I have filled out my share of government paperwork, so when my wife and I sat down to open a Trump Account for our newborn, I braced for the worst. A three-ring binder. A notary. Maybe a trip to a basement office with a "back in 20 minutes" sign taped to the door. Instead, it took about as long as warming a bottle. One form, one Social Security number, done. It went so smoothly that we decided to run the experiment again, and baby number two arrives in a few months. That is not the endorsement of a policy analyst. It is the endorsement of a tired dad who has learned to appreciate anything in this world that actually works on the first try.
I have had the privilege of seeing this state up close. Working for Senator Ted Budd, I made it to all 100 counties. Every one of them. That is a lot of two-lane highway, a lot of gas station coffee, and a lot of conversations with people who own the business, sweep the floor, and do payroll on Sunday night. I have lived in Winston-Salem and in Raleigh, which means I have opinions about barbecue that I will keep to myself for the sake of a broad readership. But here is what all 100 counties have in common. From family farms in Duplin County to startups in Raleigh to manufacturers across the Triad, North Carolina entrepreneurs are not just meeting today's demand. They are building something meant to outlast them, and public policy ought to be able to keep up with that kind of ambition.
Trump Accounts, created under the Working Families Tax Cuts, are a simple, tax-advantaged way to invest in a child's future. Children born in 2025 through 2028 are eligible for a one-time $1,000 contribution from Treasury, and families and others can add up to $5,000 a year on top of that, invested in a diversified U.S. index fund built to keep fees low (IRS). They join provisions already putting money back in entrepreneurs' pockets. No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime, and expanded deductions all help owners keep more capital and reinvest it in the business. But relief in the present is only half the job. Building real wealth takes tools that reward saving, investing, and planning ten and twenty years out, and that is where these accounts earn their keep. College tuition, a first home, and seed money for a kid's own business someday. Steady contributions have a way of quietly turning into real options. In a state where small businesses account for 99.6% of all businesses, that compounding does not stay inside one household. It ripples.
The piece I wish more owners knew about is what these accounts can do for employees. An employer can contribute up to $2,500 per employee per year, tax-free, straight into the Trump Account of that employee's child (Congressional Research Service). My wife's family runs a small business in Western North Carolina, and their crew is full of young families, the kind of employees who are one surprise transmission repair away from a hard month. Traditional benefits packages are expensive and complicated for a shop that size. This is neither. It is a benefit an owner can offer without hiring a consultant, and it lands somewhere an employee can actually feel it, which is their kid's future. From coastal tourism towns to rural main streets, hiring and keeping good people remains the number one thing owners bring up with me, and a contribution to an employee's child's account is a message with a long shelf life. We plan on you being here, and we are betting on your family too.
The accounts also come with guidance on saving and investing, which may end up mattering as much as the dollars themselves. Plenty of families across this state have never had anyone walk them through compound interest or explain why a boring index fund beats a hot tip from a cousin. Knowing what to do with money is its own form of capital, and it is the kind that gets passed down. When families save, communities steady up. Businesses get a more stable workforce, local economies get more resilient, and that is no abstraction in a state that has spent recent years rebuilding after storms and shifting markets. It is the difference between a town that recovers and a town that hollows out.
At the SBA, we get a front-row seat to North Carolina entrepreneurs driving growth, innovation, and opportunity, and policies like Trump Accounts recognize what those owners already know. The point was never just this quarter's bottom line. The point is building something that is still standing when your kids are running it. To learn more about Trump Accounts and how they fit into your financial or business strategy, visit trumpaccounts.gov. And if you have a baby on the way, do yourself a favor and knock out the form before the sleep deprivation sets in. Speaking from experience.
Tyler Teresa is the SBA Regional Administrator responsible for operations across the Southeast including Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. His bio may be found here:https://www.sba.gov/person/tyler-teresa/
-------------------------
About the U.S. Small Business Administration: The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of entrepreneurship. As the leading voice for small businesses within the federal government, the SBA empowers job creators with the resources and support they need to start, grow, and expand their businesses or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.
