Durham, N.C. – On June 12, 2011, senior officials from the White House and the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness met with a collection of business, nonprofit, government, and university officials that comprise the North Carolina Fourth Sector Cluster Initiative. Michael Strautmanis, Deputy Assistant to the President and Counselor for Strategic Engagement to the Senior Advisor, Don Graves, Executive Director, President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Small Business, Community Development and Housing, Department of Treasury, and Greg Nelson, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement heard from dozens of North Carolina fourth sector enterprise leaders, state and local government officials, capital providers, and educational and support institutions who are working together to transform the state’s economy by accelerating the growth of the fourth sector.

“The fourth sector is made up of enterprises that combine the best of the for-profit and nonprofit models and achieve what I call the ‘trifecta’ – they contribute to the economy and they deliver innovative solutions to social and environmental problems,” said Aaron Nelson, President and CEO of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce and Co-Chair of the N.C. Fourth Sector Cluster Initiative. “We are honored to have senior members of the Obama Administration interested in the work our fourth sector community has been doing here in North Carolina to grow quality jobs in this important sector of our economy.”

Participants in the N.C. Fourth Sector Cluster Initiative discussed how fourth sector enterprises are helping revitalize the state’s economy while addressing a range of issues such as substance abuse (Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers), predatory lending (Self Help Credit Union), and child safety (The Redwoods Group). Organization representatives also explained how North Carolina has become a leader in attracting and growing these enterprises: access to talent, strength in research and innovation, a business-friendly environment, a prevalence of technical assistance and support organizations, a history of business, government and nonprofit organizations working together, and intentional attention to supporting the fourth sector.

A leading expert on fourth sector economic development, Henry McKoy, Assistant Secretary at the North Carolina Department of Commerce, said, “At a time when governments and the nonprofit sector are facing huge revenue shortfalls and mounting social and environmental problems, fourth sector enterprises play a critical role because they leverage market based solutions and entrepreneurial talent to solve community problems. They reduce the costs and burdens on government, they contribute to the tax base, and they bring new resources to nonprofits.”

Pam Wall, Vice President of Product Development for Research Triangle Regional Partnership (RTRP) announced that the 13-county economic development public-private partnership will create a sustainability cluster of which fourth sector enterprises will play a critical role. RTRP, which enjoys a global reputation for its approach to cluster-based economic development, organizes clusters around areas in which the Research Triangle Region is a world leader, or is about to be.

Diane Cherry of the Institute for Emerging Issues presented the Cluster Initiative’s state-level policy recommendations, which had been developed in response to requests by North Carolina Secretary of Commerce Keith Crisco and Governor Perdue’s Senior Policy Advisor Al Delia at a statewide convening on the fourth sector in September 2010. John Parker, Executive Director of Good Work and Co-Chair of the NC Fourth Sector Cluster Initiative, announced that the group would be delivering federal policy recommendations to the White House this week, seeking recognition and reduced barriers for fourth sector enterprises, which have traditionally not been seen as distinct from for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations despite many fundamental differences.

This meeting was held on the heels of U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to North Carolina’s Research Triangle where he heard from the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness on a plan for the nation’s economic recovery.

Several members of the NC Fourth Sector Cluster Initiative were also invited to take part in listening and action session convened by the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness on June 13. The session, which was chaired by Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, and attended by several members of the Jobs Council including Steve Case, founder and former CEO of AOL; Dick Parsons, chairman of Citigroup; Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook; and Robert Wolf, chairman at UBS Americas, sought input from regional leaders on the best way to fuel job growth through entrepreneurship.