History

In 1991, Good Work was founded as a nonprofit corporation in Durham, North Carolina. Realizing that entrepreneurship is a way that highly motivated individuals — regardless of economic or social background — can increase a family's economic strength and create community jobs, they built a program to support those efforts.

Here are the original purposes of the Good Work nonprofit corporation (May 21, 1991):

1.            To relieve poverty, eliminate prejudice, lessen neighborhood tensions, and combat community deterioration in certain economically depressed areas through a program designed to improve economic conditions and economic opportunities in those areas

2.            To lessen the burden of government by creating and saving jobs for low and moderate income people, and thereby to alleviate dissatisfaction arising from the lack of employment opportunities

3.            To provide ongoing technical assistance and training to low-income, unemployed, underemployed, or minority persons who are seeking to save or create meaningful jobs and to improve the public, social, and economic well-being of their families and communities

4.            To conduct seminars, workshops, and other educational events and activities designed to teach to workers and self-employed individuals, community leaders, government officials, and others of the general public engaged in economic development activities the financial and management skills needed for the operation of very small businesses

5.            To make loans or loan guarantees that will enable self-employed individuals and very small businesses to obtain access to capital

We believe that self-employment is a viable and valuable component of the economic development system. Self-employment can help people add income and develop assets through small business ownership. People choose self-employment for the flexibility needed to balance home and work responsibilities. Many times, starting a business is preferable to minimum wage labor. Plus, for many people, self-employment offers the chance to use talents, realize suppressed dreams, and find fulfillment that is rarely possible with other employment options.

Good Work helps increase family income and assets by helping people develop or strengthen their small business.  Since 1991, Good Work has trained thousands in economic literacy, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills, helping create or strengthen small businesses and social enterprises in North Carolina. Year after year, Good Work helps generate jobs and contribute to the community's economic development.