NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SPECIALISTS

What NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SPECIALISTS does

NCACES (North Carolina Association of Cooperative Extension Specialists) is a private, independent professional membership association established in 1998 and headquartered at NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. It serves faculty and staff with Extension appointments at the two North Carolina land-grant universities — North Carolina State University and North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University — who work at a statewide or regional capacity within the N.C. Cooperative Extension system (which maintains offices in all 100 North Carolina counties and with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians). The organization has approximately 67 associated members/personnel across its constituency.

The association's core offerings are non-technical: it hosts quarterly meetings that rotate between NC State campus, NC A&T campus, and virtual formats; runs an annual awards program recognizing outstanding individual specialists and teams in categories such as subject matter programs and support of county programs; delivers professional development opportunities; facilitates networking among specialists across departments and institutions; and participates in broader extension governance through the NC Joint Council of Extension Professionals (JCEP). It distributes communications through a website hosted at ncaces.ces.ncsu.edu, periodic email newsletters, and a private Facebook group.

NCACES operates as a membership organization with no commercial products, no technology platform, and no software or AI components. Its revenue consists entirely of annual membership dues of $20 per full member, with life membership priced at five times the current annual full member dues and emeritus/honorary members paying no dues. The association is governed by a volunteer board of directors drawn from member specialists at both universities, with no external ownership, parent company, or institutional investment. Strategic relationships include the two land-grant universities, JCEP, the Extension Organizational Development (EOD) unit, USDA-NIFA, and NC State Extension and NC A&T State University Extension leadership.

Name

NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SPECIALISTS

Legal name

North Carolina Association of Cooperative Extension Specialists

Website

https://ncaces.ces.ncsu.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

NCACES is a private professional membership association founded in 1998 for Extension Specialists and faculty at NC State University and NC A&T State University, providing quarterly meetings, annual awards, professional development, and cross-institutional networking.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Raleigh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership dues collected from full members. Life members pay five times the current annual full member dues. Emeritus and honorary members pay no dues.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

NCACES is a professional membership association that serves faculty and staff with Extension appointments at North Carolina State University and NC A&T State University. It sells annual, life, and emeritus memberships that grant access to quarterly in-person meetings, an email newsletter, networking across the two land-grant institutions, professional development, and an annual awards program.

Product overview

NCACES (North Carolina Association of Cooperative Extension Specialists) is a professional association organization, not a technology product company. It provides professional development, networking, awards recognition, and collaboration opportunities for Extension Specialists across NC State University and NC A&T State University. The organization offers quarterly meetings, annual awards programs, committee participation, and member communication through email newsletters. It does not offer software products, modules, or technology platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• NCACES Full Membership

Quantifiable outcome

• 31 survey responses in 2020 member survey indicating strong member engagement

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• NC State ExtensioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 May 2026Extension updates provided by Dr. David Monks from NC State Extension at the 2026 Spring Awards Meeting.
• NC A&T State University ExtensioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 May 2026Extension updates provided by Ms. Tamera Adjei from NC A&T State University Extension at the 2026 Spring Awards Meeting.
• North Carolina State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNC State University is one of the two land-grant universities that form the partnership of N.C. Cooperative Extension. NCACES members include faculty and staff from NC State with Extension appointments working at statewide or regional capacity.
• North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNC A&T State University is the second land-grant university partner in N.C. Cooperative Extension. NCACES membership includes faculty from NC A&T, and meetings rotate between both campuses.
• NC Joint Council of Extension Professionals (JCEP)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCACES maintains a connection with JCEP at the state level. NCACES President serves on the JCEP Executive Committee, and NCACES officers serve as official delegates at JCEP annual meetings.
• Dr. Ray McKinnieminorOthersAssociate Dean for Cooperative Extension at NC A&T served as program speaker at the Fall 2023 meeting and cookout.
• Extension Organizational Development (EOD)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEOD unit provides major training and events across the state, including extension district meetings, early career conferences, and onboarding programs that benefit NCACES members.
• USDA-NIFAmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal partner providing $1.8 billion in extramural funding and capacity funds for Extension and Agricultural Experiment Stations. Each university goes through Civil Rights Audit by USDA-NIFA.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU): A national association representing public universities including NC State and NC A&T. APLU operates at the institutional level above NCACES but serves the same land-grant extension ecosystem that NCACES members operate within.
• Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP): The representative leadership body of the Cooperative Extension System at the national level, operating under APLU. ECOP provides national-level governance and direction for Extension, paralleling NCACES's state-level coordinating role.
• National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA): The national professional association for Extension agricultural agents and specialists. NACAA operates at a national scale that NCACES operates at the state level, providing comparable recognition, awards, and professional development programming for similar Extension professional audiences.

Direct peers

• NC Joint Council of Extension Professionals (JCEP): A parallel North Carolina professional association bringing together all Extension professional associations in the state. NCACES already sits on the JCEP Executive Committee and sends delegates to its annual meetings, making it the most directly comparable peer organization.
• Epsilon Sigma Phi: The national honorary fraternity for Extension professionals, serving specialists and agents across all U.S. states. NCACES members are part of the same Extension professional community that Epsilon Sigma Phi's state chapters serve, making it a directly comparable peer organization.
• National Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals (NAE4-HYDP): A national professional association for 4-H Extension professionals that operates similarly to NCACES in providing awards, networking, and professional development. Comparable in mission and programming structure even though focused on the 4-H youth development discipline.
• National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (NEAFCS): A national professional association for Extension professionals in family and consumer sciences. NEAFCS parallels NCACES's role of supporting specialists with awards, networking, and professional development, and its members often overlap with NCACES membership.

Others

• National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA): The federal agency within USDA that provides capacity and extramural funding for Cooperative Extension. NIFA is the upstream institutional funder whose policies and funding decisions shape the operating environment for NCACES members.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/823497629235046
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/north-carolina-association-of-cooperative-extension-specialists

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SPECIALISTS