In a question and answer session with The Atlantic Cities, Family Dollar founder Leon Levine praised Charlotte as a great place to start a business.
"There is ready access to a diverse workforce, financial capital and engaged business leadership. In most Southern towns, you need to have lived there a few generations before anyone allows you to be a “decision-maker” or to carve out a significant place for yourself in the communities of business and philanthropy. But Charlotte has always been open and forward-looking," Levine told reporter Nate Berg.
Family Dollar, now based in Matthews and headed by Leon's son Howard Levine, reports its quarterly earnings on Wednesday. The chain is facing high expectations, as it has been for the past few years. Family Dollar has been on a growth tear, adding more and more fast-selling food items and competing with larger rival Dollar General for a bigger slice of the discount market.
Here's a short recap of the retailer's annual shareholder meeting in January, where Howard Levine reiterated Family Dollar still plans for aggressive growth. Check back for earnings news on Wednesday.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Levine: Charlotte a "remarkably open place for entrepreneurs"
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5 comments:
As long as you fit the right mold!
No one is going to confuse Charlotte with Silicon Valley but, generally, I have to agree with Mr Levine's sentiments regarding CLT as a place to start a business.
Want to hang with like minded entrepreneurs? Check out Packard Place, BIG, Hackers & Founders or attend a Skookum Tech Talk.
Need seed funding? Try Charlotte Venture Challenge, NC IDEA or Wed3.
Want to dip your toe in the water? Go to Charlotte Startup Weekend.
Heck, even the Chamber and the Mayor's Office are starting to pay attention to the impact of CLT's startups on the city's economy.
Then why is his corp based in Matthews?
@ Chris
So tell me, what are all these great start ups. And dont give me some corny blog. Give me a company that actually does something. Because the reality of it is, there are a ton of start up meetings and groups to discuss it. But none of them actually accomplish anything. None of them employee people, and none of them produce, design, export, manufacturer, invent, or heck even R&D anything that generates any income or product. You sound like the idiots over at CLTBlog. A bunch of people with a bunch of ideas that never actually execute them. They just develop them in an amateur fashion, get bored, frustrated, or hit a road block and then bail.
Truth is Charlotte does just about everything it can to squash startups and small businesses. I am by no means a conservative, but you arent going to create many business with any economic impact when you have some of the most unfavorable business taxes in the Southeast. Primarily thanks to the cuts that are given to the big companies that relocate here that create minimal jobs. Levine may have been right, in the 1950's but not today.
Anonymous--March 26, 2012 4:05PM, please look here for your answer.
http://wraltechwire.com/business/tech_wire/opinion/blogpost/10833512/
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