20 Local Businesses Win Share of $50,000 in BCCC’s Third Annual Seed & Sow Pitch Contest
What Is the Seed & Sow Program? The Seed & Sow Program is a comprehensive learning and planning process culminating in a Pitch Contest where contestants compete to win seed funding to help start or grow their small business. This year, 27 local entrepreneurs pitched for their share of $50,000, and 20 walked away with […]
Beaufort County Community College Small Business Center Awarded $25,000 Grant from Duke Energy Foundation to Support Small Businesses
Duke Energy Foundation announced it has awarded a $25,000 grant to BCCC Small Business Center to support local small businesses in Beaufort County through Beaufort County Community College Small Business Center’s Seed & Sow Program. Twenty nonprofit organizations across the state have been selected to receive $25,000 grants, which will then fund awards of up […]
Beaufort CCC Small Business Center Earns State Innovation Award
Beaufort County Community College (Beaufort CCC)’s Small Business Center director, Jack Dugan, was recognized at last week’s North Carolina Community College Small Business Center Network meeting with the Center of Excellence Innovation Award for Programs and Seminars. Dugan and program assistant Katelyn Thomas have expanded the center’s reach with creative and engaging programs that focus […]
Don’t Quit Your Daydream: Beaufort CCC Graduate and Small Business Center Client Turns Passion Into Award-Winning Business
When Ahajanay Bolden walked across the stage at the National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) Conference in San Diego to accept the Entrepreneur of the Year Award, she was still in disbelief. Eleven months earlier, she had taken her first client at Bethel Bliss Health & Wellness, her spa business in Washington and Belhaven. […]
Beaufort CCC Small Business Center Client Wins National Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Ahajanay Bolden, owner of Bethel Bliss Health & Wellness (Washington & Belhaven locations), was the National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship’s (NACCE) Entrepreneur of the Year. Ahajanay, a client of the Beaufort County Community College’s Small Business Center (SBC) and a graduate of the college’s Natural Hair Care program, recently won the SBC’s Seed & […]
Beaufort CCC Small Business Center Awards $33,000 at 2nd Annual Seed & Sow Contest
On Saturday, April 12, 2025, the Small Business Center (SBC) at Beaufort County Community College (Beaufort CCC) celebrated the entrepreneurial spirit of Eastern North Carolina by awarding $33,000 to local small business owners during its 2nd Annual Seed & Sow Contest. The Seed & Sow Program guides participants through a structured learning and business planning […]
“They Get to Be Free”: Graduate Mable Hall Pitches New Non-Profit in Seed & Sow Contest
An essential part of starting a business is identifying a gap in the market. When Mable Hall graduated from Beaufort County Community College in 2022 with an Associate in Applied Science in Business Administration, she had a vision: to create a space where youth could find freedom and healing through creative expression. That vision came […]