Secretary of state visits Bladen County’s small businesses

BLADEN COUNTY – When the North Carolina Secretary of State, Elaine Marshall schedules and shows up to spend time with small-business owners of Bladen County, it is a big deal for not only the business owners but for the growth and prosperity of the communities.

Marshall, visited Bladen County July 28 to learn more about small business startups and growth in this rural county. She spent the morning visiting new business owners in Bladenboro and then met with a roundtable of new entrepreneurs at Bladen Community College.

To those who lent an ear and offered input along with those who are reading the significance of this event, Bladen Community College president Dr. Amanda Lee had a well-pointed thought.

“The resources that the Secretary of State was discussing are available for ALL small businesses in our community,” Dr. Lee said.

There are those in the State of North Carolina that do not know who the Secretary of State is and what her role is, but it is huge for businesses across the state.

Some of the things that Marshall does for North Carolina: The Secretary of State registers and regulates businesses like corporations, LLCs and partnerships, ensuring they are properly licensed and compliant with state laws. Her office oversees the registration and regulation of securities offered for sale in North Carolina, including brokers and dealers. She manages filings under the Uniform Commercial Code, which governs commercial transactions and helps businesses secure interests in transactions. Her office charters corporations, manage filings for both domestic and foreign LLCs, and handle the reinstatement of dissolved corporations as well as manage filings for both domestic and foreign LLCs, and handle the reinstatement of dissolved corporations.

“No one starts a small business in the State of North Carolina without approval from the North Carolina Secretary of State,” Dr. Lee said. “She is positioned herself in a very unique place to understand the challenges and also then to be able provide assistance to overcome those challenges. So, to have her in our community was such a wonderful gift. And then, to have these resources still available after she leaves is what everybody needs to be aware of.”

The day started with a walking tour of businesses in the Bladenboro Town Square. Secretary Marshall met with Crytal Edwards and Tiffany Clowers of the Skin & Wellness Center, Katie Thompson of Sweet Tea Boutique and Beth Dowless of Market on Main, followed by lunch at Aunt B’s. During each of the stops, the Secretary and staff talked to the businesses about their challenges and needs as entrepreneurs.

She is focusing on that rural county and developing specific plans for each specific county.

“Some of the things that she is doing, is developing that are unique to counties,” Dr. Lee said. “In fact, she also has a VOLT in – unique to Bladen County. I think that she understands that for North Carolina to truly be the best it can be it is going to be on the coattails of the small-business owner.”

VOLT stands for vision, operations, leadership, technology and is an initiative is a comprehensive approach to improve an organization’s performance and efficiency. It’s not a single, fixed program, but rather a framework that can be applied to various sectors including government, finance and even vocational training. The core idea is to enhance an organization’s capabilities across these four key areas to achieve better outcomes.

Better outcomes is the bottom line for the visit to Bladen County. To grow as a State – we need to be able to combine small-business owners with a big vision.

During the afternoon session at BCC, Secretary Marshall outlined the services provided as part of the Rural RISE NC program to the participants who included business owners and elected officials. Rural Rise NC is a web-based resource for small businesses that was developed after surveying entrepreneurs. It provides links and information on business registration, taxes, funding and connections to local support for businesses.

Now, some of the information that was put forth was not all roses and sweet wine. This is some work to to do.

“Some of her statistics were sobering,” Dr. Lee said. “The other piece to this that we all heard was that it was going to take all of us working together to ensure our small-businesses that are local are successful. As educators listening to everybody discussing their businesses and where they are in their challenges, I think that finances were the things that you keep hearing over and over. Along with the finances were so many of our businesses are funding themselves and the personal risk that they are taking to try to live this dream without leaning on some of the resources that I’m afraid they were not even aware of.”

According to Marshall, North Carolina has seen a large increase in small business startups in post-COVID years, at one point averaging 650 new business registrations a day. She quickly noted that business survival is not guaranteed with 1 in 4 businesses closing after three years and half after being in operation for seven years.

Marshall shared that when a business in Bladen County registers with the Secretary of State, they receive a checklist for starting a business and a bulletin with contact information of local support providers including the Small Business Center at BCC, whose counseling services and classes are free.

One business owner who chose not to be identified said that the paperwork and the hoops to jump through to get things going can be overwhelming. It’s one thing to hear about all the help available, but the reality of navigating all of the requirements and paperwork and time due to small or no staffing in a small business provides many sleepless nights.

The main cliché is “shop local” but sometimes local is not fully ready for the shoppers. At this time the small-business owners also face big box stores and outlets with deep pockets and the competition from the internet. With a ton of work to do just to get a new business registered and the doors open, internet creation can also be something that there is not enough time for.

One of the benefits that Bladen County has is a community college. It has developed a small business arm for startups and classes to help answer the questions and navigate everything from the paperwork to marketing to the generation of AI – all crucial tools that can help you build a better business.

Terry Dennison who is the BCC Small Business Center Director can answer any questions you may have concerning your small business or information coming from the Secretary of State’s office. [email protected]

Seven business owners, who had been in business for less than five years, had the opportunity to talk one-on-one with the Secretary. They discussed struggles and challenges including marketing, bookkeeping, grant writing and capital needs. A few spoke on how they received financial help from programs like RBEG with the help of Bladen County Economic Development and Bladen’s Bloomin Agri-Industries Inc. The businesses represented food establishment, retail shops, services, agriculture and small manufacturing throughout the county. The businesses were identified by a collaboration between the Elizabethtown – White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Center at BCC.

Visit https://sosnc.gov/ to register your new business.

Visit https://sosnc.gov/rural_rise – for resources to start a small business in Bladen County

(More information on page 4 in today’s editorial)