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Resources for Starting a Business

  • Orange County Economic Development
    The Orange County Economic Development team offers:

      • Business expansion, retention and relocation assistance
      • Customized research
      • Information on commercial and industrial space availability
      • Small business and entrepreneur support
    • If you're looking to start, relocate or expand your business, look no further than Orange County. We offer the perfect mix - on both a professional and a personal level - and Orange County Economic Development is here to help you enjoy success in both.

 

 

  • SCORE
    • Have your business plan reviewed and improved! Service Corp of Retired Executives Chapter 495 serves Orange County. The mentors of SCORE are experienced business owners and managers who volunteer their experience and knowledge to help small business owners and potential small business owners achieve success.

 

  • The Small Business Center at Durham Technical Community College
    • The Small Business Center Network (SBCN), comprised of 58 Small Business Center located at community colleges throughout North Carolina, supports the development of new businesses and growth of existing businesses as a community-based provider of business training, counseling and resource information. SBC at Durham Tech provides business owners with the information they need for success.

  • Economic Partnership of NC (EDPNC)EDPNC offers a treasure trove of educational, financial, and other resources for starting a business, including video learning.

Access Capital: Grants, Loans and Incentives

One of the biggest hurdles to starting and growing a business is funding. Small business grants and other incentives may be available:

  • Orange County Economic Development offers economic development programs to help area businesses. Learn more about their financial resources and Business Development Grants, CLICK HERE.
  • The Town of Hillsborough has a variety of inventive programs that benefit many types of businesses. If you would like to learn more about incentives with the Town of Hillsborough, CLICK HERE.

Economic Development Tool - SizeUp Orange County

Entrepreneurs can use the free SizeUp software to estimate the viability of their future or current business and test assumptions of their business plan. In addition, they can use the software to discover potential customers, find local suppliers, and optimize their marketing by targeting ideal customers.

SizeUp Orange County provides powerful market research and business intelligence that is both industry specific and hyperlocal. It includes the same and similar data that is used by huge corporations, but which has been historically inaccessible to small businesses because of the cost and expertise required to analyze data. SizeUp Orange County helps to level the business playing field by empowering our local entrepreneurs and small businesses with these data insights at no cost to them so that they can make data-driven decisions just like the biggest companies.

SizeUp helps Orange County businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs by providing them industry data analysis that empowers them to:

  • Discover potential customers and suppliers to grow their business.
  • Optimize advertising and marketing to ideal customers.
  • Analyze the characteristics and spending of consumers in the area.

Use SizeUp Orange County

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