Regional Business Reports


Charlotte
City Growls its Approval of Bobcats
Charlotte’s first NBA team opened eyes around the country with its unique teal and purple color scheme in its uniforms and logo. Its second team hopes to do likewise with a predominantly orange color scheme backed by accents of black, silver and blue. Those colors shone brightly in early June on a makeshift noonday stage at the corners of Trade and Tryon streets — the city’s busiest intersection — as pro basketball’s newest expansion team revealed its name to be the Charlotte Bobcats.

The franchise’s billionaire owner and founder of Black Entertainment Television, Bob Johnson, says the occasion, attended by an estimated 7,000 fans, was “the proudest day of my life. I am with the proudest fans in the world. I love Charlotte. My organization, myself and my players will never embarrass or let you down.”

Johnson says he decided on Bobcats — over the other two finalists, the Flight and Dragons — for several reasons. First, he wanted it to have a connection to the area, and bobcats are one of two wildcats native to the Carolinas and the only one that still roams the region.

Second, the name had to create a buzz with regard to merchandising, and it had to be available for copyrighting. “No other professional team — baseball, football or basketball — in the United States, has the name Bobcats,” he notes.

The Bobcats first begin play at the Charlotte Coliseum in 2004-05 and a year later in a new, uptown state-of-the-art arena.  — Kevin Brafford


Winston-Salem
Master Plan Completed to Guide Park's Expansion
With the master plan for Piedmont Triad Research Park in downtown Winston-Salem now complete, expansion plans are officially on the drawing board, starting with the site for the new Wake Forest University Health Science biomedical research campus.

Wake Forest’s building is expected to be the first in one of three planned areas — the Central District — for the park, which is being touted as an “economic-development engine for the region.” Richard Dean, president and CEO of Wake Forest University Health Sciences, calls the initiative “a major commitment to transform our economy from one driven by manufacturing to one led by technology.

“With the completion of the research park’s master plan, we’re now poised to begin the physical expansion of the PTRP that make Winston-Salem and the Triad even more attractive to life science and IT companies looking to grow their business,” Dean says. “By successfully clustering the required infrastructure and concentrating world-class intellectual capacity, we are going to create a research center that will ultimately, I believe, put our region on a competitive level with the finest research communities in the country.”

So far, there are four buildings on 10 acres of the park on the east side of downtown Winston-Salem. Officials from Idealliance, a nonprofit that manages the park, announced the completion of the master plan, which was prepared by Sasaki Associates from Watertown, Mass. The master plan guides the development of 200 acres and addresses development priorities, land acquisition, environmental concerns and infrastructure improvements.

The Central District, which also includes facilities for biomedical research companies, could take up to 10 years to complete. The North District will be developed next, according to the plan, and will serve research-focused and mixed-use functions. The South District is designed as a lower density area with expansive greenspace and locations for facilities supporting research activity by neighboring schools and larger corporate campuses.

A study of the economic impact of the park by Economics Research Associates of Washington found that the expansion could create 31,000 jobs in the next 20 to 30 years.  — Jim Buice


Greenville
Locals Aren't Surprised by City's Business Rating
While lethargic business activity has many North Carolina communities thirsty for good economic news, accolades continue to rain on Greenville. The city recently placed 24th on Forbes magazine’s fifth annual list of small cities making the “Best Places for Business and Careers.” The publication was most impressed with Greenville’s cost of doing business (24th), job growth (35th) and educational attainment (38th).

“With the university, hospital, and existing industries in the area, Greenville has always been recognized inside the state as a great place to work and do business,” says Jim Fain, secretary of the N.C. Department of Commerce. “I’m happy to see that the rest of the country now realizes what we in North Carolina have known all along.”

For Susanne Sartelle, president of the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce, the city’s strong showing is evidence of its importance as a regional hub for industry, medicine, education, culture and retail.

“Greenville is blessed with a diverse economy that makes this a desirable place not just for entrepreneurs, but businesses generally,” Sartelle says.

Joining Greenville on Forbes’ list of the best small cities were Asheville (ranked 43rd), Wilmington (58th), Fayetteville (110th), Jacksonville (136th), Goldsboro (149th) and Rocky Mount (160th).  — Lawrence Bivins


RTP
Adjacent Rural Areas Aim to Leverage Park's Assets
By all accounts, Research Triangle Park ranks among the great economic development success stories of the past 50 years. Yet while the park is now home to 40,000 professional class jobs, it has done little to distribute the fruits of the modern economic order into the rural lands that sit beyond Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. In fairness, RTP founders never had a firm plan for how the park would ripple job creation over the horizon — only a hope that, in time, it somehow would.

Tired of waiting, leaders in Franklin, Granville, Person, Vance and Warren counties are working to launch a “mini-hub” that would pool their resources and leverage the RTP cache to grow jobs. Known as the “Kerr-Tar” hub, the effort is based upon a recent study that indicates the idea has merit.

Most rural industrial parks lack amenities common to those found in RTP, Charlotte’s University Research Park or N.C. State’s Centennial Campus. Working alone, a rural county would face prohibitive costs in attempting to create an advanced telecommunications infrastructure, training facilities, conference space, wet labs, technical support services and incubator facilities. But five counties coming together, with support from state, regional, business and academic entities might just pull it off.

 “If they’re successful, we could have a strategy that works statewide,” says Charles Hayes, president and CEO of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership. At its core, the idea involves counties partnering under a framework of “shared interest, shared risk and shared reward,” Hayes explains.

Kerr-Tar leaders recognize the yawning gulf between theory and reality in economic development. But they have moved forward in earnest to assemble five work groups that have begun exploring the obvious practical hurdles. “When you’ve got five counties working together in a partnership like this, some interesting public policy questions come up,” says Rick Seekins, an economic development planning officer with Kerr-Tar Council of Governments, which is providing organizational support for the venture. One work group will consider, for example, the legal obstacles involved with counties sharing tax base from the mini hub. Another is charged with locating a thousand-acre or so site that all five counties will be comfortable with. And the counties will need to arrive at a specific industry focus for the hub, preferably one that feeds off RTP assets while also spinning lesser, but still promising, development opportunities into the remote reaches of member counties.

RTRP’s Hayes originally wanted to see three or four mini-hubs radiating across his 13-county region. One might be based on bioprocessing, for example; others on logistics and telecommunications manufacturing. But for now all eyes are on Kerr-Tar to prove the idea has traction. “We’re not pushing any larger vision until we can demonstrate that one of these can actually work,” Hayes says.  — Lawrence Bivins


Cary
Business Woman of the Year Keeps Planning New Ventures
Sheila Ogle started a company out of her home 15 years ago. She’s added two companies since, and now has a national honor to accompany them: the 2003 Woman Business Owner of the Year, as awarded by the National Association of Women Business Owners.

Ogle’s chief business is Media Research, Planning and Placement Services (MRPP) Inc., a media-buying agency that handles advertising accounts that annually total more than $20 million.

The company was borne after Ogle retired from Raleigh ad agency Howard, Merrell and Partners. Her phone began to ring and contract work soon followed. Today, MRPP has grown to than 20 employees, and its client list includes the likes of Progress Energy, Quintiles Transnational and Sony Ericsson.

Ogle’s newest venture is Integrated Clinical Trial Services, a firm that assists drug companies. “I’ve learned so much from running my own companies,” she says. “Anytime you work for yourself you’re going to work harder if you want to be successful. And I think as you grow older you learn from the experience that you’ve gained, and that’s helped me grow my business.”  — Kevin Brafford


Greensboro
Moses Cone Unveils Plans for Expanded Heart Center
Moses Cone Hospital has announced plans for a $25.7 million expansion and upgrade to its heart and vascular center. The Guilford County hospital will add more than 60,000 square feet in a two-story wing that will include cardiac intensive care rooms. Hospital officials say consolidating the 20-year-old heart center’s services into one area will enhance patient care.

“The development of the new heart and vascular center is an important step forward for the care of the cardiovascular patients in the region,” says Dr. Thomas Stuckey, medical director of the catheterization lab. “The addition of this carefully planned facility combined with Moses Cone Hospital’s widely recognized cutting-edge technologies should ensure that the hospital remains a leader of cardiovascular services in North Carolina.”

The heart and vascular center is one of the busiest in the state. In fiscal year 2002, according to hospital spokesman Doug Allred, 889 open-heart surgeries were performed at Moses Cone along with 1,945 angioplasties and stent placements, and 6,065 diagnostic catheterizations.

The expanded facility will house a new cardiovascular diagnostic center for lower-risk patients who can receive treatments without requiring an overnight stay. The 8,200-square-foot diagnostic center will be located on the first floor “This center will make outpatient services much easier for the community to use,” says Jeff Garrison, vice president of the heart and vascular center.

Pending final approval from the state’s Division of Facility Services, construction would begin around the end of the year with work scheduled to be completed in 2005. Peterson & Associates of Charlotte is the architect for the project. A construction company has yet to be selected.  — Jim Buice


Charlotte
New Director of Urban Institute Knows the State's Rural Areas
Jeff Michael, a leader in North Carolina conservation, economic development and human relations, is the new executive director of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Urban Institute.

Michael, a Stanly County native, comes to UNC Charlotte from the executive director’s post at Wildacres Leadership Initiative, a statewide leadership program in human relations.

He will be filling the role vacated by Bill McCoy, who retired in 2001, and the interim leadership of Owen Furuseth, professor and chair of the department of geography and earth sciences. Michael begins work on Aug. 11.

A planner, conservationist and attorney, Michael started his professional career with the Yadkin-Pee Dee Lakes Project. There, as executive director, he led strategic planning initiatives to promote economic and environmental sustainability, and helped establish the LandTrust of Central North Carolina, a 10-county regional land conservancy where he later served as its executive director. During his tenure, the organization successfully protected almost 5,000 acres of natural areas, farmland and historic sites within its jurisdiction.

The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, applied research and consulting services outreach arm of the university. The institute provides a range of services, including technical assistance and training, public opinion surveys, land-use and natural resources consulting, economic development research and community planning to meet the needs of the region and its citizens.  — Natasha Ashe



Wilmington
Ports Receive Major Grant to Improve Homeland Security
A $4.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded to the North Carolina State Ports Authority ranks the authority among the top 10 ports in the country in the amount of grant money received. The grant is part of the second round of federal funding for seaport security enhancements. The ports of Wilmington and Morehead City are two of the 13 designated strategic ports by the U.S. Maritime Administration and are considered critical to the U.S. Department of Defense’s deployment requirements.

The ports also are key economic engines in the state’s economy, with cargo activities contributing statewide to thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenues. The Ports Authority will use the grant money for projects relating to access control, physical security, cargo security and emergency preparedness and equipment, according to authority CEO Erik Stromberg.

“We are honored to receive these funds, and as one of the top 10 recipients, we feel that this recognizes our strategic importance to national security,” he says. “We owe a special thanks to our congressional delegation for their help in securing these funds.”

Stromberg notes that the security improvements were identified through a comprehensive security assessment that the authority completed last year. That assessment was funded by a $250,000 federal grant awarded in the first round of seaport security funding.

The largest project to improve access control at the ports is the relocation and redesign of the gates to each port. The Port of Wilmington has two gates, one on Shipyard Boulevard and another on Burnett Boulevard. The Port of Morehead City has one gate on Arendell Street.

A new identification system also is planned for port employees, customers, truckers, ships’ crewmembers and other visitors. Additional security measures, which could be funded through this grant, relate to physical security items such as fencing, lighting and surveillance cameras, and cargo security such as radiation detectors for container cranes. -- Karen Fox


Raleigh
Center Marks 25 Years of Public Policy Research
North Carolina’s leaders don’t always hear what they want to hear from the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research. But invariably they hear what they need to hear. Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, the center has examined hundreds of topics — from education and human services to the environment and transportation. Though its findings are seldom rosy, they are almost always heeded.

“We probably testify more than anyone,” says Phil Dixon, a Greenville attorney who chairs the center’s board.

The Raleigh-based center maintains a staff of just six. Its modest budget is derived from the support it gets from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, which facilitated the center’s founding, grants from other philanthropic groups, corporate contributions and dues paid by its nearly 900 individual and organizational members. Much of the group’s success can be credited to its leadership structure, Dixon says, which strives for a geographical, racial and political cross-section of the state. “Our board is really unique, but I guess the thing we take greatest pride in is our work,” Dixon says.

The center publishes exhaustive research reports, a guide to the legislature, effectiveness rankings on state legislators and lobbyists, and textbooks on state and local government. Its annual discussion forums, broadcast statewide via a partnership the center has with TimeWarner, have featured former governors, top university leaders and respected journalists. In early 2002, an alarming analysis on Eastern North Carolina helped fuel federal legislation for a Southeast Crescent Authority and inspired the creation of the Foundation of Renewal for Eastern North Carolina (FoR ENC), which intends to serve as a permanent advocacy body for the region.

The center is now well into a comprehensive study of higher education governance in North Carolina. The first two installments of its four-part series looked at the history of public higher education in the state and compared university governance here with that of the other 49 states. With the help of a two-year, $320,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, the center will complete the series with an analysis of the UNC Board of Governors and a look at the system’s future.

“That grant is huge for us,” says Dixon, who became interested in the center while serving as chairman of the board of trustees at East Carolina University. “It’s a real compliment to the center.”

Equally flattering have been a barrage of awards and accolades from publications such as Non Profit World, Governing magazine and other publications. The center’s success in the past quarter-century has also spurred the creation of similar organizations in other states. Ran Coble is the long-time executive director. — Lawrence Bivins


Randleman
Community Banks Pony Up Funds for Camp for Sick Kids
Six Piedmont-area banks have pooled their resources to provide funding to complete the $20 million construction of the Victory Junction Gang Camp located in Randolph County. Bank of North Carolina, Carolina Bank, First National Bank and Trust, KS Bank, LSB-The Bank and Rowan Bank, participating members in America’s Promise, have established the $14 million credit facility that will enable the camp to open next June.

Victory Junction is a member of The Association of Hole in the Wall Gang Camps Inc. — established by actor Paul Newman — and was founded by NASCAR family members Kyle and Pattie Petty in honor of their late son, Adam. The land upon which the camp will be built was donated by racing legend Richard Petty and his wife Lynda.

Victory Junction will incorporate a racing theme into a camping experience for chronically ill children from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and other states. Thanks to corporate support, the camp also will contain a medical center capable of doing everything from bandaging a knee to chemotherapy and dialysis.

“The camp is a wonderful opportunity for individuals, corporations and foundations worldwide to support our initiatives to make children’s dreams come true,” says Brian Collier, executive director of Victory Junction. “We are delighted, but not at all surprised, that these Piedmont community banks that are involved with America’s Promise have collaborated to ensure that our mission will be met.”

America’s Promise, sponsored by the American Bankers Association, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of young people by fulfilling five promises:

Mentoring relationships with caring adults;
Access to safe places and structured activities;
A healthy start and future;
Marketable skills through education; and
Community service opportunities.

“Community banks are leaders in giving back to their communities,” says Michael Miller, CEO of First National Bank of Asheboro, “and the community banks that have joined in this lending and volunteering effort appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the success of Victory Junction.”     — Kevin Brafford


Eastern N.C.
Laurinburg, Wilson Among This Year's All-America Cities
Laurinburg and Wilson were among 10 cities nationwide selected as All-America Cities by the National Civic League. They were among 30 finalists for the honor, and recognition came during a mid-June ceremony in Washington.

The National Civic League’s All-American Cities program dates to 1949 and recognizes civic excellence in communities that best exemplify the spirit of grassroots citizen involvement and cross-sector collaborative problem solving.

“It’s great to have this honor bestowed on the citizens of Laurinburg,” says Jim Frank Henderson, executive vice president of the Laurinburg-Scotland County Chamber of Commerce. “This award proves that when people work together, great things happen.”

Those thoughts are echoed by Bruce Beasley, president of the Wilson Chamber of Commerce. “We are pleased to have been recognized as an All-America City,” says Beasley, noting that Wilson had been a finalist a year ago and had earned the distinction in 1973. “It’s a tribute to our city and the people who live here.”

The other winners are Tempe, Ariz.; New Haven, Conn.; Miami Beach, Fla.; Des Moines, Iowa; Marquette County, Mich.; South Sioux City, Neb.; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Greater Racine Area, Wis.  Thomasville in Davidson County was among the 30 finalists.

“These All-America Cities symbolize the best of our nation — the ability of citizens, government, businesses and nonprofit organizations to come together, effectively address their local issues, and produce tangible results,” says Christopher T. Gates, president of the National Civic League. — Kevin Brafford


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