Pseudo-government agency funds discriminatory grant | Raleigh Chamber advertising for new Wake County residents

No. 54 — Jan. 7-Jan. 13, 2024

“Minority entrepreneur receives grant to boost business” - Spectrum News 1

William Wynne, owner of Rolley Private Showroom, is one of the minority beneficiaries of a DEI focused grant issued by the Downtown Raleigh Alliance (DRA). The DRA’s $90k per year Storefront Upfit Grant program offers additional development grants to businesses based on the identity of owners:

To support equitable growth for all in the downtown area, a Diverse Business Booster (DBE) of $2,500 is available for businesses with 50%-or-more ownership by individuals who identify as:

• Minority

• Women

• LGBTQ+

• Veteran

• A person with a disability

The DRA serves as the administrator for the Downtown Raleigh Municipal Services District, which was established by the City of Raleigh under NC GS 160A Art. 23.

The DRA touts its “commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”, and is a “proud member” of the Triangle Diversity Equity & Inclusivity Alliance, a program of the Raleigh Chamber which puts on an annual DEI conference.

Here's why some people choose to move to Wake County - WRAL

Speaking of the Raleigh Chamber, guess who is behind an advertisement campaign to attract new Wake County residents from 20 metropolitan areas across the US? None other than Wake County Economic Development (WCED), another program of the Raleigh Chamber.

Wake County’s growth due to migration is approximately double the number of births in the county; it always strikes me in regards to stories of this sort is that this growth is not culturally sustainable. Although I am skeptical of the benefits of massive migration to the current residents, the corporations which fund the Raleigh Chamber apparently disagree.

The WRAL article highlights three counties which WCED is targeting with their “Work in the Triangle” campaign, which the Census also shows as significant sources of migration for Wake County: Cobb County, Georgia (Atlanta); Kings County, New York; and Fairfax County, Virginia. What these counties also have in common is that their citizens disproportionately voted for Joe Biden in 2020 with 56.30% in Cobb County, 76.78% in Kings County, and 69.89% in Fairfax County. It’s intuitive that the rest of the metros targeted by this campaign would follow the same pattern.

Although migration-based political demographic change might not be the explicit target of this woke institution, it seems an inevitable result. After all, the type of migrants they are looking to attract are the ones who took Wake County from a 2 point Bush victory in 2004 to a 26 point Biden victory in 2020.

It’s not that Wake County has fewer Republicans; in fact, Trump got nearly 50k more votes in the county in 2020 than Bush did in 2004. However, the voters who moved in to the county during that period have been so disproportionately left-leaning that Biden’s vote share of 393,336 is over double what Kerry was able to attract.

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Personal News: January 6th Sentencing

As I traveled up to DC this weekend to receive my sentence for covering January 6th as an independent journalist (I was convicted of four misdemeanors in September), I wasn’t sure whether I would have to put this publication on hiatus to serve a prison sentence (the DOJ was asking for 10 months of incarceration).

However, praise be to God, I was only sentenced to 12 months probation, a $2000 fine, and 90 hours of community service. I look forward to continuing to exercise my freedom of the press with no interruption.

Coming up: