U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan will hold a roundtable on the stimulus.

The Greensboro Democrat and other local, state and federal officials will discuss how female- and minority-owned businesses, small companies and nonprofits can access federal stimulus funds.

State stimulus czar Dempsey Benton, Lee Cornelison of the U.S. Small Business Administration, David Heinen of the N.C. Center for Nonprofits and N.C. Central Chancellor Charlie Nelms, among others, will also speak.

The forum will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday at the Mary Townes Science Complex at N.C. Central University in Durham.

Hagan said the forum was inspired by complaints from the state NAACP executive council about the challenges of minority-owned businesses.

She has also posted an online resource guide about the stimulus package.

She's back.

After a week of vacation, Gov. Beverly Perdue is back on the job. And she's willing to tell you what she'll be doing this week.

The governor's office has released Perdue's schedule for the week. It does not include the time and location for all of her meetings, but it does provide some details on who she's meeting with and what she's doing.

For example, Perdue is scheduled today to meet with representatives of the N.C. Association of Educators and the leaders of the N.C. Association of County Commissioners.

On Wednesday, she has a senior staff meeting, budget meetings and plans to attend the N.C. State-UNC basketball game.

Later in the week, Perdue plans to speak to the AFL-CIO Legislative Conference in Raleigh, speak at the board meeting of the State Employees Association of N.C. and speak to a meeting of the N.C. Center for Nonprofits.

She's also scheduled for "ethics refresher training" on Friday, and to attend the National Governor's Association meeting in Washington this weekend.

During her campaign, Perdue pledged to bring more transparency to the operations of state government. Her predecessor, Mike Easley, rarely shared details of his schedule.

Fred Smith likes proclamations. Pat McCrory doesn’t.

The two Republican gubernatorial candidates expressed strong opinions today about the value of the formal statements given by governors, mayors, city councils and other government entities.

At a forum sponsored by the N.C. Center for Nonprofits, they were asked whether they would proclaim November as nonprofit awareness month.

“Proclamations don’t accomplish a whole lot, and I say that as someone who’s signed probably a 1,000 of them,” said McCrory, Charlotte’s mayor. “When you read them, most people aren’t listening anyway.”

Smith, a state senator from Clayton, said he disagrees.

“Proclamations are a call to action. Many times in life you need a call to action,” Smith replied. He added, “It’s through our nonprofits that the moral fiber of our state is woven.”

Two other GOP candidates for governor – Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham and former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr – also seemed warm toward proclamations, though their answers were more tongue-in-cheek than Smith’s.

“I think we ought to just declare the Year of the Nonprofit,” Graham said.

Update: Democratic candidates Richard Moore and Dennis Nielsen said they like the idea of a nonprofits Awareness Month, but they didn't take a position on proclamations. Beverly Perdue did not attend the forum.

The four major Republicans running for governor are fans of nonprofits.

They expressed their gratitude today at a forum in Raleigh sponsored by the N.C. Center for Nonprofits and Generation Engage, reports David Ingram of The Charlotte Observer.

One candidate cited the 19th century French writer Alexis de Tocqueville, who toured America.

"He went and looked at the nonprofits, which were at that time the churches, and he said that’s what makes America great," said state Sen. Fred Smith.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said nonprofits are important in economic development, citing the Charlotte area’s recruitment of Johnson & Wales University, a culinary school.

"It took cooperation between the private and public sectors, and a lot of speed to beat out our competition," McCrory said.

Read more after the jump.

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