The Duke Energy Foundation recently announced it has granted $50,000 to The VGCC Foundation to support small businesses in Vance, Granville, Franklin, and Warren counties.

The grant is part of $700,000 in new funding made available to North Carolina small businesses in partnership with community development organizations like the Small Business Center at Vance-Granville Community College. Small business grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 will be distributed through 20 community organizations to support retail shops, restaurants, and other small businesses looking to expand, upgrade technology, and improve downtown storefronts.

Now in its fourth year, the program has provided over $2 million in funding to small businesses since its inception during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Duke Energy Foundation’s small business grant program has helped fuel a resurgence of entrepreneurial small businesses ranging from bookstores to restaurants in our state,” said Kendal Bowman, North Carolina State President for Duke Energy. “These small business grants ensure Main Streets across North Carolina are well positioned to benefit from our state’s unprecedented economic growth.”

Such businesses play a critical role in the state’s economic health and employ nearly half of North Carolina’s workforce, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“Small businesses remain the backbone of the U.S. economy, and in rural areas, they also serve as the heartbeat of our local economies,” noted VGCC President Dr. Rachel Desmarais. “This monetary commitment enables Vance-Granville Community College to promote the entrepreneurial mindset and support budding small business ideas into real businesses within our larger community.”

The VGCC Small Business Center will select grant fund recipients through a series of workshops, one based in each of the four counties the College serves. Each workshop session will span four evening classes (10 total hours of instruction). The sessions will culminate with a five-minute pitch contest, after which five of the session’s 10 participants will receive a $2,500 award to support their small business.

Workshop dates and locations are as follows:
Sept. 16–19: VGCC South Campus
Sept. 30 – Oct. 3: VGCC Main Campus
Oct. 7–10: VGCC Warren Campus
Oct. 14–17: VGCC Franklin Campus

To learn more about this program and participant requirements, contact VGCC Small Business Center Director Carolyn Perry at (252) 738-3240 or perryc@vgcc.edu.

For more information on the Duke Energy Foundation and its initiatives, visit duke-energy.com/Foundation.

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The Green Rural Redevelopment Organization, with the help of the honorable Eva Clayton, is set to launch the Eva Clayton Rural Food Institute and host the inaugural Rural Food Forum scheduled for Thursday, January 12, at 8:30 a.m. at the Vance-Granville Community College Civic Center.

The Green Rural Redevelopment Organization (GRRO), founded in 2012 with a vision to revitalize rural communities across NC and focus on poverty, food insecurity, and chronic health issues, is excited to launch the new Institute named in honor of board member and the first African-American woman to represent North Carolina in Congress Ms. Eva Clayton. 

“I am a Board Member of GRRO and continue to be impressed with its founders Ardis and Henry Crews. I believed in the vision and mission of the Institute and how it could help rural communities across North Carolina,” said former Congresswoman Clayton. “I want to play a significant role in its success. The data in most rural counties in North Carolina clearly show high levels of food insecurity, poor health indicators, weak school systems, and weak economies. Rural North Carolina is home; I care and have a responsibility to help make it a healthy, better educated, more prosperous, and engaging community where I can.

The launch of the Eva Clayton Rural Food Institute will take place during the organization’s inaugural Rural Food Forum on Thursday, January 12.  

The forum will convene leaders, community members, rural farmers and a host of influential guests to discuss existing programs, resources and opportunities to address challenges and solutions to create sustainable economic growth in rural communities through the creation and increased utilization of rural farming and equitable food systems.

Congresswoman Eva Clayton

“This is an extraordinary opportunity for our organization and the people in rural North Carolina, said Henry Crews, executive director of GRRO. “Ms. Clayton has dedicated a large part of her life to fighting for rural communities, equitable care, and access to nutritious food, and we can’t think of a better way to tap into that knowledge. The forum is how we share knowledge, resources and bring others to the table to ensure a healthier rural NC together.” 
 
Key speakers include Stacy Dean, Deputy Under Secretary for USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services; Debra Farrington, Deputy Secretary/Chief Health Equity Officer NC Department of Health and Human Services; Bob Etheridge, State Executive Director, USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in NC; Dr. Norbert Wilson, Director of Duke University’s World Food Policy Center; Honorable G.K. Butterfield, Former Congressman First District of North Carolina and a host of other community leaders and advocates.  

While the forum is free, registration is required to ensure adequate seating and food accommodations. 

See the full forum agenda at: grronc.org/rural-food-forum

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