Editor’s note: Steve S. Rao is a Council Member and Former Mayor Pro Tem for the Town of Morrisville. He serves as a Board Member of the New American Economy, a bi partisan coalition of Mayors and Business Leaders, committed to Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Although National Small Business Week is over, it is imperative that we continue to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit for startups and small businesses who are willing to take the risk to found and run companies, especially during this pandemic. The in-person StartUp Summit today, at RTP Frontier, is a perfect place for us to celebrate innovation, and to continue efforts to invest and mentor our start up community.
During my tenure as the Town Council Member, I have been proud to advocate and champion our small businesses in Morrisville. I have especially been proud to work with our innovation and technology sectors to grow and advance their businesses here in Morrisville – the gateway to the Research Triangle Park. There are 890,000 Small Businesses in North Carolina, representing sixty percent of our workforce.
John Chambers, left, with Steve Rao
Our efforts to foster IT companies demonstrates our commitment to help small business owners grown their companies and succeed – creating jobs and commerce for our city, our county, and our state.
I had the honor of working with the Morrisville Chamber and Innovation Foundation to establish Hottovation … which was a Morrisville Chamber collaboration with IT companies and entrepreneurs, small and large, to create an environment promoting research, innovation, and technology entrepreneurs. It was hugely successful, and I hope the Chamber can renew that program to expand our outreach to the IT community especially with major companies like Apple and Microsoft locating in our region.
Face to face: Startup Summit aims to help entrepreneurs share wisdom in person
In addition, I look forward to working with the Wake Tech Launch Program to develop startups and help small businesses, along with establishing an Incubator in our Town Center.
Growing technology companies to Morrisville and our region will build a better town, with a strong, highly skilled workforce and will open up commerce for other small and growing companies.
I believe we can grow our economy, create high-paying, high-skilled jobs and manage our growth in a smart way that protects our quality of life.
Let’s support our entrepreneurs and help them be successful! We can grow jobs, put folks back to work, and accelerate economic growth in a Post Covid Economy.
Thanks to Keith Washo, Marc Bovisotto for working with me to host another Start Up Summitt! We look forward to seeing everyone today at the Frontier!
