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Raleigh - In an effort to promote technology education and inclusion, and help eliminate the digital divide throughout North Carolina, Microsoft has announced a grant to the e-NC Authority, totaling $50,000 in cash to support the e-NC Business & Technology Telecenter program. Known as an Unlimited Potential grant, the monies go toward helping people realize their promise through technology.

�We are extremely grateful for Microsoft�s generous support,� said e-NC Authority Chair Oppie Jordan. �The e-NC Business & Technology Telecenter program works with citizens and businesses in our most distressed areas, promoting the effective use of technology as a means of improving the economy. This grant will help us take the job-producing telecenter program to a new level.�

Microsoft�s grant supports the e-NC�s Business and Technology Telecenter (BTT) program. In 2002, the e-NC Authority launched telecenters in rural areas. In 2004 alone, these telecenters provided free Internet access and computer training to more than 46,000 individual citizens. The centers also provided technical and business support services to 16,673 public and private sector clients, and leased space to 33 organizations. More than anything else, telecenters acted as catalysts for economic development in their regions by creating a combined total of 289 local jobs in 2004 alone.

Now the e-NC Authority is in the process of supporting four additional telecenters, one of which opens July 21. The e-NC Authority recently gave a planning grant to prepare for another telecenter. As well, the authority is developing a telecenter tool kit, a step-by-step guide for creating a telecenter, and a technopreneur program, which will provide for "