Fayetteville spent the past three days trying to answer a question that has nagged city leaders for years: how do you keep young adults from packing up for Raleigh or Charlotte the moment they finish school? The city’s answer this week was 910 Future Fest, a free, registration-required festival built around entrepreneurship, workforce development and youth engagement, capped Saturday by a free concert at Segra Stadium featuring Lloyd, Waka Flocka Flame and the 82nd Airborne Division Band.
The festival was hosted by the Fayetteville NEXT Advisory Commission, and according to ABC11, commission chair Nathan Cuffee said the goal was for attendees to leave educated, know what to do next, and feel able to thrive in Fayetteville. Vice-chair L’Queitah Miller told the outlet the event was designed to let entrepreneurs, residents and students interact with people they don’t run into every day, calling it a way to create opportunities, gather feedback and support business sustainability. The commission itself was chartered by the Fayetteville City Council and rebranded in January 2023 from its original millennial-focused name, a shift documented by CityView NC that widened its mandate to residents ages 19 to 39.
A Week That Started Behind Closed Doors
Festival week opened Thursday with an invitation-only welcome ceremony recognizing partners, sponsors and community leaders — closed to the public and reserved for invited officials and media, per the same ABC11 account. Friday brought the public-facing programming into view: a Lunch & Learn ran from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Segra Stadium, featuring PwC and the City of Fayetteville’s economic development team focused on workforce development, career advancement and regional opportunities, with lunch provided to registered attendees.
That same afternoon, ten Fayetteville business owners pitched to a panel of CEOs, entrepreneurs and economic leaders during a business pitch competition at Shaw Auditorium on Fayetteville State University’s campus, running from 2 to 4 p.m. Four participants walked away with prizes meant to support continued growth, topped by a $5,000 award. The competition was presented in collaboration with Fayetteville State University, the Fayetteville-Cumberland Regional Entrepreneur & Business Hub, and Camelback Ventures — a national accelerator whose own materials describe it as tailored specifically to early-stage entrepreneurs of color and women founders.
The Institutions Backing the Push
The Entrepreneur Hub bringing pitch expertise to the festival isn’t a new fixture. It was built with $2 million in combined state, county, municipal and philanthropic funding to deliver small business counseling, capital access and government contracting support across ten counties, according to the U.S. Economic Development Administration. Just two weeks before Future Fest, Fayetteville State University and the hub held their inaugural Entrepreneurial Impact Awards Gala, honoring local small business leaders, veteran-owned companies and student entrepreneurs — momentum that BizFayetteville reported carried directly into festival week…