CHAPEL HILL- President Obama and his staff are looking to use local businesses as an example of how companies around the country should encourage job growth.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce President Aaron Nelson says he met Sunday with White House senior staff members to discuss an emerging part of the local economy known as the “Fourth Sector.”

“I helped brief them on what we are doing in the Triangle and North Carolina broadly to develop the needed infrastructure to accelerate job growth and economic development in this sector,” he says. “We pulled together 55 enterprises and folks in the support network to help accelerate those enterprises and just had a great conversation about how we can grow jobs in this sector.”

Nelson co-chairs a network known as the North Carolina Fourth Sector Cluster Initiative. The group is made of up statewide organizations dedicated to accelerating growth and development in the Fourth Sector.

The United States economy is traditionally composed of three sectors encompassing for profit and non profit organizations, as well as government enterprises. The Fourth Sector is comprised of organizations that use methods related to all three sectors.

A cluster of these kinds of enterprises is rapidly growing right here in the Triangle. Nelson says a number of local businesses will be used as models across the country.

“Our Sunday conversation involved local businesses including Chapel Hill Tire Car Care Center, and how it is making and saving money going green and sustainable,” he says. “Another example was the PTA Thrift Shop as a local enterprise. We’re really excited that the White House is interested in what we’re doing at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce.”

Nelson had another meeting with Obama Monday. He says this time, the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness was on hand to discuss entrepreneurship.

“It was a great session with folks such as the COO of Facebook and the former head of AOL,” he says. “The President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness is a group of leaders who come together to advice the President on how to grow jobs. The President has pointed out our region has a great example. They’re here to gather information about how to help businesses thrive across the country.”

Obama himself didn’t visit the Chapel Hill area, but did speak at the Cree headquarters in Durham on Monday afternoon. The company manufactures energy efficient LED lighting.

For more information on the fourth sector, click here.