Editor’s note: Thom Ruhe is CEO of NC IDEA, a state-wide economic development organization based in Durham
DURHAM – June 30 marked the end of our 2019 fiscal year; and by every metric we track, we had a heck of a year. For starters, several past grantees were either acquired and/or closed sizeable rounds of capital. These successes provide energy and optimism to others looking to follow in their footsteps and they strengthen the entrepreneurial fabric of our state.
Through our managed programs (LABS, SOAR and LEAD) and community events including the beginning of our Summer Series, we helped dozens of companies advance their startups from nascent ideas to growing companies. Hundreds more were helped through our statewide network of partner organizations that are also supporting entrepreneurs in their respective communities.
We issued over 100 grants to individuals, ecosystem partners, education partners and community engagement partners; totaling over $2,200,000. And all of that money is granted (given) to further our mission to help people in North Carolina achieve their full entrepreneurial potential.
So it is fitting that our new fiscal year starts on the week we celebrate our nation’s independence. As several of our founding fathers (namely Jefferson, Washington, Hamilton and Franklin) demonstrated, entrepreneurship is the path to independence. Being successful in pursuit of your entrepreneurial ambitions ultimately provides you the economic freedom to pursue happiness while building a more perfect union.
As we kick off FY2020, I look forward to engaging even more people and partner organizations. I am excited by our efforts to educate 100,000 people with an entrepreneurial mindset. I can’t wait to announce the details of our Entrepreneurship Summit (spoiler alert) to be held this November during Global Entrepreneurship Week. And as always, I welcome thoughts (and criticism) from anyone reading this – truhe@ncidea.org.
(C) NC IDEA
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