NCCBI News

Booth Space Filling Up fast for Expo

Booth space is filling fast for the NCCBI Expo, which will be held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting on March 17 at the Raleigh Convention and Conference Center. The Expo has grown from a few small tabletop displays a dozen years ago to a large trade show with innovative visual displays that are both attractive and informative. More than 75 exhibitors participated last year, and the numbers are expected to grow again in 2004.

“We have a real variety of exhibitors this year,” said Julie Woodson, who coordinates the Expo for NCCBI. “The Charlotte Bobcats team will exhibit, along with the 2005 U.S. Open. Numerous hotels and resorts across the state as well as the University System and the Community College System will exhibit. We’re also bringing back the Goodness Grows pavilion where North Carolina-based companies will be sharing samples of state-grown foods with people attending the trade show.”

The Annual Meeting attracts about 1,000 business and government officials from across the state. The Expo is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and the day culminates with an evening reception that is always packed with people and offers maximum exposure to the exhibitors.

“The Expo is an awesome marketing opportunity for anyone who wants to have face-to-face contact with the top CEOs and the highest elected officials in the state of North Carolina,” Woodson said. “It is an opportunity to exhibit your products and/or services and your potential customers actually come to you.”

Cost is always kept reasonable for the Expo. For NCCBI members, it’s only $400. For non-members the cost is $500. The fee includes a 10-by-10-foot draped booth space, an 8-foot skirted table, a sign designating the name of your company or organization and a free luncheon ticket.

For more information about the Expo and for a registration form, please contact Woodson at 919-836-1402 or e-mail her at jwoodson@nccbi.org.  An Expo registration form also may be downloaded from the NCCBI website, www.nccbi.org.

The afternoon seminars at the Annual Meeting will focus on economic development issues and the importance of North Carolina’s military bases.

New Members: A partial list of companies that joined or rejoined NCCBI in November, along with the key executive at each company, includes: FNB Southeast Bank, Ernest Sewell, Reidsville; Gene Pleasants Agency Inc., Gene Pleasants, Raleigh; General Steel Drum Corp., Robert G. Bradford, Charlotte; H & H Distribution Services Inc., Jerry W. Hudson, Charlotte; Harnett Forward Together Committee, Johnson Tilghman, Lillington; Hepaco Inc., Mark Boland, Charlotte; Howard Keys, Howard J. Goldberg, Charlotte; Hunt Electric Supply Co., R. Sam Hunt, III, Burlington; J. Arthur Dosher Memorial Hospital, Edgar Haywood III, Southport; Johnson & Wales University, Arthur Gallagher, Charlotte; Johnson Law Firm, PLLC, Sharon Johnson, Greenville; Kernodle Clinic Inc., Kevin Bilson, Burlington; Leath Marketing, Sales & Consulting, LLC, Clifford T. Leath, Chapel Hill; Limited Brands Inc., Scott Kriss, Columbus, Ohio; Logix Group, Garry E. Williamson, Raleigh; Maria Parham Medical Center,  Michael L. Shields, Henderson; Marsh Pottery LLC DBA Carolina Pottery, Tim Marsh, Fort Mill, S.C.; Minges Bottling Group, Jeffrey Minges, Ayden; Minuteman Food Marts, D.M. Campbell, Jr., Elizabethtown; N.C. Manufactured Housing Institute, Steve Zamiara, Raleigh; NC School Food Service Association, Gretchen Wilson, Washington; New South Waste Inc., Carole McLeod, Charlotte; North State Bank, Larry Barbour, Raleigh; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., Steve Mitchell, Apex; Office of Raymond D. Coltrain,  Raymond D. Coltrain, Salisbury; Office of Robert M. Lewis, Robert Lewis, Salisbury; Office of Louis M. Pate Jr., The Hon. Louis M. Pate Jr., Mount Olive; Pappas Properties, Peter Pappas, Charlotte; PHT International Inc., Stephanie Broom, Charlotte; Prim Development Inc., Tommy Hester, Henderson; Regency Park Corp., Eric M. Salomon, Cary; Reins-Sturdivant, Wayne Myers, North Wilkesboro; Roxboro Area Chamber, Adrienne McLean, Roxboro; S.C. Hondros & Associates Inc., Sam Kleto, Charlotte; Scott & Jones Inc., Elwood Jones, Calypso; Snug Seat Inc., Kirk L. MacKenzie, Stallings; Sockwell and Associates, Susan Jernigan, Charlotte; Stearns Automotive Group, Dale Stearns, Burlington; Taylor Business Products, Pat Taylor, North Wilkesboro; Town of Elkin, Eddie Smith, Elkin; Transbotics Corp., Claude Imbleau, Charlotte; Tri-Arc Foods, Tommy Haddock, Raleigh; Tri-State Trading, Theodora J. Sexstone, Charlotte; United Way of North Carolina, Jim Morrison, Raleigh; Universal Manufacturing & Logistics Inc., Maureen Herrington, Grover; Willis Smith Co., Stewart Smith, New Bern; Wilson Medical Center, Christopher Durrer, Wilson; Withrow Asset Management, LLC, Chris Withrow, Charlotte and The Wooten Co., Amy Bergner, Raleigh.




Ward Named Magazine Account Rep
For more than 18 years, Carolyn Ward successfully has sold print advertising and was the sales director for two publishing companies. Now, Ward is the new account executive for North Carolina magazine. Ward, an independent contractor based out of her home in Mooresville, will serve clients and generate new business in the area west of the Triangle, including Charlotte, the Triad and the mountains.

“Joining North Carolina magazine was an easy decision because it serves a market that is growing, and one that is important to me,” Ward says. “The magazine’s readers are the business decision- makers who in large part are responsible for the future of the state. Working with the magazine and NCCBI gives me an opportunity, at least in some small way, to be involved in that growth and the future of the state in which my children and hopefully grandchildren will make their homes,” she says. “My husband, Robert, and I are native North Carolinians. I grew up in Charlotte and so have seen substantial growth first-hand.”

Ward replaces Steve Johnson, who passed away unexpectedly in November after suffering massive heart failure.

“I can’t think of a better person to work for North Carolina,” says Stephen Wissink, sales and marketing director of the magazine. “She brings a wealth of experience to the magazine, and is a solid professional with a proven track record. We are very confident that she will substantially contribute to the growth of our award-winning magazine.”

Ward began her sales career in 1985 as advertising director of Douglas Publications Inc., which publishes a host of trade publications for the medical, construction, real estate, environmental and robotics industries.

She held the same position for Group III Inc., a similar publishing group for five national publications. Most recently, she was the representative for the Americas for the British firm Wilmington Publishing Co. UK.

She is married to Robert Ward, an accountant for the U.S. Postal Service. They have two children, Thea Ward-Robichaux, a graduate of N.C. State University who owns Lift Solutions, a specialized engineering firm in Mooresville. Their younger daughter, Taeh Ward, graduated from Duke University and currently is enrolled in a Ph.D.program in clinical psychology at Tulsa University.

Carolyn Ward graduated from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte with degrees in biology and Spanish and later taught in Vietnam. Ward can be reached at 704-663-0317, or by email at cwardncmag@adelphia.net.