RCC in the News
WENTWORTH - For one year, the GATE project has been instrumental in creating and maintaining jobs in Rockingham County. Funded by the federal government and operated across North Carolina through community college Small Business Centers, GATE (Growing America Through Entrepreneurship) provides training and coaching to rural residents who want to start their own small businesses.
Applicants to the program must be dislocated workers - those who lost their job through no fault of their own due to a business closing or layoff - and be eligible for the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) program.
Participants may receive scholarships to help with business educational training, counseling, resource referrals and more through the RCC GATE counselor, Debi Joyce. They must also attend the 10-week "How to Start Your Own Business" course offered through the Small Business Center.
At the end of its first full year of implementation, GATE has proven its worth. Cathy Wheeler, RCC Small Business Center director, said 16 of the 33 small businesses opened last year with assistance from the Small Business Center were GATE clients. These 33 businesses created 60 jobs. Further assistance from the Small Business Center resulted in the retention of an additional 57 jobs in the county.
Due to GATE, the Small Business Center had a 50 percent increase in the number of clients it served. Its business counseling sessions have almost doubled.
"We help people help themselves," said Joyce, GATE counselor. "We want them to succeed whether they ultimately start a small business or not. If they come to the Small Business Center and decide not to become an entrepreneur, they leave with more knowledge about business, which helps them be more in tune to the needs of the company. It's a win-win situation."
RCC's GATE program has been so successful, federal representatives of Project GATE came to RCC to observe Joyce in action. Later, the RCC GATE program was featured in a "Best Practices Sharing" session attended by representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor and other states' GATE programs. During the session, Joyce was asked to share the Small Business Center's unique implementation strategies for dislocated workers.
The program's success has landed Joyce on television. Every month she interviews a GATE participant. The feature runs regularly on WGSR-TV.
While GATE directly impacts rural dislocated workers, its impact can be felt in a much broader circle. As it, and the Small Business Center as a whole, continues putting people to work through the creation or retention of jobs, the county and its citizens reap the rewards of an improved economic climate.
"This program has the potential to do far more than provide a source of income for individuals who've lost jobs," said Billy Ray Hall, president of the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center. "It can help us build homegrown economies in struggling communities all across the state."
For information about the program, contact Debi Joyce at 342-4261, ext. 2349, visit the local JobLink Career Center at the NC Employment Security Commission in Wentworth, or go online to www.ncprojectgate.org, or call 1-877-9NC-GATE.
RCC in the News