Michael Humphrey is All Business

You can see Michael Humphrey is in his element as he walks around downtown Greensboro.

He pops into Pizzeria L'Italiano for a quick lunch and is immediately met with a smile and wave from owner Aldo Proposito, whom Humphrey befriended by frequently visiting the restaurant.

The enterprising spirit of mom-and-pop shops like Pizzeria L'Italiano, Cincy's (another favorite downtown haunt), and other small businesses inspired Humphrey to manage the City's new Office of Business Opportunity (OBO) in April 2025. He loved the thought of providing more business prospects and resources for other local entrepreneurs.

"The folks in Greensboro need to understand how wide open the opportunities are here," Humphrey said. "There is a business ecosystem between the Chamber of Commerce, Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship, Downtown Greensboro, and the community colleges around the area that offer any resource that you can think of."

Humphrey is as Greensboro as it gets.

"Greensboro growing up was Camelot," Humphrey said. "My friends and I talk about it all the time, but it was the greatest upbringing you could have imagined."

His parents moved to the area following World War II. Humphrey's father attended NC A&T State University, and his mother went to Bennett College. The family raised two boys in the Gate City and both attended A&T. Humphrey studied industrial technology with a focus in manufacturing.

After college, Humphrey worked with Stockhausen for a year before moving to Konica Minolta Photo Imaging, Inc., where he received training in Japan. During his time at Konica, he started his first small, home-based business selling Black art.

A technical-minded person, Humphrey realized he lacked business know-how, so he enrolled in Wake Forest University's executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) program, which yielded a life-changing opportunity in New York City.

"A fellow Wake MBA alum, who happened to work for a little company called the NFL (National Football League) - actually the NFL Headquarters in Manhattan - was looking to hire another MBA alum," Humphrey said. "I had really never left home, so at 32 I moved, and it was an incredible experience because I went to work in the special events department for the NFL."

Humphrey managed the league's Minority Supplier Development Program, which cultivated minority- and women-owned vendors for the NFL's marquee events like the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl. For the next 14 years, he and a team of hundreds helped produce the country's largest sporting event. Halfway through his tenure took over as the director of the Pro Bowl, the league's annual all-star competition in Hawaii.

Humphrey recalls sitting in his parents' den in Greensboro to watch the 1997 Super Bowl. A year later they were in San Diego watching in person as John Elway led the Denver Broncos to a 31-24 win over the Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII.

"They're in the stands and I'm on the field at the age of 32 and I'm like, 'Where does it go from here?'" Humphrey said with a laugh. "There's a classic clip of John Elway running and diving for the end zone, and he gets hit and goes into a helicopter spin. I was about 10 feet from that. My boss caught me standing there with my mouth open."

Humphrey left the NFL to manage the business affairs of a Brooklyn megachurch before heading to Washington, DC, to run own apparel business. But the lure of home proved too strong to resist.

In 2021, Humphrey returned to the Gate City as vice president of operations and equity for the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, a post he held until 2023 when he joined the City of Greensboro.

"I had been in that northeast corridor for 25 years," Humphrey said. "I had gotten married, had three children, and the two oldest twins, who spent time in Greensboro visiting their grandmother and going to A&T's Homecoming, really loved Greensboro (both are UNC Greensboro students). And my son came to live with me and attends the Four Middle College at A&T. I just knew what my quality of life here was, and I wanted some of that for them."

In his role with the City, Humphrey does the kinds of things he has always loved about business since first dabbling in the field many years ago. With the City's Minority Business Enterprise Program, he helps minority- and women-owned businesses bid on City contracts for general contracting or subcontracting work. In May 2026, Humphrey and the OBO launched the Small Business Enterprise Program (SBE), a race and gender-neutral certification initiative to help eligible local businesses access City contracting opportunities and increase visibility.

"What we're building up and pushing with that program is giving small-business owners a greater opportunity to compete without competing against much, much larger companies," Humphrey said. "We want to give opportunities to small-business owners so they can grow their business and maybe one day become one of those larger businesses."

Humphrey wants to help people succeed, and he knows it often takes a lot of resources, know-how, and even luck. He hopes to provide as many resources and as much knowledge as he can for the benefit of locals looking to grow and develop their businesses in his beloved hometown.

"Dream big, and then dream bigger," Humphrey said. "People would ask me, 'How did you get into this business that you started?' and I'd say, 'I kissed some frogs.' There were some failures before I got to the one that was a true success, but you have to dream, and you have to try."