Editor’s note: Over the past two weeks, Jason Parker and WRALTechWire has taken an in-depth look at the past and present of Durham – a reborn city. And the future appears to be bright for what we have called “The New Bull City.” But as Parker writes in today’s installment, there are challenges to be overcome.


DURHAM, N.C. – In the past three weeks, I’ve interviewed more than 30 entrepreneurs, executives and entrepreneur support professionals. It’s been an incredible experience.

WRALTechWire set out to determine key aspects of downtown Durham’s transition from a defunct tobacco town in the late 1990s to the vibrant creative place it is today. My role in the series is finished – for the moment – but more of the New Bull City story remains to be told.

At this point, we thought it would be a good idea to reflect on what we’ve learned and reported so far.

We hope that the selected stories helped you explore Durham’s history, recent and antiquated. We hope that you’ve gained a greater understanding of the infrastructure of downtown Durham, and how entrepreneurs, scientists, developers, and the arrival of creative-class employees have changed downtown’s urban landscape.

We hope that you, like us, believe in Durham’s future, and believe in the Triangle as a hotbed of technology activity and scientific research.

I signed on to write this series because I, like everyone with whom I spoke, believe in Durham’s future. I grew up in a small town just north of Durham. As a child, my only visits to downtown were to attend baseball games.

Maybe once or twice a summer, I’d get to attend Durham Bulls games, but that was it. My sister would perform in plays at the Durham Arts Council. If it wasn’t a play, and it wasn’t a game, there was no reason to be downtown. At least not for us.

I was in middle school when the Durham Bulls Athletic Park opened. I was there on opening day. It never dawned on me that Durham may change around that ballpark – that I would one day return to Durham specifically to work with downtown entrepreneurs.

I’ve learned a lot about Durham from when that ballpark opened to where it is today. I missed a good chunk of that growth between 2004 and 2011, when I was attending school at Gettysburg College and starting my career in Washington, DC.

There’s a part of me that always knew I would return to Durham – this deep knowledge that Durham’s gritty entrepreneurial culture and creative resiliency would change the nature of the city. Call it a hunch, or a feeling. Call it faith.

Whatever it was that drew me back to Durham, it happened quickly. Far more quickly than even I’d imagined.

Writing this series is a bit like writing a love letter to Durham. It’s a bit of a coming home party. For me, it’s one more very clear story I can tell my college friends who moved to New York City, Washington, DC, or Boston. It’s the story of an underdog – a gritty, creative and resilient city on the rise.

Along the way, I’ve learned a few lessons. I’d like to end this series by sharing the perspectives, concerns, and critical issues that Durham faces as it continues to change its entrepreneurial economy.

Entrepreneurs Are Key to Growth

The last cotton and textile mill to operate in Durham closed in 1986, and the last tobacco company headquartered in Durham shut its doors in 1999. Throughout the ’90s, said Jeff Clark, managing partner at Aurora Funds, downtown Durham was perceived to be unsafe and unsavory. “Virtually no one traveled downtown,” said Clark.

But that started to change, said Clark, starting small, with the decision to build a new ballpark. “Jim Goodmon’s involvement in the Durham Bulls,” said Clark, “has been huge.”

Goodmon, chief executive officer of Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting (the parent of WRALTechWire) and an entrepreneur himself, convinced Durham to support the stadium, added two office buildings around it with a third under construction, and turned the American Tobacco factory complex into a business, cultural and tech hub.

Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP) opened in 1995. It was a tough decision for Durham, said Clark. Other plans included renovating the old ballpark, Durham Athletic Park. Ultimately, the construction of DBAP was instrumental in creating the downtown we enjoy today, said Clark, and Goodmon’s idea to do this was “spot on.”

Entrepreneurs like Goodmon are essential to the continuing evolution of New Bull City. 

There’s a strong belief within the entrepreneurial community that true organic growth of the entrepreneurial economy comes not with intervention from support organizations or government, but rather the exact opposite.

And Durham’s support organizations get it.

“We made a very conscious decision to get connected to the entrepreneurial community as an important part of the downtown culture,” said Casey Steinbacher, president and CEO of the Durham Chamber of Commerce.

Steinbacher, who joined the Chamber in 2007, recognized the importance of the hidden entrepreneurial community early in her tenure in Durham.

“We had all of these great spaces in Durham,” said Steinbacher. “It was a real opportunity for us to find ways to help the hidden talent in Durham, independently, to find ways to be successful and to connect them.”

The key word is “independently,” said Steinbacher. It’s also important to understand that that is a really difficult task for a Chamber of Commerce, said Steinbacher. “The way that Chamber’s traditionally operate is way more conventional,” said Steinbacher, “like command and control.”

That’s compared to “the true organic growth of entrepreneurs,” said Steinbacher, which provided a great opportunity for the Chamber to learn from entrepreneurs.

The Chamber shifted their philosophy, said Steinbacher. “It became our job to be intentional in helping keep the ecosystem around the entrepreneurial community populated with what it is they needed to allow them to grow organically.”

As Durham continues to expand its entrepreneurial economy, it is important to note that the growth will come from entrepreneurs themselves, not the support systems that surround them. The role of a support organization, like Steinbacher argues, will be to help keep the ecosystem populated with what entrepreneurs need in order to grow. Is it talent? Is it funding? Is is office space? Is it affordable housing for their employees in the heart of downtown?

Despite Forward Momentum, Access to Capital is Still a Vital Concern

A number of venture groups based in Durham that used to invest no longer do so. This includes Aurora Funds, which no longer actively invests in the region, and The Wakefield Group, said Clay Thorp, general partner at Hatteras Venture Partners.

Hatteras Venture Partners, Pappas Ventures and Intersouth Partners all remain active in the Triangle, said Thorp, acknowledging that the funds aren’t specifically dedicated to Durham or even Triangle-based companies.

Despite “a bit of resurgence in the past few years,” said Thorp, “but its not nearly enough – not enough to support a robust innovation economy.”

There are alternative funding sources, including NC IDEA Grants, which provide grant money up to $50,000 in qualifying early-stage companies, as well as incubator and accelerator programs, including the Cherokee Challenge, Groundwork Labs, and Triangle Startup Factory. Yet, this funding is limited, and must be supplemented by additional funding.

Many in the community believe that activity from angel investors and angel investment groups will be vital to sustain the continued growth of the entrepreneurial economy.

“I wish there was more angel investment in the area,” said Chris Heivly, managing director at Triangle Startup Factory. “I don’t worry about venture capital money, because that’ll come with great companies.”

There needs to be a broader base of early-stage seed capital, ranging from $100,000 to $300,000, said Heivly. Durham must expand its angel investor contingent outside of pure technology people, said Heivly, “it needs to be from non-tech people, it has to be, if we’re going to broaden the base.”

Durham is One or Two Big Wins Away

“It seems to me that the starting point for risk capital generation is to have a large number of entrepreneurs that have exited successfully,” said Kirk Owen, CEO of Zenph, “reinvest their time and money in new ventures.”

“Though there have been some great exits here and there are a number of entrepreneurs who have continued to invest and stay involved,” said Owen, “the number pales in comparison to other entrepreneurial hubs.”

What is needed, said Zach Mansfield, vice president at Square 1 Bank, are more significant wins. “We need more wealth reinvested back into the area,” said Mansfield.

“It’s a long game,” said Mansfield, “it’ll take twenty-five to thirty years.”

“A lot will depend on the number of wins in the next ten years,” said Mansfield, “and if, specifically, those entrepreneurs will get back into the game.”

The Future of Durham Hinges on Its Relationship with Duke University

“Duke has been constant in their support,” said Aurora’s Clark. “My perception is that whenever there is a new project that makes sense, Duke is a part of it.”

Duke “is not going to be the only player,” said Clark, “but they will be an anchor tenant.” And that is vital, said Clark, because with Duke involved, “the project has momentum. It gives the project legs.”

The bottom line is this, said Clark: “For Duke to be great, Durham has to be great. And Duke figured that out, and they’re helping Durham become great.”

“Part of my charge was to make Durham more interesting,” said Scott Selig, vice president of real estate for Duke University. For Duke to attract the best faculty and students, “people have to have something to do, something for their spouse to do, and things to do when they’re not on campus,” said Selig.

To do this, Duke must play a key role in “helping to make downtown Durham more interesting,” said Selig. “Duke University is only as good as Durham,” said Selig, which is one of the key reasons that in the past twelve years, Duke has focused on shifting employees and university functions to downtown.

“We did not and do not intentionally put Duke signs all over downtown,” said Selig, “we’re trying to help create downtown Durham, not downtown Duke.”

The goal is to create a livable, walkable city center, said Selig, that

“We’ve been able to quietly help downtown naturally become what it was always going to become,” said Selig, “which is a really unique and interesting environment.”

“We have the creative, entrepreneurial spirit all over the city,” said Selig, “which is what allows us to help catalyze development.”

Affordability: A Critical Issue for Durham

As Durham continues to expand, it must remain true to its core, said Margaret McNab, executive director of The Scrap Exchange. The city’s transformation is largely due to the gritty, entrepreneurial, artistic and creative people that believe in Durham.

A large part of staying true to this core group is by ensuring that downtown stays affordable, said McNab.

Solving the housing problem will be a complex challenge, said Adam Klein, chief strategist of the American Underground. “My wife and I live downtown,” said Klein, “and the change in the cost of living downtown in the next 20 years is a concern.”

“Durham still needs more housing opportunities,” said Joni Madison, COO of McKinney, “and needs to pay attention to making sure those housing opportunities are available to various levels of socio-economic needs, including families and young people.” In other words, Durham must honor the commitment it has to the gritty core that McNab spoke about.

“It can’t all be done on $300,000 condos,” said Madison, “I’ve got to be able to house someone who is just starting their career at McKinney and who wants to live downtown.”

Downtown Durham, historically, has been quite affordable. It’s the affordability of downtown, said Klein, “that allows for creativity, that allows entrepreneurs to dabble in a lot of things.”

A Stunning Transformation

Durham’s economy has changed drastically since the mid-1990s. More than one of the entrepreneurs we interviewed used the phrase “a complete 180-degree turn.”

I’ve seen it happen – up close, while working for the Council for Entrepreneurial Development – and from afar, building a startup in Washington, DC, and staying tuned in to what was happening at American Tobacco, on Main Street, at Central Park, and on Geer and Corporation Streets.

It’s been a stunning transformation, and there are no signs that development and revitalization will slow.

“Here’s the challenge,” say Michael Goodmon, vice president of real estate at Capitol Broadcasting, “How do you grow, plan the community, add all the things that we’re planning to add in the next 15-20 years, and still be who you are? That’s not an easy thing to do – and it can’t be faked.”

“This is a big challenge for Durham. I have a lot of confidence in our ability to be who we are,” said Goodmon. “Durham has a bunch of very special attributes that make it the ecosystem that it has become.”

“We can’t lose this stuff. So it’s a challenge for us,” said Goodmon. “It means we’ll need the right people working on the right stuff at the right time.”

Editor’s note: Coming tomorrow, the New Bull City series continues with an in-depth interview of Jim Goodmon, who talks about why he believes Durham was reborn and will continue to flourish in the years ahead.