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Read. Follow. Verify.North Carolina creates small business investment grant program and renames research account
Last action · May 7, 2025: Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate (Senate action)Sponsors: Robert Reives and 38 others
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What This Bill Would Do
North Carolina renames the One North Carolina Small Business Account to the Small Business Research and Technology Account and creates a new Small Business Investment Grant Program within the One North Carolina Fund. The measure sets allocation limits, establishes eligibility criteria for small businesses investing between $10 million and $30 million, and takes effect when it becomes law.
Eligible small businesses planning major facility investments can qualify for competitive grants of up to $500,000 per year, while the state caps total annual commitments from the underlying fund at $17 million.
- The One North Carolina Fund provides financial assistance to local governments to help secure business recruitment, expansion, and retention commitments across the state. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Small businesses
Eligible small businesses can apply for competitive grants up to $2.5 million total to offset facility establishment or expansion costs, provided they meet wage, investment, and hiring thresholds.
Department of Commerce
The Department is tasked with administering the new grant program, prioritizing grants based on net economic benefit, and publishing an annual report on fund usage.
Key Facts
- The One North Carolina Small Business Account is renamed the Small Business Research and Technology Account.
- A new Small Business Investment Grant Account (SBIG) is created within the One North Carolina Fund to provide competitive grants up to $10 million.
- Grants to any single recipient under the SBIG program cannot exceed $500,000 in any single calendar year, $2,500,000 total, or a distribution term greater than five years.
- Eligible small businesses must have 250 or fewer employees or less than $5,000,000 in annual gross revenue.
Show all 8 facts
- Eligible businesses must invest between $10 million and $30 million in private funds and hire no more than 250 new employees in the State.
- Recipients must pay employees an average weekly wage at least equal to 110% of the average wage for all insured private employers in the county.
- Total amounts committed in Governor's Letters in a single fiscal year may not exceed $17 million, with $3 million reserved for specific tier-three development areas with employment of 115,000 or less.
- The Department of Commerce must publish an annual report on fund use on September 1 of each year until all funds are expended.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the maximum grant amount a small business can receive in a single year?
What are the investment requirements to qualify for the Small Business Investment Grant?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
16 actions- May 7, 2025SenateRef To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate
- May 7, 2025SenatePassed 1st Reading
- May 7, 2025SenateSpecial Message Received From House
- May 7, 2025HouseSpecial Message Sent To Senate
- May 7, 2025HousePassed 3rd Reading
- May 7, 2025HousePassed 2nd Reading
Show 10 earlier actions
- May 6, 2025HousePlaced On Cal For 05/07/2025
- May 6, 2025HouseCal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- May 6, 2025HouseReptd Fav
- Apr 17, 2025HouseRe-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Apr 17, 2025HouseWithdrawn From Com
- Mar 25, 2025HouseRe-ref Com On Finance
- Mar 25, 2025HouseReptd Fav
- Mar 5, 2025HouseRef to the Com on Commerce and Economic Development, if favorable, Finance, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Mar 5, 2025HousePassed 1st Reading
- Mar 4, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 34 more sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Restructuring of One North Carolina Fund Accounts
The legislation formally renames the One North Carolina Small Business Account and carves out a distinct Small Business Investment Grant Account with specific caps and business eligibility criteria.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.ncleg.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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