N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall was in Brevard July 5 touting the state’s rural economic rebound since the pandemic, according to a Transylvania County Democratic Party news release.
Speaking to about 100 people overflowing UpCountry Brewing, she announced her office has been processing thousands of new business applications this year and a new record of 31,000 new business creations was set for the first two months of 2024. North Carolinians have created 2 million new businesses under Marshall’s 27 years of leadership and according to the release more than half of those were created in the last seven years.
In 1996 Marshall was the first woman in North Carolina ever elected to a statewide executive branch office. She has won reelection six times and is running again for office. During her tenure, she brought the N.C. Secretary of State’s office into the digital age by introducing e-commerce and providing online registration technology and since assuming office has received numerous state and national awards for leadership in technology, government innovation, and women’s leadership.