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NCCBI News

Membership Recruitment Event Planned in Asheville

Following a very successful membership recruitment reception in Wilmington, NCCBI leaders will stage a similar event in Asheville this month featuring a wine-tasting at the Biltmore Estate Winery.

Sixteen Asheville-area members of NCCBI are hosting the Asheville reception, which will be held from 6:30-8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 16, at the winery. The event will feature a tasting of four of Biltmore's award-winning wines and one champagne with a discussion of wines led by an expert winery staff member.

The Asheville event, like the earlier reception in Wilmington, is aimed at business people who aren't members of NCCBI. NCCBI President Phil Kirk will give a talk highlighting the association's mission and recent accomplishments.

The reception, as well as the regular schedule of Fall Area Meetings, is part of NCCBI's “2000 by 2000” membership recruitment campaign organized under the guidance of Second Vice Chairman Gordon Myers of Asheville, the Ingles Markets executive. The Asheville event is being underwritten by the Biltmore Company and Myers. Plans for similar receptions are under way for Raleigh and Charlotte, according to NCCBI Director of Development Rosemary Wyche.

Hosts for the Asheville meeting are Ray Bailey, Karen Campbell, George Cecil, Jack Cecil, William Cecil Jr., Sharon Decker, Jay Garner, David Huskins, Hon. Bill Ives, Hon. Steve Metcalf, Steve Miller, Myers, Helen Powers, Hon. Wilma Sherrill, and David Sink.

At the Wilmington reception, 84 members and prospective members took a two-hour cruise on the Cape Fear River in late June. The event was highly successful in persuading the prospects to join the association.

NCCBI reminds members to check their calendars to make sure they've registered to attend one of the upcoming Fall Area Meetings, and urges members to bring along a prospect to the event.

Small Business Board Meets: A panel session on the “Biggest Challenges in Running a Small Business” highlights the Sept. 8 meeting of NCCBI's Small Business Advisory Board. The meeting will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the campus of Meredith College in Raleigh. Senate Majority Leader Roy Cooper (D-Nash), a candidate for lieutenant governor, will be the keynote speaker.

The session begins with a morning panel session moderated by Small Business Advisory Board Chairman Steve Zaytoun of Cary. Panelists include state Revenue Secretary Muriel Offerman, state DOT Secretary David McCoy and state Insurance Commissioner Jim Long.

After lunch, the “Biggest Challenges” panel discussion features Robert Rippy of Jungle Rapids; Pickett Council of Council Tool, who is vice chairman of the Small Business Advisory Board; Jim Best of Best Distributing; and Shelia Hale Ogle of Media Research, Planning & Placement Services.

To learn more about the Small Business Advisory Board, call Rosemary Wyche at NCCBI at 919-836-1413.

Young Executives Meet: A keynote address on “Creativity in the Marketplace” by noted speaker Jim Smith of Leadership Systems highlights the Sept. 10 meeting for NCCBI's Young Executives Forum at the Grandover Resort and Conference Center in Greensboro.

The event, which begins with a 9:45 a.m. registration and networking, also features a luncheon address by Norris Tolson, the former state DOT secretary who resigned to run for governor. After Tolson's speech, Bill Hensley of Charlotte, a well-known media relations consultant, will present a seminar on “Effective Media Relations and Crisis Management.” The meeting will conclude at 3 p.m. after a presentation by Patrick Farlow about Leadership North Carolina.

To learn more about the Young Executives Forum, call Julie Campbell at NCCBI at 919-836-1402.

Bevacqua's Husband Dies: The husband of NCCBI Vice President of Governmental Relations Leslie Bevacqua died of a sudden heart attack on June 26 while playing golf in Raleigh. David Bevacqua, 52, was a regional sales representative for Riverside Manufacturing Co. and a pillar of Edenton Street Methodist Church. The devastating loss was all the more difficult because it came when Bevacqua and Kirk were away attending the National Conference of State Legislators in Indianapolis, Ind.

David Bevacqua, who was a Morehead Scholar at Carolina and received a master's degree from N.C. State, taught adult continuing education classes for several years at Wake Tech. He held many posts at his church, most recently as chair of the Council on Ministries. Survivors include a daughter and son-in-law, Robin and Eric Bolash, and granddaughter, Mila, of Lubbock, Texas; and son and daughter-in-law Warren Bevac- qua and Jennifer Williams, Harrisburg, Pa.

“We all feel very deeply for Leslie but we know her strong religious faith will help pull her through this terrible ordeal,” Kirk said. The family has requested that memorial contributions be made in Dave's memory to Edenton Street United Methodist Church, 228 W. Edenton St., Raleigh, N.C. 27603-1790.

Membership News: New members since July 14 include: Anchor Bank, Wilmington; Asheville Savings Bank, SSB, Asheville; Beverly Grant Inc., Asheville; John E. Bishop Sr. Investments, Rocky Mount; Caper Corp., Wilmington; Cardiovascular Diagnostics, Raleigh; First Travelcorp Inc., Raleigh; G. W. Mountcastle Agency, Lexington; Gaylord Container Corp., Raleigh; GBA Systems, Colfax; Harkers Island Electric Membership Corp., Harkers Island; Haywood County Schools, Waynesville; Human Resource Directions, Raleigh; Josey Lumber Co. Inc., Scotland Neck; Clarence Keever, High Point; Lee Paving Co., Sanford; Martin Boal Anthony & Johnson Architects, Raleigh; McDowell Technical Community College, Marion; McRae Industries Inc., Mt. Gilead; MedTech Inc., Fayetteville; New Hanover County Manager, Wilmington; Rodgers Builders Inc., Charlotte; Rufty Custom Built Homes Inc., Cary; Smith, Debnam, Narron & Myers, Raleigh; The Title Co. of NC Inc., Wilmington; Turlington & Co., Lexington; G.L. Wilson Building Co., Statesville.

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