This grant provided funding to East Carolina University to establish the RISE-29 (Rural Innovations Strengthening Eastern 29 Counties) program. RISE-29 was expected to catalyze regional entrepreneurial activity in Beaufort, Hyde, Martin, Pitt, Washington, and Pamlico counties through workforce and business development expertise provided primarily through students in the Miller School of Entrepreneurship at ECU. In the near-term, it was anticipated that RISE-29’s work with “high-value proposition firms” would create 150 new direct jobs. In the mid-term, a regional microenterprise program was expected to yield 25 microenterprises and 100 new direct jobs and promote an influx of talent and new enterprises to rural communities to combat population decline and talent migration to urban areas. Golden LEAF funds were used for program staff, ECU faculty mentors, prototyping equipment, and interns (including compensation, housing, and travel).
