Blog

By Adrienne Cole
President and CEO
​Greater Raleigh Chamber





Did you know there are more than 60,000 businesses in Wake County with 50 employees or less? According to the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, small businesses make up 98 percent of our state’s business landscape. In Wake County, 87 percent of the companies have 10 or fewer employees.

In celebration of Small Business Week, we invite you to stop by the Chamber office to watch webinars created by the Small Business Administration to support your business. You can also check out all the resources available online here.

​I sincerely appreciate your engagement with the Chamber. Small businesses make up more than 85 percent of our membership, and your entrepreneurship is a vital fabric in our community. National Small Business Week recognizes the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners that create two out of three jobs in the U.S.

Please join us at 800 S. Salisbury St. to gain great insight to support and grow your business. Enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, and hear experts explore the following: 

• May 3 at 2 p.m.: 5 Fabulous Habits of Local Business Champions Presented by YP
• May 3 at 4 p.m.: Grow Your Business Online Presented by Google
• May 4 at 2:30 p.m.: The Future of Small Business Innovation Presented by Salesforce
• May 4 at 3:30 p.m.: How to Write Your Email Content in 15 Minutes or Less Presented by Constant Contact

Thank you for all that you do for our community—you are an integral part of what makes Raleigh and Wake County innovative and special.

Gregory Poole Jr.'s personal mission is clear—to make Raleigh a better place to live for all of its residents. 

Poole is the 2016 recipient of the A.E. Finley Distinguished Service Award, which has been given annually since 1970 in recognition of a person who has contributed time, talent, and service to the benefit of the community. He'll be honored Wednesday, Sept. 7, at the Chamber's 128th Annual Meeting.

Poole will be presented with the A.E. Finley Distinguished Service Award during the Chamber’s 128th Annual Meeting at the Raleigh Convention Center on Sept. 7. Register to attend the event here. 

4 Questions with Claire Shipman
Claire Shipman, ABC News contributor and New York Times bestselling author, is the keynote speaker at the March 11 Women's Leadership Conference. She answered four questions for us leading up to the event.

Voters' Guide is Live
Prepare yourself for the March 15 primary election with the Chamber's Voters' Guide. This online resource includes links to each candidate's campaign website and social media presence.

ConnectNC Invests in Our Future
Connect NC is a bond initiative that makes vital investments in North Carolina without raising taxes. It will create better job training opportunities for the 21st century and make our state safer and better prepared.

Help Chamber Define Goals
The Chamber is conducting an organizational assessment to define goals for 2016-19, and your feedback is critical to the success of this process. Current members please complete this short survey; previous members please complete this one. If you have already participated in the survey, thank you!

How Emerging Entrepreneurial Hubs Are Becoming America's New Boomtowns
Two studies released last week indicate that at least a handful of smaller cities in the U.S., including the Raleigh-Durham area, are emerging as places that investors and entrepreneurs are increasingly making bets.

Avoid Damage and Disruption at Work
From hiring practices and workers' comp to discrimination and harassment ---- join us to learn about elements of risk management that can stop problems before they occur.

Moving Toward World-class Teacher Preparation
What 21st century strategies will prepare top educators to teach and lead in our public schools? Find out on March 2 at an event hosted by Cooperating Raleigh Colleges in partnership with the Wake County Public Schools System.

Council Approves Raleigh Arts Plan
The Raleigh City Council formally adopted the Raleigh Arts Plan at its meeting last week. The plan identifies needs and suggests bold projects. Read an overview of the plan here and download the full plan here.

7 Timeless Communication Tips from Abraham Lincoln
In addition to his leadership legacy, Abraham Lincoln was an outstanding conversationalist---- and many of his communication principles are applicable today.

If you liked this recap, make sure you subscribe to the Chamber's e-newsletter to receive this information directly in your inbox each week.

Audience members at the 2016 Economic Forecast last week showed optimism for what 2016 holds. As part of the event, attendees participated in a live poll to gauge their thoughts about the new year.

When asked if they were more or less optimistic about the Triangle’s business environment in regards to the latest increase to interest rates, 59 percent of those polled responded “about the same” and 30 percent replied “more optimistic.” Only 8 percent of those surveyed said they were “much less optimistic” or “less optimistic.
 
Of the 164 attendees who responded to the second question about how they expect their business’s growth to be effected, 56 anticipated it to increase 3 to 5 percent and 33 said business should grow by more than 10 percent. Thirteen people expected business to stay the same, and just two foresaw a decrease.
 
Go here to see the full poll results—including the answers to two other questions.
 
Are you expectations in line with the audience’s? What do you foresee regarding your business in 2016? Let us know in the comments.

The Triangle’s economy is expected to outpace the growth of the nation’s economy in 2016.
 
That was the consensus of two noted economists at today’s Economic Forecast. Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, and Jay Bryson, global economist for Wells Fargo Securities, took the stage in front of 700 business, elected, and community leaders for one of the Chamber’s most popular events.

We’ll dive deeper into the economists’ presentations in further blog posts, but here are some of the morning’s highlights.

Jay Bryson, global economist, Wells Fargo Securities
Employment in North Carolina is growing in line with the national rate, while the Triangle has been outpacing it. This is nothing new for our region—the Triangle has generally grown faster than the national economy over the past decade.

Jeffrey Lacker, president, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
The broad takeaway is that even though interest rates are likely to be lower than usual for the next few years, monetary policy is still highly accommodative right now. Interest rate increases within the range envisioned by FOMC participants would be relatively slow by historic standards, and would still leave policy in an accommodative stance. Such increases should be viewed as a sign of the strength of the U.S. economy—which is good news.

Learn More
Both economists’ full presentations, along with video of the event, are available here. You can go here to view a social media recap.

The passage of H.R. 22, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, revives the U.S. Export-Import Bank and marks a significant victory for the business community.
 
Ex-Im at Risk
For 80 years, Ex-Im has provided vital financing and insurance services to U.S.-based firms that sell to customers abroad.

• More than 3,000 American small businesses rely on Ex-Im to sell their products overseas and compete in the global marketplace
• In the last six years, EXIM has supported 1.3 million jobs
• Since 2007, the bank supported over $2.9 billion in export sales at 200 companies in North Carolina

 
When the bank’s authorization was allowed to lapse earlier this year, it became clear how disadvantaged American companies were without its support. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, over the course of five months, numerous U.S. exporters lost sales and workers lost jobs to their overseas competitors because they were unable to obtain the services provided by Ex-Im.
 
A Top Priority
Supporting American jobs by renewing the Ex-Im Bank’s authority has been a key priority for the Greater Raleigh Chamber. FAST Act reauthorizes the bank’s expired charter until 2019.
 
The U.S. Senate voted 83 to 16 to approve the legislation on Dec. 3, hours after the bill cleared the House of Representatives by a margin of 359 to 65. President Obama signed the five-year, $305 billion bill into law late the next day.
 
The new law calls for spending approximately $205 billion on highways and $48 billion on transit projects over the next five years. Stay tuned for an upcoming blog on what that means for the Triangle region.
 
Learn more about the Export-Import Bank of the United States here.

More than 3,000 American small businesses rely on the Export-Import Bank of the United States to sell their products overseas and compete in the global marketplace. In fact, over the last six years, EXIM has supported 1.3 million jobs—many of which could be lost if EXIM Bank's authority isn't renewed.
 
EXIM is a key priority for the Greater Raleigh Chamber. Since 2007, it has supported over $2.9 billion in export sales at 200 companies in North Carolina. The Exporters for Ex-Im Coalition released a new video highlighting the negative consequences of the lapse for North Carolina manufacturers.

Check out this informative article from the New York Times.
 
Please take a minute to send a letter to your representative and ask them to vote "yes" on reauthorization.
 
For more information, please contact Emily Atkinson, vice president of Government Affairs.