Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship Inc

We aim to make entrepreneurship the key economic growth driver in Greensboro. This is achieved by reducing small business failures. 98% of businesses in Guilford County are classified as a small business by the SBA.

The Nussbaum Center has hired an Entrepreneur Manager who will act as a case manager for entrepreneurs by conducting interviews and intake assessments, making referrals to appropriate ESOs, tracking and evaluating data collection efforts and helping navigate the entrepreneurs through the ecosystem as they learn to take their ideas to market.

The pandemic forced the world to pivot from in person to technology based learning. This pivot highlighted the inequities that exist in our society from the lack of broadband services to the absence of the necessary electronics needed to learn remotely. Many entrepreneur support organizations believe that an app or an online search engine is the best way to support the entrepreneur community. And while that may be true for those entrepreneurs with access to high speed internet, smartphones and tablets or computers, for those entrepreneurs without the necessary tools, this becomes a barrier to their ability to create wealth for themselves and their families. This perpetuates the cycle of generational poverty.

The Entrepreneur Manager will provide individualized high touch counseling to these underserved at risk entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are expected to carry the whole load. The Entrepreneur Manager will walk alongside the entrepreneur to ensure that their needs are met throughout the life cycle of their business. Needs that differ with every entrepreneur. Additional partnerships with higher educational programs and other SDOH will help make certain we maintain what is needed versus what is thought “should be done for those people”.

NCFE’s mission is to turn “Entrepreneurs into Business Owners”. NCFE creates wealth by teaching key business skills to new and seasoned business owners to prevent smallbusiness failure. NCFE is the largest small-business incubator in North Carolina, with a 35-year history of helping area entrepreneurs and small business owners develop their business concepts into successful and sustainable companies.

Since 1987, NCFE has taught entrepreneurs to become business owners by providing affordable and scalable office space, as well as the training and support services necessary for their businesses to grow.

Since 2012 Q4, NCFE Associates and Graduates have generated $100M in revenues for their products and services and paid $50M in salaries. These statistics speak to the vast economic impact that NCFE has on local entrepreneurs.

Despite COVID-19, in 2020, NCFE Associates created/retained 198FTE jobs, paid average salaries of $69,000, and generated $23M in revenue; a10% growth over past year. $3.9M of that revenue was generated by MWBE (Minority and Women Business Enterprise) businesses which account for 74% of our Associate base. 79% of Nussbaum Graduates are still in operation after 5 years.

Over the next few years, The Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship (NCFE) will re-develop an under-utilized building at 1431 South Elm Eugene Street known as “The Steelhouse” which will create a placemaking project inspiring people to collectively reimagine and reinvent The Steelhouse as the heart of the East Greensboro community.

This type of transformative investment will be a community catalyst for additional foot traffic, businesses, eateries, and retail shops. The main focus of the redeveloped space will be to provide scalable Manufacturing and Entrepreneur Space in an Opportunity Zone and a Qualified Census Tract.