Regional Business Reports

Outer Banks
Climax Nears for Centennial of Flight
Few moments in history have done more to capture the essence of the American spirit — the freedom to pursue dreams — than the Wright brothers’ historic first flight at Kitty Hawk on Dec. 17, 1903. And while various festivals this year have paid homage to those “12 seconds that changed the world,” the most anticipated of all will take place this month where it belongs — on the Outer Banks.

“The First Flight Centennial” is Dec. 12-17. Presented by the National Park Service, State of North Carolina and the First Flight Centennial Foundation, the celebration will feature programs and festivities that will highlight our aviation heritage and perhaps even inspire our pursuit of the skies.

Oscar -winning actor John Travolta will serve as master of ceremonies for the historic final day events at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills. Travolta, a licensed jet pilot who serves as ambassador-at-large for Australian-based international airline Qantas, also will fly his Boeing 707 as part of the day’s ceremonial fly-over. He has logged close to 5,000 hours since earning his wings in 1974.

While all 35,000 tickets for the Dec. 17 events have been sold since early October, tickets for the other events scheduled for Dec. 13-16 are still available at $10 per day by calling 800-973-7327 or online at www.wrightbrothers.reserveworld.com. Although children 12 and under may enter for free, they must have special fee-free child tickets which can be obtained when you place your order.

A ticket entitles the holder to shuttle transportation to and from the Wright Brothers National Memorial from remote parking sites, plus access to all buildings, grounds, exhibits and performances open to the general public. It does not include seating, although chairs may be rented on site.

To learn more about the specific events planned, call 252-441-6291 or visit www.firstflightcentennial.org. -- Kevin Brafford


Statewide
J-DIG Attracts Two More New Industries
North Carolina’s new economic development incentive program has attracted its fourth and fifth new industries to the state, deals Gov. Mike Easley say represent 1,580 new jobs and $50.5 million in new investment.

In a flurry of recent announcements, state officials said that the Job Development Investment Grant Program (J-DIG) had proved instrumental in GE Nuclear Energy’s decision to move its headquarters and 200 jobs from Califormia to Wilmington, where the GE Power Systems subsidiary already has nearly 1,600 workers; and in the decision by Goodrich Corp. to move some of its New Jersey and Ohio operations to Monroe, creating 300 jobs.

Under J-DIG, the two companies will receive cash incentives over the next several years worth up to $8.6 million. The money will come in the form of rebates on state personal income taxes paid by workers in the new jobs Goodrich and GE Nuclear will create.

A sixth J-DIG grant was in the works to solidify the tentative decision by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco to bring between 800 and 1,000 jobs to Winston-Salem following its merger with Brown and Williamson, the U.S. cigarette business of British American Tobacco PLC. RJR also is seeking an extension and revision of the cigarette export tax credit as well as tax credits to remediate and donate property in downtown Winston-Salem to the city’s revitalization efforts.

RJR said the new jobs would pay average salaries of $56,000, or over $100,000 with fringe benefits included.

GE Nuclear, which provides products and services for nuclear power plants, will move its headquarters from San Jose to the Wilmington area in 2003. The 200 new jobs will average $100,000 a year.

Goodrich will invest nearly $11 million expanding its current 60,000-square-foot facility in Monroe, where an expected 300 additional workers will earn average salaries of $15-$18 an hour. The new employees will staff a customer services facility, close to the company’s headquarters in Charlotte. If the company creates all the jobs promised, the state will provide a grant equal to 66 percent of the personal state withholding taxes those workers pay, a sum valued at $2.7 million over the life of the grant.

For each year in which GE Nuclear meets its job-creation targets, the state will provide a grant equal to 70 percent of the personal state withholding taxes derived from the creation of new jobs. If the company creates all the jobs promised, the grant would be worth $5.9 million.

Elsewhere, state officials said:

Elkay Southern Corp., a division of Elkay Manufacturing Co., will add 68 new jobs to its existing facility in Lumberton, expanding its workforce to 450 people. The company manufactures stainless steel sinks.

GOJO Industries has chosen Laurinburg to manufacture its instant hand sanitizer, creating 250 jobs and a $10 million investment. The company will occupy an existing facility donated by Abbott Laboratories. GOJO received $250,000 in One North Carolina money.


Charlotte
BoA invades Boston in Merger with Fleet
Bank of America Corp.’s purchase of FleetBoston Financial Corp. for $47 billion in stock will create the nation’s second-largest bank in assets while expanding its reach into New England.

“We are now truly the Bank of America,” says CEO Ken Lewis, who will become CEO of the new company with combined corporate headquarters in Charlotte. The deal is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of next year.

Bank of America’s name and logo will replace the Fleet name in the Northeast. The combined bank will employ about 180,000 people and have more than 5,000 branches across the U.S. Several of the new company’s operations will be headquartered in Boston, including the wealth management division that Bank of America presently operates out of New York.

The company’s combined board of directors will have 19 members, including 12 from Bank of America and seven from FleetBoston Financial. It will meet eight times a year, five in Charlotte and three in Boston.

The agreement has been approved by both boards and is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. Bank of America has $737 billion in assets and $409 billion in deposits. Fleet has assets of around $196 billion. Bank of America has 133,000 employees, compared to 47,700 for Fleet.

“Given Bank of America’s articulate strategy of growing market share in the largest urban markets of the U.S., this is a great move,” says Dr. Tony Plath, associate professor of finance at UNC Charlotte. “It significantly strengthens Bank of America’s position in virtually every key urban market north of the Mason-Dixon line, and gives it a new presence in virtually all of the smaller urban markets of New England.

“Granted, Bank of America paid a really rich premium to get into the New England market, but no other acquisition would give them the sort of market positioning that FleetBoston Financial provides, and they needed that sort of positioning to go head-to-head with Wachovia, Morgan and CitiCorp.”

Bank of America CFO James Hance says he expects $1.1 billion of after-tax expense savings from the purchase, but that the bank’s 2004 per-share profit is likely to fall below analysts’ estimates. Further, Hance says the bank expects to take an $800 million restructuring charge for the merger, while realizing after-tax savings of about $195 million annually. — Kevin Brafford


Greenville
Pitt Memorial Recognized for Excellence in Teaching
A major healthcare information services firm has named Pitt County Memorial Hospital one of the top 100 hospitals in the country. Solucient, which maintains the nation’s largest healthcare database, grouped PCMH among major U.S. teaching hospitals. Others in that group include the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.

PCMH is one of two hospitals in North Carolina to make the list. NorthEast Medical Center in Concord was recognized for teaching hospitals with 200 or more acute care beds.

The ranking was good news to leaders of PCMH and its parent company, University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina. “In this day of challenges for all hospitals, we’re especially pleased to be recognized among our peers for continued excellence in the care we deliver and in improving the health of eastern North Carolina,” says Dave McRae, chief executive officer of UHS and an NCCBI director.

The study, “Solucient’s 100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success, 10th Edition,” appeared in a fall issue of Modern Healthcare magazine. It recognizes hospitals for setting performance benchmarks across four critical areas: quality of care, operational efficiency, financial performance and adaptation to the environment.

According to Solucient, the nation’s top performing hospitals are much more likely to adopt important new patient care technologies and treat a larger percentage of people in their communities than other acute care U.S. hospitals. -- Kevin Brafford


Cherokee
First Citizens, JA Team Up to Teach Finances to Kids
Thanks to gambling profits, today’s Cherokee Indian children are given a windfall of as much as $30,000 when they turn 18 and earn a high school diploma.

But for a people so long mired in poverty, expertise in managing money is often lacking, an area that a new joint initiative between Junior Achievement of Western North Carolina and First Citizens Bank is addressing. Executives from the bank’s Cherokee branch are presenting the JA curriculum, and personal finance concepts, to seventh- and eighth-graders at Cherokee Middle School.

“The standing line about what young people do with their money is they buy a brand new car, share money with their extended family, buy new clothes and before you know it, the money is gone,” says Roseanna Belt, an American Indian and director of the Western Carolina University Cherokee Center.

Opened by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians in 1997, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino is thriving. The casino doesn’t disclose profit figures, but tribal leaders acknowledged last year that the 12,900-member tribe now manages net profits in the neighborhood of $155 million a year. Each tribal member receives about $7,000 a year in casino payouts.

For Cherokee children, the money goes into an investment account. They receive the cash when they turn 18 if they graduate from high school, or at age 21 if they don’t. “Without education, young people don’t always make the best decisions about how to spend that money, especially when it comes as a windfall at age 18,” says Junior Achievement Director Lisa-Gaye Hall. “This is really significant stuff they are hearing for the first time.”

The First Citizens executives received training from JA staff and are working alongside classroom teachers to present basic finance concepts. “We believe Junior Achievement will help these students get a good grasp on some important economic issues,” says Bob Roberts, executive vice president of First Citizens. “We really wanted to make a difference in that area.”

The JA program, which also is taught at schools in the five counties in the Asheville area, stresses entrepreneurship, according to Hall. “We hope they use some of the money to start a business,” she says. — Kevin Brafford


Wilmington
Cranes Improve Port's Bulk Cargo Capacity
A barge carrying two huge gantry cranes was scheduled to arrive at the Port of Wilmington’s Berth No. 1 this month. The larger of the two, a 1984 American Crane Model 325 with a capacity of 150 tons, will become Crane No. 1, on the port’s northernmost Berth 1. It replaces the port’s original gantry crane, a 25-ton Diamond crane in service for nearly 50 years.

The crane was purchased by the North Carolina State Ports Authority from the Port of Charleston, S.C., for one dollar. Transportation by barge up the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, and installation at Berth 1 added about $400,000 to the price, but with a comparable new crane costing as much as $3 million more, it was a bargain.

Increased gantry crane capacity increases the port’s capacity to serve its customers in the bulk and breakbulk markets — including such commodities as woodpulp, steel, salt and fertilizer, as well as grain for animal feed which is the key purpose of Wilmington Bulk LLC, a joint venture between the Ports Authority and a consortium of swine and poultry producers, which opened in May 2003.   — Karen Fox


Durham
CCB Support for the Arts Realized in New Pavilion
The long-anticipated opening of the George Watts Hill Pavilion for the Arts has provided the Bull City with one of the few large scale art-casting facilities in the Southeast.

Named for the late president and chair of Central Carolina Bank, who was known not only for his visionary leadership but also for his philanthropy and support of the arts, the facility is located in Durham Central Park, a thriving arts-focused section of Durham on the north edge of downtown

“We are very pleased to have played a role in the development of the Pavilion,” says CCB’s Dean Hamric, senior vice president and community executive for Durham. “The arts are part of the unique and diverse culture that makes Durham so invigorating, and the Pavilion will become yet another draw for bringing talented people together.”

The building is striking. The exterior panels, designed by the Pavilion’s architect, Frank DePasquale, and constructed by Vega Metals Inc., depict a tree-of-life design compatible with the surrounding greenspace. Its two sets of gates are also the work of neighbors in the Central Park neighborhood.

Liberty Arts Inc., the nonprofit organization that built the Pavilion and will run its programming there, will offer mold making and metal casting facilities and provide skilled artists a place to create cast work at a reasonable cost. The first work cast is a life-size bull — the symbol of Durham — commissioned by CCB.

“Central Carolina Bank has continued its long tradition of supporting the arts with its generous grant to construct the Pavilion,” says Kate Dobbs Ariail, a Liberty Arts officer. “Mr. Hill did so much to forward the visual arts in Durham, and we think he would be pleased to be remembered with a structure designed to benefit the art and artists.” — Kevin Brafford


Cary
SAS Continues Expanding Into 'Retail Intelligence' Field
SAS Institute, the world’s largest privately held software company, has grown larger with the purchase of Marketmax, a Massachusetts company with a customer list that includes Lowe’s, Home Depot, Kohl’s and Linens ’n Things.

The acquisition, which solidifies SAS’ position in the growing market for what is called “retail intelligence” software, is the Cary-based company’s sixth acquisition since 2000 and its largest to date. Terms were not disclosed, but the purchase is expected to double the $25 million a year in revenue that SAS collects from U.S. retailers, according to Jim Davis, chief marketing officer for SAS.

Retailers, especially in the sluggish economy, are looking for ways to use technology to increase sales.

SAS has added Marketmax’s 100 employees, who will continue to work at its headquarters in Wakefield, Mass. Its chief executive, Lori J. Schafer, will become vice president of the newly formed Marketmax division of SAS.

Davis adds that the acquisition merges Marketmax’s suite of merchandise-planning applications with SAS’ retail business-intelligence and predictive software programs. Marketmax’s software helps merchants with financial planning, store planning and assortment planning — such as how to display items on the shelf to increase sales.

Now with SAS’ technology, companies will be able to take that a step further by tracking information about customer preferences and sales trends. “SAS lets stores look at how they have performed in the past and lets them predict what they will do in the future,” Davis says. -- Kevin Brafford


High Point
Merger Makes Dixon Odom Southeast's Biggest CPA Firm
Dixon Odom PLLC and Crisp Hughes Evans LLP will merge their firms and affiliated entities, effective Jan. 1, to form the largest certified public accounting firm headquartered in the Southeast.

The combined firm will be known as Dixon Hughes PLLC, and will boast revenues of nearly $95 million and a staff of more than 725 in 24 cities in eight states. The firm will be headquartered in North Carolina with other offices and affiliated entities in Alabama, California, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.

Eddie Sams, executive member of Dixon Odom, and Ken Hughes, managing partner of Crisp Hughes Evans, will share the leadership of the new organization as co-managing members.

“We recognized a striking resemblance between each firm’s goals, culture, infrastructures and client service philosophies,” says Hughes. “Our practice structures complement each other remarkably well by strategically rounding out our geographic footprint and bringing more resources to our clients.”

Sams agrees. “Our goal in combining the firms is to become even better, not just bigger,” he says. “By combining resources and similar cultures we are creating even greater opportunities — for the—firm, our staff and our clients.”

With client bases and resources combined, Dixon Hughes will have substantial industry concentrations in healthcare, auto dealerships, financial institutions, insurance, manufacturing, distribution, real estate, construction, governmental, and not-for-profit.

In addition to providing traditional services in the areas of accounting, auditing and tax, the firm will offer a services designed to enhance operational efficiencies and improve bottom lines, including business valuation and litigation support, business succession and continuation, fraud and forensics, corporate finance, financial planning, employee benefits design and administration, and technology consulting.

Both Dixon Odom and Crisp Hughes Evans were recently granted authorization by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to prepare and issue audit reports for publicly held companies. — Kevin Brafford


Hickory
Two Airlines Plan Flights to Raleigh, Atlanta, Florida
Aggressive development efforts and continued investment in airport facilities will soon result in two airlines providing service from the Hickory Regional Airport to Raleigh, Atlanta and a destination in Florida.

The city recently was awarded federal grant money that will help bring service from Nashville, Tenn.-based Corporate Airlines to Catawba County. Corporate Airlines will fly under the American Airlines flag and will connect with the American Airlines hub at Raleigh-Durham International. Initially, the airline will provide 19 flights a week from Hickory to Raleigh, beginning next spring.

Hickory was one of six cities in North Carolina that received a $1.2 million federal grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation Community Air Service Grant Program to bring corporate airlines to the state. Joining with Hickory in the consortium are Greenville, Southern Pines, Fayetteville, Kinston and Wilmington. Each of their respective airports will use the money to help Corporate Airlines bring American Airlines service to their airports.

Shortly after learning of the grant, Hickory also received confirmation that Athens, Ga.-based MetJet intends to provide service to Hickory by the end of 2004. MetJet proposes to offer flights to Atlanta and to a Florida location yet to be determined. “MetJet is coming,” says Tim Deike, who took over as airport manager in June. “All they ask is help with marketing.”

The city is offering both airlines assistance. The airport will forgive landing fees, ramp fees and provide office and ticketing space in the airport for six months and allow the airlines to pay for those services on a prorated basis over time.

Research conducted by the airport shows that its market extends from Lincoln County to the High Country with a strong demand from both business travelers and visitors bound for resorts in the Boone-Blowing Rock area. The total market encompasses a passenger draw area of 795,000 people.

“We are going after the drivers, the people who have to drive an hour or more to get to an airport,” Deike says. “That is our market, and that is a lot of people. Faster processing, free parking, a shorter drive, and greater convenience are Hickory’s assets.”  — Charlene H. Nelson


Pinehurst
5,000 Volunteers Scramble for Close-Up View of Tiger
Here’s your chance to get an up-close look at Tiger Woods, maybe even more than once. Volunteer recruitment for the 2005 U.S. Open Championship at Pinehurst is under way, and over the next 20 months, more than 5,000 strong will be assembled to cover the broad range of duties throughout the tournament.

“An event the magnitude of the U.S. Open would not be possible without dedicated volunteers,” says Reg Jones, director of Pinehurst Championship Management, which is handling logistics for the Open. “For the 1999 U.S. Open, we recruited more than 4,500 volunteers from 47 states and seven foreign countries and had a waiting list of more than 500 people. Due to the success of the Open in 1999 and the tremendous participation we received statewide, we project all volunteer requirements will be filled by June of next year.”

Volunteers from previous championships in the Pinehurst area will receive applications to join the volunteer organization for 2005. Anyone else interested in volunteering can obtain an application from the championship website by clicking on the logo at www.pinehurst.com or call Lindsay Spitzer, volunteer coordinator, at the U.S. Open Operations Office at 910-215-8220.

More than 30 volunteer committees are being formed with responsibilities ranging from gallery control and scoring on the course to other various committee functions such as contestant services and corporate hospitality. Volunteers are required to work at least 18 hours during the championship week and purchase a uniform package for $155, which includes a cap, shirt, pants and wind shirt. Orientation and training will be held in the spring of 2005.  -- Kevin Brafford


Winston-Salem
Krispy Kreme Opens Outlets in Wal-Mart Stores
Krispy Kreme is test-marketing yet another way to get its sweet confections into the hands of consumers. In the past six months, it has opened outlets in five Wal-Mart Supercenter stores in three states, the latest in Mount Airy, where more than 100 people lined up at 5:30 a.m. on its first day of business.

“It’s an opportunity for Krispy Kreme to provide greater convenience for our customers,” says Stan Parker, senior vice president for marketing for the company, which is based in Winston-Salem.

Other outlets have opened in Wal-Mart stores in two Indiana cities — Scottsburg and Seymour — and two Virginia cities — Virginia Beach and Christiansburg. The Mount Airy store is a factory store, which means it features a “doughnut-making theater” and the company’s complete line of beverages.

Two of the other outlets are considered “doughnut and coffee shops,” and the other two are called “fresh shops.” At the former, doughnuts are made to a certain point at a factory store, then delivered to the doughnut and coffee shop where they are put through a machine that completes the process. At the latter, doughnuts are delivered several times a day from the nearest factory store.

Parker says Krispy Kreme won’t expand into additional Wal-Mart stores until several months of sales figures are computed. “The plan is to open these five and see how the stores perform for a while,” he says. “We’re very excited about the initial results.”

This isn’t the first time that Krispy Kreme has sold its product through another retailer. In the late 1990s, outlets opened in select Lowe’s Home Improvement stores, but were shut down when projected sales fell short.

This time, with a better fit for consumers, Krispy Kreme and Wal-Mart executives are keeping their fingers crossed, confident that the concept, Parker says, creates “opportunities for significant growth.”   — Kevin Brafford


Return to magazine index