Self-starters: opportunities await entrepreneurs in North Carolina, but successes will be determined by a team effort.

• Position: ENTREPRENEUR ROUND TABLE - Interview

Businesses from across the country and around the world move to North Carolina because the state's economic climate breed, success. But does that environment benefit homegrown entrepreneurs and their ventures? What do they and their startups need? A panel of experts recently gathered to answer those questions. Participating were Richard Childress, president and CEO of Welcome-based Richard Childress Racing Enterprises Inc., which fields championship-winning teams in several NARA R divisions; Robert J. Maricich, CEO qf High Point- and Las Vegas-based International Market Centers LP. the worlds largest operator of showroom space for the furnishings. home decor and gift industries; Gov. Pat McCrory; Rachel Weeks founder and CEO of Durham-based School House Inc. and one of Inc. magazine's 30 Under 30 Entrepreneurs in 2012: and Bryan Young, CEO of marketing and web-design agency Business Empire Consulting in Raleigh and co-founder of Glance Metrics, a visual-data analytics software application. The round table was sponsored by High Point University and held at its Hayworth Fine Arts Center Nido R. Qubein, the university president and a business consultant, award-winnhig speaker and board member of several Fortune 5.00 companies, moderated the discussion The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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Qubein: How important is a fertile business environment for entrepreneurs? What is the state doing to encourage it?

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McCrory: It's probably the most important thing for the state's prosperity. The dynamics of business are changing because the sustainability of large corporations is no longer predictable. Startups will shape the state's economy by providing growth opportunities. We need to look at the Lax system and make sure it encourages venture capital and risk-taking. I want successful entrepreneurs here to grow. If they sell their startups, which many do, I want them to reinvest that money by starting more businesses here, not moving elsewhere to avoid taxes. Improvements in customer service are being made in state departments, and regulations that could discourage investors are being addressed. One of the major roles of government is to provide infrastructure, such as transportation, water and sewer. It's also education. Entrepreneurs want to be around talent in order to recruit it. Rural towns are the state's greatest challenge right now. The metro areas are doing pretty well. They are rebounding from the downturn. The dilemma is we have small towns that relied on manufacturing. Entrepreneurs need to reinvest in those towns, and the state needs to build infrastructure to support them. One of the ways to do that is connect the towns with the metros so they can recruit talent. For example, a transportation system connecting High Point to Thomasville, Lexington and Kernersville could be built so those towns could share the strengths of the metro. That's going to be part of the state's master economic-development plan.

Qubein: How did you start your business? Where did you get the capital to make it happen? What are some of the challenges that you encountered along the way?

Young: I was fortunate to meet my business partner, Brandon Blair, at N.C. State University while playing basketball at the gym. After encouragement from different people, we met to talk business. We had a few clients who initially paid us, which helped our company grow. Being headquartered near Research Triangle Park, we can pull talent from Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State. That's helped us grow. One of our biggest challenges is outgrowing our network of professional colleagues. We've connected with successful entrepreneurs who are older than us and had the network that we wanted. They've been hands-on and understand the mistakes that we made, why we...