Planning students help small businesses in ENC with RISE29

Published Sep 19, 2022 by
Filed under:

RISE29 logoFunded by the Golden Leaf Foundation, RISE 29 is an entrepreneurial-centric internship administered through East Carolina University. It allows students to work with small businesses in eastern North Carolina. The program aims to transform ENC through micro-enterprises, job development, and existing business support. 

Students in Community and Regional Planning program have worked for the ENC involved in ECU’s RISE29 program since 2019.

  • Heather Mosesso with Pamlico Rowing Club Taproom (Fall 2019)
  • Christopher Normile for the Hyde County Economic Development Strategic Plan, 2021-26 (Summer 2021) and the Intermarket Technologies (Fall 2021)
  • Madeline Lipscomb with Carolina Chicken and Waffles (Summer 2021)
  • Terry Worley with Katura Dance Academy (Fall 2021)
  • Ty Clark with Town of Aurora (Spring 2022)
  • Kendall Daniels with the Goodlight Foundation (Summer 2022)
  • Ricky Cypher with the Ocracoke Preservation Society (Summer 2022)
  • Cameron Brown with Carolina Chicken and Waffles (Fall 2022)

Ricky Cypher

Ricky Cypher, a Senior Planning student, shared the stories about her experience.

Learning in a classroom can be very different from practicing those concepts in the real world.

RISE 29 pairs people with a client based on their major, which led me to be paired with a group down in Ocracoke, the southernmost island of the Outer Banks, to tackle a building restoration.

I have learned a lot about Ocracoke and the Outer Banks in general. I believe everyone should visit at least once to experience the island’s unique character as it is very different from other North Carolina beaches. The only way to enter the island is by boat or plane, so we drove to Swan Quarter- an hour and a half drive from Greenville, and took the ferry from there to Ocracoke, which was about two and a half hours. What’s interesting about the island is that it is very small, with just under 1,000 full-time residents, so there is no formal zoning on the island. This has been a positive aspect of our job because of the lack of restrictions placed on the use of the building.

I have learned information that encompasses both my major, Community and Regional Planning, and my minor, Business Administration. I have done extensive grant searches, worked with members of the host non-profit organization, and learned how to market and develop a social media presence to garner community awareness and participation.

While studying Community and Regional Planning at ECU, I have learned how many different parties are involved in making a project come to fruition. I have had the pleasure of working with stakeholders, members of the planning advisory board, and the community. It has taught me immensely about people’s passion for decisions that directly affect their daily lives and how critical this career path is.

– Ricky Cypher