About The Blue Ridge Entrepreneurial Council
The Blue Ridge Entrepreneurial Council, or BREC, is a nurturing organization for entrepreneurs in western North Carolina that focuses on education, networking and mentoring, communications and capital formation. BREC has helped local businesses raise capital, brought private equity investors to western North Carolina to evaluate businesses, hosted venture capital conferences in Asheville, and recruited businesses with high-growth potential to the region. See Services to learn more about BREC’s services and the entrepreneurial support provided by the Western North Carolina Center for Technology Commercialization. BREC is a program of the AdvantageWest Economic Development Group, Western North Carolina’s regional economic development commission. Another AdvantageWest initiative is the Blue Ridge Angel Investor Network, or BRAIN. Currently $5 million is being raised for BRAIN Fund I, which will be used to invest in local businesses that have exit strategies for investment return. During the past decade, small businesses have played an increasingly important role in the U.S. economy. In western North Carolina, entrepreneurs and small businesses in industries such as software development, meteorology and biotechnology represent a large segment of a fast-growing sector of our economy. A recent study by an Atlanta-based consultant found that 17.5 percent of total employment in a major Western North Carolina labor shed is focused on entrepreneurial activity, exceeding the national average of 15.2 percent. Bright and adventurous people are drawn to North Carolina’s mountains because they recognize they don’t have to sacrifice their quality of life to pursue their ideas and goals. They can balance their hard work with a little time off for mountain biking, kayaking, outstanding music, first-rate restaurants and more. When they go home to a house that is highly affordable compared to most other entrepreneurial hotspots around the nation, the commute is quick and easy.