N.C. makes ‘green’ available for green entrepreneurs

Editor’s note: “The Angel Connection” is a regular feature in WRAL Local Tech Wire. LTW asked consultant Bill Warner to share advice for entrepreneurs seeking angel investors and/or venture capital investment. He is chairman of the Triangle Accredited Capital Forum, an angel investor network with over 100 members throughout the Southeast.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK - The recently announced North Carolina Green Business Fund grant program is great news for entrepreneurs.

Ever since the dot.com crash in 2001, private investors have run upstream to more mature company investments, leaving a void of financing choices for entrepreneurs with a great idea but were not ready to go to market.

“This new grant program helps fill that gap in company financing alternatives for start up companies that is currently being filled by friends and family financing, bank loans and other federal and state grant programs,” says Brad Lienhart, chairman of the newly formed N.C. Sustainable Entrepreneurs organization. (In the interest of full disclosure, I along with Lienhart and several other people formed this group.)

You Have to be Green

Under this state program, grant awards will only be made to North Carolina companies in support of competitively assessed projects focused on:

• Development of the biofuels industry in NC

• Development of the green building industry in NC

• Attraction and leverage of private sector investments and entrepreneurial growth in environmentally conscious clean technology and renewable energy products and businesses

Smart Move

This is a smart initiative by the N.C. Department of Commerce’s Board of Science and Technology and the N.C. Legislature. They are correctly seeing the need to fill the financing gap for start up company initiatives, especially in this area of technology development. In the long run, with proper care for the new companies, they will bring more revenue into N.C. and produce jobs in exciting new companies.

Not Much Money, But More May Come

The fund is set at one million dollars with a maximum of $100,000 for any single grant. Needless to say, that will only put a small dent in the financing needs for N.C. start up companies, but is a good start. The N.C. Board of Science and Technology is administering the grant program which is now well underway. They are making no promises, but everyone is encouraged by the possibility that more money will be added to this fund next year. Once they have proven that the program is attracting solid green technology companies and that the demand will continue to be high, additional funding might be possible.

Increase Awareness

Keep your eyes on this program and the excitement it creates. Encourage qualified companies to take advantage of this new grant program. Let your legislators and senators know your views on this program, hopefully increasing their support for future improvements to this program.

About the author: Bill Warner is the managing partner of Paladin and Associates, a business consulting firm in the Research Triangle Park area of central North Carolina, and is the chairman of the Triangle Accredited Capital Forum, an angel investor network with over one hundred members throughout the southeast.