HICKORY — Catawba Valley Community College has received a Dogwood Health Trust grant to improve equity of access to business support programs for western North Carolina entrepreneurs.
With financial support from the Dogwood Health Trust, CVCC aims to develop technology that better connects entrepreneurs and small business owners to available support programs.
The "Support Navigator" initiative is the next evolution of CVCC's longstanding efforts to foster economic prosperity through entrepreneurship enablement and small business acceleration.
The Support Navigator Program will serve entrepreneurs in 27 North Carolina counties and the Qualla Boundary and is an extension of CVCC's successful Startup Western North Carolina (Startup WNC) program. CVCC, in partnership with nine other N.C. community colleges, launched the Startup WNC in 2020.
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The Qualla Boundary is a land trust for the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Startup WNC began as a two-year pilot program focused on sustainably growing small businesses in western North Carolina, especially those created by rural, underserved, historically marginalized, and COVID-19-impacted entrepreneurs.
The Support Navigator will make it easier for entrepreneurs and small business owners to find and connect to available business support such as funding, mentorship, and training programs. Following a short number of easily answered questions, Support Navigator users will be presented to support programs that best match their needs. In addition, to ensure all entrepreneurs have equal access to support, the Support Navigator will embed on the websites of qualifying entrepreneurship support organizations.
CVCC President Garrett Hinshaw is the visionary behind this extensive collaboration with the other 10 community colleges in western North Carolina in making this project a reality.
"CVCC is grateful to partner with Dogwood Health Trust to provide rural and underserved entrepreneurs equal access to critical small business support programs and resources,” Hinshaw said. “The Navigator Project grew out of the success of Startup Your Ecosystem and is another significant step forward in our ongoing mission to make it easier for all entrepreneurs to start and grow successful businesses throughout our region. CVCC is pleased our longtime partner and leading entrepreneurship enablement expert, Supportedly, will lead the Navigator project’s development and management."
Counties involved in the project include Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania and Yancey as well as the Qualla Boundary.
Community colleges involved in the collaboration include CVCC, Asheville-Buncombe Tech, Blue Ridge, Cleveland, Gaston, Haywood, Isothermal, McDowell, South Western, Mayland, Tri-County, Western Piedmont and Wilkes.
According to the Small Business Association, small businesses represent an average of 44 percent of all businesses in the United States and employ on average two-thirds of all employees in the U.S.
"Building a stronger and more equitable ecosystem of entrepreneurs is an important part of Dogwood’s work to increase economic opportunity in western North Carolina, which is a key driver of overall health and wellbeing for communities and individuals,” said Sarah Thompson, vice president of economic opportunity at Dogwood Health Trust. “We are pleased to partner with Catawba Valley Community College and the alliance of WNC community colleges and numerous other entrepreneurship support organizations that will make it easier for rural and historically underserved entrepreneurs to get the help they need when starting and growing businesses."
For more information on the Startup WNC program, visit https://supportedly.com/find/#find-a-chapter.