North Carolina Sustainable Business Council 2023 Policy Agenda 

Thanks to the support of many Business Leaders who took time to sign onto our prior-years Policy Agenda, we have made an impact.

There is still work to do. We are seeking input from the business community to drafting and 2023-24 policy agenda.

NCSBC is continuing our partnership with the Small Business Policy Task Force to expand our 2023-24 Policy Agenda to include a separate advocacy pillar that focus specifically on recommendations put forth by The Task Force to develop policies and tactics that ensure the resiliency of our small businesses.   

As always, we need your Voice to raise awareness about these issues.  

• Small Business Resiliency 
  - Enact a North Carolina Small Business Truth in Lending Act to promote transparency in lending at the state level, especially during times of natural disasters and other crises. (i.e., non-bank lenders, fintechs).  
  - Provide $9 million in recurring funding to the One North Carolina Small Business (ONCSB) -Program to spur additional small business formation and growth for rural businesses and increase the diversity of participation in small businesses.  
  - Establish a well-advertised online, app-based, centralized resource portal to help small-business owners and support entities to navigate a wide array of public and private resources to better coordinate service delivery. 
   

• Economic Resilience 
  -  Create policies that incentivize local business retention and job growth. 
  - Document experiences and collect data to inform local policy-making to include true obstacles and challenges affecting small businesses. 
  - Leverage research to rethink economic development practices that impact local businesses in all regions and their interconnectivity to each other. 
  - Create invest-local and "good-growth" incentives for highly desirable business sectors that support sustainable economic growth
  - Allow businesses to incorporate as a Benefit Corporation. 
  - Increase broadband adoption across the state with an emphasis on rural areas and underserved small-business sectors.  
  - Increase funding for the Career and Technical Education grant initiative to support expansion of the entrepreneurship curriculum at area middle and high schools across the state.
  - Support the incremental increase of the minimum wage to $15 per hour or the adequate living wage. 
  - Establish workshare programs or short-time compensation to let businesses temporarily reduce the hours of their employees, rather than laying them off during economic downturns.
   

• Election Integrity 
  - Promote fair redistricting criteria. 
  - Promote efforts to stop Gerrymandering. 
  - Oppose any policy or law that results in the suppression of voter engagement. 

• Affordable Health Care Options for Small Businesses 
  - Identify equitable solutions that address the health insurance coverage for our state’s entrepreneurs, freelancers, small business owners, their employees and families. 
  

• Diversity and Inclusion 
  - Expand the capacity and reach of the State Historically Underutilized Business Office (HUB) through regional HUB offices to increase economic opportunities for historically underutilized businesses in state government contracting and procurement to foster greater growth and profitability in rural and urban communities. 
  - Ensure inclusivity of the state’s growing Latino population by providing bilingual/bicultural technical services (English/Spanish) across the entrepreneurial ecosystem network (SBCs, SBTDCs, CDFIs, etc.).  

• Environment/Agriculture 
  - Support the cultivation of renewable energy sources. 
  - Protect businesses from the effects of climate related issues.
  - Support statewide investment in sustaining farmers and the development of regenerative agriculture. 

SIGN ON

Help Us Get 500 Business Leader signatures to deliver to policymakers and legislators asking them to support these small business and economic initiatives. Thank you in advance for adding your VOICE and letting your business be a “Force for Good.”