You Deserve To Catch Your Breathe | CLT Alliance Foundation Launches Holistic Health and Wellness Program for Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship can seem glamorous. The freedom to set your schedule, make your own rules, and be your boss—plus the potential to earn significantly while making a real impact. Yet, this journey often comes with a hidden cost—our health and well-being.
Over the past 4 years, I’ve experienced just how hard it is to run a business in the middle of whatever life throws at you. And just how much it can take out of you mentally, physically, financially, and emotionally.
Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. They make up 99.9% of U.S. companies and employ over 61.6 million people. In Charlotte, the business community is thriving, with a 46% increase in new business applications just last year. However, beneath this growth lies a concerning trend of stress and mental health struggles among entrepreneurs. Work-life balance often becomes a casualty on this solitary journey and the stats are alarming.
Introducing Catch Your Breath
When Nate Hogan, EMBA from the CLT Alliance Foundation approached me about a collaboration with Hooky Wellness , I was immediately on board. We recognized a shared mission to support the long-term overall health of Charlotte’s vibrant small business community. Catch Your Breath was born—a holistic health and wellness initiative tailored specifically for entrepreneurs. This program is designed not just to help manage stress but to integrate wellness into the fabric of your business.
Program Highlights
- Community Events: We kick off in May with free events designed to give local entrepreneurs a supportive community to share experiences and learn about wellness-focused topics.
- Cohort Experience: We’ll dig deeper in our accountability cohort giving personalized insights on stress management, identifying triggers of stress, and discovering wellness practices that work for you.
- Culminating Wellness Event: In October, we'll wrap up with a celebration event centered around providing relief and celebrating our journey towards better health.
This initiative is close to my heart, born from my own challenges and wins as an entrepreneur.
I invite you to join Catch Your Breath, not just to manage stress but to build more relief into your everyday life. Register for our upcoming events at CatchYourBreath.co and join a community ready to strengthen both their business and their well-being.
While Catch Your Breath is focused on Charlotte, the insights and benefits extend beyond. If you’re not local, you can still help by spreading the word to those in the Charlotte area who could benefit from this dedicated support.
Work hard. Self-care harder.
Erayna Sargent is a burnout relief strategist, speaker, and founder at Hooky Wellness.
Spotlight On: Kim Rosas, Entrepreneur and Founder of Period.Shop
I’m Kim Rosas, founder of Period.Shop and a trusted reusable period products expert.
I started my ecommerce store Period.Shop in 2020 to bring top quality brands of menstrual cups, discs, pads, period underwear, and cleaning accessories under one roof. Our store is paired with expert educational resources including our product matching quiz because there is no such as thing as a “one size fits all” approach to period care; Period.Shop helps you navigate the buying process to ensure a “one size fits you” experience.
In 2012 I tried a reusable menstrual cup for the first time and the experience was so much better and less wasteful than using tampons. I kept a blog at the time and began sharing videos and articles about my experiences making the switch to a menstrual cup. The content proved to be popular and within a few years I found myself teaching workshops across the US. I became known as one of the top experts on the products and people trusted my advice. At that time the best source for reusable period care was Amazon, however shopping there has always felt counter to the mission of sustainability and presented ethical concerns. That platform was also overrun with questionable quality products. In 2020 I launched a new business; the first reusable period products store in the US, and used my decade of experience to curate a more trustworthy selection of products for mindful consumers.
The challenges were numerous - in 2020 we were still in the thickest part of Covid and I had just left a previous business to build a new one from scratch. I was in charge of my children’s virtual school while simultaneously working 10-12 hour days to launch a new business. Rather than begin small by shipping from home or renting an affordable small office we found a local 3rd Party Logistics warehouse that could accommodate our growth no matter the speed. Sourcing brands was an early hurdle - some were reluctant to work with a new store and others only sold to brick and mortar locations.
I used my connections and reputation in the menstrual products industry to secure the brands that were critical to our store. After many Zooms with the CEOs of each company to explain the vision for Period.Shop every one of those meetings resulting in a wholesale relationship, even from boutique brands who refused to sell via online only retailers.
Now, in our third year of business Period.Shop has secured many more wholesale partners and even exclusive products with our brands. For the first three years of business we relied mostly on our social media presence and educational videos to organically grow our sales. Joining Scale Up CLT has come as a crucial time for us. Sales remain strong but our growth is now less of a straight line up and more of a gentle slope. Learning more about how to grow our sales pipeline in other ways is going to prove important to us over the next few years.
How To Close Widening Racial Socioeconomic Disparities in the Charlotte Region
Racial disparities across workforce, industries, and wealth remain pronounced in the Charlotte Region. Regional socioeconomic mobility initiatives show slight progress in business ownership, but not enough to reduce racial gaps. Minority groups and their families are still experiencing the economic effects of the pandemic, especially in the current inflationary environment, causing significant pressures on generational wealth. A significant number of minorities are unable to climb the economic ladder due to a number of reasons including, but not limited to, low income and educational attainment, and lack of opportunities for business ownership. While the share of unemployed minorities (50.5%) is not much higher than white counterparts (49.4%), average wages earned by minority groups for at least a year of employment across all industries are significantly lower – almost two times less than their peers.
Recent demographics across regional workforce reflect racial disparities. About 63% of workers are white, 23% are Black/African American, 8% are Hispanic of any race, 4% Asian, and 2% for two or more races. While Black Americans make up 23% of the overall workforce, they account for more than 30% of the workforce across industries historically known of having higher concentration of minorities and lower wages (e.g. health care and educational services, warehouse and transportation, accommodation, and food services, etc.), and less than 15% in professional and technical services.
Total workforce by race and ethnicity, Charlotte Region
Source: Lightcast, U.S. Census Bureau 5-year estimates, CLT Alliance analysis, 2024
Racial disparities remain similar across occupations with varied differences among racial groups. For instance, while Asians make up only 4% of the workforce, they are more concentrated in health care occupations (e.g. physicians, health scientists, pharmacists, etc.) that require higher educational attainment and wages. Further, minorities continue to be less represented in management positions, with white counterparts dominating the management of companies and enterprises.
Total occupation by race and ethnicity, Charlotte Region
Source: Lightcast, U.S. Census Bureau 5-year estimates, CLT Alliance analysis, 2024
Implementing strategic and actionable diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are critical to improve parity. DEI trends across the nation remain controversial at workplaces, educational institutions, businesses, and social settings. Lack of flexibility arrangements, low parity in terms of promotion among racial groups, and income inequality are impeding career advancement, financial stability, and overall socioeconomic growth of minority groups.
The latest data available for business ownership by race and ethnicity indicates a slight growth in minority-owned businesses. Lending Tree ranks the Charlotte metro among top 10 metro areas with a high percentage of black-owned businesses, according to the 2022 U.S. Census Bureau Annual Survey. However, this growth is not quite significant to shape diversity and inclusion, and close racial gaps in the regional business community. If Black businesses represented about 24% of employer firms, almost equivalent to the Black population, there would be an additional 13,500 Black-owned businesses. Further, on average, 9 jobs per firm are created by Black businesses compared to 22 for all businesses. And these businesses could create over 31,000 jobs, if the average employee per Black business reached parity.
Business ownership by race and ethnicity, Charlotte Region
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census Builder, 2022
Creating sources of opportunities to increase the number of small business owners will enhance the entrepreneurship ecosystem. About 5% of employer firms are Black-owned businesses, 7% are Asian-owned, and 4% are Hispanic-owned. Creating and bringing awareness to programs, grants, and initiatives targeted at minority small business ownership are essential to reduce barriers for entry in the business ownership sphere in the region. While the region currently provides a plethora of these resources, easy access for minority owners remains limited.
Racial gaps in workforce, occupation, income, and business ownership are barriers to wealth and consequently homeownership. Initiating more income-restricted homeownership policies will improve housing affordability for minorities. In 2022, the median net worth of an average white family was six times greater than that of a Black family. Unequal racial representation associated with differences in income, financial resources, and intergenerational wealth gaps affect housing affordability. Although homeownership rates increased slightly across races over the last decade, gaps widened. According to the National Association of Realtors, homeownership rates in 2022 for white Americans remained higher, at 75% in North Carolina, and 79% in South Carolina, compared to Black Americans at 47% and 56%, respectively.
Data availability to understand the underlying issues of the persistent gaps across racial groups remains a challenge. Creating a centralized data platform to collect racial disparities trends will stimulate more evidence-based policy decisions. One of the main issues hovering over the continued widening gap between minorities and their white counterparts is the lack of available, accessible, and consistent evidence-driven resources about race and ethnic representation across economic growth characteristics. Policymakers and leaders must advocate for more funding for data collection and governance, especially at lower geographical levels (e.g. metro, county, zip code, census tract, neighborhood, etc.).
Prioritizing Inclusive Economic Growth
The CLT Alliance stands at the forefront of efforts to create a community where economic opportunities are not only available, but also inclusive and equitable. The CLT Alliance actively supports initiatives aimed at enhancing access to capital, particularly for small businesses and entrepreneurs from diverse and marginalized backgrounds. Additionally, we advocate for policies that promote the availability of affordable and workforce housing, as well as increased participation in rental assistance programs, ensuring that economic prosperity is within reach for all members of the community.
With a vision to catalyze transformative growth in the Charlotte Region, the CLT Alliance Foundation endeavors to build a brighter future where dynamic small businesses and business leaders thrive. To further its mission, the CLT Alliance Foundation has implemented a range of impactful programs:
- Scale Up CLT: a growth-oriented program for minority entrepreneurs in the region that helps them understand how to scale financially to seven figures and build reputational capital.
- RISE: a new AI-powered digital resource hub that aims at helping entrepreneurs and small business owners across the region with resources for starting, running, and growing a business.
- The Charlotte Small Business Growth Fund (launching Spring 2024): a public-private partnership that matches small businesses to the lender that is best able to serve them.
- African American Leadership Academy of Charlotte: focusing on expanding the number and impact of African American leaders in Mecklenburg County, the Academy is built to help equip, empower, and advance local Black professionals to strengthen the pipeline of executive leaders in the public, private, and philanthropic sectors.
Recognizing the critical importance of addressing racial disparities, the CLT Alliance and the CLT Alliance Foundation are unwavering in their commitment to ensuring socioeconomic mobility initiatives continue. By taking proactive steps, the CLT Alliance and the CLT Alliance Foundation strive to provide economic opportunities to all members of the community, fostering a more inclusive and prosperous future for the Charlotte Region and its residents.
Spotlight On: David Hunt, Founder of Framewrk
David Hunt’s early battle with childhood chemotherapy forged in him an unyielding spirit, propelling him to dedicate his life to making a positive impact. In addition to his work, each year he serves as a counselor at Camp C.A.R.E. supporting children with cancer.
David’s contributions extend far beyond the realm of community service. He’s the visionary founder of Framewrk, a company that harnesses the power of artificial intelligence and community collaboration to steer startups and small businesses toward the attainment of a minimum $1 million in net profit. His impactful journey is marked by a diverse professional history. He’s navigated the corridors of experience at Fortune 500 companies, delved into the intricacies of venture capital, invested in multiple startups and small businesses, worked at a Shark Tank funded startup (acquired by Sallie Mae), and displays an unparalleled dedication to turning bold visions into reality.
David’s work was recently recognized by the broader Charlotte community. He was the recent recipient of the Innovation and Tech Award from the CLT Alliance Foundation, which celebrated excellence in business.
“The work is not finished; I mean, not even close,” he said. “But that’s okay because that’s fun and something that’s inspiring.”
David’s journey, however, isn’t just about career milestones. It’s also etched in the realm of authorship, as he’s penned two influential books, including the acclaimed “Inevitable: The Founder Handbook for Day Zero.” His voice resonates on panels about socioeconomic mobility and economic empowerment. But what truly sets him apart is his ability to forge meaningful connections, to peel back layers and ask questions that dive deeper, fostering an environment where vulnerability is celebrated as a catalyst of potential.
David’s narrative is about the remarkable power of resilience and enduring impact on the world.
“Innovation and technology can lift the tide of economic parity and economic growth and skills, but we have to make that choice,” he said.
See more of David’s story here.
Here’s How Key Industries Are Shaping the Region’s Economy, Demographics, and Future
Shifts in advanced manufacturing, life sciences/health, financial services, transportation/logistics and warehousing, and innovation economy are regional strengths that are contributing to the growing economic and industry-based business landscape in the region. Employment and innovation in these industries serve as foundations for the regional economy and demographics patterns and are crucial to demonstrate overall competitive advantage.
Historic and future projections indicate transportation and warehousing (80%), financial services (57%), and professional and technical services (47%) recorded strong growth and are expected to be steady by 2025 and throughout this year. Growth in health/life sciences and manufacturing remains below 30%. Various reasons account for declines in manufacturing including supply chain shortages and geopolitical risks in previous years. The workforce in health care declined and the industry is expected to experience further shortages in 2025 due to an aging population and workforce, wage disparities, and low enrollment of future generations of physicians, nurses, and other essential workers. However, transportation and warehousing exploded throughout the pandemic with the emergence of e-commerce and fast product supply to customers. Financial services and professional services capitalized on technology to offer AI-driven financial support resources, remote work, and new technologies.
Current and new policies are expected to drive emerging industry clusters, strengthen regional workforce development, and create new opportunities for talent across industries, mainly manufacturing, health/life sciences and technical services. For instance, The CHIPS and Science Act and the Infrastructure and Jobs Act are generating a diverse manufacturing market with a transformative outlook in clean energy, semiconductors, batteries, electric vehicles, and overall industrial technology. The region has emerged as a destination in clean energy investment with 1,700 jobs and $2.3B capital investment announced since 2021. The fast-evolving sector includes companies in EV, EV battery, lithium, and related technologies.
Financial services and health/life sciences sectors are no stranger to innovation and continue to integrate the latest technologies and technical services into customer and patient care while contributing to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. More changes in the life sciences sector are underway with the Wake Forest School of Medicine set to open this year as part of the innovation district. The fintech and health tech sectors benefit from the CLT Region’s strength in financial and health care services. Companies within the region have raised $2.5 billion and $36 million in both sectors, respectively.
Population and workforce growth remain invaluable determinants of economic growth in the region. Population is expected to increase by 6.1% by 2027 as more people move to the region. Workforce availability is represented by 1.5 million people employed in Fortune 1000 companies and small businesses. For the past five years, employment growth rate outpaced the nation by 5.1%. Within the same period, the labor force participation grew from 63.6% to 64.8%. Unemployment remains at 3.2%, lower than the national average (3.7%). Like the rest of the nation, the labor market is still struggling with inflation characterized by layoffs, fewer job postings, and low purchasing power. All industries, in the chart above, are expected to grow slightly by 2% in 2025, except for manufacturing (1%).
Connecting People to Greater Possibility | AT&T and CLT Alliance Foundation Aim To Build Social Capital for Region’s Small Businesses
Our vision of catalyzing transformative growth in the Charlotte Region where dynamic small businesses and business leaders thrive cannot be accomplished without a heavy emphasis on building social capital for both of our vision’s constituencies. Entrepreneurs need access to decision-makers to build meaningful relationships so they have visibility to contracting prospects and real opportunities to compete for those contracts. Equally important, business leaders need access to professional development opportunities and executives at the most senior levels to grow their careers. This is why our foundation focuses on creating customers, connections, and capital.
The 2001 Harvard Business Review article is amazingly relevant 22 years later. While the focus isn’t on small businesses or business leaders necessarily, the intentionality mentioned throughout and the three core concepts of making connections, enabling trust, and fostering cooperation are central to building the social capital needed for everyone working in business.
This 2023 Forbes article, Social Capital Is Your Most Valuable Asset, rightly points out that “Discerning entrepreneurs know their success would not have materialized without strategic connections, shared lessons and knowledge.” This is exactly why our Scale Up CLT business accelerator participants are provided access for free to our Investor Quarterly, Exploring Economies, and other events where they’re in the room with more than 100 decision makers, creating unmatched opportunities for entrepreneurs to engage directly with the people who can help them grow their businesses.
One misconception about social capital is that proximity alone guarantees a desired outcome. As we point out to our Scale Up participants, no one is going to walk into the room with a contract and ask for your signature. Being in the room is only half the battle (one that AT&T is going to make available for even more participants), the other half is having an effective pitch, demonstrating the value of a product and service, and establishing trust with your target audience.
As we continue to address barriers to access, we are grateful our friends at AT&T have granted our foundation $10,000 to help cover travel expenses for 10 Scale Up participants to attend our 2024 Exploring Economies intercity visit to Phoenix. This event brings together more than 100 leaders from across the Charlotte Region to learn, grow, and build relationships, while focusing on supporting the region’s vibrant economy.
“Small businesses are often referred to as the backbone of the economy,” Kathleen Evans, regional director of external affairs for AT&T North Carolina, said. “They create jobs, foster innovation, and contribute to local communities. AT&T assists entrepreneurs through a variety of initiatives and services, including technology solutions, educational resources, and community outreach, like our support of the CLT Alliance Foundation Scale Up CLT program.”
AT&T’s purpose is connecting people to greater possibility and it aligns perfectly with the work we do in the CLT Alliance Foundation. Thank you, AT&T, for everything you do in our community to connect people to greater possibility!
Small Business Month Kicks Off With Events Around the Region
May is Small Business Month and counties across the region are uplifting the entrepreneurs and small businesses that make up the backbone of the local economy.
Charlotte is home to more than 40,000 small businesses, accounting for 75% of businesses in the region, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Each year, Mayor Vi Lyles of the City of Charlotte declares May as Charlotte’s Small Business Month. The city showcases success stories of small businesses propelling the local economy forward, and hosts events designed to celebrate, support, and grow local small businesses.
On Wednesday, the City of Charlotte hosted a Small Business Month kickoff networking event at Heist Brewery, where it highlighted dozens of small businesses in the city.
This month, CLT Alliance Foundation will ramp up its efforts to catalyze transformative growth in the Charlotte Region and help dynamic small businesses thrive. A major joint announcement later this month will provide a historic access to capital opportunity for Charlotte’s small businesses. The CLT Alliance Foundation is also partnering with Hooky Wellness to launch a free health and wellness series designed to bring wellness education to Charlotte’s entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, all month long, Mecklenburg County will bring its free small business support services to Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville – meeting current and prospective business owners, and their needs, where they are.
The Office of Economic Development will host “Township Connections” events across Mecklenburg County in May and June. These meet and greets will connect people who are starting or growing a small-to-midsize business with free county resources.
To learn more about upcoming events, visit the Office of Economic Development website at OED.MeckNC.gov, and follow the City of Charlotte’s Economic Development social media. They will be highlighting local businesses all month long.
Spotlight On: Alaa Bou Ghanem, Founder and Owner of Architect Builder Group
Hello, my name is Alaa Bou Ghanem, and I am the founder and owner of Architect Builder Group, AB Group for short. Although I am new to Charlotte like many others, I stand apart as a native of Lebanon. I consider myself a product of the American Dream, and I chose to travel to the United States to learn about a new culture as part of my college experience. I graduated from the School of Architecture at UNC Charlotte (Go Niners!) and have been working in Charlotte for 10 years.
Since my childhood, I have aspired to become an architect. Over time, my passion for contributing to a better world through art and design grew stronger. Later, I discovered that this passion has a name and is known as Neuroaesthetics - a field that explores the psychological impact of beauty in design. This field emphasizes that aesthetically pleasing designs have a positive impact on our well-being by blending beauty, functionality, and esthetics. This sounds incredible, doesn't it? Are you wondering how this works?
Extensive research has been carried out in this field, and Jay Dee Dearness suggests that incorporating beauty in design through neuroaesthetic principles creates a sense of shared community and allows us to feel, among other things, grounded, safe, happy, and connected. As my family lives far away, it is crucial to me that I not only create a sense of community in Charlotte, but also help others feel connected through good design that provides safety, connection, and a sense of well-being that we all need.
Although we might have different opinions on what defines beautiful design, we can all agree that a clean and well-lit space with an open and airy atmosphere is the ideal environment for creative endeavors. Nowadays, modern office designs adopt the concepts of minimalism, simplicity, openness, and airiness, but we sometimes fail to realize the impact on our well-being until we are faced with an environment that lacks these features. Recently, one of my friends visited a vendor whose office was a typical 80's style with a series of boxed offices, each with a small window and a door leading to a hallway. The atmosphere was dull, dark, and anything but conducive to creativity. My friend, who works in an open office space with ample natural light and designated areas for collaboration, was taken aback by the outdated design of this "Dark Ages" office and felt depressed sitting in the waiting room. Even though this vendor doesn't work in a creative field, updating their space could bring about significant improvements. How?
Creating intentional design in the workplace can lead to several benefits such as lower employee turnover, increased positive emotional experiences, higher engagement, and positive effects on learning, and social and emotional wellness. Feeling safe and having a sense of pride in our workspace can greatly improve our overall well-being. As an employer, our goal is to ensure that our employees are engaged, have learning opportunities, and experience a positive sense of well-being.
Architects and designers are not solely responsible for good design. Engineers, builders, and you, yes, you can have an impact on helping entire communities thrive by understanding the positive emotional and psychological impact of good, intentional design.
Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to have remarkable college professors and many mentors who have shared their journeys. As an emerging leader in the architecture and design field, I hope to be able to do the same for others through ScaleUp CLT. Good design, beauty, functionality, and giving back are the keys to being a good community partner.
New AI-Powered Tech Helping Local Business Owners ‘RISE’
A new AI-powered digital resource hub is launching today to help entrepreneurs and small business owners across the Charlotte Region connect to resources for starting, running, and growing a business.
RISE (Regional Innovation and Support for Entrepreneurs) utilizes innovative AI-powered technology to offer a one-stop-shop resource hub for business owners throughout their business life cycle. The online hub is now available to help entrepreneurs navigate the complex ecosystem all in one place, allowing them to engage with the small business community, discover resources, jobs, events, and more. The interactive online tool offers a perpetually updated resource directory curated specifically for businesses in the Charlotte Region.
“This is the problem solving that they didn’t know they needed,” Tya Bolton, CLT Alliance Foundation director of small business and entrepreneurship, said. “It is going to help them to relieve some stress of knowing where the resources are, how to navigate them, and at what point in the journey to access them.”
RISE is one of many strategies the CLT Alliance Foundation is employing to provide entrepreneurs the resources they need to be successful. The CLT Alliance Foundation, in partnership with the Center for Digital Equity, will lead a comprehensive strategy to introduce the new online interactive hub to entrepreneurs as part of its mission to empower small businesses, entrepreneurs, and business leaders in the Charlotte Region.
"RISE is a game-changer for entrepreneurs in the Charlotte Region," Nate Hogan, president of the CLT Alliance Foundation, said. “RISE by itself won’t remove every barrier in front of entrepreneurs, but we believe in an all-of-the-above approach. So, whether it’s trying to find access to capital or equity issues in the ecosystem, we believe we need to address every barrier in front of our entrepreneurs. RISE is an important step in that direction.”
“We know that many of our neighbors need a working computer, affordable internet, and the skills to thrive in the world today,” Bruce Clark, executive director of the Center for Digital Equity, said. “We also know many of those neighbors are entrepreneurs. Supporting RISE and the important work the foundation is leading is part of the collective impact approach it takes to make it easy for business owners to adopt these critical tools.”
RISE is now available online and can be accessed here.
Beyond Open Distributes $4.8 Million to 116 Small Businesses in Second Round of Small Business Grant Program
Foundation For The Carolinas announced 116 small businesses within Charlotte’s Corridors of Opportunity have been chosen through a competitive review process to receive grants totaling $4.8 million from the second round of the Beyond Open small business grant program.
Beyond Open Round 2 grants range from $10,000 to $150,000 and do not need to be repaid. The grant program, established with a $20 million grant from Wells Fargo, has distributed a combined total of $10.7 million in its first two rounds, with a third grantmaking round scheduled for 2024.
“Our community’s small businesses are critical change makers for economic mobility, employment, and a range of positive community impacts,” said Tracy Russ, FFTC special advisor for civic initiatives, who is leading the program. “With the support of Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund, Foundation For The Carolinas is honored to help small businesses thrive as leaders within the Corridors of Opportunity and across the community through the Beyond Open program.”
“Working with the Foundation For The Carolinas, we are accelerating small business growth across Charlotte and hundreds of small businesses are benefiting along the way,” Jenny Flores, head of small business growth philanthropy for Wells Fargo, said. “This grant program is an example of enabling entrepreneurs to invest in their business so they can provide more jobs in the community and grow.”
A six-month metrics report from July 2023 by the Urban Institute at University of North Carolina Charlotte and Johnson C. Smith University includes self-reported data gathered from Beyond Open Round 1 grantees who participated in a recent survey. The data shows that 89% of Round 1 grantee survey respondents reported increases in the total number of jobs provided within their small businesses, for a total of 214 new jobs created across all survey respondents. In addition, Round 1 grantee survey respondents reported 450 jobs preserved. Seventy three percent of Round 1 grantee survey respondents reported an increase in projected revenue.
A Beyond Open round one grant was used to make repairs to an older building occupied by Saigon Night Restaurant and Karaoke Bar in Charlotte’s Central/Albemarle Corridor. “We were unable to open as a restaurant in our building without funding to fulfill necessary repairs,” Tony Pham owner of Saigon Night, said. “Now I’ve been able to fulfill the requirements needed to offer food in addition to the karaoke bar, and a place where different people come together, create connections and friendships in the community.”
Beyond Open also released a Small Business Resource Guide created in collaboration with the CLT Alliance Foundation. Beyond Open announced focused support for the CLT Alliance Foundation’s community outreach efforts to connect small business owners to Regional Innovation and Support for Entrepreneurs (RISE), a digital small business resource platform that will be launched by the CLT Alliance Foundation later this month. The Beyond Open Resource Guide and community outreach support for RISE are among Beyond Open program offerings included in a new “Access for All” effort that continues support for organizations in the small business ecosystem and seeks to expand equitable access to small business resources in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community.
Beyond Open Small Business Grant Program (Beyond Open) is administered by FFTC Partners For Empowering Communities, a supporting organization of Foundation For The Carolinas. The program is made possible by support from Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund. The Beyond Open grant program will help diverse, small business owners in Charlotte-Mecklenburg by investing in capital assets such as equipment, technology, inventory, and real estate, for the purposes of relieving poverty, eliminating prejudice and discrimination, reducing neighborhood tensions, and combatting community deterioration. Specifically, Beyond Open grants will focus on retaining jobs, encouraging job growth and economic development, and inspiring new entrepreneurial endeavors in communities with low economic mobility (with a focus on Charlotte's "Corridors of Opportunity"), as well as creating opportunities for small businesses to provide goods or services in, or start businesses in, areas of affluence where minority business owners have been historically under-represented. More information and the application are available at beyondopenclt.com.