Small Business Development & Entrepreneurship

Action Greensboro was an early supporter of the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship, a non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance economic development in Greensboro and the surrounding area by creating successful business owners.  Designed to support non-retail, new or emerging businesses, the Nussbaum Center is the largest small-business incubator in North Carolina.  Currently housing 64 companies, it provides shared support services such as business counseling, a receptionist, copier, fax, mail boxes and word processing along with office and light manufacturing space.  Fifty-five percent of the businesses in the Nussbaum Center are minority-owned and 40% are owned by women.

Technology Transfer moves new ideas from university research labs into the marketplace.  Action Greensboro provided more than $162,000 to assist commercialization of research at North Carolina A&T State University and UNCG.  Technology Outreach at Nussbaum (TON), in which Action Greensboro has invested $495,000, offers technology commercialization, business counseling, patent searches and market research, free of charge, to anyone in the area.

  See a related Press Release from June 2002.

Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurs Network

The Triad Entrepreneurial Initiative merged with the Piedmont Entrepreneurs Network in 2004.  The new Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurs Network (PTEN) offers resources and services in five areas: education and mentoring, networking, business plan competitions, capital access, and communications.  Fast Trac, a 10-week training program, was developed for entrepreneurs launching high-growth, high-impact companies.  Each winner of the Growth Accelerator business plan competition receives $30,000 over twelve months.  The High Point Partners have joined Action Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Alliance as a funder of PTEN.