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The Voice of Business,
Industry & the Professions Since 1942
North Carolina's largest
business group proudly serves as the state chamber of commerce
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Today in North Carolina
Charlotte
Bobcats take the
Floor for the First Time
Pro
basketball returns to the Queen City this month when the NBA expansion
Charlotte Bobcats take the floor for seven home games. The team will
play its inaugural season in the Charlotte Coliseum just west of the
city off Billy Graham Parkway before moving into its sparkling, $265
million, 18,500-seat uptown arena next November.
The Bobcats’ home opener on Nov. 4 against the Washington Wizards is
sold out, but tickets are available when the Orlando Magic comes to town
two nights later and for the remaining five home games in November.
Charlotte is home for three games in a five-day period in one stretch,
hosting Golden State on the 13th, Utah on the 16th and the Cleveland
Cavaliers, featuring reigning Rookie of the Year Lebron James, on the
18th.
The defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons, coached by Larry Brown, make
the first of two Charlotte appearances on the 23rd, while rival Atlanta
comes calling four nights later. Each of November’s games tips off at
7 p.m.
Charlotte’s former NBA team, the New Orleans Hornets, visits just once
— on Dec. 14. Other highlights of the schedule include matchups
against Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 5, Tim
Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 8, and two against Shaquille
O’Neal and his new employer, the Miami Heat, on Feb. 11 and March 26.
Various single-game ticket pricing is available and can be purchased
several ways: in person at the Charlotte Coliseum box office, by
visiting www.BobcatsBasketball.com
or by phone at 704-BOBCATS. Discounted group tickets for 20 or more
people are also available by calling the Bobcats Group Sales Department
at 704-BOBCATS.
Concord
Philip
Morris Raises Production with $200 Million Investment
Philip Morris USA expects to have production really smoking at its
Cabarrus County plant by 2006 after a $200 million upgrade of the
equipment that forms and packages cigarettes. The company says it’s
replacing 18 lower-speed manufacturing modules with 12 high-speed
machines as well as installing a new automated system for moving
packaging materials from the warehouse to the manufacturing center of
the sprawling plant. Both moves will dramatically increase production,
officials said.
While the investment won’t create any new jobs, it does represent a
solid future for the company’s 2,600 existing workers in the area who
earn $917 a week on average. Protecting those jobs was important enough
to the state that it awarded Philip Morris a $1 million grant from the
One North Carolina Fund, plus $100,000 from the Incumbent Workforce
Program to help it improve the skills of current workers. Philip Morris
USA buys nearly half the tobacco grown in North Carolina and contributes
about $268 million annually to the state’s economy through wages and
taxes.
“We believe in North Carolina,” says Philip Morris USA president of
operations and technology John R. Nelson. “We believe in the people
here and we believe that our future together is bright.”
The Philip Morris announcement was one of a spate of announcements last
month of new and expanding industries. PCB Piezotronics, a New
York-based maker of sensors for the automotive and aerospace markets,
announced it will invest $5 million in Roanoke Rapids and create 250 new
jobs. The company will move into the 50,000-square-foot Halifax
Industrial Center shell building.
To attract PCB Piezotronics, the state offered a Job Development
Investment Grant worth $1.6 million over 10 years in the form of 65
percent rebates on state income taxes paid by workers in the new jobs.
Company officials said the grant was instrumental in their decision to
pick Roanoke Rapids for the expansion.
Meanwhile, Coeur Inc., a maker of injection-molded syringes and other
medical devices, announced it would expand its current facility in
Washington with a $2.5 million investment that will create 46 new jobs.
The company received $200,000 from the One North Carolina fund plus
local incentives. The Beaufort County EDC and its Committee of 100
borrowed $1.4 million to acquire a 40,000-square-foot facility which it
will lease to Coeur after making $330,000 in improvements to the
structure.
Charlotte
Three
Companies Named Best for Working Mothers
Three North Carolina companies that recognize the unique challenges of
working mothers are being singled out for their policies and programs
that help employees perform well at both jobs. Wachovia Corp. and Bank
of America, both headquartered in Charlotte, and Pitt County Memorial
Hospital in Greenville were named by Working Mother magazine as among
the nations 100 best companies for working mothers.
Wachovia ranked in the top10 for its best practices in assisting working
parents. The bank spent $5.1 million last year on childcare benefits,
including six on-site or near-site daycare centers, summer programs, and
a leave policy that allows for 16 weeks away with a job guaranteed. The
bank also negotiated a 10 percent employee discount at a nationwide
childcare chain.
Wachovia, the magazine says, is a mom magnet. The bank offers employees
flexible schedules, job-shares and compressed workweeks. In 2003, 19,000
of the company’s 94,000 employees telecommuted.
Bank of America offers its 142,000 employees its Child Care Plus
program, which reimburses a portion of the cost of childcare, with the
average participant receiving about $1,500 a year in tax-free income.
This year the bank boosts its parental leave policy by offering eight
paid weeks of time to both moms and dads to care for children.
Pitt County Memorial Hospital periodically opens its on-site child-care
center on weekend evenings so working parents can occasionally enjoy a
night out. The center, which cares for 180 children, operates on a
12-hour shift to accommodate 12-hour nursing shifts. Older children of
Pitt employees make use of ViQuest, a health and wellness center that
offers activities during school vacations. -- Laura Williams-Tracy
Triad
Chambers
Launch Web Site to Make Regionalism Real
Businesses soon will be able to compare their salary and benefits
information with others in the region via the web, thanks to a joint
initiative of the chambers of commerce in Greensboro, Winston-Salem and
High Point. The web-based salary and benefits survey is one of several
projects resulting from a meeting of the three chamber boards last year,
according to Greensboro Chamber President David Jameson. The goal of the
initiatives, he says, “is to strengthen the economy of the Triad.”
All 5,000 chamber members in the three cities can enter their salary and
benefits information by job title, business type and other categories.
The results will be posted on Nov. 30 and subscribers then will be able
to compare their compensation packages with other employers. The survey
data, Jameson says, will be of particular benefit to smaller companies
“which sometimes just don’t have the resources to get this kind of
information.”
An added value of the online data is its real-time aspect, notes
Winston-Salem Chamber President Gayle Anderson. “The information can
be updated as often as a company wants to do it,” she adds. She says
that many other wage and benefit surveys are out-of-date by the time
companies receive them. The survey results will be available to
subscribers online at www.surveynavigator.com/business.
A Dallas consulting firm will operate the web site. Subscription fees
will be used to finance other Triad-area initiatives, Jameson says.
The web site will be launched at a Nov. 30 State of the Triad meeting
which will be the first time members of the three chambers have come
together to address the Triad regional economy.
The goal of working together to promote regionalism rather than
individual cities has created interest around the country, Jameson ssays.
“Everybody has been in favor of regionalism but nobody’s implemented
it” to the degree the Triad is doing, he adds. “It’s giving us a
positive image across the country.”
High Point Chamber President Tom Dayvault says the joint promotions
emphasize “our strength as a region rather than as individual chambers
in providing more benefits to our thousands of member businesses.”
— Jerry Blackwelder
Dallas
Belk
Heir's Major Gift Lifts College's Nursing Program
The largest gift in Gaston College’s 40-year history is helping fund
construction of the David Belk Cannon Health Education Institute. The
proposed 45,000-square-foot facility will cost an estimated $7 million,
nearly $5 million of which will be funded by the 2000 higher education
bond referendum.
The Belk Foundation and the David Belk Cannon Foundation are joining to
honor the memory of the late David Belk Cannon, who died in 1998. He was
an officer and director of the Belk organization, the nation’s largest
privately held department store. His grandfather, Dr. John M. Belk, was
the brother and an early partner of William Henry Belk, founder of Belk
stores. Cannon’s distinguished career with the company included 38
years of service.
“The Belk Foundation is pleased to support Gaston College with this
gift,” says John M. Belk, chair of the Belk Foundation and chair of
Belk Inc. “The college held a special place in the heart of David Belk
Cannon, who was devoted to our company and his community. This is a
great way to remember and honor him.”
The Gastonia-based David Belk Cannon Foundation is headed by Eugene R.
“Gene” Matthews II, president, and his father, B. Frank Matthews II,
chair. “David was a modest, unassuming man who cared deeply about the
Gastonia community and its people,” says Gene Matthews. “He believed
that education was the key to success and his connection to Gaston
College goes back to 1964 when the college first started. This gift is a
fitting tribute to David.”
Prior to his death, Cannon established the David Belk Cannon Family
Scholarship at Gaston College in memory of his wife, Rebecca, and their
children, David Belk Cannon Jr. and Rebecca Cannon, all of whom died in
a tragic fire.
“Their support of this new building will not only meet current
instructional needs but will allow room for expansion in health
sciences,” says Dr. Patricia Skinner, Gaston College president.
“This is particularity important for our nursing program as the demand
for nurses continues to increase.”
Rockingham County
Startup
Picks Rural Airport to Build Two-Seater Plane
Opus Aircraft LLC plans to make the Rockingham County/Shiloh Airport the
only place in the world where it manufacturers its two-seater light
sport plane, the ARV Super 2. The startup company says it will hire 10
to 20 employees when it begins production next year and more if demand
for the aircraft grows.
The facility, which will be located in the former main hangar at Shiloh
Airport, will able to build 20 to 50 planes a year. The company plans to
open its main offices in the airport’s current terminal building once
the new terminal under construction is complete.
The company hopes to sell the planes, designed for flight training and
recreational flying, in Europe, Canada and the United States. Opus is
not yet certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Two Greensboro businessmen, Tony Dawson and Frank Auman, are principal
owners of Opus. Both have extensive backgrounds in aviation. They
acquired the assets of the company from an owner in Ohio earlier this
year.
“We chose Rockingham for a number of reasons,” says Dawson. “They
include readily available buildings, lower operating costs, lower labor
costs, and room for expansion. Plus, this location allows us to operate
peacefully with no conflict with airliners and air traffic control.”
Sir Richard Noble developed the ARV Super 2 in England in the mid 1980s
after discovering how expensive it was to own other planes.
The aircraft won the Prince of Wales Award for industrial innovation and
production and has been popular in Europe.
RTP
MCNC
Realigns to Help Startups Survive the 'Valley of Death'
Promising North Carolina high tech startups often fail when federal
funding stops before they get to the later prototyping stage more
interesting to venture capitalists. This early stage funding gap is
called the “valley of death,” and it’s a problem that MCNC-RDI
(once known at the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina) will
sharpen its focus, says President and CEO Dave Rizzo.
To do that, MCNC-RDI is selling three of its divisions to longtime
partner RTI-International later this year. RTI will acquire MCNC’s
Signal Electronics, Materials and Electronic Technologies, and Advanced
Network Research Divisions in a cash deal by the end of the year.
Its Grid Computing and Ventures business units are not included in the
acquisition. Rizzo says the 60 MCNC scientists joining RTI will be
better served as part of the larger group. RTI International, created as
the Research Triangle Institute in 1958 to develop the intellectual
capital of the state, employs 2,500 people in 10 U.S. and five
international offices.
It has 2,000 employees in its Research Triangle Park facility, $485
million in annual revenue and active projects in 30 countries. The
realignment following the acquisition, Rizzo says, will help the smaller
MCNC accomplish its new mission: supporting research likely to create
new companies and jobs in the state.
MCNC made a bundle when it sold its interest in Triangle-based Cronos a
few years back. It created two venture funds with $25 million of the
proceeds and already has invested in five startup companies.
Now it has started a grant program of up to $500,000 annually to give
researchers close to a prototype but short on money something more than
lip service to get them through that valley of death. “We expect to do
five to10 investments a year beginning after the acquisition deal closes
in January,” Rizzo says. “We’ll solicit the state’s colleges and
universities for proposals twice a year, in the spring and the fall.”
Grant awards of $50,000 to $100,000 will go to technologies meeting
certain criteria. “The intent is to bridge technologies close to a
prototype but that lost federal funding.
“We’ll look at how far along they are and whether or not it’s a
technology for something that can be made in North Carolina. Investing
in one that’s going to be made in Texas is not the idea. We’ll also
look at whether we think we can find an entrepreneur who can be
successful commercializing it. We’ll do a market assessment to see if
there are barriers to entry. We hope that we can get it far enough along
to interest venture capitalists,” Rizzo says.
A big plus for the venture capitalists is that MCNC plans to give the
money to the researchers rather than take an equity position. Finally,
Rizzo notes, “Ultimately, we’d like the funds to grow so we can do
more.” — Allan
Maurer
Statewide
Rural
Towns Get Big Grants to Rebuild Their Economies
The Town of Spruce Pine plans to spruce up the vacant Lexington
Furniture Building and put it back to work as a warehouse and production
facility creating 500 jobs over three years. It’s getting the job done
with the help of a $300,000 grant from the N.C. Rural Economic
Development Center.
The grant is one of several totaling $14.6 million the center recently
announced to create jobs and boost the economies of hard hit rural and
poorer communities. The grants will help 17 towns restore, renovate and
reuse vacant textile mills, manufacturing facilities and buildings.
Part of the $3 million in building reuse and renovation grants will help
restore the 400,000-square-foot Springs Building in Biscoe, the
Pillowtex building in Eden, and the Cone Mills Florence plant. They
include predevelopment grants for architectural and engineering studies
for the reuse of buildings in Franklinton, Roanoke Rapids, Star, Ayden,
and Rowland.
The Rural Center hopes to grow 75 new and expanding businesses in the
state, putting 4,500 North Carolinians to work through this round of
grants, says President Billy Ray Hall. The grants mark the first round
of investments that are part of a $20 million state-funded N.C. Economic
Infrastructure Fund passed by the General Assembly in July.
Lawmakers crafted the economic infrastructure fund to generate 1,500 new
jobs and the start-up or expansion of 130 businesses by the time the
funds are fully spent.
The grants also include:
 Water and sewer facility grants of $14 million to 25 counties to
create jobs through water and wastewater improvement projects.
Business and technology telecenter grants of $1 million to create
high-tech hubs that attract jobs and boost entrepreneurship in rural and
distressed urban areas. Rutherford and Rockingham counties both received
the maximum $400,000 grants. The projects must create at least 80 jobs
in the initial 18 months.
Economic innovation grants of $2 million for research and development
projects with the potential to stimulate job growth. — Allan Maurer
Charlotte
State
Puts Pedal to the Metal in Pursuit of NASCAR Teams
North Carolina is revving up the engines of its motorsports industry
with aggressive moves to stay out in front of the pack. The bulk of
NASCAR’s Nextel Cup and Busch racing teams call North Carolina home,
but the state should take aggressive measures to protect its $5 billion
annual motorsports industry, says a report released by the N.C.
Motorsports Task Force. The industry generates 24,400 jobs directly or
indirectly in the state.
“We are a leader in the motorsports industry and plan to keep our top
ranking,” says Gov. Mike Easley, who released the report last month.
It recommends that the state recruit even more racing teams. North
Carolina has 82 percent of the Nextel cup teams, 72 percent of the Busch
teams and 55 percent of Craftsman Truck teams. Easley says the state
Department of Commerce is “aggressively recruiting motorsports and
automotive companies” and has assembled an enterprise team to focus on
expanding the industry.
The report also recommends that the state invest resources in
motorsports technology within the UNC System. In August, Easley signed
legislation to provide $4 million in funding for the Motorsports Testing
and Research Complex. He also signed a bill allowing a stock car racing
theme on special license plates. Proceeds from sales of the plates go to
the Motorsports Foundation, a nonprofit that funds research, tourism and
economic development projects in the industry.
— Allan Maurer
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