NCCBI Annual Meeting Agenda
Collins, Mitchell to Receive Top Awards
Bob Johnson, Charlotte Bobcats Owner,  Keynote Luncheon Speaker

North Carolina’s business community will bestow its highest honors on one of the state’s leading African-American businessmen and on one of the state’s most noted jurists during the 62nd Annual Meeting of  NCCBI in Raleigh on March 17.

The association will present its 2004 Citation for Distinguished Citizenship to Bert Collins of Durham, the chairman of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co., and its 2004 Citation for Distinguished Public Service to former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Burley Mitchell Jr. of Raleigh. The awards will be presented during the luncheon session of the annual meeting at the Raleigh Civic and Convention Center.

Robert L. Johnson (left), founder and CEO of Black Entertainment Television (BET) and principal owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, the pro basketball expansion team that begins play this November, will deliver the keynote address at the event.

“Bob Johnson is a spellbinding speaker and one of the nation’s most innovative business leaders,” said NCCBI Chair Sue W. Cole of Greensboro. “He’s bringing the NBA back to Charlotte and bringing a lot of attention to our state. I can’t wait to hear him speak at the Annual Meeting.”

Johnson founded BET in 1980 as a cable television network geared to serve the information and entertainment needs of African-Americans. The company has grown to become the leading African American-operated media and entertainment company in the United States, and reaches 75 million homes.

In 2000, Johnson sold BET to Viacom Inc. for approximately $3 billion. Following the sale of BET, Johnson formed The RLJ Companies. Under The RLJ Companies umbrella, Johnson owns or holds an interest in companies operating in the hospitality/restaurant, real estate, fast food, gaming and entertainment/media industries.

Collins, one of the Bull City’s premier civic leaders, has served in various leadership capacities at N.C. Mutual since joining the company in 1967. He has served as president & CEO since 1990 and was senior vice president for seven years before that. He oversees N.C. Mutual operations in 23 states, and instituted programs that caused premium revenue to grow from $70 million to $100 million in 2002.

With nearly $10 billion of insurance in force and more than $27 million in reserves and surplus, the 105-year-old company is the nation’s oldest and largest African-American managed life insurance company. It is the oldest life insurance company with headquarters and home office in North Carolina.

Collins, a native of Austin, Texas, graduated from Huston-Tillotson College there in 1955 and received an MBA from the University of Detroit in 1962. He was working as a CPA in Detroit in 1967 when a friend persuaded him to visit Durham; he wound up taking a job there with N.C. Mutual and has been with the company ever since. He also received a law degree from N.C. Central University in 1970.

Collins has served in many civic capacities. He has served on the boards of Mutual Community Savings Bank, the Life Office Management Association, and NCCBI. He has served as chairman of the trustees at N.C. Central and a member of the board of visitors at N.C. Central’s School of Law, Duke University and N.C. A&T University.

Burley B. Mitchell Jr. retired in 1999 as the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, a post he had held since 1995, to head the appellate advocacy and government relations groups of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. Before becoming chief justice, he served as an associate justice from 1982 to 1994, as secretary of the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety from 1979 to 1982, as a judge on the Court of Appeals from 1977 to 1979, and as a district attorney from 1972 to 1977. He began his career in government service in 1969 as an assistant state attorney general.

Mitchell received his bachelor’s degree from N.C. State University in 1966 and his law degree from the UNC School of Law in 1969. He also is a U.S. Navy veteran.

During his many years on the appellate bench Mitchell authored 484 decisions, including many now seen as landmark decisions. Among them are the 1997 Leandro decision establishing a state constitutional right to public education, the 1995 Gwathmey decision establishing public access to navigable waters under the public trust doctrine, the Hall v. Post case in 1988 that held that individuals may sue the media for invasion of privacy for disclosing truthful but embarrassing facts, and the Crow v. Citicorp Acceptance Co. case in 1987 that established prerequisites for class actions in North Carolina.

New members: A partial list of companies that joined or rejoined NCCBI in November, along with the name of the key executive at each company includes: AC Corp., Charles Coker, Greensboro; Ashe County Government, Dan McMillan, Jefferson; Athol Manufacturing Corp., Mark A. Morris, Butner; Bank of the Carolinas, Robert Marziano, Mocksville; Beaufort County Hospital, Bill Bedsole, Washington; Bostic Development Inc., Steven Johnson, Greensboro; Bushhog America Inc., Mark Domske, Salisbury; Cannon & Gruber, Realtors, Harriet Gruber, Atlantic Beach; Carillon Assisted Living, Karen Moriarty, Raleigh; Carolina Classic Boats, Mac Privott, Edenton; Carolina Hurricanes, Matt West, Raleigh; Copland Fabrics Inc., Jason C. Copland, Burlington; D & L Appliance Parts Co. Inc., Ralph B. Brackett, Charlotte; Dan K. Moore Lumber Co., Dan K. Moore Jr., Lexington; Donlin Counseling Services, Don Cheek, North Wilkesboro; E.J. Pope & Son Inc., E.J. Pope III, Mount Olive; Eastern Federal Corp., George Royster, Charlotte; EVCO Construction Co., Everette Curlee, Charlotte; Farris Cooke & Associates, PA, Bob Farris, Charlotte.


Magazine Mourns Loss of Key Staff Member
The NCCBI family was saddened by the sudden death on Nov. 16 of Steve Johnson, the magazine’s advertising sales representative for Charlotte, the Triad and Western North Carolina. Johnson, who joined the magazine staff two years ago after a long career with the Salisbury Post, died at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte after suffering a dissected aorta, the same heart condition that recently claimed the life of actor John Ritter.

Johnson, 57, was chairman of the Rowan County Planning Board and active in many civic activities in the Salisbury area. A Salisbury native, he and his wife, the former Libby Thomason, had two children and two grandchildren.

“Steve Johnson brought tremendous professionalism to NCCBI and his aggressive marketing efforts were a key factor in the magazine’s financial success over the past two years,” said Editor Steve Tuttle. “He also will be missed because he was a good man, someone you enjoyed working with every day.”

Return to magazine index