RALEIGH — The Wayne County Chamber of Commerce was one of eighteen organizations to receive an NC IDEA ECOSYSTEM Grant courtesy of NC IDEA, a private foundation committed to supporting entrepreneurial ambition and economic empowerment in North Carolina.

NC IDEA announced on Thursday that it had awarded eighteen NC IDEA ECOSYSTEM grants to partners and eleven Rural Impact grants to companies across the state totaling $1.7 million in funding. Over $1.2 million of the total funding is specifically earmarked to address the needs of rural entrepreneurs, with $500,000 of this amount contributed by Wells Fargo.

“Today’s funding announcement marks a significant investment into the equitable startup ecosystems of North Carolina and underscores our commitment to empower more people to pursue their entrepreneurial ambition,” said Thom Ruhe, President and CEO of NC IDEA. “In this critical moment, it is essential to continue our work to strengthen North Carolina’s entrepreneurial support infrastructure for underserved populations. We are grateful for the added support of our partner Wells Fargo to specifically champion and uplift rural entrepreneurship,” Ruhe added.

The NC IDEA ECOSYSTEM grant program is designed to identify and support partner organizations across the state doing inspired things to help entrepreneurs and strengthen North Carolina’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The following eighteen ECOSYSTEM grant recipients were selected from a competitive application and selection process that drew 79 applications from across the state, the largest number of grant applicants, and subsequently grant recipients, from a specific cycle in the program’s history. Wells Fargo provided additional funding to support eleven of the rural entrepreneur-serving ECOSYSTEM grant recipients, allowing them to provide awards directly to rural entrepreneurs in their programs; including:

• BlackGirlMagicMarket (Region Served: Eastern NC)
• First Flight Venture Center (Region Served: Statewide)
• Hatch AVL Foundation (Region Served: Western NC)
• Living Better Life (Region Served: Eastern NC)
• Pitt Community College (Region Served: Eastern NC)
• Prospera (Region Served: Statewide)
• Redirection (Region Served: Eastern NC)
• RIoT (Regions Served: Eastern NC and South Central NC)
• Wayne Charitable Partnership of Wayne County Chamber of Commerce (Region Served: Eastern NC)
• WE Power Food (Region Served: Statewide)
• Wealth through Entrepreneurship for Black and Brown Businesses (Region Served: Statewide)

The remaining seven ECOSYSTEM grant recipients with non-rural initiatives; include:

• Blush Cowork (Region Served: Triangle – Primary, Triad – Secondary)
• Charlotte Regional Business Alliance Foundation (Region Served: Charlotte)
• gWen (Growing Women Entrepreneurs Network) (Region Served: Charlotte)
• Mountain BizWorks (Region Served: Western NC)
• UNCW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Region Served: Southeastern NC)
• Winston Starts (Region Served: Triad)
• The Wright Village (Region Served: Triangle)

In addition, Rural Impact grants have been awarded as part of a broader initiative to support rural entrepreneurship across the state. These new grants provide funding for previous NC IDEA MICRO and SEED grant recipients to support their continued growth, address resource gaps, and foster economic development in the rural counties of our state.

The $200,000 commitment from Wells Fargo is providing grants of up to $20,000 to the following companies either headquartered in a rural county or with a clear and significant impact on rural communities in North Carolina.

• 3 Spark Design – Hickory, NC (with operations in Burke County)
• Active Defender – Carthage, NC
• CircuitSays – Nashville, NC
• Companah – Sanford, NC
• Local Catch LLC – Wilmington, NC (with operations in Eastern NC)
• Neli – Sanford, NC
• Phinite – Clinton, NC
• Renaissance Fiber Inc. – Winston-Salem, NC (with operations in Davie County)
• Stemz – Winston-Salem, NC (with operations in the Piedmont and Triad)
• Tavi – Greenville, NC
• Verenovo – North Wilkesboro, NC

“We are proud to continue our support for NC IDEA and their work to provide North Carolina’s rural entrepreneurs access to the resources and opportunities they need to thrive and grow,” said Jay Everette, Community Relations Director for Wells Fargo. “We all know small businesses are the backbone of our communities – and Wells Fargo is committed to making meaningful investments to help set them up for success.”

Support from Wells Fargo related to NC IDEA’S rural entrepreneurship initiatives first began in June 2024 when they funded a comprehensive report with in-depth analysis and recommendations around rural entrepreneurship. These recent grants are a direct outcome of the report’s findings on how to best support the needs of rural entrepreneurs statewide.