RALEIGH – An organization focused on helping community colleges drive entrepreneurship initiatives across the country is moving its headquarters to Cary.

The National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship, or NACCE, announced the move Tuesday at an NC IDEA Foundation economic development conference in Raleigh. NC IDEA is a partner with NACCE.

Wake Tech’s Western Wake Campus in Cary will be the site for the headquarters in early 2020.

“NACCE is an incubator for innovation,” said CEO Rebecca Corbin in the announcement. “We look forward to serving our growing network of 330+ colleges and universities by collaborating with industry, foundation, and association partners throughout North Carolina.”

The “robust entrepreneurial ecosystems and the growing number of community college and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the state that are members of NACCE” led the group to pick the Triangle, she added.

NACCE

According to its website, the group represents more than 300 community and technical colleges and 2,000 faculty, staff, administrators and presidents who serve more than three million students.

NACCE’s staff numbers 10, with two open positions, plus contractors, an organizational chart shows.

“We look forward to having the team from the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship a part of our community and will be assisting them in anyway needed as they make their transition into Cary,” said Mark Lawson, vice president of Economic Development for the Town of Cary.

The Cary office “will house its leadership team and new hires, and serve as a training location for national and regional summits,” the group added.

“At Wake Tech, we believe in entrepreneurship – and in partnership,” said Wake Tech President Scott Ralls, “so we’re doubly excited to welcome NACCE to Wake County and our Western Wake Campus. We know our students and our community will benefit from the opportunities this new connection will bring.”

The NACCE chose Wake Tech for its Presidents for Entrepreneurship Pledge Award in 2018.