Haywood County was the first certified entrepreneurial community in NC and the US—an accomplishment the team credits to collaboration. The CEC process typically takes two years to complete. Haywood County finished it in eight months.

"We're not territorial, our leaders work together for the greater good, and we've all worked together for years. We checked our ego at the door to work for the greatest good,"explained team leader Mark Clasby, ED of the county's Economic Development Commission.

The team decided to divide and conquer, so each member took sections to complete, but the team reviewed everything before it was finalized. "It wasn't easy, and at first we looked at each other a lot—then it just clicked. We all worked between meetings and did our homework,"said CeCe Hipps, Chamber President and team member.

CeCe's Chamber experience and organizing skills came in handy, especially at the end of the process when the 100+-page binder was compiled—CeCe accepted that task and completed it with great attention to detail.

Sharron Donnahoe, Director, Small Business Center, Haywood Community College, contributed in many ways. She developed the initial survey for the program, and then turned it over to the Chamber to send out, and everyone analyzed the results.

Dr. Laura Leatherwood, ED, Continuing and Adult Education, Haywood Community College, was another integral team member—her skills at creating and maintaining the detailed spreadsheet that captured all the team's activities made a huge difference. "We knew we were doing so many things, but without this database and Laura's efforts, we wouldn't have captured all of it,"said Sharron.

"Mark has the broadest picture of us all so it was only natural that he led the team. Plus he's smart and he listens, and is very dependable. If he said he'd do something, you could take it to the bank,"Sharron commented.

Achieving this certification was really the culmination of everything we were already doing,"concluded Mark. "It was an affirmation of our mission statement. Now we get to keep it flowing."