NEWS

How FSU plans to use $4.9M grant to help students, local small businesses

Rachael Riley
The Fayetteville Observer

Nearly $5 million will be poured into students, local businesses and the Sandhills region over the next two years, Fayetteville State University leaders announced Friday.  

The $4.9 million is a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.  

The grant is “designed to increase access to broadband technologies to underrepresented communities,” Fayetteville State University Chancellor Darrell Allison said during the announcement at the Fayetteville-Cumberland Regional Entrepreneur and Business Hub.  

University and community leaders said the money is for more than just broadband, it will also be used to help 30 local small businesses per year “grow revenue and create jobs,” while connecting the businesses with the Peake Fellowship, said Tamara Bryant, director of the Fayetteville-Cumberland Regional Entrepreneurial and Business Hub.  

Tamara Bryant, director of the Fayetteville-Cumberland Regional Entrepreneurial and Business Hub, details how a $4.9 million grant will help Fayettville State University students and local businsses during an announcement Friday, March 3, 2023.
Chancellor Darrell Allison announces Friday, March 3, 2023, that Fayetteville State University is receiving a $4.9 million grant for broadband expansion in underrepresented communities and to help students and local small businesses.

The Peake Fellowship is a nonprofit geared toward helping small businesses access new markets that meet federal cybersecurity requirements.  

The Business Hub collaborates with Fayetteville and Cumberland County organizations to support local minority-owned women-owned and veteran-owned businesses and entrepreneurs. 

Bryant said the grant will “deliver improved online capabilities to small business” in Cumberland, Hoke, Roberson and Sampson counties, before expanding to the 10-county service area.  She said the grant will also create 60 paid internships to train students in cybersecurity and business consulting starting this summer.  

New program to coincide with grant

Allison said the internships are in sync with FSU launching a new cyber security program in the fall. Students will not only earn a four-year degree in the cybersecurity field but will also have the opportunity to earn eight certifications in cybersecurity, he said.  

Following Friday’s announcement, Allison told The Fayetteville Observer that the internships and new program are part of capitalizing on the federal funds to set FSU students up for success.  

“We have a significant student population that works while going to school,” Allison said. “To be able to work and get certified with your degree plan, it’s a double benefit.”  

More:Fayetteville State University launches 'first-of-its-kind' entrepreneur and business hub

The intent, Allison said, is to leverage the grant to help and invest in local businesses, and, to keep FSU graduates local.

“It has a significant cost when you’re talking about starting a business or growing your business, so we’re parlaying this to what we already have at the Hub,” he said. “As small businesses thrive, why would you want to leave this area?”  

What others are saying

Tanner Hood, deputy district director for Congressman Richard Hudson, said the grant is “a vote of confidence in the students who … will shape our communities,” and it provides high-speed internet to communities “too often left behind.”  

Toni Stewart, chairwoman of the Cumberland County Commissioners, said FSU’s ability “ to rapidly adapt to changing times, trends and technology" is important not only to the university but the local community and economy.

Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin said the grant aligns with the city’s goal “to capture more dollars and keep it local.”  

“The university is certainly doing its part with bringing resources from the federal and state level into our community,” Colvin said.  

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.