Cover Story

Nasdaq Meets NASCAR
Hard-charging, high-octane speakers dominate the agenda
at the yearly gathering of the state's business and political elite

By Suzanne Fischer

North Carolina's top business organization will host its first major gathering of the new millennium when the NCCBI 58th Annual Meeting convenes at the Raleigh Convention and Conference Center on March 15. Heralded by no less than Gov. Jim Hunt as the most important business meeting of the year and regularly attended by 1,000 or so business executives and policy makers, the event will feature guest speakers Alfred R. Berkeley III, president of the Nasdaq Stock Market, and Howard A. “Humpy” Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway in Cabarrus County.

“Chairman Phil Phillips has done an exceptional job in lining up two outstanding speakers,” said NCCBI President Phil Kirk. “`From Nasdaq to NASCAR' is the theme for the day.”

In keeping with its time-honored tradition, NCCBI will bestow its highest awards on two people who have made lasting, valuable contributions to the state. The Citation for Distinguished Public Service will be awarded this year to Gov. Hunt, who is in the final year of an unprecedented fourth term in office. The award will be presented by James F. Goodmon, the chief executive of Capitol Broadcasting Co.

The Citation for Distinguished Citizenship will be presented to Bank of America Chairman Hugh L. McColl Jr., widely respected as a banking visionary but lesser known as one of the state's leading philanthropists and community stalwarts. William Friday, president emeritus of the UNC System, will present the award.

“In honoring Gov. Hunt and Hugh McColl, we are paying tribute to North Carolina's two most influential citizens,” Kirk said.

The mood of the meeting will be celebratory, as NCCBI chalked up many victories in the General Assembly's most recent session. The organization exerted strong influence on a number of successful measures, including increased support for community colleges — a top priority of outgoing Chairman Phil Phillips — Y2K business liability limits, an end to social promotion in public schools, and expansion of economic development initiatives.

All NCCBI members have been mailed registration materials for the Annual Meeting. The meeting also is open to the public.

The day begins early for NCCBI board members, who will convene at 10 a.m. for their only full-group meeting of the year. John Davis of NC FREE plans to address the board, which will also hear reports from NCCBI staff members and discuss the organization's goals for the coming year.

The Young Executives Forum will gather from 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. Ran Coble, the executive director of the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research, will discuss political trends in the state and potential impacts of the upcoming 2000 elections. Also addressing the group will be Smedes York of York Properties Inc., a former NCCBI chairman and former mayor of Raleigh. York will talk about the challenges and opportunities involved in balancing a professional life with community and personal responsibilities.

Lunch begins at noon with an invocation by Dr. Tom Haggai, CEO of IGA Foods and an internationally known motivational speaker. Following that will be a welcome by current Chairman Phil Phillips, chairman and CEO of GE Capital First Factors of High Point.

Early in his term as chairman, Phillips declared that one of his top priorities was to help focus attention on the state's community college system. “The community colleges don't seem to have as high a profile as the primary grades,” he said in an interview with North Carolina magazine last year. “I think the state might need to spend more time and resources with the community colleges.”

NCCBI heeded its chairman's words and worked tirelessly to persuade the General Assembly to increase funding for the community college system. The legislature agreed to allocate $113.7 million over the next three years and to provide the community colleges with about $57 million in this year's state budget.

“Phil has invested a considerable amount of time and energy in leading NCCBI during the past year,” Kirk says. “He has constantly pushed us to do more and to do our jobs effectively and efficiently.”

Jim Goodmon will then present NCCBI's 2000 Citation for Distinguished Public Service to Gov. James B. Hunt, who has served longer and accomplished more than any before him.

“History will remember him as one of the most influential governors of our time, one whose impact will carry forward long into the new millennium,” former Gov. Robert W. Scott says in the citation that will be presented to Hunt.

Mac Everett, president of First Union-Mid-Atlantic Region and NCCBI's first vice chairman, will introduce keynote speaker Berkeley, who will speak on new and developing markets.

Gordon Myers, second vice chair, will give a brief report on the organization's membership campaign.

The afternoon's executive seminars pick up on some of NCCBI's priorities and focus on additional impact the business community can make in effecting positive change.

“Just as NCCBI highlighted public schools at our first-ever afternoon seminars 12 years ago, we now shine the spotlight on rural economic development and growth issues,” Kirk said. “We've got some really excellent speakers.”

The first seminar, held from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m., is entitled “Rural Economic Development: Spreading Prosperity to the East and West.” Moderated by Lew Myers, chairman of NCCBI's Economic Development Committee, the seminar will feature a panel discussion with Gordon Myers, representing the Rural Prosperity Task Force; Billy Ray Hall, executive director of the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center; Andrea Harris, executive director of the N.C. Institute of Minority Economic Development; and Dave Thomas, chairman of REAL Enterprises.

The second seminar, “Smart Growth: Smoothing North Carolina's Entry into the 21st Century,” begins at 4:00 and ends at 5:15 p.m. A panel discussion will be moderated by Ed Scott, chairman of NCCBI's Environmental Concerns Committee. Panel members are Sen. Howard Lee (D-Orange); Janet D'Ignazio, chief planning and environmental officer for the N.C. Department of Transportation; Ellis Hankins, executive director of the League of Municipalities; and Chip Cherry, executive director of the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce.

Following the executive seminars will be the always-popular NCCBI Reception, from 5:15 to 6:15, on the floor of the Information Exchange, a table-top trade show with 40 to 45 exhibitors. The reception offers time to unwind, catch up with old friends, network with fellow business people in a casual environment, and sip some drinks and snack on hors d'oeuvres.

The Information Exchange will be open from 11:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., giving meeting attendees a chance to browse the exhibits between events and during the reception and to talk with NCCBI member companies displaying their goods and services. As in previous years, the variety of exhibitors covers a wide range of interests.

This year, there's even more reason to mill about the Information Exchange: Lowe's Motor Speedway has promised to send a pacesetter car for display on the tradeshow floor, as well as car and driver #31, Mike Skinner, who is sponsored by Lowe's Companies. He drives for the Rick Childress team and finished in the Top 10 in the Winston Cup Series last year.

Dinner begins at 6:30, with an invocation by Laura Bingham, president of Peace College. After a brief welcome by Phillips, NCCBI will present its 2000 Citation for Distinguished Citizenship to McColl, whom William A. Coley, president of Duke Power, has said “represents the best that corporate America has to offer in the way of citizenship . . . his leadership in community development and philanthropic efforts equals his commitment to his company.”

Next, keynote speaker Humpy Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway, will take the floor. Wheeler, who has gained notoriety for his innovative promoting style, will talk about the big business NASCAR has become, its impact on the state's economy, and the motorsport's future as it becomes a global phenomenon. (See accompanying story at right.)

After Wheeler's address, Phillips will introduce incoming chairman Malcom “Mac” Everett III. “We are looking forward to working with Mac,” Kirk says. “He is a high-energy, enthusiastic leader, and we will work hard to keep up with him.”

Tickets are available for the same price as last year: $50 for the luncheon and $80 for the reception and dinner. They may also be ordered by calling NCCBI at 919-836-1400.

You also may order Annual Meeting tickets electronically by going to our web site, nccbi.org, and clicking on “order tickets.”

Dinner Speaker: Howard A. "Humpy" Wheeler

When Howard “Humpy” Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway, addresses the dinner crowd at the NCCBI Annual Meeting, his main agenda will be to drive home the point that NASCAR is big business for North Carolina.

How big? According to the most recent figures from the N.C. Department of Commerce, the total economic impact of motor sports teams operating in the state in 1996 was $392 million, and employment hovered around 4,300. In 1998, just five races created an economic impact of over $30 million, according to figures provided by the Charlotte Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“Motorsports has made a huge impact on the state, and it's becoming a global phenomenon,” Wheeler said. “But it can be hard to make people aware of that because there's a vast underground, a huge behind-the-scenes workforce. It's not like banking, where you see impressive office towers, or manufacturing, where you can tour a 400,000-square-foot plant. But there's a tremendous number of (racing related) businesses with 20 to 100 people working in them.”

Wheeler likened the cottage industry that's grown around motorsports to the movie industry in Hollywood, where scores of companies — from caterers to costumers — support film-making. Apart from the obvious industries like engine builders, mechanics and car manufacturers, motorsports has also spawned travel agencies designed just for racing fans, uniform and apparel manufacturers, specialized advertising agencies and public relations firms, huge concession and souvenir businesses, and production companies that design and stage pre-race entertainment shows.

“We like to provide a couple of weeks entertainment in one day,” Wheeler said with a chuckle. “You want to give people their money's worth, and more.”

In making good on that promise, Wheeler, who joined the speedway in 1975, has become famous for his innovative promoting style. Extravagant productions before races at the speedway have included appearances by celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, as well as sky divers, fighter planes, fireworks and car stunts. Hugh Morton, owner of Grandfather Mountain, has called Wheeler “the best promoter in North Carolina, hands down.”

But Wheeler's talents encompass far more than just showmanship. Born in Belmont, N.C., Wheeler attended the University of South Carolina on a football scholarship and graduated in 1961 with a degree in journalism. He was also a fine amateur boxer and was the Carolinas Golden Gloves light heavyweight champion. Before joining Lowe's Motor Speedway (formerly Charlotte Motor Speedway), he worked as a sports writer, television director, real estate manager, and track manager at several dirt tracks. He also served as director of racing at Firestone Rubber and Tire Co. and information director for the City of Charlotte, working under then-mayor John Belk.

Under his leadership, the speedway's seating capacity has grown from 60,000 to 167,000, installation of a $1.7 million lighting system in 1992 allowed the facility to host night racing, and the speedway became the first of its kind to offer lavish VIP suites and on-track condominiums.

And, in 1995, Wheeler was part of another motorsports first as he and speedway owner Bruton Smith went public with Speedway Motorsports Inc. (NYSE: TRK), of which Wheeler is the president, COO and a director. The first publicly-traded motorsports company on the New York Stock Exchange, Speedway Motorsports operates facilities in Atlanta, Bristol (Tenn.), Charlotte, Las Vegas, Fort Worth and Sears Point, Calif.

“I'd like to talk about that some, too . . . about what it was like to go to Wall Street,” Wheeler explained. “I'll talk about the good and bad in that.”

One of the surprises in going public was that 19 percent of the stock at the IPO went to foreign investors.

“Formula One is popular in Europe, but NASCAR isn't yet. These were just people who could spot a good trend, and make a good business decision,” Wheeler said. “They saw a nice deal and jumped on it. And now our business is reaching worldwide . . . how about that?”

Here at home, Wheeler sees motorsports as one answer to shrinking employment in some of the state's traditional industries like textiles and tobacco.

“As things like textiles and tobacco are slowing down, racing and all its associated components are growing very quickly,” Wheeler said. “One of the reasons that the state's economy is so vibrant today is that we have new types of industrial development here, and motorsports is one of them.”

Luncheon Speaker: Alfred A. Berkeley

Although he's spent the past year presiding over the best growth period any major American stock index has had in history, Nasdaq President Alfred R. Berkeley III is looking ahead at future markets, a theme that will carry through his luncheon presentation at the NCCBI Annual Meeting this month.

“I can't stress strongly enough the importance of markets to the world economy,” Berkeley said. “And there are so many new places for markets.”

There are the physical places, like the Nasdaq's expansion into Europe and Japan, and the more ephemeral but no less fruitful place like cyberspace. The advent of individual investors trading on the Internet has caused what Berkeley calls “a vast democratization of participation in equity markets. Which is a good thing, absolutely.”

No surprise, then, that since Berkeley joined Nasdaq as president in 1996, the number of trades per year has jumped from 500 million to 2 billion.

“What I see in the world of markets is so interesting,” Berkeley said. “Look at E-bay and Priceline.com. Those are markets . . . very different of course from Nasdaq . . . but the basic rules of how human beings trade with one another apply to all markets. So people don't need to reinvent the wheel every time. Those new markets are doing great.”

Berkeley embraced technology early on. In the 1970s, while he was at Alex. Brown and Sons, a leading investment banking firm located in Baltimore, he was one of the first securities analysts in the country to recognize the importance of the emerging software industry. The market, thus far, hasn't proved him wrong. According to the New York Times, the Nasdaq index was up 84.3 percent from yearend 1998 — largely on the strength of technology stocks that have come to dominate the Nasdaq market. Three stocks in the index gained more than 1,000 percent.

“We don't concentrate in high tech; we concentrate on growth and innovation,” he explained. “`Growth and innovation' is our mantra. It just happens that right now, high tech is where the action is.”

Research drives innovation, and another topic Berkeley will address at the Annual Meeting is the sometimes less than enthusiastic support garnered by basic academic and governmental research.

“I want to talk about the links between the existence we're living now and the academic and governmental research from 50 years ago or more,” he said. “The obvious, perfect example is the Internet. What started as being an Army project has exploded into what it is today.

“I'd like to challenge people to look at `basic' research in a new way and entrepreneurs to convert this research into commercial products.”

He says North Carolina, with Research Triangle Park and other urban centers like Charlotte and the Triad, has done a good job of this process so far. Seventy-seven North Carolina companies are listed on the Nasdaq index, including more than two dozen NCCBI members.

“The state is getting more and more technologically oriented. It's become the key economic driver. When I lived there as a boy, it was the people who owned lots of pine trees or farmland that were wealthy,” he said.

Berkeley moved to Charlotte in 1950 and grew up there until he left the state to attend boarding school. His mother lived there until just a few months ago. He is a graduate of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (MBA, 1968) and the University of Virginia (BA, 1966), and he served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force from 1968 to 1972. Although he has no family ties left to the state, he still considers himself a native North Carolinian.

“I've got a lot of fond memories. The mountains and coast are such magic places.” —Suzanne Fischer