Funded projects range from providing assistance to small businesses to providing documentation for a historic quilt index. Grants announced include:

• The N.C. Small Business and Technology Development Center awarded $138,375 to Wendy Cagle, director of the western regional SBTDC, for a program that assists small businesses with management and technical assistance.

• The center also awarded $101,166 to Cagle for a hurricane recovery program that assists WNC businesses that sustained damages from the hurricanes of 2004.

• The Mecklenburg County Health Department awarded $3,000 to Karrie Joseph, wellness coordinator, to fund activities during spring semester to make students more aware of the dangers of smoking.

• The Pennsylvania State Department of Education awarded $31,171 to Meagan Karvonen, assistant professor of educational research, to help states investigate and improve large-scale assessments for students with disabilities.

• Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Quilt Index at Michigan State University awarded $1,186 to Suzanne McDowell, curator of the Mountain Heritage Center, to provide documentation for more than 40 quilts in the center’s collection.

• The N.C. Rural Economic Development Center awarded $40,000 to Ken Place, director of business development with the Institute for Economy and the Future, to conduct a feasibility study for implementing an inland port within the 29-county Appalachian Regional Commission region of Western North Carolina.

• Wake Forest University awarded $45,981 to John Ritchie, director of counseling and psychological services, for the hiring of a community organizer and related activities for the Study to Prevent Alcohol-Related Consequences.

• The University of North Carolina at Charlotte awarded $62,400 to Phillip Sanger, director of the Center for Rapid Product Realization, to support development of slow light materials for applications in microwave communications such as cell phones and precision lenses.

• The Economic Development Administration awarded $45,500 to Hillary Sherman, social research assistant with the Institute for Economy and the Future, to support the efforts of the Know Your Region Project, a national initiative dedicated to researching, analyzing and disseminating information about how regions can become more prosperous in the knowledge-based economy.

• East Carolina University awarded $22,000 to Rob Young, director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines, for a project exploring the economic implications of severe storms and sea-level rise in North Carolina.

For more information, contact Wanda G. Ashe, graduate school and research grants manager, at (828) 227-7212 or ashe@wcu.edu.