NCGrowth is launching a free, seven‑month cohort program designed to help businesses in Western North Carolina recover, rebuild, and scale to meet post‑disaster demand. This program provides participants with practical tools, expert guidance, and meaningful connections to support long‑term growth.
Alyse Polly, formerly of NCGrowth and now at UC Berkeley, moderated a conversation with Deborah Diamond of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Swati Ghosh of the New Growth Innovation Network, and Dell Gines of the International Economic Development Council on how anchor institutions can turn everyday spending into engines of inclusive growth. Diamond outlined how universities and hospitals shape local prosperity through employment, procurement, and construction, and described tools that quantify both direct impacts and ripple effects across jobs, income, and GDP. Ghosh emphasized inclusive procurement as a practical pathway for small and diverse businesses to build wealth—especially in smaller cities where a handful of large buyers dominate demand—while Gines framed anchors as catalysts in a broader, modern approach to economic development that centers communities, small firms, and shared prosperity.
Public institutions spend more than $1.3 trillion annually—a powerful lever for advancing equity and driving local economic growth. This webinar explores strategies from NCGrowth’s "Guide for Building Inclusive Economic Opportunity Through Strategic Purchasing," offering actionable insights for expanding supplier diversity and engaging historically underutilized businesses. Join NCGrowth for a conversation on how anchor institutions can use procurement to strengthen communities, foster innovation, and create sustainable economic opportunity.
Small business owners, interested in becoming a vendor to large institutions in Central North Carolina? If yes, join us April 8-10, 5:30PM-7:30PM at the Dennis Wicker Civic Center in Sanford, NC to learn the process for becoming a vendor and connect directly with purchasers like Central Carolina Community College, Lee County, TriRiver Water and others.
The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED) has pioneered the Native Edge Institute, one-day, in-person events that provide both established and aspiring business owners with critical business training. Through an collaborative partnership between NCGrowth and NCAIED, we have been able to expand these events to new locations across the U.S. This video highlights a recent Native Edge Institute hosted in Norfolk, VA which connected participants to resources available in their region, along with one-on-one business counseling, coaching, and matchmaking services.
NCGrowth and the UNC System have worked to develop a strategic plan for the System and its seventeen institutions to increase their use of historically underutilized businesses in their purchasing and procurement processes.
NCGrowth team members Christina Theodorou and Alyse Polly helped organize the Fayetteville-Cumberland Regional Procurement Week held March 27-30. The festivities began with Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin delivering a proclamation and ended with the Purchaser Market Place, well attended by procurement professionals and business owners.