Welcome to Shop Talk.
Starting Tuesday, The News & Observer will run a weekly two-page section that focuses on small businesses and entrepreneurs in North Carolina.
The weekly section will feature stories on local businesses, offer advice and tips from experts, share resources for running and starting a business, provide information on local networking events and more.
Small businesses are everywhere in our state. As executive editor John Drescher pointed out in his weekly column on Saturday, about 85 percent of businesses in North Carolina employ fewer than 20 people, according to the Census Bureau. Those small businesses make up nearly a fifth of all workers in the state.
Virginia Bridges will be reporting and writing. We'd love to hear from you and share your stories. Send your thoughts and ideas to jmgiglio@newsobserver.com or vbridges@newsobserver.com. Email your networking events to shoptalk@newsobserver.com. And stay connected with us on Twitter (@shoptalk_nando).
