Sarah Thompson, Community Investment Vice President for Economic Opportunity at Dogwood Health Trust, a nonprofit created with the purpose to improve the health and well-being of all people and communities, said that Dogwood Health’s investing in the economic opportunity of the community is “one of the greatest tools in the fight against poverty and the best way to improve the social drivers of health.”

“We are a region of predominantly small businesses,” Thompson said. “We want to ensure that entrepreneurs have the support and the capital that they need.” She said that while there are many resources available for small businesses owners and entrepreneurs, they are not always connecting with them.

David Lilly, Founder and President of Lilly Consulting Group, a business growth and development firm, shared some findings from the assessment. “WNC benefits from a robust and dynamic entrepreneurial environment,” Lilly said. There are lots of opportunities on both sides – entrepreneurs seeking capital and the investors interested in lending it, according to Lilly, and there is capital of all kinds available from early, mid- late-stage, debt, equity.

Only 3 to 5 percent of entrepreneurs are accessing capital locally. Lilly said that this is the result of a few factors. “The fragmentation and uncoordinated capital and enterprise enabling ecosystem creates difficulty in locating the capital that is stage appropriate,” Lilly said. “The capital is heavily skewed toward the venture capital end of the spectrum, as well as much of the capital being concentrated in Asheville and down toward Hendersonville. Other outlying counties may not have the same access. Start-up and pre seed-stage segments are being funded, but they are still underfunded.

“If we could get 100 percent of the companies seeking capital to access capital, we would have a greater pipeline of companies succeeding and growing to the bankable, investable status that we all want them to reach,” Lilly said.

The assessment showed that companies at different stages have different needs. Start-up and pre seed-stage enterprises could have a funding need of $5,000 while early stage entrepreneurs could have funding needs of $1 million to $5 million.

Entrepreneurs are also all at a different point in the life cycle of their business, according to Jesse Fripp, Principal and CEO of Shining Rock Ventures, a management consulting service. “It’s important to note that different institutional providers have more specialized focuses,” Fripp said. “As a business owner, it’s important to know where you fit and that you are aligned with the services, focus, and capital a particular institution offers.”

Fripp said that recommendations from the assessment include breaking down geographic segments and actively facilitating partnerships convening throughout the region getting the information out to those who need it by continuing assessments and collaborative research efforts; continuing assessments and research efforts; and growing existing expertise and building upon the organizational and institutional foundations that do exist in the region.