NCCBI News

Membership Campaign a Success
Association Likely Will Meet Goal of "2000 by 2000"

NCCBI accelerated its annual membership campaign last month with a flurry of events in Eastern North Carolina and the Piedmont. Officials were still counting the number of new members who joined the association, but they predict the final tally will show NCCBI having one of its most successful recruitment campaigns in recent years.

Prominent among the recruitment events was a Feb. 8 reception at the new Exploris children's museum in downtown Raleigh, hosted by Sherwood Smith, the former CP&L chairman, and Gordon Smith, the philanthropist who is chairman of the museum board. Sponsoring the reception were Research Triangle Regional Partnership, AT&T, CP&L, Martin Marietta Materials and York Properties. About 75 members and prospective members attended.

Other recruitment events in February included a Feb. 14 reception in Duck at the home of Polly and Dave Wessel; a Feb. 16 luncheon at Town Hall in Edenton; a Feb. 16 reception at Bayside Restaurant in Edenton; a Feb. 17 breakfast at Campbell University in Buies Creek; a Feb. 17 luncheon at Catherine's Restaurant in Ahoskie; a Feb. 17 reception at Pine Lakes Country Club in Elizabeth City; a Feb. 21 reception at Wild Flower Restaurant in Henderson; a Feb. 22 luncheon at the Ramada Inn in Oxford; a Feb. 22 reception at the Mid Pines Resort in Southern Pines, a Feb. 23 reception at the Hilton in Greenville; and a Feb. 24 reception at the home of Charles Hayes in Sanford.

All of the events were staged with the support of the regional economic development partnerships in those areas. The N.C. Partnership for Economic Development, the umbrella organization over the regional organizations, is partnering with NCCBI this year to promote membership in the association.

In addition, SouthTrust Bank donated 100 free rounds of golf at the Old North State Club in New London as an incentive for companies joining NCCBI. The incentive was the idea of bank President N. Bradley Thompson Jr., a member of NCCBI's Executive Committee.

More help for the membership drive came from Kelly King, the BB&T executive and NCCBI executive committee member. He volunteered a team of bank executives to recruit new members for the association.

Individual members of the NCCBI board signed up 93 new members, the most that the board ever has brought in. The staff of NCCBI recruited 100 new members over the past year.

This year's membership drive has been under the direction of Gordon Myers of Asheville, the Ingles Markets executive.

Previously, membership recruitment events were held in Cary, Wilmington, Asheville and Charlotte.

The Charlotte event, at White Oaks, the Duke family mansion, was hosted by Mac Everett of First Union, the incoming chairman of NCCBI, and Erskine Bowles, the Charlotte investment banker and former White House chief of staff. It was attended by about 150. Sponsoring the event were Microsoft, First Union, Duke Energy and KPMG Peat Marwick.

NCCBI began its fiscal year last April with about 1,875 members, and it appears that the association will reach Chairman Phil Phillips' goal of “2000 by 2000.”

Newsletter Conversion: NCCBI members are reminded that, beginning next month, the association's two newsletters will switch from print to electronic delivery. The Legislative Bulletin, which comes out every Friday when the General Assembly is in session, and the For Members Only newsletter, published monthly at other times of the year, will be delivered to subscribers primarily by e-mail. Those members who don't have e-mail will receive the newsletters by fax. Members who have neither e-mail nor access to a fax machine will be mailed a photostat copy.

NCCBI is updating its lists of members' e-mail addresses and fax numbers. Forms for that purpose have been included in recent issues of the newsletters. The quickest way for a member to provide that information is to go directly to NCCBI's web site, nccbi.org, and fill out a form there.

New Board Member: Jerry Cook of Winston-Salem, vice president of international trade at Sara Lee Branded Apparel, was named to the NCCBI Board of Directors to fill a two-year term created by the retirement of Ann Gaither of J.H. Heafner Co.

Membership Directory: Each NCCBI member recently was mailed a form to be used in updating information for the 2000 edition of the Membership Directory and Buyers Guide. If you haven't done so already, please take a moment to fill out the form and fax it back in.

Membership News: New members since Jan. 1 include: ABD Development, Biscoe; Allstate Insurance Co., Atlanta; Aston Properties, Charlotte; Bank of Davie, Mocksville; Barnhardt & Walker, Concord; Beacham Associates Ltd., Jacksonville; Conner Gwyn Schenck PLLC, Raleigh; The Daniel Group, Charlotte; Derby and Associates, Charlotte; Froehling & Robertson Inc., Raleigh; Garris-Evans Lumber Co. Inc., Greenville; Robert H. Hall, PLLC, Cary; Jackson, Lewis, Schnitzler & Krupman, Greenville, S.C; MarketWorks, Lakeview; McKinney Orchard & Gardens, Winston-Salem; Rep. Marian McLawhorn, Grifton; Rep. Max Melton, Raleigh; Merchandise Mart Properties, High Point; MountainBank, Hendersonville; North American Publishing, Cary; Rep. David Redwine, Ocean Isle Beach; The Revere Group, Charlotte; Sockwell and Associates, Charlotte; Thomasville Furniture Industries Inc., Thomas-ville.

NCCBI Calendar:

The Transportation Committee will meet Monday, April 3, 2-4 p.m.

The Health Care Committee will meet Tuesday, April 4, 2-4 p.m.

The Economic Development Committee will meet Monday, April 10, 10-noon.

The Council of Local Chambers will meet Monday, April 17, 12-3 p.m., at the Durham Chamber of Commerce.

The Environmental Concerns Committee will meet Friday, April 21, 10-1 p.m., at the Capital City Club in Raleigh.

The Legislative Reception preceding the annual NCCBI Legislative Conference will be held Monday, May 8, 5:30-7 p.m. at the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena, the new home of the Carolina Hurricanes and N.C. State Wolfpack basketball. NCCBI is accepting sponsorships from member companies for the reception.

The annual NCCBI Legislative Conference will be held Tuesday, May 9, 8:30-2 p.m., at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh.