Starting a business is difficult and inherently risky. Doing so in an urban area replete with resources is easier than doing so in a rural area with fewer guardrails.
During a visit last week to Haywood County, North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall touted a state program that hones in on rural areas in hopes to provide more resources to budding entrepreneurs.
Marshall visited the area on June 4 as part of her series of Rural RISE roundtables. Rural RISE NC is a program that aims to connect business owners with mentors, business counselors, funding sources and more. The idea for the program began during the small business boom that came along with the pandemic shutdowns about six years ago. At that time, Marshall sent out a survey to small business owners that received over 4,000 answers — answers that illuminated certain problems they were encountering. From that survey, the idea for the program and associated roundtables was born.
“The idea is to get them to talk about whatever obstacles they saw or had and how they got around them or if they’re still facing them,” Marshall told The Smoky Mountain News.
The roundtables also often present solutions, she added.
“I had a community college president at one of them pop up and say, ‘well, I’ve heard from three people here that have trouble finding bookkeepers. We’re starting a new bookkeeping course for small business,’” she said.
Part of the aim of the events are also simply to raise awareness of existing community resources like the small business center, at Haywood Community College in Clyde, which hosted the roundtable. Marshall said that in many cases, people aren’t even aware those offices exist.
“I’ll go ask them, ‘where’s your small business center.’ They’ll say, ‘we’ve had that for 20 years. It’s down at the end of the hall.’ I said, ‘bingo, that’s the problem. What kind of visibility does that get down there?’” Marshall said. “I’ve encouraged them to get off campus, maybe even take the name college off, because I’ve learned anecdotally that there are people without a family member’s college degree that say, ‘I can’t get in.’ But anybody can go in there … these small business services cost zero, and it’s hard to get that message across.”
Elaine Marshall discusses statewide business trends she’s seen since the start of the pandemic. Kyle Perrotti photo
Prior to the roundtable at HCC, Marshall enjoyed lunch with a few local business owners and community stakeholders before taking a brief tour of downtown Waynesville that included stops at Twigs & Leaves Gallery and The Station on Main.
The roundtable began with Marshall describing the survey her office commissioned. That survey, she told the group, showed her office that many weren’t aware of the resources in their community that could have helped their new ventures. Marshall made it clear how vital these can be, stating that 25% of new businesses fail in the first three years, a number that jumps to 50% after the first seven.
In many states, the Secretary of State runs the elections, but that’s not the case in North Carolina. As Marshall told the business owners and community leaders at last week’s roundtable, her job is to bolster business infrastructure and investigate dishonest actors in a role akin to the Securities and Exchange Commission at the national level.
“I say I’m a maternity ward for business,” she said.
With that, Marshall highlighted the importance of small businesses, especially in rural areas, since employees and owners reinvest wages and profits right back into those communities. Since the 2020 pandemic and the resulting shutdowns, the state has seen a boom in small businesses; Marshall said things “went off like a rocket.” Many were founded by people with no entrepreneurial experience who discovered a new passion or cultivated fresh ideas while spending so much time at home. Last year brought double the number of new businesses in the state as just four years prior. Haywood County saw a 57% growth in new small businesses during that period.
Following Marshall’s introductory presentation, business owners went around the table, one-by-one talking about challenges they’ve overcome and hurdles they have yet to clear. Many discussions were Helene-related, and some described struggles to achieve enough growth to reach sustainability. Businesses represented mostly included those in the service industry and health and wellness field. Throughout, Marshall offered suggestions to the business owners, sometimes recommending a resource, sometimes mentioning potential marketing strategies to build more buzz and bring more potential customers through the front door.
Some business owners talked about the things that keep them going, sometimes simply support from complimentary businesses in the community. Morgan Davies, who owns Ten Acre Garden in the Bethel area with her husband, said that there have been a lot of lessons learned as this was their first foray into the agritourism world, but it’s been made easier with a little help from their friends.
Elaine Marshall speaks with Haywood Community College President Shelley White during a lunch at Boojum in downtown Waynesville. Kyle Perrotti photo
“Small businesses supporting each other is huge for us,” Davies said.
Spencer and Courtney Tetrault own Axe and Awl Leatherworks in downtown Waynesville, a business that is part manufacturing part retail and has seen large growth in its infancy. The couple recently opened a 5,000 square-foot workshop in the Allens Creek area of Waynesville, but Spencer said they’ve already begun to outgrow that space. Businesses, he averred, are frequently “strapped” by either a lack of money, workforce or infrastructure. He said the biggest issue for Axe and Awl has been infrastructure — and land — considering there is only so much developable property in the mountains.
“Twice we’ve been strapped by infrastructure,” he said, adding that there are many vacant, blighted buildings around Haywood that are usable, but property owners lack the will. He hoped to see a vacancy tax or something of the like to pressure those owners to either bring the buildings back to life or sell them.
Twigs & Leaves owner Roger Reid spoke last, thanking Marshall and HCC for hosting the event. A seasoned businessman, Reid said there is always more to learn.
“Events like this always spark something like oh I hadn’t thought about that,” he said.
For more information on the Rural RISE NC program, visit sosnc.gov/rural_rise/index.