April 29, 2026 By Brian Hamilton Since 2017, April has been recognized as Second Chance Month in the United States. On March 24, Gov. Josh Stein issued his official proclamation, and earlier this month, he and I addressed stakeholders from across North Carolina at the 2026 NC Rehabilitation and Reentry Conference, joining leaders committed to […]

by Brian Hamilton, opinion contributor – 05/02/26 2:00 PM ET Elon Musk recently proposed giving government payouts to people who lose their jobs to AI. Specifically, he called for “universal high income via checks issued by the Federal government.” It’s not often that there are so many things wrong with an idea that I don’t quite know where to […]

The first question every voter should ask when evaluating a candidate By Brian Hamilton My dad never graduated from high school. He used to tell me: “Brian, talking ain’t doing.” Despite not having the fancy degrees that many of us hold, my father instinctively knew the importance of action. One of our better presidents, Teddy […]

by Brian Hamilton, opinion contributor – 01/10/26 2:00 PM ET President Trump this week took to social media to signal a shift in the national conversation about housing, announcing plans to ban big investors from buying single-family homes. It’s about time. At the peak of the pandemic, almost 5 percent of homes were being purchased […]

Merry Christmas. The economy is recovering. In assessing our economy or, really, any economy, you want to know if the economy is growing, that there are enough jobs for people, that people can borrow at reasonable rates and that the dollar you hold today is worth about the same as it did a year ago. […]

A man who was formerly incarcerated is on a mission to redefine how people think about jerk seasoning with help from nonprofit Inmates to Entrepreneurs. NBC Chicago’s LeeAnn Trotter looks at how they’re Making a Difference.

Barry Mattson, a combat veteran and the CEO of the Brian Hamilton Foundation, joins WRAL on Veterans Day to discuss his experience leading organizations that support fellow service members.

Military.com | By Nick Mordowanec | Published October 31, 2025 Barry Mattson represented his country in the U.S. Air Force and Army. Since his military days, he’s used his experience in community building and humanitarian efforts to pay it forward to the next generation of aspiring business owners and job seekers. Mattson’s leadership as part […]

Disraeli said there are three lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. Of course, he forgot the last lie: anything having to do with politicians. North Carolina was recently named the best state in the nation to do business and, at the same time, the worst state in the nation to work. How can one state hold both of […]

For US startups, the past few days have felt like whiplash. President Donald Trump’s $100,000 H-1B fee threw founders and their employees into chaos, and a fresh proposal to overhaul the visa lottery has left founders fearing they can’t compete with deep-pocketed Big Tech companies for talent. Now, some young companies have frozen hiring as […]