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NC East Alliance presents STEM East and rural development services to Bethel board
Summary
Bianca Schoneman of the NC East Alliance outlined the organization’s five‑pronged rural economic strategy and the STEM East education initiative, offering free data, grant‑writing help and capacity‑building services to towns in the alliance’s 29‑county region.
Bianca Schoneman, vice president of community development for the NC East Alliance, gave the Bethel Town Board an overview of services the nonprofit offers to eastern North Carolina communities, including grant writing, capacity building, resiliency planning, industrial recruitment support and the long‑running STEM East education initiative.
Schoneman said NC East covers a 29‑county region and can provide free demographic and market data to towns interested in recruiting businesses or assessing retail leakage. "We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization... we cover a 29 county region," Schoneman said. She described STEM East programming that connects K‑12 schools, community colleges and employers to develop local pipelines for industry needs, including skilled trades and machinists as well as lab‑based STEM roles.
Board members asked how the organization’s services would be deployed locally and whether the town would need county approval. Schoneman said county approval is required for initial participation and described a county subscription model that makes services available to towns in that county. She left contact information and offered staff follow‑up to explore whether Bethel would become a test case for the program.
The presentation was informational; no board vote was required.
