Regional Business Reports

Wilkes County
While MerleFast Picks, Community College Grins
For 51 weeks a year, Wilkes County sits quietly nestled in the North Carolina foothills, perhaps because folks there need the rest after what occurs in late April. It’s MerleFest, the annual gathering of countless hundreds of musicians who converge, at the legendary Doc Watson’s request, to pay tribute to his late son Merle. They pick, they grin, they sing and occasionally even dance a little in front of more than 30,000 fans. This year, they’ll do it all on April 24-27 on the grounds of Wilkes County Community College.

Besides music lovers, MerleFest most greatly benefits the college. Last year’s event established records as more than 78,000 people — fans, artists, volunteers and the like — participated. Gross revenues a year ago exceeded $2.4 million, and funds generated enabled the college to contribute nearly $700,000 toward scholarships, salaries, program enhancements, and capital improvements. Over 15 years, MerleFest has contributed more than $3.8 million to the college, and last year alone it had an estimated $8 million direct impact on the Wilkes County economy.

Another banner MerleFest is expected this month. Advance ticket sales have been brisk, thanks largely to headliners such as Bruce Hornsby, Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The wide range of those and other performers guarantees a generation- and genre-crossing mix of traditional and contemporary roots music.

A variety of ticket packages are offered, including four-day passes at a reduced price. Single-day general admission tickets cost $40 for Thursday’s opening day, $40 for Friday, $45 for Saturday and $35 for Sunday. For more information, call 800-343-7857 or visit www.merlefest.org.   — Kevin Brafford




Charlotte
Wachovia Gets Serious About the Securities Business
Wachovia Corp. will be a part of the nation’s third-largest brokerage firm with its recent agreement with Newark, N.J.-based Prudential Financial. The deal, which is scheduled to close by July 1, will result in about $537 billion in client assets and an estimated 12,500 brokers. Wachovia’s plan is to offer a wide variety of bank products services, including home mortgages, auto loans and insurance, through Prudential’s vast network of 4,377 brokers, who work in 258 offices from coast to coast. The bank hopes to save $220 million by eventually eliminating 1,750 jobs and closing 131 branches.

The transaction is especially newsworthy in that no money is changing hands. Wachovia and Prudential will create a single company, called Wachovia Securities, that will share profits from the sale of stocks, mutual funds and bonds. Wachovia will maintain 62 percent of this company, while Prudential will hold the remaining 38 percent. Because Wachovia is not paying any cash or stock, the deal is expected to provide an immediate boost to the bank’s profit. Excluding one-time related expenses approaching $420 million, the bank figures to increase Wachovia’s earnings per share by three cents in 2004 and nine cents the following year.

“The opportunity to essentially double in size in this business at little or no cost was compelling, to say the least,” says Wachovia CEO Ken Thompson. “This is an aggressive move at a time when the (brokerage) industry is suffering.”

While executives at the two banks sold the deal as a win-win partnership, Wachovia clearly has top billing. The company’s headquarters will be in Richmond, Va., which is where Wachovia’s brokerage arm already is located, rather than Prudential’s hometown of Newark. Further, the new company’s immense size — it will rank third behind Merrill Lynch and Citigroup in terms of assets — should benefit personnel, Thompson believes. “We think we can retain the brokers that we have now and pick up some new ones,” he says. -- Kevin Brafford


Charlotte
Car Wash King Feted as Water's Best Friend
What began as a cost-containment strategy for his company 30 years ago has evolved into a passionate water-conservation crusade for Chuck Howard of Charlotte. Although no government mandates require recycling in the car-wash industry, Howard’s company, Autobell Inc., collects, filters, and treats 100 percent of the water that’s used to clean each car, then recycles most of it to get other customers’ vehicles sparkling clean. For a company that uses approximately 160 million gallons a year of city water, a recycling rate of 80 percent drastically reduces the environmental impact of its operations.

For his water conservation efforts — all voluntary — the N.C. Wildlife Federation recently recognized Howard as its Business Conservationist of the Year, making him the first-ever businessman to earn recognition in the federation’s annual Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards program. Howard notes that each time we use water for purposes other than drinking, cooking or bathing — including washing our cars — we deplete our reservoirs of potable water. And don’t even get him started on the problems some people compound when they clean their cars or change their oil in their driveways. — Suzanne M. Wood



Raleigh
Cameron Villege Converting to Old-Fashioned Downtown
Cameron Village, which was built in 1949 in a location that at the time was considered a Raleigh suburb, will soon be transformed into what’s being termed “a pedestrian-friendly downtown.” Beginning in late summer or early fall and continuing for the next three years, most of the retail space in the Southeast’s oldest shopping center will be updated with facades designed to give each building its own character representing a streetscape, according to Branch Properties, the Atlanta-based shopping center owner that bought the mall in late 2001.

A town square then will be built in the middle of Cameron Street, turning most of the four-lane artery running through the middle of the shopping center into an outdoor plaza. Eventually, a planned third phase calls for the possible construction of a boutique hotel and some apartments and condominiums near the existing Eckerd drugstore. Branch Properties says it plans to spend as much as $16 million to make the initial changes to the 54-year-old shopping center. “We’re not trying to make Cameron Village into something it’s not,” says Smedes York, president of York Properties, which manages the center. “We’re trying to refine it and make it better.”

York’s father, Willie York, developed Cameron Village at Oberlin Road and Clark Avenue. The York family sold the shopping center in 1964 but has retained management and leasing responsibilities. The renovation is expected to help Cameron Village continue to attract a variety of top retailers. The most recent coup is Talbots, which will open one of its first men’s stores in the center this fall. It will do so sans the familiar blue signs and white bubble awnings that went up during the last make-over more than a decade ago but are about to come down. The center will get new signs and additional street lighting and trees, many of which will go where concrete poles are now holding up the bubble awnings.

During the initial phase of the project, a second phase will begin to add a town square on Cameron Street between Daniels Street and Woodburn Road. Approximately 10,000 square feet of restaurant space will be added at each end of the square. Smedes York says this latest renovation will be the fourth for Cameron Village. In the late ’80s and ’90s, the shopping center moved from a heavy reliance on department stores to being more of a boutique shop and specialty store center. -- Kevin Brafford


Winston-Salem
Banking Industry Honors Medlin's Life of Achievements
John Medlin, chair emeritus of Wachovia Corp., has been honored with American Banker magazine’s 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award. Medlin, who retired in 1993 after 34 years of service with the bank, was recognized for his contributions to the industry. He was non-executive chairman of the board from 1994 to 1998 and still maintains an office in Wachovia’s former headquarters in Winston-Salem. American Banker praised Medlin for building “a sterling reputation by focusing on credit quality and never losing sight of the simple principles that underpin a first-rate bank.”

Medlin, a native of Benson and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, joined Wachovia as a management trainee in 1959 after a tour of duty with the Navy. He became president and chief executive of the bank in 1973. Medlin was selected as the best bank chief executive officer in the nation in 1993 by Financial World magazine, which earlier had named him the top bank chief executive officer in the South for the decade of the 1980s.  He was inducted into the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame in 1995 and received NCCBI’s Citation for Distinguished Citizenship award in 1998.

Medlin explained his basic philosophy in an interview with American Banker. “You hire the right kind of people, and you give them the right kinds of expectations. You have the means to determine whether they are doing what they are supposed to be doing, and you take actions to deal with those who are not doing it properly.” He admitted that the strategy gets tested by today’s mega banks, which Wachovia became a part of two years ago with the First Union merger. “It’s more difficult on a larger scale to know what’s going on and stamp out unsound things when you find them,” he says. “But the principles still work; that kind of management still works.” -- Jim Buice


Davidson County
Racing Legend Cultivates Plans for Vineyard, Winery
NASCAR car owner Richard Childress is part of a new team that is planning a winery, vineyard and possibly a hotel in Davidson County. Childress and Greg Johns, a close friend and business partner from the Greensboro area, intend to develop 70 acres at the intersection of U.S. 52 and U.S. 64 near Lexington. “It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do,” says Childress, who is president of Richard Childress Racing Enterprises in Welcome. “Naturally, I want it to be profitable. But I think this is something the whole community can enjoy.”

The project, estimated to cost between $6 million and $8 million, includes a 25,000-square-foot winery, a 25-acre vineyard, a hotel, restaurant and gift shop. Childress’ racing facilities are only about 10 minutes away. Childress has been a race car owner since retiring as a driver in 1981. The legendary Dale Earnhardt, a little-known rookie at the time, finished that season in his car and then drove for Childress until his tragic death as a result of a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Robby Gordon, Jeff Green and Kevin Harvick now drive for Childress’ Winston Cup team.

Childress says he has been going to California vineyards as a tourist for the past 10 years. Although northern Davidson County may not become the next Napa Valley, it is gaining a reputation as a grape-growing region — Childress’ winery will anchor the southern end of the Yadkin Valley area. All told, North Carolina now has 25 wineries and 224 vineyards, according to the N.C. Grape Council, and ranks 12th nationally in wine production and 15th in grape production and acreage. Construction on Childress’ winery is scheduled to begin this year and is projected to open in the spring of 2004. -- Jim Buice




Greensboro
Chamber Launches HubPlus to Leverage FedEx Spinoffs
The Greensboro Area Chamber of Commerce, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the FedEx cargo hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport in 2007, is moving full-speed ahead with its HubPlus program. The chamber recently hired Leslie Hamrick as vice president of HubPlus, an organization established to enhance the economic potential created by the hub. Hamrick previously served as head of the Tracy, Calif., chamber. Hamrick will work toward five primary goals for the five-year, $500,000 program that were established following a year of planning among chamber officials and business and community leaders: create new opportunities for local businesses; facilitate land use, infrastructure and transportation planning; promote regionalism; boost project facilitation; and further workforce preparedness and education.

“The chamber feels so passionately about the plan’s strategic development process and its potential to provide benefit to the community that we’ve committed $100,000 per year toward its execution,” says David Jameson, chamber president. “But I think it’s important to note that this is a collaborative effort, not just a chamber effort.” Eventually, the broader goals will be broken down into specific areas of emphasis, and Jameson adds the chamber can “utilize experiences from the FedEx Express Alliance Hub at Dallas/Fort Worth to identify and evaluate what Greensboro can do to be ahead of the curve.”

Gary Grant, vice president of quality assurance for RF Micro Devices and chairman of the HubPlus steering committee, says the program has “generated a lot of momentum within the community” and resulted in an opportunity to “foster an environment in which business can thrive.” Graham Smith, vice president of properties and facilities for FedEx, calls the HubPlus program “a unique initiative” for the company and the community. “FedEx prides itself on being a corporate neighbor of choice, and it’s gratifying to have the support of community leaders to make the most of the opportunity,” he says.  — Jim Buice


Fayetteville
Cell Phone Tower Merges Technology With Aestetics
In most cities, cellular towers are eyesores. In Fayetteville, one is drawing rave reviews as an innovative work of art. Called “Sprint Voyager,” the 1,000-pound, 35-foot device sits 128 feet high and is touted as the largest freestanding kinetic sculpture in the United States. It all began about a year ago when Sprint PCS applied for a permit to build a cellular tower downtown. At the same time, Tom Grubb, director of the Fayetteville Museum of Art, was working with the city to build an amphitheater and sculpture for the upcoming Festival of Flight. City leaders worried that the tower would detract from the look of the theater, located just down the block from the proposed tower location.

So Grubb devised a plan that city leaders laud as representing the perfect merger of technology, heritage and aesthetics. Working with the tower manufacturer, Grubb designed it to serve as the docking mechanism for his sleek aircraft sculpture. Launched last October, the perfectly balanced sculpture revolves gently in the wind, adding weathervane duty to its function as an active cellular call transmitter. “To get something that weighs 1,000 pounds — a half a ton — to move very gently, it has to be balanced perfectly,” Grubb says. “I have ways of adding weight to either end to achieve that perfect balance. I do that by adding lead weights in a capsule in the front and also by engineering in the nose cone some brass weights in there.” 

While the sculpture serves as an attraction for visitors, its aircraft theme is particularly fitting for the city’s Festival of Flight. As part of the state’s year-long centennial celebration of the Wright Brothers’ first flight, Fayetteville will host an 11-day series of events on May 16-26 that is expected to be attended by more than a million people, many of whom will find a clear signal when they make a call on their cell phones.

“You always have two camps when you are looking at building a PCS tower,” says Tom Matthews, Sprint’s media relations manager. “There are people that realize what needs to be done to make cell phones work; then there are other people who think aesthetically these towers aren’t pleasing. Putting something like the Sprint Voyager on it takes it to another level.”  — Rosie Melendez


Elon
Isabella Cannon Imprints New Tracks on Education
Elon University’s remarkable growth has received another boost in the form of a combined $2.6 million in gifts from an alumnus and one of the most prestigious supporters of higher education in the nation. The estate of the late Isabella Cannon will provide $1.4 million to support the leadership programs she first endowed at Elon in 1990. The bequest will establish the Isabella Cannon Leadership Professorship, and add funds to the Isabella Cannon Leadership Program endowment. Cannon, who died Feb. 13, 2002, at the age of 97, was a 1924 graduate of Elon and a former mayor of Raleigh.

Cannon’s gifts to Elon now total more than $4 million. In addition to endowing the leadership program, she endowed the Isabella Cannon Centre for International Studies and helped fund construction of the Isabella Cannon International Studies Pavilion, a living-learning center in Elon’s new Academic Village. “Dr. Cannon directed that her estate be used to enhance the leadership programs that have become central to the student experience at Elon,” says Elon President Leo M. Lambert. “Her legacy will live on in the young men and women who learn about her values and grow to understand her lifelong commitment to public service.”

The new Isabella Cannon Leadership Professorship will fund a visiting professor each year who will teach leadership classes and work directly with students in the Isabella Cannon Leadership Program. The visiting professor will be a nationally recognized leader who desires to help young people learn about the nature, potential and responsibility of leadership, creating positive change for the common good. Involved in public service most of her life, Cannon made history in 1977 when, at age 73, she became the first woman elected mayor of Raleigh and the first female mayor of a state capital city. Known as the “little old lady in tennis shoes,” she had never run for office before her election. Her success earned her extensive international media attention, including segments on “60 Minutes” and “Donahue,” and coverage in Time and Newsweek magazines.

The university also will benefit from a $1.2 million grant from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust to establish a scholarship endowment for the honors program and name a pavilion in the Academic Village. Beginning this fall, the William R. Kenan Jr. Honors Fellows Scholarship will provide a four-year, full-tuition grant for the top Honors Fellow enrolling each year. The Kenan Scholarship recipients will have extensive enrichment opportunities, including leadership development, service learning experiences, study abroad, research stipends and internships. A North Carolina native, Kenan was a chemist and industrialist with wide-ranging business interests. Upon his death in 1965, a trust in his name was created to further his strong interest in education. Since 1966 the trust has made grants totaling $400 million in support of education.  — Kevin Brafford




Hickory
Demand for Duct Tape Glues Workers to Jobs
The threat of war has spurned unexpected — and record — business for a Hickory-based company that is one of the U.S.’s largest manufacturers of duct tape. Since February’s terror alert, Shurtape Inc. has witnessed a 5,000 percent increase in demand for its product. “It began when the president raised the terror alert to orange and recommended citizens have an emergency kit,” says David Neff, plant manager of Shurtape’s Stony Point plant, where the tape is made. “During those three to four days after the announcements, we sold 10 to 13 weeks of duct tape inventory so we emptied the supply chain pipeline,” adds CEO Jim Shuford.

Federal officials recommended that Americans stock emergency kits with plastic and duct tape to protect themselves in case of a chemical or biological attack on the country. “The surge in sales was as big a surprise to us as to you,” says Shuford. “This time of year is usually the low season for duct tape, because the big customers are the construction companies, and building construction slows — especially in the northern states — during this time of year.”

Shurtape makes pressure-sensitive tape, including masking tape, packaging tape and duct tape. The company maintains plants in Hickory and Hudson, but it is the one in the Alexander County town of Stony Point that is receiving most of the attention — because that’s where the duct tape is produced. The plant has increased production from three shifts five days a week to three shifts seven days in an attempt to keep up with the demand from its retail store customers.

“I have heard from the stores that some customers are buying as much as a case of duct tape, which has 24 rolls in it,” says Ness. “But I would think most people are probably buying five, six or seven rolls of the tape.” While the demand for tape slowed some after the initial surge, sales are expected to spike again should war break out. “We do expect another surge will come if we actually go to war,” says Shuford. “So we are preparing for it.” — Charlene H. Nelson




Belmont
Textile Technology Center Adds Three High-Tech Labs
The N.C. Center for Applied Textile Technology has opened a $3.2 million training and administration center — the first significant facility expansion in the school’s history. The two-story building opened in January with 26,000 square feet of space for three high-tech labs dedicated to instruction in textile manufacturing as well as an amphitheater for large training sessions capable of being broadcast internationally. Dr. Jim Lemons, president of the center, says the new facility enables the center to grow its services not just with textile manufacturers, but also with another faster growing segment of the industry — equipment manufacturers.

Two corporations, Schlafhorst Inc, a subsidiary of Saurer Inc. in Germany, and Murata of America — both with offices in Charlotte — have equipped the labs with state-of-the-art equipment. “Our students have access to the equipment for learning purposes, and those companies have access to their equipment for research and development, testing and workforce training,” says Lemons. “We would never be able to have that kind of equipment without them.”

While commodity textiles, such as basic fabrics for socks and underclothes, are suffering from foreign competition and crushing the domestic textile market, Lemons says specialty textile manufacturers are holding their own within the state. The center provides much needed training for those companies’ workers. It also conducts specialty training for U.S. Customs Service agents to identify illegal textile imports. 

Unlike the state’s other community colleges, the center is not bound to a service area but provides training and technical assistance statewide. Its mission is to provide educational and training programs for occupational preparation and skills upgrading for the textile industry. Last school year, the center provided instruction to 3,582 students, 90 percent of whom are employed fulltime and attending continuing education courses. — Laura Williams-Tracy

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