Program areas at North Carolina Rural Center
Small business / entrepreneurship: the Rural Center delivers critical resources to support existing businesses and enable the emergence of new entrepreneurs. The Rural Center believes equitable Economic growth depends on sustaining Rural small businesses and nurturing small-town entrepreneurs. The Rural Center's lending subsidiary, thread capital, works with individuals trying to start or expand a small business by providing capital, coaching, and connections. The Rural Center operates the state small business credit initiative program to support private sector capital formation in all 100 counties. The Rural Center operates cornersquare community capital, which supports community Development financial institutions in a 17-state region.
Advocacy & research: the Rural Center serves as the state's leading advocate for its many Rural communities. The Rural Center provides local, regional, and state leaders the information they need to be informed on the important Rural issues of the day. The Rural Center identifies specific topics for more in-depth exploration and partners with experts to lift up policy and research that informs the decisions of today and helps plan for the choices of tomorrow. With a voice informed by data, research, storytelling, and best practices, the Rural Center advocates on the local, state, and federal levels for the compelling issues facing Rural communities: issues like broadband access, healthcare, housing, agriculture, education, energy, workforce Development, and infrastructure.
Leadership & engagement: the Rural Center provides Rural communities with a comprehensive framework for Economic Development, tools to invest in building their assets and create cultures of collaborative problem solving. As a promoter of leadership that is inclusive, connected, informed and creative, the Rural Center nurtures the state's next generation of Rural leaders. The Rural Center works to equip communities and leaders with the knowledge and tools necessary to manage the challenges of a changing Economic landscape and to promote sustained Economic and community Development. The Rural Center's Rural Economic Development institute (redi) and regional leadership training, homegrown leaders, have trained more than 1,300 Rural leaders since 1989. The community engagement program provided capacity building, technical assistance and training to Rural communities.