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<< return to previous page BRAC Region Entrepreneur Initiative Held at FTCC	Contact: Renee Lane Communications and Community Outreach Director P.O. Box 87129 Fayetteville, NC 28303 (910) 808-4202 Email: rlane@bracrtf.com
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (APRIL 8, 2010) – Over 70 business and community leaders from the 11-county BRAC region attended a full day workshop to form and assist teams to develop local plans for using entrepreneurship as an economic, workforce, job, and community development strategy. The Energizing Entrepreneurial Initiative for the BRAC region is being jointly sponsored by the BRAC Regional Task Force and the N.C. Rural Center. The workshop, held on March 31 at Fayetteville Tech, provided an understanding of entrepreneurs at various stages, what they need, and proven strategies to build a strong entrepreneurial climate. “Entrepreneurship and small business development and support are critical pieces of the regional economic development transformation resulting from the relocation of U.S. Army Forces Command and U.S. Army Reserve Command to Fort Bragg from Fort McPherson, Ga., next year,” said John Harbison, interim director of the BRAC Regional Task Force. Each county represented at the workshop formed a team of community and business leaders consisting of those involved in the local chamber, public school, economic development, workforce development, college, non-profit community- and faith-based organizations, and local elected government, among others. “Representation from each county team had several key leaders who could affect change and implement the local entrepreneurial plan they developed together during the workshop,” said Greg Taylor, chairman of the BRAC RTF board of directors, who attended the session representing both Bladen County and Fayetteville State University. The N.C. Rural Center will interact with each of the county teams as they develop specific entrepreneurial plans. The teams will complete small collaborative projects that engage and support local entrepreneurs. The entire group will reconvene in June to learn from each other’s progress. “An expected outcome is to identify a regional team of entrepreneurship supporters that will continue to meet regularly and hopefully become an expanded footprint of the Southeastern Entrepreneurial Alliance which includes four of the eleven BRAC-impacted counties,” said Harbison. About the BRAC Regional Task Force: The BRAC RTF is a partnership of governments working with the 11 counties and 73 municipalities surrounding Fort Bragg and Pope AFB. Our mission is to coordinate the planning and identify community impacts as U.S. Forces Command and U.S. Army Reserve Command move to Fort Bragg by 2011. About the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center: The N.C. Rural Economic Development Center is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop sound economic strategies that improve the quality of life in rural North Carolina, with a special focus on individuals with low to moderate incomes and communities with limited resources. The center operates a multifaceted program that includes conducting research into rural issues; testing promising rural development strategies; advocating for policy and program innovations; and building the productive capacity of rural leaders, entrepreneurs and community organizations.