North Carolina Small Business Owner Highlight

When Chris Petrella found himself in the dark, he had a bright idea.

While camping with his son in 2012 he realized he didn’t have a way to power his electronics. After that trip, Petrella went to a camping supplies store and inquired about such a device.   

“I sketched it out for him [the store clerk]” and he told me it didn’t exist. I did a Google search, and it wasn’t found,” Petrella said. “I thought to myself this is so bizarre because I can picture this thing clearly in my mind.”

North Carolina Events

Thursday, April 25, 2024 | 3:00pm ET

Entrepreneurs and small business owners drive economic innovation through the invention of new products, technologies and ideas, which are all commonly referred to as intellectual property (IP).

Workshop | National
Thursday, May 2, 2024 | 2:00pm ET

To help prevent and combat money laundering, tax fraud and other financial crimes, a recent bipartisan law requires many companies and small businesses to report beneficial ownership information (BOI) to the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).  

Workshop | National
Wednesday, May 8, 2024 | 2:00pm ET

Since its inception more than 70 years ago, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has helped millions of small businesses across the country access the capital and resources needed to thrive and grow.

Workshop | National

North Carolina Research

Published:
Wed, 04/03/2024

While small businesses employ nearly half (46.4%) of the private workforce in the United States, many are struggling to hire and retain a ready workforce. Our poll of Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas small business owners reveals strong support for legislative solutions that would remove barriers for justice-impacted individuals by making reforms to occupational licensing and debt-based driver’s license suspensions. These politically diverse small business owners believe these measures would enable employers to tap into an underutilized workforce and open up opportunities for entrepreneurship.

Published:
Wed, 04/03/2024

Small Business Majority’s new poll of North Carolina small business owners reveals strong support for legislative solutions that would remove barriers for justice-impacted individuals by making reforms to occupational licensing and debt-based driver’s license suspensions. These politically diverse small business owners believe these measures would enable employers to tap into an underutilized workforce and open up opportunities for entrepreneurship.

Published:
Wed, 02/01/2023

Small businesses in North Carolina are still struggling to hire and retain a ready workforce, persistent challenges in the wake of the pandemic.