Thinking small.

• Author: Mildenberg, David
• Position: NC TREND: Charlotte Region

Long a magnet for big, multinational companies, Charlotte hasn't developed a reputation as a technology hotbed. It's a lot sexier and, perhaps, more impactful to attract the headquarters of Sealed Air, Albemarle or other Fortune 500 companies. Smart money is betting that fast-growing online payments startup AvidXchange can become a nationally known tech leader. ("Shooting Star," September). But lack of support from area leadership has long been a bone of contention among some local entrepreneurs.

That could change in the next year or two. A report released in October by the Charlotte Chamber and Charlotte Regional Partnership confirms what Business Innovation & Growth Council Chief Executive Officer Terry Cox and other entrepreneurial advocates have declared for years: The Queen City isn't startup friendly.

"In our research, we found that for a region of your size, Charlotte is not as competitive on the entrepreneurial landscape," Amy Holloway, president of Austin, Texas-based Avalanche Consulting and the report's author, told a chamber gathering in October. "It doesn't have the type of robust entrepreneurial resources we see in other metropolitan areas. That's something you all should work on."

The city has "a risk-averse, conservative culture, which is hard to change," says Cox, who came to Charlotte in 2003. "The best thing the corporate leaders can do is fully support an innovation-driven culture that will create wealth and jobs for the region."

The report followed pressure from city business leaders urging better collaboration between the chamber, which focuses on Mecklenburg County, and the partnership, which spans 16 counties, including four in South Carolina. Businesses investing in both groups had questioned if there was too much duplication, such as overseas business-recruitment trips, but the...