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Congressman Butterfield thanks students for their contributions to rural NC economic development

[kislideshow kirotate=”false”][kislideshowslide kiimageurl=”https://ncgrowth.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Butterfield1.jpg” kiyoutubeid=”CbkacO9zJRA”]Watch highlights of our NCGrowth Summer Presentations with Congressman G.K. Butterfield[/kislideshowslide][/kislideshow]
“I think I have the best congressional staff in the nation. They always prepare me for each of my engagements. But not this one. I don’t think they could have possibly prepared me for what I would hear from you all today,” said Congressman Butterfield just after Kenan Institute summer interns with the NC Strategic Economic Growth initiative presented their work to a packed room at the Kenan Center. Congressman Butterfield, U.S. Representative for North Carolina’s 1st congressional district, made a special appearance to support continuing economic development efforts in Eastern North Carolina. The event was organized to showcase the efforts of the students and also to award a third year of funding as part of a five-year federal grant, said Dwayne Pinkney, Vice Provost of Finance and Academic Planning for UNC-Chapel Hill.
LaChaun Banks, Economic Development Coordinator for NC Strategic Economic Growth (NC Growth) highlighted the key programs and progress of the initiative. She said, “We are working to support entrepreneurship and economic development by leveraging exceptional interns and other resources to help North Carolina communities and companies.”
Candace Harrington, an undergraduate student at NC Central University worked with Elizabeth Basnight, Manager of the Entrepreneur Technical Assistance Program (E-TAP) on program development and spoke about how the experience had allowed her to step outside of her comfort zone. E-TAP assists businesses by providing exceptional MBA student interns with the specific skills to add direct value to the client. Jessie Maxwell, a dual MBA student at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler School and Duke Public Policy student worked on both the Bertie County Community Economic Development Plan as well as assisted one of the businesses participating in E-TAP.
Jamilla Hawkins, Cooperative Extension Agent in Edgecombe County, spoke about partnering with the NC Growth on efforts to preserve historical Shiloh Landing as a recreation and educational space, as well as supporting a thriving Edgecombe Entrepreneurship Organization, and an annual Teen Entrepreneur Camp in Tarboro.  “Working with NC Growth has been invaluable to us in Edgecombe County,” she said.
Jasmine Colquitt, a dual JD/MBA student at North Carolina Central University, kicked off the student presentations by outlining her Project Phoenix work with  E-TAP client, Steve Lane, the founder and President of InteliPort.  Jasmine spent the summer developing a new business plan and strategy for his company.  For the past decade InteliPort has been selling internet access to residents and businesses in some of the most remote areas of northeastern North Carolina; however, recent innovations in fiber optic technology have made it economically feasible to bring high speed broadband to these communities, and that’s what Steve Lane plans to do. From helping to attract new businesses to giving existing companies access to advanced telecommunications, the potential positive economic impact is tremendous.  Along with the fiber network, InteliPort provides security management, network installation, computer repair and service, hosting design, computer backup, and virus protection products.
Carolyn Fryberger, a 2014 UNC City and Regional Planning Masters graduate presented her work for James Wolfe, economic development director of Duplin County, to assess the opportunities and impacts of a large hog waste-to-energy facility in NC.  Duplin County is home to just over 60,000 people and over 2 million hogs.  “If we were able to capture the energy from hog waste effectively, it could power up to 10,000 homes,” Carolyn explained. Wolfe and other community leaders are actively looking for innovative ways to process the waste while adding value to the community. Carolyn researched best practices and presented a detailed report to the community.
Chris Long, an MBA student at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, worked with E-TAP clients Adrian Beasley and Gabe Dough, CFO and CEO, of Shure Foods, to develop a robust inventory system for their raw crab meat extraction company.  Chris said of the project, “It was one of the hardest but most rewarding projects of my career.” Before Shure Foods’ patented extraction process, raw crab meat was not a commercially available product. Extracting the meat while raw increases processing efficiency, improves yields and reduces waste. The company is able to develop crab products at lower cost and higher profit margins than possible with either domestic or foreign crabmeat picking operations. “We now have the potential to change the industry by providing a new niche and increased yields, in addition to the established market for picked, or lump, crabmeat” says Gabe.
Director of NC Growth, Mark Little opened up the floor to questions which led to a lively discussion about the role of the federal government in supporting economic development.  In addition to praising the work of the students and the success of the businesses, Congressman Butterfield said he hopes to have more conversations such as these about opportunities for economic development in rural North Carolina.  This was his first official visit to the UNC-Chapel Hill campus and he said he’d like to return to continue the discussion. Mary Napier, Executive Director of the Kenan Institute said of the day, “We, at the Kenan Institute, are so excited about the work of NC Growth.  They continue to provide a much needed and valued service to the economically distressed regions in the State as well as providing real world educational opportunities for our students.”

Working with NC Growth has been invaluable to us in Edgecombe County
Jamilla Hawkins, Cooperative Extension Agent in Edgecombe County [kislideshow kirotate="true"][kislideshowslide kiimageurl="https://ncgrowth.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Fryberger.jpg"]Carolyn Fryberger, recent graduate of UNC's City and Regional Planning Masters program presents about renewable energy opportunities in Duplin County[/kislideshowslide][kislideshowslide kiimageurl="https://ncgrowth.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Harrington.jpg"]Candace Harrington, BSBA at NC Central University presenting on her experience as a summer intern at the Kenan Institute.[/kislideshowslide][kislideshowslide kiimageurl="https://ncgrowth.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Lane.jpg"]LaChaun Banks, Economic Development Manager at the Kenan Institute, Jasmine Colquitt, intern with InteliPort, Steve Lane, President and Founder, InteliPort[/kislideshowslide][kislideshowslide kiimageurl="https://ncgrowth.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ShureFoods.jpg"]Chris Long, Kenan-Flagler MBA student with Gabe Dough, CEO and Founder of Shure Foods in Washington, NC[/kislideshowslide][/kislideshow]

Further Reading

Summer interns support rural entrepreneurs in eastern NC September 5, 2014 • unc.edu

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