commerce and New Bern Area Chamber of Commerce.

Now, through the Rural RISE initiative, when a new business files in N.C., they receive an electronic bulletin via email with resources specific to their county.

The pilot program started with 14 rural counties and expanded to 93 of 100 N.C. counties, 78 of which are rural.

“We’ve done basically all the counties, except the major urban areas,” Marshall said. “I’m not sure we’ll map those out because the ecosystem in places like Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte is pretty full.

“The ecosystem for entrepreneurship (is different) in small counties and more distant counties. The further away you get from Raleigh, the thinner that ecosystem gets.”

After Marshall discussed the new business survey and Rural RISE initiative, owners of each of the 10 businesses in attendance could ask questions or provide feedback.

A few business owners, like Todd Whitsnant of Coastal Sole in New Bern, Gretchen Du Peza of Benjamin Ellis House Bed and Breakfast in New Bern and Jennifer Bassler of All American Pet Resort in New Bern said that staffing is an issue.

“I’m sure a lot of people’s biggest obstacle I think is trying to find people,” Whitsnant said. “It just seems like the last five years, people don’t want to work.”

“Financing was not an issue (in the beginning) but at this point it’s going to be because we are growing so fast and need to look at other resources as we look to add more staff,” Bassler added.

Du Peza agreed that the biggest issue she and her husband face with their bed and breakfast is keeping staff, specifically housekeepers.

Bill Wheeler of Nautical Wheelers in Oriental and New Bern said staffing is a challenge but bookkeeping and accounting services are larger challenges.

“My wife is very good with accounting and bookkeeping,” he said. “But to get that outside accounting or oversight and bigger view is a challenge because we’ve had trouble getting those professionals to take (on) our business.”

Leaders of Craven Community College including President Ray Staats, Dean of the Volt Center Jeffrey Schulze, Associate Dean of the Volt Center Drew Meadows, Director of the Small Business Center Jeff Wilke and Director of Community Engagement Craig Ramey listened in on the business roundtable.

After listening to the business owners, Staats announced that the college plans to look into a workforce development office for bookkeeping services.

“Just in the last few minutes, we’ve already started talking about looking for a workforce connection that could apply to bookkeeping,” he said.

Other area leaders, like Mayor Jeffrey Odham and Craven County Board of Commissioners Chairman Denny Bucher also listened in on the roundtable. Both noted that the information they heard was valuable.

Du Peza said that, as a business owner, it was also helpful to hear about challenges, advantages and opportunities other business owners have experienced in Craven County.

“What was wonderful is the fact that the secretary came here and was explaining the programs that are available to help support businesses in New Bern and specifically in Craven County,” she said. “I was not aware of some of these resources that are available through the secretary of state’s office so it was really helpful for us to learn that these resources are available online.

“It was really an eye opener for me to help see what resources are available for businesses.”