Five graduate students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will be working with the Rockingham County Business & Technology Center to establish a fund to assist entrepreneurial businesses in Rockingham County.
Five graduate students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will be working with the Rockingham County Business & Technology Center to establish a fund to assist entrepreneurial businesses in Rockingham County.
The center’s executive director, Mark Wells, recently participated in a UNC School of Government development finance toolbox course. Participants were invited to submit a project proposal for a community revitalization award of 30 days of intensive project support from a team of graduate student fellows working with the school’s Development Finance Initiative.
Wells’ proposal was selected, which means that his center will get help from graduate students in the fields of business, city and regional planning, public administration and public health. The team will develop structure and organizational options for the center’s fund, explore potential local and regional partnerships for the venture, and guide local decision makers toward implementation of the new fund in early 2013.
“Our team selected this project because it has the potential to have an almost immediate impact in the community, it fits with the experience and expertise of our community revitalization team, and is one that we can accomplish in a short time frame,” said Will Lambe, director of the School’s Community and Economic Development Program.
The School of Government’s Development Finance Initiative was established in 2011 to work with local governments in North Carolina to attract private investment for transformative projects by providing specialized finance and development expertise. DFI services support implementation of local community and economic development priorities that require private investment.
Rockingham County Business & Technology Center contact: Mark Wells, (336) 342-7853, mwells@rockinghambusiness.org
School of Government contacts: Will Lambe, (919) 966-4247, lambe@sog.unc.edu or Ellen Bradley, (919) 843-6527,bradley@sog.unc.edu