Contact: Gena Messer-Knode,
Director of the Eastern NC Center
for Business & Entrepreneurship
Email: GKnode@ncwc.edu
Phone: 919-394-9007
“Starter U” Entrepreneurship Program Coming to North Carolina Wesleyan and the Twin Counties
Rocky Mount, NC, June 11, 2019 – A new partnership between North Carolina Wesleyan and the Brian Hamilton Foundation is bringing a world-class free online entrepreneurship program – Starter U: How to Start, Run, and Grow a Business – to North Carolina Wesleyan’s nine-campus system, as well as to residents of the Twin Counties area.
“The Brian Hamilton Foundation’s Starter U is an excellent addition to North Carolina Wesleyan’s entrepreneurship offerings to its students and to the broader community,” said North Carolina Wesleyan Interim President Evan Duff. “An entrepreneurial mindset is an essential skill for the 21st century workforce. Thinking like an entrepreneur, by turning problems into possibilities, is also a life skill.”
Starter U will be offered on NC Wesleyan’s website as well as on the desktop computers available to the public at the Eastern North Carolina Center for Business & Entrepreneurship (the “HUB”), located at the Gateway Technology Building on NC Wesleyan’s campus in Rocky Mount. The 10-hour, self-paced video course provides the basic information needed to start, run, and grow a business, including business ideation, marketing, selling, and customer service.
“It’s O.K. to start small,” noted foundation founder Brian Hamilton. Hamilton started his first business, a lawn-mowing company, as a middle school student. He grew his business and used it to pay for his college education as well as his business degree at Duke.
“People seem to think that you have to start with a complex, detailed business plan and pitch, Shark Tank-style, for funding. That’s just not true,” said Hamilton, who owned a chain of coin laundromats after graduating from Duke. “All the entrepreneurs I know started out small, just like I did. That’s why we teach the basic information you need to know through Starter U.”
Hamilton co-founded Sageworks, one of the nation’s first fintech companies. He sold it in 2018 to a leading private equity firm and now focuses on helping people create opportunity through entrepreneurship. He has been teaching entrepreneurship for more than 30 years and is a regular contributor to Inc. and Entrepreneur magazines, as well as a regular guest on CNBC.
“Starter U, and its practical approach, provides exactly what people need to know if they are thinking about starting a small business or want to grow the business they already have,” said HUB Director Gena Messer-Knode. “Our team at the HUB is excited about offering this opportunity and looks forward to being a continuing resource for the entrepreneurs who will be starting businesses in our community as a result of taking this course.”
About the Brian Hamilton Foundation
The Brian Hamilton Foundation was established with one principle in mind: with the right resources and support, anyone can be a successful entrepreneur. The foundation provides free entrepreneurship education resources, with the goal of helping people take part in the American dream and climb the social and economic ladder. https://brianhamilton.org/
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