VP Harris in North Carolina days before Super Tuesday to announce $32 million investment
North Carolina is on the big stage just days before Super Tuesday with visits from Vice President Kamala Harris, presidential candidate Nikki Haley and former president Donald Trump this weekend.
On Friday, Harris visited Durham to announce a $32 million investment for small businesses and to discuss the administration’s economic successes in the area.
She stood in front of Durham’s “Black Wall Street Sign” that sits in the city’s historic Black business district. She was joined by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, and several investors in the program.
The $32 million comes from the American Rescue Plan under the State Small Business Credit Initiative. An additional $60 million will come from a match of private sector venture capital partners. The announcement is the administration’s last stop in their “Investing in America” tour. President Biden recently visited North Carolina in January to tout the administration’s investment in high-speed internet for underserved communities.
For many, the “American Dream” includes starting their own business, Cooper said at the event. That dream, though, has not been a reality for many Americans.
“Black-founded companies have typically received less than 1% of venture capital funding annually, while women-only-founded businesses receive just about 2%,” according to a White House press release.
N.C. Governor Roy Cooper, Vice President Kamala Harris and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo speak after visiting Ella West Art Gallery in Durham, N.C., on Friday, March 1, 2024. Harris was in Durham to announce $32 million in funds to support North Carolina-based minority entrepreneurs.
This program, Harris said, is about intentionally investing in underserved groups. These groups can achieve big things if they have the resources, she said.
“But when provided with access, the talent is there, the capacity is there, the drive is there, the ambition is there, and growth and economic growth results,” Harris said.
When Harris and Biden first took office, they pledged to increase federal contracts for minority-owned business by 50 percent, and this investment puts them on track for that, Harris said.
NC Super Tuesday Guide: A look at the presidential candidates
Barber Ty Adams, left, and customer Chris Pittman try to get a glimpse of Vice President Kamala Harris as she arrives at Ella West Art Gallery in Durham, N.C., on Friday, March 1, 2024.
Voters feelings on Bidenomics
The public was not invited to the outdoor event, but some stood watching from outside the fences, inside the businesses surrounding the area and on rooftops of apartment buildings. Linda Hubbard Curtis, a Black onlooker who owns a small business in Durham, flashed her pink Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority gloves, while sharing that she and Harris are sisters – sorority sisters that is.
She said her support for Bidenomics is enthusiastic. She believes the administration has done an outstanding job and she already voted for Biden in the primary election during early voting.
“We’ve got to get them in so this economics will continue to grow,” Hubbard Curtis said.
The polls, however, may tell a different story about the public’s opinion on Biden’s economy.
In comparison to Trump’s handling of the economy, a February Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that 39% percent of respondents said “Trump had a better approach to the economy, compared to 33% who said Biden did.”
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: VP Harris in North Carolina days before Super Tuesday to announce $32 million investment