Chairman Gordon Myers has begun placing his imprint on the association by announcing his appointments to the association's Executive Committee. In an announcement last month, Myers said he was reappointing four veterans and naming three new members to the Executive Committee, which sets policy for the NCCBI under delegated authority from the full board of directors.

Incumbents asked to continue serving on the Executive Committee were Julianne Still Thrift of Winston-Salem, the president of Salem College; Kelly S. King of Winston-Salem, the president of BB&T Corp.; William Cavanaugh III of Raleigh, the president, CEO and chairman of Progress Energy; and Paul M. Wiles of Winston-Salem, the president and CEO of Novant Health. They all will serve four-year terms.

Myers' new appointments to the Executive Committee are R.V. Owens of Nags Head, the owner of RV's Restaurant, who will serve a four-year term; Darleen M. Johns of Raleigh, the president and CEO of Alphanumeric Systems, who will serve a two-year term; and David Huskins of Linville Falls, the president and CEO of Ridgetop Associates, who will serve a one-year term.

Meanwhile, Bruce Biggs, the owner of Biggs Pontiac Inc. in Elizabeth City, was named by Myers to fill a one-year unexpired term on the NCCBI board. Biggs succeeds J. Wilson Jones of J.W. Jones Lumber Co. in Elizabeth City, who resigned.

Media Relations Seminar
NCCBI will sponsor a half-day seminar covering corporate publicity, public relations, advertising and crisis management on May 17 at the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce building. The session will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and will feature one-hour lectures on each subject by Bill F. Hensley of Charlotte and Leo Derrick of Asheboro.

“There's a tremendous need for a session like this,” said NCCBI President Phil Kirk. “Getting good publicity, carrying out an effective public relations program, knowing where to advertise and how much to spend, and handling adverse publicity is always a challenge. This program will touch those bases in-depth.”

The training session is open to NCCBI members and guests. The cost is $265 for members and $280 for non-members.

Hensley is a veteran publicity and public relations executive who has conducted the popular media relations seminars for NCCBI for the past six years. Derrick is a retired television advertising sales director who has also had experience in the print media.

“Times have changed drastically in the past few years,” Hensley said, “and communications rules have changed, too. Those issues will be addressed along with new methods and techniques to reach the public. Workable solutions in the four topics will be covered thoroughly.”

Annual Meeting Wrapup
The nearly 900 people who ignored the cold and rain to attend NCCBI's 59th Annual Meeting on March 21 at the Raleigh Convention and Conference Center listened to words of optimism from Gov. Mike Easley and words of caution from legendary hedge fund investor Julian Robertson.

In his luncheon address, Easley challenged business leaders attending the event to “resist the temptation to hunker down and wait for better times” before pressing ahead with new educational improvements.

“We're in tough economic times in North Carolina and the nation,” the governor said. “But it's not the budget that bothers me so much. It's the attitude that bothers me. We must maintain that can-do attitude. Any state can make progress in good times. Only the great states can make progress in tough times.”

Easley said there is much at risk. “What took decades to build can be lost overnight if we stop trying” to raise academic achievement and accountability in the K-12 school system, he said. “We cannot let an economic shortfall become an educational shortfall.”

Robertson, a Salisbury native, mixed a few comforting words with some sobering ones during his dinner address. “The United States is in the best shape economically of any country in the world,” he said. “We are sounder fiscally than any other country and our economy, even though slowing, is the strongest among the major powers of the world.”

He added, however, that “the rest of the world is fading fast,” and that Japan, the world's second greatest economic power, has been in a downward spiral for more than a decade and shows no signs of a reversal — a collapse that burdens the U.S.

“Not to throw cold water on our dinner tonight, but there is probably more chance of a serious 1930s-style recession or depression today than at any time in the last 50 years. How many of you manufacturers, in the face of falling demand, are willing to expand your productive capacity just because the Fed reduces interest rates by 50 or 75 basis points?

“In my opinion, this is a time for conservatism by both individuals and corporations,” he added.

In addition to the luncheon and dinner, the Annual Meeting included an Executive Committee meeting, two afternoon seminars, the popular Information Exchange and meetings for the Small Business Advisory Board and the Young Executives Forum.

Wyche Named Vice President
Rosemary Wyche (left) who has been instrumental in the association's recent growth in membership, has been promoted from director to vice president of development within NCCBI.

According to NCCBI President Phil Kirk, who made the announcement, the promotion reflects the association's greater commitment to membership services.

Wyche, a resident of Raleigh and Halifax County, came to NCCBI in October 1998 from the N.C. Department of Commerce, where she was responsible for planning and raising funds for the governor's economic development missions to Israel, Mexico, Great Britain, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, China and Hong Kong.

She currently is a member of a number of culture-related boards, including the board of trustees of the N.C. Museum of Art and the Governor's Business Council for the Arts and Humanities.

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