Propel offers participants in the shellfish mariculture industry a business incubator curriculum and process to assist growers through the stages of business launch and growth. This fully online business training series presents new growers with concepts and challenges of business ownership unique to shellfish growers. This program also provides resources that can be used after the course has been completed.
North Carolina has a long history with respect to shellfish mariculture as hard clams and eastern oysters have been cultivated and harvested from the state’s coastal waters for over one hundred years. There has been an expansion in the shellfish cultivation industry with an increase in applications for leases. Propel was created because of a need for: