I will be speaking tomorrow at North Carolina's second annual Entrepreneurship Summit at the North Raleigh Hilton as part of EntrepreneurshipWeek USA. It has been put together by NC Rural. At the dinner reception tonight they announced they expect around 600 attendees including Erskine Bowles, Congressman David Price, President of the NC Senate Marc Basnight, and Speaker of the NC House Joe Hackney.

Here is the description of the purpose of the event:

As the 21st century opened, North Carolina stood at a crossroads. Agriculture and traditional manufacturing, two major economic sectors, were experiencing serious pressures, and even the new economy’s electronics manufacturers faltered in the 2001 recession. In sharp contrast stood small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures.

Always strong but often overlooked, these small companies and startups account for a significant and growing portion of the state’s economy. Of North Carolina’s 223,000 business establishments, for example, 95 percent employ fewer than 50 people. Three-quarters employ fewer than 10. Yet all together, they account for more than 1.4 million jobs statewide. Over and above these employer businesses are 551,000 self-employed individuals, whose numbers grew by nearly 20 percent between 2000 and 2004.

Recognizing the potential to build on this entrepreneurial foundation, leaders of more than 50 organizations gathered in April 2006 for the state’s first entrepreneurship summit. They determined that North Carolina was well positioned to become the nation’s leading state in entrepreneurship. It was clear, however, that achieving this goal would require a number of steps to improve services and programs for entrepreneurs and to create an environment that encourages business startups and growth. These leaders dedicated themselves and their organizations to the creation and implementation of an action agenda that will put North Carolina at the forefront of entrepreneurship development.