Business North Carolina December 2020

FUTURE N.C. — A WORKPLACE REVOLUTION 10 WHO EXCELLED IN 2020 • HUGH MCCOLL JR.’S SECOND CHAPTER • N.C.’S TOP DOCTORS

DECEMBER 2020 Price: $3.95 businessnc.com

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Phyllis Manning and Julie Linder of Greenville’s Barking Buddies overcame pandemic struggles to rank among our Small Businesses of the Year.

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7817 Pine Avenue, Santa Maria

$5,250,000

1100 Pembroke Jones Drive, Landfall

$3,995,000

608 Inverary Way, Landfall

$2,250,000

828 Gull Point Road, Landfall

$2,450,000

1523 Pembroke Jones Drive, Landfall

$1,195,000

613 Dundee Place, Landfall

$1,950,000

1035 Ocean Ridge Drive, Landfall

$3,575,000

1255 Great Oaks Drive, Landfall

2224 Masons Point Place, Landfall

$1,395,000

6819 Towles Rd, Greenville Sound Gardens $1,550,000

SO

768 Lumina Avenue South, Seaforth

LD

11 N. Ridge Lane, Wrightsville Beach

$3,500,000

3,895,000

$2,500,000

SO

3 W Greensboro St #B, Wrightsville Beach $969,000

SO

LD

19 Comber Road, Figure Eight

$1,550,000

LD

1012 Deepwood Drive, Landfall

$1,425,000

Vance Young, Broker/REALTOR®

910.232.8850 | VanceYoung@IntercoastalRealty.com www.VanceYoung.com OVER $1.3 BILLION IN CAREER SALES

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+ DEPARTMENTS 4 UP FRONT 10 NC TREND

Holiday traditions get COVIDsafe makeovers; 10 North Carolinians who thrived in 2020; Historic RTP building slated for demolition; Publicprivate efforts help make sweet potatoes’ great again.

94 TOWN SQUARE

It’s not easy to say, but Rutherfordton is easy to like for those seeking a distinctive foothills small town.

DECEMBER 2 0 2 0 COVER STORY

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+ SPONSO RED SECTIONS 32 ROUND TABLE

Travel and tourism experts discuss the pandemic’s impact, how they are coping and opportunities to seize in 2021.

78 CELEBRATING NURSES

From bedside to boardrooms, nursing is the largest population of global health care providers.

80 DOWNTOWN PORTRAITS

Downtown Fayetteville, Wilmington and Greenville paint a picture of hope and resilience.

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CO V E R P H O TO B Y C H R I S T E R B E R G

84 COMMUNITY CLOSE-UP

Innovation and collaboration equals transformation for Pitt County.

December 2020, Vol. 40, No. 12 (ISSN 0279-4276). Business North Carolina is published monthly by Business North Carolina at 1230 West Morehead Street, Suite 308 Charlotte, NC 28208.

Telephone: 704-523-6987. Fax: 704-523-4211. All contents copyright © by Old North State Magazines LLC. Subscription rate: 1 year, $30. For change of address, send mailing label and allow six to eight weeks. Periodicals postage paid at Charlotte, NC, and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Business North Carolina, 1230 West Morehead Street, Suite 308 Charlotte, NC 28208 or email circulation@businessnc.com.

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SMALL BUSINESSES OF THE YEAR

Our four small-business winners share solutions to persevering through the pandemic.

FUTURE OF N.C. WORK

The pandemic is altering the world of work at a dizzying pace, creating optimism and fear.

BY EDWARD MARTIN

BEYOND THE BANK

A look at Hugh McColl Jr.’s postretirement life in an excerpt from Howard Covington’s new book.

NORTH CAROLINA’S TOP DOCTORS

Doctors identify state specialists considered to be the best in their fields in 56 specialties.

Start your day with business news from across the state, direct to your inbox.

SIGN UP AT BUSINESSNC.COM/DAILY-DIGEST. D E C E M B E R

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UPFRONT

David Mildenberg

FOUR FAVORITES D L

oggone, that’s a cute cover on this month’s edition, don’t you think?

Our staff is full of dog lovers, and a little relief from stress is appreciated, so Christer Berg’s photo and Ralph Voltz’s design was an easy choice.

Business North Carolina’s annual effort to showcase some of the state’s best small businesses always leads us to interesting people and places, including Barking Buddies’ dog day care in Greenville.

We received dozens of excellent entries for the small business awards this year, and the judges’ selections reflected some obvious economic trends in the year of the pandemic.

They selected a Wilmington commercial roofing company that is benefiting from North Carolina’s steady growth and treacherous weather patterns and a veteran Asheville heating and air conditioning service that is well-positioned as more homeowners invest in their properties.

Another pick was a Raleigh digitalmarketing company that helps clients shift strategies for reaching new customers and retaining existing ones. Finally, the judges were impressed with how dog-care experts Julie Linder and Phyllis Manning managed through the COVID-19 crisis, mirroring the pluck and determination of countless N.C. enterprises.

We changed things up this year by honoring four companies instead of selecting a single winner. There’s no profound wisdom behind that decision. We just saw that distinguishing between several excellent small businesses was overly subjective and imprecise.

Congratulations to all of the participants, including those cute, well-behaved dogs on the cover.

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earning something new about someone as well known as Hugh McColl Jr. can be challenging, but Howard Covington Jr. hit the bullseye with his new book on the Charlotte banker’s post-Bank of America life. We’re pleased to run an excerpt from Beyond the Bank, which gives a glimpse into McColl’s thoughts after he handed off the reins to his successor Ken Lewis.

This section is very business-oriented, including McColl’s drive to make serious money after leaving one of the world’s largest companies. But Covington’s book delves into many other facets of McColl’s life including his passion for social justice and some previously unreported health scares. The banker provided unusual access to Covington, who is a veteran Greensboro journalist, book author and former publisher of a gardening magazine.

McColl’s skill for making tough, coldblooded decisions made him a world-class success. The grenade on his desk, signaling his “take the hill” approach, found its way into countless media stories. But Covington portrays a humility and social conscience that underlies McColl’s macho image. It’s something that has been little appreciated outside of his bank teammates and a fairly close Charlotte circle.

Fortunately, McColl, 85, still plays a pivotal role in making North Carolina a better place. Beyond the Bank makes that crystal clear.

S

ome years fly by, especially the older one gets. Then there’s 2020, which at times seems like it will never end.

Our magazine has experienced many of the same headaches, heartaches and surprises that we’ve described in many of our print and web stories on other N.C. businesses.

But like many BNC readers’ organizations, we hung in there and are poised for a stronger year ahead. It’s a tribute to the dedication of our publisher Ben Kinney and a terrific group of sales, editorial and graphics folks.

Our appreciation for subscribers, advertisers and other supporters is at a record level.

Thank you, and we’ll see you in 2021.

VOLUME 40, NO. 12 PUBLISHER

Ben Kinney

bkinney@businessnc.com EDITOR

David Mildenberg

dmildenberg@businessnc.com MANAGING EDITOR

Taylor Wanbaugh

twanbaugh@businessnc.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Cathy Martin

cmartin@businessnc.com SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Edward Martin

emartin@businessnc.com SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR

Pete Anderson

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Dan Barkin, Page Leggett, Jennings Cool, Shannon Cuthrell, Samantha Rosenfeld, Michael J. Solender, Bryan Mims CREATIVE MANAGER

Peggy Knaack

pknaack@businessnc.com ART DIRECTOR

Ralph Voltz

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Christer Berg, Brandi Swarms MARKETING COORDINATOR

Jennifer Ware

jware@businessnc.com AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST

Scott Leonard

sleonard@businessnc.com ADVERTISING SALES ACCOUNT MANAGERS

Sue Graf, western N.C. 704-523-4350 • sgraf@businessnc.com

Melanie Weaver Lynch, eastern N.C. 919-855-9380 • mweaver@businessnc.com CIRCULATION: 818-286-3106 EDITORIAL: 704-523-6987 FOR REPRINTS: CIRCULATION@BUSINESSNC.COM

BUSINESSNC.COM OWNERS JACK ANDREWS, FRANK DANIELS JR., FRANK DANIELS III, LEE DIRKS, DAVID WORONOFF PUBLISHED BY OLD NORTH STATE MAGAZINES LLC DAVID WORONOFF PRESIDENT

Contact David Mildenberg at dmildenberg@businessnc.com.

C A R O L I N A

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FOOT & ANKLE FACULTY

PATIENT CARE, A TEAM EFFORT

“The Duke Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Division is not measured by individual accomplishments. Our commitment to delivering optimal patient care is a team effort. Our foot and ankle specialists wish to recognize all of the team members that make it possible, and we wish that we could feature everyone who contributes to our mission. With that said, here are many members of our dedicated team.”

– Mark Easley, MD Duke Foot and Ankle Division Chief and Team Member

Samuel Adams, MD

Annunziato Amendola, MD

James DeOrio, MD

Andrew Hanselman, MD

Michael Kerzner, DPM

James Nunley, MD

Ed Lavoie, BSN-RN, CNOR – in our hearts –

Selene Parekh, MD

Top left photo: Sandy Glover, surgical tech; Jude Bayog, RN; David Lett, Jr, room attendant; Tammy Oakley, radiology tech; Shelby Infinger, RN; Chris Robinson, surgical tech; Joanne Wightington, RN; Donna Staton, surgical tech/scheduler; Yovonne Sullivan, surgical tech Top right (above): Brice Person, CST; Nikki Long, RN; Dana Norvell, staff assistant | Top right (below): Joe Guo, BSN; Rachel Chandler, physician assistant; Beca Jenkins, RN Middle left (above): Roseta White, CMA; Denice Perry, RN, Theresa Parker, RN | Middle left (below): Todd Gressick, radiology technician; Carmen Lacson, scrub RN; Anjanette East, CSTIV | Middle right photo: Dela Adams, medical assistant; Tam Huynh, PA-C; Shauna Ebron, medical assistant; Darphine White, financial care counselor; Monica Machiarrulo, athletic trainer; Marsha Hocutt, surgery scheduler; Kristiina Lugus, athletic trainer; Zachary Herron, PA-C; Axel Melendez, athletic trainer Lower left (above): Jorge Islas, athletic trainer; Kyle Kirkland, physician assistant | Lower left (below): Penny Strickland Allen, RTP; Stephanie Bonham Ratliff, PA-C, MS, MPT | Lower center photo: Irene Quemada, RN-BSN, LNC, CNOR; Claudia Gomez, RN-BSN, MSN, CNOR, MI; Rachel Dell, RN; Carolyn Homewood, RN; Margaret “Beth” Cummings, RN, CNOR; Kelvin Romero, CST; Lee Wilson, RN, CNOR (honoring Ed Lavoie who recently passed)

Douglas Schreyack, DPM

Division of Foot & Ankle ortho.duke.edu Karl Schweitzer, MD

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11/30/20 8:17 AM

BNC ONLINE NC Chamber @NCChamber

We’re already looking forward to our 2021 Coolest Thing Made in NC competition. Thanks for this great coverage, @BusinessNC. And congrats again to all our nominees!

We love getting feedback from our readers.

Here’s a sampling of what you had to say about Business North Carolina on social media last month.

Coolest things made in N.C.

Barnhill Contracting Company @BarnhillCC

Thrilled to have the 3,023-seat @TangerCenter in #GSO & the transformed, reimagined Optimist Hall in #CLT among @BusinessNC ‘s best new structures! Beautiful projects across #NC!

I was happy to see Jane Patterson featured in your Pillars of North Carolina. I was privileged to know her in the early ’70s in the Guilford County Democratic Party. Her energy, intelligence and engaging personality was remarkable. She would have made a wonderful governor for our state.

Building N.C.: The state’s best new structures

Business North Carolina Business North Carolina podcast: Alfred Williams & Co.’s Katherine Thomas discusses office furnishing company’s pandemic pivot

sandymaxey @sandymaxey

One of the most remarkable woman I have ever known.

Pillars: Jane Smith Patterson

@Rachel160A

This is a great piece from @BusinessNC, featuring an interview with @ThinkBurlington about the pandemic’s influence on the @BurlingtonNC economy.

Alamance benefits from Triangle growth, but small biz woes persist

Being said about

“

– Paul Leonard, former CEO of Habitat for Humanity

“

Building a great bank has been upgraded to building a better community. (McColl) still has the energy and courage to believe he has much to offer in making the world a better place. What a legacy!”

– Harvey Gantt, Charlotte civic leader and former mayor

“

Nothing motivates Hugh McColl more than leading collaborations of strong voices to spark innovative solutions for the challenges of our time.”

– Michael Marsicano, president and CEO of the Foundation For The Carolinas

B U S I N E S S

Sign up to receive our free Daily Digest newsletter at businessnc.com/daily-digest/.

FOLLOW US

Patricia Mitchell She is one of the best!

@BusinessNC Business North Carolina @businessnorthcarolina

Tammy Brown Best choice ever with Katherine Thomas!!! She is a rock star!!!!

Suzanne J O’Keefe Katherine truly is one of the coolest as well as so kind and truly cares. Beautiful person inside and out.

Check out Business North Carolina’s weekly podcast on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. at

businessnc.com/ podcast/.

Justsed relea

Hugh McColl has never stopped learning, listening, caring, investing, and sharing his remarkable resources and knowledge with people from all walks in life.”

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businessnc.com.

Business North Carolina

-Rankin A. Whittington, Lenoir

Rachel Kelly

Read these stories and more at

N O R T H

Hugh McColl’s Chapter Two The twenty years Hugh McColl’s spent since stepping down as Bank of America CEO is a primer for anyone who believes irrelevancy is a part of retirement.

This is the story of how McColl, at 85, remains essential in a city that bears his imprint, from building Uptown to investing social capital in all corners of the community.

A new book by Howard E. Covington Jr. NEW FROM

On sale in Southern Pines at The Country Bookshop.

And other fine local bookstores.

Available online at howardcovingtonbooks.com C A R O L I N A

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DON DRAPER VS. A COMPUTER HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WILL IMPACT ADVERTISING, MARKETING AND MORE

By Brandon Uttley This year, a lot of impactful innovations were overshadowed by news of the election cycle, the global pandemic and a record-setting hurricane season — among other things.

One “tech”-tonic shift you may have missed was the release of GPT-3, which stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer (version 3). In layman’s terms, it is a computer model that is trained to be able to write like a human after being given some introductory text.

As someone who makes money writing, I was immediately intrigued and concerned by this development — one of the biggest leaps forward in artificial intelligence, or AI for short.

The left hemisphere of my brain panicked, sensing that computers were poised to replace legions of human writers and creative types much sooner than I anticipated.

The right half of my brain, however, wondered whether I could make this technology work for me. Would it be possible to get a computer to “think” for me? Could I seriously feed a program a few initial prompts and sit back while it cranked out coherent, creative and insightful blocks of content?

Before I reveal my findings, I also need to tell you that GPT-3 is 10 times more powerful than its predecessor.

OpenAI, the company behind GPT-3, “taught” the system using more than

175 billion learning parameters — vs. the previous watermark of 17 million.

Altogether, the system has mastered more than 500 billion words so far.

By contrast, the average U.S. adult knows about 42,000 words by the time they are 20, according to researchers at Ghent University in Belgium.

From what I have seen, GPT-3 has progressed to a shockingly good level in terms of its capabilities.

Early users of the technology have coaxed it to do everything from writing coherent articles to performing even more impressive and heady tasks — such as writing computer code, designing webpages, writing poetry and more.

As an early adopter of technology, I was eager to try out GPT-3. I learned about one company, Copysmith.ai, that taps into GPT-3’s AI and claims to be able to “write high-performing product descriptions, ads, taglines, SEO metadata and blog posts in seconds.”

After signing up for a free trial, I asked Copysmith to write some ad copy using one of my client’s product attributes.

Within seconds, it wrote 10 unique ads.

They weren’t all spectacular — but six were instantly usable with minimal editing.

Next, I asked it to come up with some taglines for a nonprofit event I’m working on. This time, I got 19 phrases to choose from. I shared five of the best

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ones (without revealing the process) and was praised for my creative flair.

Finally, I tested its ability to write product descriptions for an online community I manage called Comarketing Space. I entered a handful of keywords, and Copysmith again handled the task capably — giving me several compelling and convincing choices.

After using Copysmith and other tools powered by GPT-3, I’m convinced that modern-day Don Drapers — people who get paid to think and write creatively — should be very, very afraid. I wasn’t surprised in September when Microsoft announced they now have exclusive rights to the GPT-3 technology, thanks to a $1 billion investment.

The future of AI is here, and anyone who is in the dark about it is at risk of becoming obsolete.

I do think there are some things computers will never do better than people. For one thing, empathy can’t be programmed — at least not yet. It’s our secret sauce and why people still rule when it comes to understanding how to combine disparate words and ideas to create new marketing messages, melodies and other creative masterpieces.

– Brandon Uttley is CEO of digital marketing agency Go For Launch in Huntersville. He wrote this entire article by himself — with editing by the humans at Business North Carolina.

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CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY Using private foundations to achieve corporate philanthropy goals.

This is the eighth in a series of informative monthly articles for North Carolina businesses from PNC in collaboration with BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA magazine.

This year has ushered in many challenges that have altered the business landscape. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a far-reaching impact on communities across the globe. More recently, racial injustice in the United States has prompted a discussion for social reform. The world is vulnerable and changing, and it is important for corporations to stay involved throughout this process. This is a time in history where corporations will likely be scrutinized for their level of engagement with their communities.

Table 1: Corporate Philanthropy Options

Many companies realize the benefits of corporate philanthropy and now consider it to be an integral part of their corporate strategy.

New research indicates that the motivations behind philanthropy extend beyond direct financial implications, such as tax relief. As an example of this new trend, evidence suggests customers prefer to do business with, and employees want to work for, organizations with a strong corporate social responsibility profile.

Certified B Corporations, such as Patagonia Inc., Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Holdings Inc., and Cabot Creamery Cooperative, exemplify this recent trend. They are for-profit companies but do not make business decisions strictly for profit maximization. They consider all stakeholders, their community, and the environment when making business decisions. The idea is that companies operating like this believe being strong corporate citizens will help them to attract and retain top talent whose values align with those of the company. Further, the symbiotic relationship between the corporations and their community is intended to benefit both parties.

In this article, we discuss the trend toward corporate social responsibility, specifically focusing on the role that a private foundation, created and sponsored by a corporation, can have in facilitating a company’s philanthropic objectives.

PHILANTHROPIC PLATFORMS Once a company decides to pursue corporate philanthropy, it generally picks one of three popular options: direct giving, donoradvised funds (DAFs), or private foundations. In Table 1, we discuss some of the defining aspects of the different approaches. While each option has its own benefits and drawbacks, here we focus on the benefits of a private foundation.

Specifically, we focus on how, compared to direct giving and DAFs, a corporate foundation allows a company to maintain control of the assets, in a tax-advantaged vehicle, with the potential to make distributions in perpetuity. By using a private foundation, companies do not have to worry about contributing money from operations to charity each year. Instead, they are able to add money, company stock, or other assets at inception and use it to fund future philanthropic efforts. Additionally, if the company has a profitable year, it is able to add more to the foundation as it sees fit.

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N O R T H

C A R O L I N A

Source: PNC

WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH A PRIVATE FOUNDATION There are several ways to use the funds in a corporate foundation.

In each of these, we will provide examples from PNC, as those are the stories that are easiest to share.

WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR THE COMMUNITY? The most obvious and the primary purpose of a foundation is to make charitable donations to causes that your organization supports on an ongoing or recurring basis. A private foundation can act as a pillar of your strategy to align your values with those of the community, specifically through giving back, and can help establish your business as a hometown brand. Companies that are invested in the broader success of their communities distinguish themselves from other companies that are not invested.

As an example of what a foundation can do, PNC sponsors the Grow Up Great® program, with the mission of assisting early childhood education. Wherever PNC has a footprint, it works with that local community to deliver school supplies, prepare school buildings for classroom sessions, and provide donations to allow for a strong learning experience for younger individuals. When expanding into new regions, PNC can reference the great work it does within its existing footprints, and how that work might translate and benefit the community where it is looking to establish a new presence. Having the PNC Foundation in place allows three benefits. The first is that it allows us to give back to our communities. The second is that it allows us to think strategically about our charitable giving. And finally, the funds for charitable giving are already established (and are allowed to grow through being invested in a tax-sheltered account over the long term), meaning PNC doesn’t have to set aside cash from the balance sheet every time it wants to contribute to a cause.

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WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT? There are many creative ways to leverage a foundation to enhance employee engagement. The business could establish a matching program, where employees designate charities to which they would like to donate, and their contributions are matched by the employer.

Similarly, the company could create competition around learning new skills, with the prizes being donations to charities of the employee’s choosing. Further, the business could administer scholarship programs for its employees and their families. Involving your employees in the donation process is a great way to increase their pride in your company and help them derive meaning from the work they do for it.

It can build the feeling of family or even equity in your company, helping to increase productivity and employee engagement.

As an example, PNC has established initiatives in recent years to increase employee engagement. Last year, in celebration of the 15th anniversary of PNC Grow Up Great, approximately 52,000 PNC employees received a $25 DonorsChoose gift card, funded by the PNC Foundation, to help preschool teachers obtain high-quality resources and learning experiences for their students. DonorsChoose is an online charity that connects individual donors with classrooms in need; this effort to engage employees in supporting high-quality early childhood education is part of a $10 million alliance with DonorsChoose to positively impact pre-K and Head Start classrooms across PNC’s communities.

HOW CAN YOU HELP EMPLOYEES THROUGH TOUGH TIMES? Having a foundation in times of hardship creates an opportunity to give back in a unique way. One example is that corporations can institute an employer-sponsored relief program, enabling them to use funds from their foundation to provide aid directly to their employees.[1] This program permits employers to grant qualified payments to their employees who are negatively impacted by a catastrophe, subject to compliance with certain rules and regulations. If structured properly, these types of payments will not be included in the employee’s gross income, allowing them to receive the relief funds tax-free.

Numerous studies have shown many Americans lack the savings to cover small emergency expenses. When unforeseen circumstances arise, an employer-sponsored relief program may provide your employees with the extra assistance they need to navigate an uncertain time.

For more information on employer-sponsored relief programs, please see the article, “COVID-19 and Employers: Financial Assistance for Employee Hardship,”[2] from legal services firm McGuireWoods LLP.

HOW TO GET STARTED It is important to remember that cash isn’t the only way you can fund a corporate foundation — you can also use company stock, appreciated assets, or other means to get it off the ground. We recommend consulting with your finance team and/or tax counsel to determine the most tax-efficient approach for your organization to get it started.

CONCLUSION A private foundation is a great way for a corporation to give back to their community, particularly in times of distress. A business can separate itself by being a strong corporate citizen, providing long-term competitive advantages. The foundation also allows corporations the ability to plan in advance their charitable endeavors and incorporate them strategically into their operations. People, now more than ever, want to work for and do business with companies that are committed to having a positive impact for all their stakeholders. With the corporate world becoming more philanthropically involved, we recommend understanding the ways you can utilize a private foundation.

Regional Presidents: Weston Andress, Western Carolinas: (704) 643-5581 Jim Hansen, Eastern Carolinas: (919) 835-0135 Or visit pnc.com/en/corporate-and-institutional.html Important Legal Disclosures and Information 1. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/disaster-relief-assistance-by-employer-sponsored-private-foundation

2. https://www.mcguirewoods.com/client-resources/alerts/2020/3/covid-19-and-employers-financial-assistance-for-employee-hardship The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (“PNC”) provides investment consulting and wealth management, fiduciary services, FDIC-insured banking products and services, and lending of funds to individual clients through PNC Bank, National Association (“PNC Bank”), which is a Member FDIC, and provides specific fiduciary and agency services to individual clients through PNC Delaware Trust Company or PNC Ohio Trust Company. PNC provides various discretionary and non-discretionary investment, trustee, custody, consulting, and related services to institutional clients through PNC Bank, and investment management services through PNC Capital Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser and wholly-owned subsidiary of PNC Bank. PNC does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice unless, with respect to tax advice, PNC Bank has entered into a written tax services agreement. PNC Bank is not registered as a municipal advisor under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. “PNC” is a registered mark of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. | Investments: Not FDIC Insured. No Bank Guarantee. May Lose Value.

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©2020 The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

11/24/20 12:29 PM

NC TREND

First take: Tourism

■ MOVERS AND SHAKERS ■ ENTREPRENEURSHIP ■ LIFE SCIENCES ■ AGRICULTURE Page 12

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■ STATEWIDE Page 24

HOLIDAY OVERHAUL IN A PANDEMIC-ERA HOLIDAY SEASON, MANY POPULAR WINTER ACTIVITIES ARE ADOPTING NEW SAFETY PROTOCOLS.

BY MICHAEL J. SOLENDER

W

Hitting the slopes North Carolina’s snow-sports industry generates $228 million annually and supports more than 1,500 full- and part-time jobs, according to the North Carolina Ski Areas Association.

The organization represents six areas across five western N.C. counties where snow sports and mountain activities dominate local economies.

“Safe, fun, outdoor family activities are central for our guests year-round, particularly during the winter,” says Kim Jochl, director of marketing and communications at Sugar Mountain Resort in Avery County, one of the state’s most popular ski areas. “We experienced a very solid summer season with our summit crawls [hikes from base to top of mountain], lift rides, and mountain biking. People have been very compassionate and gracious in their compliance with the COVID-safety protocols we’ve put in place.”

Jochl, who also is president of the state ski association, notes Sugar Mountain Resort and five other local ski centers have adopted COVID-specific operating procedures, following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and N.C. Department of Health and Human Services guidelines such as line spacing

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at ski-lift lines and inside ski lodges and restricting ski-lift chair sharing to family members.

“Together, we’ve developed a collective approach and guide to safe operations,” Jochl says. The association's “Ski Well, Be Well” program addresses face coverings, social distancing, employee wellness, training protocols, lift queue/loading/unloading practices, cleaning, sanitizing, group sizes and touchless transaction measures.

“Following these safety protocols, we’re operating business as usual,” Jochl says, noting the resort anticipates a noticeable shift to more midweek volume as skiers look to avoid weekend crowds. “Ours is such a weather-dependent business. People don’t book far in advance; it’s more spontaneous. People look at the weather and if they see snow coming, they make plans for that weekend.”

With safety plans in place and a hungrier-than-usual appetite for outdoor escapes due to pandemic restrictions, area operators anticipate a strong season. “We have every reason to believe that the success of this summer will carry over to our winter season,” says Ryan Costin, president of Beech Mountain, another popular resort that is in both Avery and Watauga counties.

Christmas trees: Choose now, cut later North Carolina families searching for a cut-your-own Christmas tree may find themselves out of luck if they didn’t start their quest in October.

“With COVID, we made the decision early in our season to establish and encourage a ‘Choose now, cut later’ program in order to regulate the flow of guests,” says Gary Edwards, coowner of Elk River Evergreens in Elk Park. Edwards operates two farms here, just 7 miles outside Banner Elk. He began welcoming families the third weekend in October to select the perfect tree and tag it for harvest and pickup around Thanksgiving. Trees range from $35 to $220 depending on size.

North Carolina has more than 850 growers producing 50 mil-

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE BILTMORE CO., BUSHPHOTO.COM, TODD BUSH, OMNI GROVE PARK INN

hile COVID-19-related mandates and individual concerns regarding group assembly sizes remain top of mind this winter, many of the state’s most popular winter-fun pursuits are making adjustments to seasonal offerings.

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lion trees on 38,000 acres, according to the N.C. Christmas Tree Association. The state ranked second in the nation for Christmas trees harvested and receipts for trees sold in 2017, totaling $86 million in sales.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE BILTMORE CO., BUSHPHOTO.COM, TODD BUSH, OMNI GROVE PARK INN

“There is a Christmas tree shortage nationwide after the oversupply several years back led to a subsequent drop in plantings,” says Edwards, who sold 3,500 trees last year. “I’m seeing a huge appetite from consumers for agricultural products such as apples and pumpkins [from other pick-your-own farms] and believe this year could be our best ever for tree sales.”

Elk River Evergreens welcomes visitors looking for same-day tree selection during its seven-day weekly seasonal schedule and has set up outdoor cash registers to keep people appropriately distanced. While its website lists Dec. 13 as its final day of the season, Edwards anticipates he’ll sell out and likely close by the first weekend in December.

Donnelly says the most significant shift is not hosting the traditional Christmas tree-raising event. “In years past, the lavish ceremony saw us bringing in our 35-foot tree on a horsedrawn wagon surrounded by carolers, a marching band and great fanfare,” Donnelly says. Instead, Biltmore Estate is creating a mini-documentary and a behind-the-scenes look at the tree raising for its YouTube channel.

National Gingerbread House Competition The neighboring Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville is also taking a more virtual approach in hosting its annual National Gingerbread House Competition, a COVID-related shift after 27 years of public display. The event, which has raised more than $535,000 for local not-for-profit organizations, has attracted foodie celebrities such as Food Network star Carla Hall and been featured on Good Morning America and the Travel Channel.

“This annual holiday event attracts thousands of people to the hotel and is so important for the region,” says Susan Rotante, the inn's director of public relations and community outreach. “Under the new normal, we rethought how to celebrate this legacy. Conducting a virtual competition allows us to capture the spirit.”

Rotante anticipates the occupancy rate over the holidays to reach 60%, with the hotel offering overnight guests many holiday-themed activities including a transformed Great Hall with a life-sized gingerbread house modeled after the historic property. ■

The Blue Ridge’s Biltmore High on the holiday-destination list for many regional travelers is America’s largest home, the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.

The estate typically sees more than 400,000 visitors over the eight-week holiday season that runs from Nov. 6 to Jan. 10, according to LeeAnn Donnelly, senior public relations manager.

Known for spectacular holiday decor, dozens of hand-decorated Christmas trees, elaborate formal gardens, horse-drawn carriage rides, an award-winning winery, extensive shopping, and on-property accommodations, Biltmore Estate is one of the state's most visited attractions with 1.5 million guests annually.

In 2018, Biltmore Estate ranked ninth in a TripAdvisor survey of top U.S. landmarks.

“We’ve been impacted by the pandemic like every business,” Donnelly says. “The health and safety of our guests and employees is our top priority, and as we have since early this spring, we are following CDC guidelines and the state’s recommendations for preventing the spread of COVID-19. This includes limiting the number of guests inside Biltmore House and other buildings and requiring reservations.”

Guests can be assured holiday grandeur awaits this season, though it may experience subtle changes.

“We’ll have 55 hand-decorated Christmas trees designed by a floral team in the home and more than 100 hand-decorated trees across the entire estate including a 35-foot Fraser fir in the banquet hall,” says Donnelly, who notes the trees hold more than 25,000 ornaments. “We’ll have 100,000 holiday lights, 6,000 feet of garland, [and] 1,200 traditional poinsettias in and around the house.”

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First take: Movers and Education shakers

AN IMPRESSIVE YEAR, FOR SOME IN A TIME OF CRISIS AND RANCOR, THESE 10 FOLKS WITH STRONG NORTH CAROLINA CONNECTIONS EXCELLED.

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he outspoken pastor of a small Goldsboro church and former president of the N.C. State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is a national force in progressive political circles.

Now, he’s got big money after financier George Soros promised millions of dollars to Barber’s Black Votes Matter Fund and Repairers of the Breach groups as part of a $220 million overall commitment to several social justice groups. Barber, 57, preaches that systemic racism is causing widening economic inequality and increasing poverty across the U.S.

MARINA CARREKER

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mid Raleigh-based Bandwidth’s ambitious expansion plans, CEO David Morken promoted Carreker from her deputy general counsel post to president in November, leapfrogging over some more senior executives.

A Morehead-Cain Scholar who graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2003, Carreker worked at the Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton and Womble Bond Dickinson law firms before joining Bandwidth in 2016. The company develops applications used with Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other cloud-based software programs. It has pledged to hire more than 1,100 employees over the next eight years, many at a new west Raleigh headquarters.

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ealth care insiders have known about her for years, but COVID-19 made the secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services one of the state’s most recognizable figures. Her constant mantra about the “3Ws” helped North Carolina maintain one of the lower coronavirus mortality rates among the 50 states, prompting speculation that the Yale School of Medicine graduate would join the Biden administration.

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aybe dropping out of Appalachian State University a month ahead of his graduation wasn’t such a bad idea after all for the Charlotte native, who has won the Academy of Country Music’s Male Vocalist of the Year honor for two straight years. Those are among several industry honors in the last two years that have put Combs, 30, into country music’s elite. In August, he married Nicole Hocking, who was the inspiration for his Beautiful Crazy song that topped the country music charts in 2018.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MACARTHUR FOUNDATION, BANDWIDTH, NCDHHS, DAVID BERGMAN

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KEITH PHILLIPS

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icking Durham over the Boston area for a $61.5 million, 878-job expansion made the CEO of BioAgilytix a Tar Heel favorite in November. The private contract-research company has more than 500 employees in Durham and recently announced plans to launch COVIDence, a platform to provide employers a comprehensive COVID-19 testing program. Datin is a veteran biotech executive who joined the company in 2013.

MARVIN ELLISON

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JIM DATIN, MARVIN ELLISON, SHEILA MIKHAIL, KEITH PHILLIPS, GDCA, YORK’S PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO

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alk that the Lowe’s CEO was changing the Mooresville-based retailer’s culture and leadership too quickly vanished when the pandemic struck, sending sales surging as homebound consumers poured money into their houses. Ellison now ranks among the nation’s hottest CEOs, with frequent national TV appearances.

Shares jumped 25% for the year through mid-November.

SHEILA MIKHAIL

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he Northwestern University law school grad and Harvard University MBA co-founded the Research Triangle Park-based AskBio drug-discovery firm in 2001 with UNC Chapel Hill scientist Jude Samulski and worked on it while also helping lead other biotechs.

AskBio raised $235 million in venture capital in May 2019, a record for an N.C. life-sciences company, and sold the business in October to Germany’s Bayer AG for a stunning $4 billion, provided targets are hit. Bayer expects to add substantially to AskBio’s 150-person Durham staff, says Mikhail, who will continue to run the company.

he CEO of Piedmont Lithium is helming a company whose stock has soared nearly 230% this year through mid-November, mostly after electric-vehiclemaker Tesla signed a deal to purchase five years worth of lithium-ore supplies in September. The company plans a $170 million mine near Kings Mountain. Phillips is a veteran Wall Street investment banker who joined Piedmont in 2017.

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erhaps no one took a bigger swing for the fences in 2020 than the founder and CEO of Epic Games. Sweeney thinks Apple’s App Store’s 30% cut for video game downloads is excessive, sparking a legal fight involving billions of dollars. Epic’s popular Fortnite video game has helped boost Sweeney’s net worth to $5.3 billion, Forbes says.

He’s also announced plans to add space for as many as 2,000 staffers at the company’s Cary headquarters.

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ore than 40 years of economic development experience paid off for the Alamance County Area Chamber of Commerce president this year when delivery giant UPS announced plans for a $316 million, 451-job distribution center in Graham.

Williams is a UNC Chapel Hill graduate who has spent most of his career in Asheville and Burlington. It is a record corporate investment in Alamance County.

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Entrepreneurship

MATCH GAME A BROTHER AND SISTER SHOW PASSION FOR HELPING MINORITY CANDIDATES ENTER JOBS WITH A GRASP OF WHAT LIES AHEAD.

BY JENNINGS COOL

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nce job seekers understand the nuts and bolts of their potential new roles, thoughts invariably turn to some broader issues: Is the workplace an inclusive environment? Are women treated differently than male counterparts? Are there people in leadership roles who look like me?

To answer some of these questions, N.C. natives and siblings Toby Egbuna, 26, and Dumebi Egbuna, 24, founded Dyversifi, a career-insight platform for minorities. Both believed their experiences as Black children of first-generation immigrants working in corporate America could help others and create a successful business. For now, it’s a side venture; Toby works for technology-services company Accenture in North Carolina, while Dumebi is at IBM and based in Chicago.

“Dyversifi's mission is to help minorities find companies and careers that they love,” Toby says. “We gather career experiences from diverse employees and make them available to diverse job seekers so they can make more informed career decisions.”

While platforms such as Glassdoor and Indeed pull the curtain back on how a company’s management or culture operates, Dyversifi is focusing exclusively on minority candidates.

Here’s how the platform works: Users create a “portrait” containing demographic information, such as gender identity, race, sexual orientation, disability status, veteran status and age. Then the user answers career-centric questions, such as their work experience and industry interests.

Once a portrait is created, users can view stories developed by other people and companies, which should help lead to better matches.

Since they started developing the business in September 2019, the Egbunas have collected more than 1,440 stories in their system. About 545 members and 91 companies are represented on the site, including their own employers, EY and other major enterprises.

Commercetools, a German cloud-computing company with a Durham office, is Dyversifi's initial client and is using the platform to help recruit workers and promote its brand.

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▲ Toby and Dumebi Egbuna

The siblings were born in Winston-Salem, the children of Nigerian immigrants. Both are graduates of West Forsyth High School and have undergraduate business degrees, Dumebi from Emory University in 2018 and Toby from UNC Chapel Hill in 2016. Both played basketball for their respective universities.

Dyversifi’s goal is to offer a genuine look into life for a minority worker. Unfortunately, there’s a deep disconnect over what is really happening. About half of Black human resources professionals believe discrimination based on race or ethnicity exists in their workplace, versus only 13% of white HR executives, according to a study earlier this year by the Society for Human Resource Management.

“My hope is that Dyversifi is a catalyst for change,” says Dumebi, who says she’s spent much of her life in college and business as the only Black woman in the room. “I think a lot of companies have a habit of doing a blanket diversity initiative, and I am hoping Dyversifi is a platform that can help them have a targeted initiative.”

While providing career insight for potential employees, the platform also can serve to showcase companies that are effectively supporting their minority workers while holding others accountable for areas needing improvement.

“We realized there is really no way to know what it’s like to be a woman, or a Black woman, or any other minority group at a company unless you can talk to somebody who works there directly,” Toby says. ■

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Life sciences

THE BRUTALIST DECISION UNITED THERAPEUTICS IS TAKING DOWN AN ICONIC RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK BUILDING. THE BIOTECH PROMISES BIG PLANS LIE AHEAD.

BY SHANNON CUTHRELL

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▲The Elion-Hitchings Building, built in 1972, is an example of the geometric Brutalist architectural style that emerged in the 1950s. It is slated for demolition after serving as a life-science incubator in Research Triangle Park for several decades.

s$17.5 million three years later. The seller was pharma powerhouse GlaxoSmithKline, which employed as many as 5,000 people at RTP at one time but has cut that number sharply in recent years. The purchase included the Elion-Hitchings Building, which was built by United Kingdom-based Burroughs Wellcome decades before its sale to Glaxo in 1995.

Former Glaxo CEO Bob Ingram recalls that on the day the deal closed, “I told my friend, Phil Tracy [Burroughs Wellcome's CEO], how much I admired the building. I remember his response was, ‘Well, I’m glad you do because you now own it.’”

It was a signature piece of architecture for RTP, mainly used for administrative functions and some research and development at the time of the Glaxo-Wellcome acquisition. Elion became a dear friend and mentor to Ingram before her death in 1999, he says.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF WELLCOME COLLECTION (WF/M/I/PR/S33 OR WF/USA/02)

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othing piques intrigue quite like a spaceship-shaped building located in the middle of Research Triangle Park’s vast network of technology and life-sciences offices. Designed by famous architect Paul Rudolph and built in 1972, the 300,000-square-foot Elion-Hitchings Building served as an incubator for many life-saving drug discoveries. Most notably, it’s where Nobel Prize-winning researchers Gertrude Elion and George Hitchings worked on the groundbreaking HIV/AIDS drug Azidothymidine — also known as AZT — in the 1980s.

But buildings, even a world-famous example of the massive geometric Brutalist architectural style that emerged in the 1950s, don’t always stand the test of time. Property owner United Therapeutics says it’s functionally obsolete, riddled with asbestos and environmentally unsustainable. A demolition permit is in place with plans to knock down the structure and clear the site early next year.

That decision has caused an uproar from preservation groups including the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation, a New Yorkbased nonprofit that is trying to save the building. A Change.org petition had nearly 5,000 signatures in early November supporting its protection.

In an architectural trade publication, critic Kate Wagner described the building as “priceless, unique, a work of spatial, formal brilliance. To its owners, it is a burden, a resource sink, a negative sign on a spreadsheet.”

That’s an unfair characterization, according to the Silver Spring, Md.-based pharmaceutical giant, which promises big plans for the site, though details haven’t been disclosed. The project depends on how fast its research initiatives — which include 3Dprinted organ manufacturing, xenotransplantation (transferring living cells or organs between species) and regenerative medicine — make it to the market.

United Therapeutics has been a great North Carolina life-sciences success story. Early in its history, founder Martine Rothblatt, who lives in the Washington, D.C., area, sought connections to researchers studying pulmonary hypertension at Triangle universities. In 1996, the company started a team in RTP’s First Flight Venture Center with fewer than 10 employees. It now employs about 430 people at what it considers to be a second headquarters.

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▲Silver Spring, Md.-based United Therapeutics employs about 430 people at its Research Triangle Park location.

“To me — and I think Trudy [Elion] would say the same if she were here — you want to be proud of the past, but you want to always look forward,” he says. “The fact that the site will still be used by a research-based, life-sciences and pharmaceutical company is a testament to what we have here in the Triangle.”

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Since 2012, United Therapeutics has developed regenerative medicines at two nearby buildings. Its work includes populating the scaffold of a decellularized pig lung with human cells, essentially creating a human lung from scratch. That’s just one possibility of a blockbuster new treatment, however.

“We are currently working on several exciting organ-manufacturing initiatives, [and] if any of those projects are located at RTP, it will create a very significant number of new jobs,” says Dewey Steadman, United Therapeutics’ head of investor relations. “With over 100,000 U.S. patients on the organ waiting list, there could be a strong demand for the organ products we develop. We want to make sure we’re up and ready to go when our organ products become cleared by the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration], so we need to be as flexible as we can.”

United Therapeutics says it’s committed to documenting the history of the building and its architect, a former dean at the Yale School of Architecture who died in 1997. Rothblatt, who owns a renovated Rudolph-designed home in Melbourne Beach, Fla., says her company plans a Paul Rudolph Foyer in the new building, which will be named after Elion and Hitchings. The architect’s “life and work for Burroughs Wellcome will be beautifully documented and displayed with museum-quality curation,” she says.

“We are strongly connected to the RTP region because most of our staff works here and our life-saving medicines are made here,” Rothblatt says. “This is a great place for us to expand because our RTP presence is ideal for attracting world-class talent. I like the proximity of our RTP campus to downtown Durham and Chapel Hill.”

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Rothblatt started United Therapeutics in 1996 after her daughter was diagnosed with a potentially fatal lung disease. A pioneer in satellite communications and co-founder of SiriusXM Satellite Radio, she became an unofficial student of biology, reading textbooks to grasp the medical knowledge needed to find life-saving treatment for her daughter.

GlaxoSmithKline's Flolan was the drug to treat pulmonary hypertension at the time, administered through a catheter.

Rothblatt persuaded GSK executives to give her rights to an undeveloped compound, which her new company used to develop the drug Remodulin. It secured Food and Drug Administration approval in 2002 and netted $50 million in sales within its first year. Last year, Remodulin had $587 million in revenue, more than a third of the company’s $1.45 billion total.

Shares of United Therapeutics soared from about $10 in 1999 to more than $170 in 2015 but have plateaued since then as Remodulin sales started to fade. Growth in its newer Tyvaso and Orenitram hypertension drugs have helped push the stock up more than 50% in 2020 through early November to about $135, giving the company a market cap of more than $6 billion.

Research Triangle Foundation President and CEO Scott Levitan, who is an architect, says the cost and trouble of removing asbestos convinced him that preserving the historic building isn’t feasible.

“If United Therapeutics wasn’t acting responsibly with regard to this building, it would be okay to take them to task for that. But I think they are acting responsibly,” he says. “They have to act in the interest of shareholders, and we have to be cognizant of the fact that they have other options to grow the company outside RTP.” The Research Triangle Foundation manages the park’s partnerships, investments and relationships with the more than 300 companies based there, including 10 regional headquarters.

“Given the argument they’ve made for why it can’t be saved, it’s important for our community to get behind them,” Levitan says. “They are among the companies that embody the reason why RTP is here, to make products, inventions and discoveries that will change the world and improve the lives of mankind.” ■

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Agriculture

TATER TALE TURNING SWEET POTATOES FROM A SEASONAL TO A YEAR-ROUND PRODUCT IS A SIGNATURE ACHIEVEMENT OF TAR HEEL AGRICULTURE.

BY DAN BARKIN

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t is the holiday season, and many folks are thinking about Meemaw’s sweet potato recipe with the marshmallows.

The sweet potatoes under the sugary goo likely come from North Carolina, the leading producer and home of an industry transformed in the last 20 years.

The dominance of North Carolina’s sweet potatoes is an example of what happens when different players — university researchers, farmers, processors and the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services — work together to achieve a common goal.

Sweet potato production is a $350 million slice of North Carolina’s $92 billion agriculture industry, according to N.C. State University economist Daniel Tregeagle, an extension expert in specialty crops. It’s a profitable slice, with a net in the range of $1,000 an acre, compared with $100 to $200 for corn or soybeans, according to his estimates. Most are grown in Wilson, Johnston, Nash, Edgecombe and Sampson counties with acreage tripling since the late ’90s.

A few innovations have been key — the development of a sweet potato known as the Covington, storage technology improvements and something called micropropagation (a technique used to produce a larger number of identical plants), all part of research and development in the agriculture and life-sciences complex at N.C. State and N.C. Department of Agriculture research stations.

In the 1990s, North Carolina’s sweet potato growers were dissatisfied with inconsistent results from the then-dominant Beauregard variety. “The ones on one side of the road would look great and on the other side of the road wouldn‘t look very good,” says Jonathan Schultheis, an N.C. State professor.

University researchers found a possible solution from a breeding nursery at a research station in Clayton. The new

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sweet potato, known initially as NC98-608, was later named for Henry Covington, an N.C. State extension specialist who helped build the industry in the mid-20th century.

After a couple of years of trials, they knew they had something special. Covingtons were all nearly the same shape and size. They looked good, tasted good, yielded nicely, and stood up well to viruses and pests.

Today, 90% of the sweet potatoes grown in North Carolina are Covingtons. It has become very popular in Europe, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. North Carolina sweet potato exports have soared to $150 million annually, versus about $1 million 20 years ago.

Getting sweet potatoes to market is a challenge. They have to be kept at a certain temperature and humidity or they can go bad. Historically, only 65% of harvested potatoes made it to packers, and production was seasonal.

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could get sweet prices. Word spread quickly. “I was overrun by farmers interested in what we had done and how they could get a part of it,” Boyette says.

Today, North Carolina has 98% of the climate-controlled sweet potato storage nationally. “We took this seasonal crop and we turned it into a crop that was available year-round,” Boyette says.

Other advantages

Fortunately, the ingenuity of Mike Boyette, an N.C. State agricultural engineer, changed the story. In the late 1980s, he viewed a packing facility in California’s Central Valley that showed how to keep plums cool in the summer heat. He tested the concept after a farmer from Benson, Tony Johnson, offered a building to use for sweet potato storage. Boyette told him about fans that would keep cool air moving horizontally through containers all the way up to the ceiling and sensors linked to a PC that collected temperature and humidity data.

The system kept the sweet potatoes at the right temperature for months. If you had potatoes that kept for months, you

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Tobacco also helped build the sweet potato industry. Both are labor-intensive crops, and the same workforce that planted and harvested tobacco was available for sweet potatoes.

Subsidies to halt tobacco production due to public health concerns helped finance much of the infrastructure needed to support the growth of sweet potatoes.

Boyette credits several N.C. growers for making the industry into a major force, including Vick Family Farms in Wilson, Scott Farms in Lucama and Ham Farms in Snow Hill. “They were the ones that invested millions and millions and millions of dollars.”

And farmers like the late Tony Johnson. “There ought to be a historical marker down there in Benson where that building was built,” Boyette says. ■

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Statewide

MOUNTAIN TOPPER

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uncombe County received its largest job-creation project ever with Raytheon’s Pratt & Whitney aerospace unit planning to invest $650 million in a 1 million-square-foot turbine airfoil manufacturing plant in Asheville and create 800 jobs through 2027.

The project was the subject of conjecture for months after reports that Biltmore Farms would help develop a major manufacturing facility on its property in southwestern Buncombe County. The plant will be on a 100-acre site near Interstate 26 and the French Broad River.

Biltmore Farms is controlled by the Cecil family, descendants of the Vanderbilt family who created Biltmore Estate and once owned more than 100,000 acres of mountain land.

“From the moment our team met with Pratt & Whitney and learned of their plans for a world-class manufacturing facility, we knew they would craft a brighter future for the people of western North Carolina,” Jack Cecil, CEO of Biltmore Farms, said in a release.

Pratt & Whitney could receive state and local incentives and infrastructure improvements of more than $40 million over 12 years, based on meeting hiring and investment targets. The Golden LEAF Foundation also awarded $12 million to the Asheville Chamber’s Community Betterment Foundation to support the construction of a five-lane bridge, providing access to the plant.

The factory will make turbine airfoils used in fighter-jet engines and other aircraft. As a foundry, the plant will require massive amounts of

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▲Pratt & Whitney’s V2500-E5 engine

energy, and North Carolina’s electricity costs are much lower than those in Connecticut, where Pratt & Whitney is based, the Hartford Courant newspaper reported.

North Carolina also has lower labor costs and less unionization than in many other areas, according to officials familiar with Pratt & Whitney’s search process. The jobs will pay an average annual salary of $68,000, higher than Buncombe County’s average of $43,134.

Pratt & Whitney makes engines used by nearly 30% of the world’s commercial passenger aircraft, while 34 armed forces globally use the company’s military engines, according to the company’s website. Raytheon earlier this year said it plans to trim 7% of its workforce at its Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace divisions, or about 15,000 jobs, because of the airline industry’s troubles. It also is trimming contracts with about 4,000 external workers.

The project “will enable Pratt & Whitney to continue to modernize and transform its operations with cutting-edge technologies,” said Chris Calio, president of Pratt & Whitney, in a release. “Turbine airfoils are a critical component across our engine portfolio, and demand will increase significantly as the market recovers over the next several years. We need to invest today to ensure that we have the infrastructure, production capabilities and workforce in place to meet future market demand.”

Biltmore Farms owns 900 acres adjoining the Pratt & Whitney site, though much of it is hilly and not suited for factories.

PHOTO COURTESY OF RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORP.

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THANK YOU TO THE MFGCON VIRTUAL CONFERENCE SPONSORS, BANK OF AMERICA AND DIXON HUGHES GOODMAN LLP, FOR YOUR SUPPORT TO NC MANUFACTURING.

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TRIANGLE RALEIGH Captrust Financial Advisers acquired Shine Wealth Partners in Denver, marking the firm’s first location in Colorado. Captrust has added five firms this year.

Bandwidth named Marina Carreker president, while Chris Matton will leave as general counsel on March 31. Carreker has been deputy general counsel for four years.

Ryan Henley was named chief customer officer, a newly created position.

Delivery giant Amazon.com opened its first North Carolina store at Crabtree Valley Mall. It’s called 4-Star, referring to product rankings by consumers on purchases made through the company. It is among about 30 stores that have opened in 17 states.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF DUKE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, BAYER AG

German pharmaceutical giant Bayer agreed to pay $2 billion upfront and as much as $2 billion in milestone payments for gene-therapy company AskBio. AskBio raised $235 million in equity funding in May 2019, a record single round for an N.C. bioscience company.

Stamford, Conn.-based ApiJect plans a 1 million-square-foot plant in Research Triangle Park to make billions of syringes to be used in delivering COVID-19 vaccines. It will employ as many as 650 people after the company receives a $590 million loan from the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. annual salaries are estimated at $75,000. The plant will add to 77 existing employees here.

Christopher Schroeder, a professor emeritus of law at Duke, and Robert Bonnie, an executive-in-residence at Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, joined President-elect Joe Biden’s Agency Review teams. Schroeder’s work involves the Department of Justice, while Bonnie is expected to lead a review of the Department of Agriculture.

Duke University’s newest engineering building will be named in honor of

longtime supporters Jerry and Beverly Wilkinson and their family. The $115 million, 150,000-square-foot lab and classroom building will open in January 2021 and includes a Center for Engineering Entrepreneurship and a 200-seat auditorium.

Duke University’s JB Duke Hotel and the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club turned furloughs into permanent layoffs. The 198-room JB Duke reported 71 layoffs. Washington Duke, with 271 rooms, said it is laying off 147 people.

CoImmune, formerly known as Argos Therapeutics, raised $45 million to pay for six clinical trials for drugs to combat cancer with immunotherapy. Two South Korean companies bought the company for $11 million in 2019.

Nuvotronics, an electronics firm, plans to add 150 new jobs and a $50 million manufacturing plant here. Average

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MORRISVILLE New Jersey-based biotech company Catalent Pharma Solutions is laying off 84 employees here on Jan. 2. More than half the cuts are for operations technicians.

Contract-research organization Syneos Health is acquiring Carlsbad, Calif.based Synteract, which also has operations here. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

TRIAD MEBANE Alamance County Commission and Mebane’s city council approved nearly $2 million incentives aimed at attracting a Chick-fil-A distribution center that would employ 160 people and serve 175 restaurants.

Martin Weissburg, chairman of Volvo Group North America and president of Mack Trucks, has been named to the National Association of Manufacturers board of directors. NAM has more than 14,000 members.

GREENSBORO Guilford College plans to cut nearly half its academic majors and 36 faculty positions after a decade of declining enrollment. Of the 36 positions, 16 will be tenured professors. Trustees plan to vote on the matter in early 2021.

Durham’s Bull City Ciderworks is taking over the former Gibb’s Hundred Brewing by the end of the year. The majority of the company’s production will continue in Durham and Lexington, but the new building will also house a barrel-aging program.

MOUNT AIRY Kernersville-based Texwipe plans to expand here with a $4.5 million investment in a plant. The move is expected to create 33 new jobs.

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WINSTON-SALEM Novant Health will raise its minimum wage from $12.50 to $15 an hour, affecting more than 2,000 employees. The change will go in effect on Jan. 1, pushing salaries of some employees from $26,000 to $31,200.

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center had more than 300 volunteers involved in a clinical trial of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, partnering with Javara Research.

Moderna, a biotech based in Cambridge, Mass., said its vaccine had a 94.5% success rate.

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HICKORY CommScope named Chuck Treadway as CEO, succeeding Eddie Edwards, who held the job for 15 years. Treadway is a former CEO of Accudyne Industries and Thomas & Betts. The company reported a $116 million loss in the most recent quarter.

MOORESVILLE Lowe’s Cos. plans a $61 million, 1.2 million-square-foot distribution facility in Bessemer, Ala., near Birmingham,

creating 150 jobs. The center will be located next to a Carvana distribution center on 98 acres of property previously owned by U.S. Steel.

CHARLOTTE Tom Finke, who has been CEO of investment-management firm Barings since 2016, stepped down. His successor is former Barings President Mike Freno.

The business, owned by MassMutual, employs 1,800 people globally.

Steel manufacturer Nucor signed its first virtual power purchase agreement with Texas-based EDF Renewable North America. The solar project will begin construction in Texas in 2022 with hopes of producing electricity by 2023.

The city council committed $60 million for a makeover of the former Eastland Mall site and changes to the Bank of America Stadium to aid David Tepper’s new Major League Soccer team.

Additional plans at the Eastland site could add $15 million more in taxpayer commitments.

Charlotte Hornets founder George Shinn gave $7.5 million to stroke care at Atrium Health, which is renaming its Carolinas Medical Center stroke center after him. Shinn was treated at the hospital when he suffered a stroke at age 48. The center treats about 4,000 stroke patients annually.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WALKER KINSLER, VOLVO GROUP

Avaya, a cloud-based communications and collaborations solution provider, moved its headquarters here from Santa Clara, Calif. The 8,000-employee business has had an office in Durham for more than a decade.

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EAST ELIZABETH CITY Sentara Healthcare and officials with Pasquotank County plan a new hospital to replace the city’s 60-year-old Sentara Albemarle Medical Center. Norfolk, Va.based Sentara already owns the 135-acre site where the facility will be built.

WEST BUNCOMBE COUNTY A clock tower in Enka Center may be removed to make room for a large distribution center in an unincorporated territory.

Greensboro’s Samet Corp. submitted plans for a 130,000-square-foot distribution center on 32.2 acres. Plans didn’t identify the company, though it’s believed to be Amazon.com.

ASHEVILLE C. Hunter Westbrook was named president and chief operating officer of Asheville’s HomeTrust Bank. He had been executive vice president and chief banking officer.

ROCKY MOUNT Wolf and Flow X-Ray, a medicalimaging manufacturer, is relocating its headquarters here and plans to invest $4.5 million. The relocation will create 68 jobs with an average annual salary of $36,929.

Cary’s Cornerstone Building Brands is investing $25 million to establish a production facility here. The move is expected to create 38 jobs, adding to its 1,400 employees across the state. The exteriorbuilding product manufacturer received a $100,000 performance-based grant from the One North Carolina Fund.

FAYETTEVILLE Fayetteville State University created a partnership with Nashville’s Meharry Medical College to recruit more doctors to eastern North Carolina. Under the program, students will spend three years in the pre-med program at FSU, three years at Meharry and three years in residency in North Carolina.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF LIDL, HTB

Live Oak Bank was named one of the nation’s most active Small Business Administration lenders, having approved 1,068 loans totaling $1.5 billion in the 2020 fiscal year.

Lidl opened a second store in Wilmington at Independence Mall. The store is a redevelopment of the former Sears site at the shopping center.

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VACATION PLANNING Travel to and within North Carolina ground to a halt this spring, when the COVID-19 pandemic was met with stay-at-home orders here and abroad. The effects on the state’s tourism industry — which saw a record $25.3 billion in visitor spending in 2018, up 5.6% from the year prior, and employed more than 230,000 people — were swift and severe. Hotels and attractions were empty; restaurants scraped by on takeout orders. But the sun is rising again on this vital part of the state’s economy. Business North Carolina gathered seven experts to talk about the pandemic’s impact on their industry, how they are coping and what the new year will bring.

Business North Carolina Publisher Ben Kinney moderated the discussion.

It was edited for brevity and clarity.

The discussion was sponsored by: Visit North Carolina, Henderson County Tourism Development Authority, Pinehurst Resort, and Convention and Visitors Bureau for the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area.

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HOW HAS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AFFECTED TOURISM? WHAT HAS BEEN HIT THE HARDEST? WHAT HAS FARED BETTER? TUTTELL: The pandemic is an unprecedented challenge for our industry, one of the state’s largest and a large part of its economy. Tourism essentially stopped at the end of March, when COVID forced people to stop traveling and we had stay-at-home orders. That has never happened. We’ve had events, such as hurricanes, that closed parts of the state before but nothing on this scale. It has cost more than 100,000 jobs and more than $9 billion in visitor spending, which

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translates to about $300 million in state tax revenue and about $200 million in local tax revenue. Governments will have to make up for that loss in their budgets.

Some travel has returned, particularly leisure. But we’ve lost business meetings and travel, conventions and group travel. While some places have seen some leisure travel, that doesn’t make up for other losses. Pandemic restrictions are hurting all businesses. We’re doing everything possible to keep people safely traveling and businesses open. North Carolina’s advantage, which positions it better than most states, is that it has what people currently want — an escape.

They can go to the coast or the moun-

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tains. Our urban communities are open.

They can play golf, which is a perfect way to be active and stay safe. One positive from this year is more people have a better understanding of tourism’s economic importance. When it goes away, everyone, even those not in the industry, is negatively impacted.

HUFHAM: This year has been a mixed bag on the coast. March, April and May totally tanked, like everywhere else. We track occupancy-tax revenue monthly, and it bottomed out during those three months. Summer brought a slight turnaround. Tax revenue for our beaches is up slightly over last year. Wilmington proper has been affected by the lack of business travel. People want outdoor activities, so they are drawn to the beaches. While our parks, river-boat rides and other outdoor activities had a better summer than we anticipated, our beaches carried the region.

SCHMIDT: We bottomed out in spring and watched leisure travel increase in summer. People stayed home. It hit us hard. We’re a popular destination for sports, conventions and meetings. We’re known for outdoor activities, too. We have miles of biking and walking trails, and the Tar River — popular kayaking water — flows through Greenville. So, we’ve been marketing our outdoor activities to leisure travelers, and it’s working. The outdoor page was the 10th or 11th most visited part of our website in February and March, which may have been partly due to the time of year. But it’s No. 1 now. People are clamoring to get outside and enjoy activities that are easily done socially distant. People are developing outdoor adventure trails with local governments, making a statement that it’s an important part of what we do.

Fall was a bit tough because we are a college football destination. Unfortunately, we can’t have 50,000 people tailgating and enjoying football at East Carolina

University’s Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium this year. We’re hanging in there, and things are improving each month.

WERZ: It’s no secret that as Pinehurst Resort goes so goes the Home of American Golf. It’s a big part of the region’s success. What really hurt this spring was the resort’s lodging being closed for 59 days, ending May 22, because we received no occupancy tax from it during that time. We were on pace prior to COVID and stay-at-home orders for a record collection of occupancy tax for the 2019-20 fiscal year, and the CVB’s Finance Committee had approved an all-time record budget for the current fiscal year. COVID hit four days later, and we were forced to revise it. We lost about $750,000 in operating budget and about $400,000 in advertising. That’s a big blow. We mitigated last year’s forecasted occupancy tax collections to end the fiscal year on June 30 flat or slightly ahead. We’ve fared better than most golf

PANELISTS

Beth Carden executive director, Henderson County Tourism Development Authority

Andrew Schmidt president and CEO, Greenville-Pitt County Convention and Visitors Bureau

Kim Hufham president and CEO, Wilmington and Beaches Convention & Visitors Bureau

Marla Tambellini deputy director and vice president of marketing, Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau

Eric Kuester vice president of sales and business development, Pinehurst Resort

Wit Tuttell vice president of tourism, Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina; executive director, Visit North Carolina

Phil Werz president and CEO, Convention & Visitors Bureau | Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area

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TRAVEL & TOURISM destinations. Golfers called, asking if local courses — Pinehurst Resort, Pine Needles, Mid Pines and others — were open.

They never closed. Golf was our saving grace. We are one of the few CVBs with inhouse video production, so we made a video about playing golf while staying socially distant. It was picked up by national media. We got that message to markets within a comfortable driving distance, basically Atlanta to Washington, D.C. We’re in a rural county. It’s safe — plenty of clean air, far from large population centers and free from the social strife that happens elsewhere. We’re an inviting community that welcomes visitors. Our room-occupancy rate for the first three months of the fiscal year has averaged about 56%, compared to the national average of about 49%. Our occupancy tax was down about 10% in the first three months of the fiscal year; we forecasted it could be off as much as 18%. The community came together. We promoted local: eat at local restaurants, shop local retail, visit agritourism, which is big here along with craft breweries. COVID wasn’t a good thing, obviously, but it brought us together to support tourism. We work closely and talk regularly, which is a plus during the pandemic.

KUESTER: We effectively lost April and May, which is our version of retail’s holiday shopping season. But we still had golf, which is a big deal as the country’s largest golf resort. We’re optimistic about the future. The trends are positive. We see two buckets — the social users and the group market. We had a dramatic drop in group business this year. It’s still soft, but that’s the situation everywhere.

Leisure travel has been resilient. Our presales for social business is up about 66% over the year prior, which is encouraging.

The corporate business on the books for next year has seen some evaporation in first quarter travel, and gathering bans remain in effect. The binary movement will be the vaccine and how quickly that gets approved and distributed. Landing the United States Golf Association’s second headquarters — Golf House Pinehurst — is an incredible shot in the arm for Pinehurst, the region and state.

It will have an incredible impact on visitation for this region and give us a boost starting in 2021. Though finalized later in the year than we had planned, its timing was perfect.

We accomplished something that few destinations could, which was getting a tourism-centric economic development

Sierra Nevada Brewing in Mills River is one of western North Carolina’s biggest tourist attractions.

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deal done during a pandemic. The USGA is physically linked to our campus, putting us on the same playing field as St. Andrews Links Trust and the R&A in Scotland, the home of golf. It was a group effort. Everybody, from the state to the county to the village of Pinehurst, is providing some level of economic incentives and tax breaks. From a branding standpoint, we’re already incorporating references to “Anchor Site,” which signifies this partnership’s longevity — three decades of U.S. Opens.

CARDEN: We’re a small rural community.

Our success during the pandemic started about 10 years ago, after we navigated the Great Recession. I’ve been a chamber of commerce director, so I put that hat on again. We started building infrastructure within our industry, and it has paid off. When I first arrived here, businesses didn’t network. They didn’t know one another. We changed that dynamic. We’ve empowered them. We communicate closely within our industry.

Our occupancy rate was down slightly in June. But our room nights were up by more than 2,000 over last year, which was a record. That was because they were offering discounted rates. I immediately sent out an email, and it has not been that way since. At the end of February, revenue was 15% ahead of last year, which was a 33-year record. We broke even for fiscal year 2020. Much of that was due to reformatting Garden Jubilee, one of our major Memorial Day weekend events. Instead of bringing 200,000 people to downtown Hendersonville, we spread them out by sending them to local nurseries and orchards. That helped those businesses because they had been growing plants for the event all spring. Our hotels have been full since Memorial Day weekend. We kicked off Apple Festival on Labor Day weekend following a similar format. We have an Orchard Trail brochure that sends people to local apple growers.

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our orchards prayed for a great season.

By Labor Day, they were praying for mercy because so many people were visiting.

They created an experience where people can pick apples, enjoy hayrides and other activities while staying safe. We help businesses promote CDC mandates and protocols. They all stepped up and have done great.

a video that will detail the impact of USGA’s Pinehurst headquarters announcement. It will forever change this destination. It most likely will be the biggest tourism impact in our lifetime. And it’s not only about golf. Real estate, health care — our county’s largest employer, tourism is second — restaurants and retail will benefit. Mark Elliott, chef and owner of Elliott’s on Linden in Pinehurst

and The Sly Fox in Southern Pines, says between 35% and 40% of his business is tourism based. Tourism is a huge economic engine for Moore County, and the CVB has been appealing to our county leaders to keep it alive and well with the much-needed increase of our occupancy tax to 6%, which is what more than 50 North Carolina counties collect and have been for years, if not decades.

TAMBELLINI: We’ve done a phenomenal job establishing ourselves as a destination over the last decade. People remember us even when we have paused advertising. Our long-term media relationships are holding us well right now.

And we have leaned on our wide-open spaces. We’re seeing improvement from the spring, especially on weekends. In October, our occupancy rate was slightly below pre-pandemic levels. The lack of group travel has hurt midweek business.

So destinations are leaning more on leisure travel. Our sales team has been creative, finding new ways to connect with meeting planners. Future events are being added to the docket.

HOW DOES TOURISM COMPLEMENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT? TUTTELL: Pinehurst and Moore County have done a fantastic job of realizing the potential of using tourism to spur economic development. They leverage what attracts people to their region — leisure travel — to bring businesses. If you produce golf equipment, for example, there’s no better place to do it. Where else can you showcase your products on some of the country’s finest courses in the Home of American Golf? We’re going to see more of this statewide in the future.

WERZ: I recently spoke with Christopher Chung, CEO of Raleigh-based Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. He said tourism is economic development. We work closely with Pat Corso, executive director of economic developer Moore County Partners in Progress, and Linda Parsons, president and CEO of Moore County Chamber of Commerce. Together we are producing D E C E M B E R

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Outdoor travel destinations such as the beaches of Currituck County, top left, the Pisgah National Forest, top right, Burntshirt Vineyards near Hendersonville, bottom left, and Pinehurst Resort, bottom right, have been popular in North Carolina during the pandemic.

BRINGING VISITORS TO YOUR DESTINATION IS VITAL TO ITS SUCCESS. WHO HAVE BEEN THE TARGETS OF YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS DURING THE PANDEMIC? TUTTELL: After the pandemic and its stayat-home orders hit in March, we wanted to understand the mindset of travelers, so we began weekly research. Most are afraid to travel during the pandemic. So we reset our sights and focused our marketing inside the state. We need residents to travel; many are our best customers. We also need them to welcome visitors into their communities. There was a lot of fear around outside visitors. North Carolinians are known for their hospitality. We couldn’t afford to have people take a chance, come here during a pandemic and be turned away or feel like they were an intrusion.

Our current targets are residents who want to travel and out-of-state visitors who live near the state line.

TAMBELLINI: Our marketing has changed quite a bit. We’re inviting people back to our community through public

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relations and social media. We have tried to strike a balance within our community between bringing back a bunch of people while our community is fighting the pandemic. We developed a methodology to evaluate when to turn on and off our marketing. We also look at the number of new COVID cases within a six-hour drive of Asheville, which is about a 300-mile radius. We exclude those counties that are above a standard deviation, so we aren’t marketing to people in COVID hot spots.

In midsummer, as too many counties were being added to the exclusion list, we turned off marketing for a period of time. We continue to monitor that metric.

We’ve used technology to create virtual visits, including 3D views of lodging options and venues, which showcase our destination to meeting planners. We also use drones to give them a complete view of properties, all from the comfort and safety of their tablet, laptop or desktop.

The industry will see technology used more in the next year or so, helping us do better jobs positioning ourselves with customers, whether they’re on the leisure or meetings side. We explored its

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use early this spring, when everything was closed. We launched a virtual Asheville website within a few weeks. Leisure travelers can use it to plan upcoming visits. It will have a long-term positive impact for us.

KUESTER: Leisure travel has led the recovery for Pinehurst and the industry as a whole. We saw 73% of our business mix in the third quarter come from the leisure market, for example, versus 45% the year prior. It was unforeseen to have such demand during a pandemic, but for us it all goes back to golf, which is the perfect sport for these times. I regularly see license plates from Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida and Texas around the village. People feel safe in their car, so they choose to drive here. It might be their one trip of the year, so they are not compromising it.

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stretches across the Mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast and Southeast. We pulled back from the Midwest and softened our digital marketing advertising. We didn’t lead with a strong call to action. Instead, we put out brand spots such as a video called “Sounds of Pinehurst,” which has generated more than 300,000 views on YouTube. It features B-roll beauty shots without narration. It reminds people of being outside in Pinehurst and what they’ll re-experience when they’re ready to travel again. We’ve seen success with that type of campaign.

SCHMIDT: We have to consider the importance of social distancing during the pandemic. How do we get people outside, where it’s easier to maintain?

Establishing our Sports Commission and securing national and our first international event, the Little League Softball World Series, which will be held this coming summer, were big steps. But one market we hadn’t dived into is disc golf.

So we threw around the idea of having a disc-golf tournament. We worked with a local committee, and we’ve had three between March and September. Now we’re on the cusp of hosting our first national disc-golf tournament, once we build another course. A Greenville suburb is considering doing just that after seeing the game’s local success, especially from the socially distancing aspect. No one had thought about investing in the sport before the pandemic.

We also have begun promoting local food and beverage. While we’ve had a craft brewery trail, and food and beverage are important components for visitors, we haven’t pushed them. But we’ve started with local residents. They need to be comfortable going out in the community, eating at restaurants and visiting craft breweries, before we ask visitors to do that. We’ve had good success.

plenty of outdoor dining options. We’ve been telling locals and visitors to come down and experience our cuisine in a safe socially distant outdoor setting. We’ve pushed that. We also have used different blogs that reach different demographics and generations. Each highlight what appeals to its target group’s members and what they can do outdoors. We pulled back our marketing efforts to contiguous states. We’re doing more digital advertising. It gives us a wider reach, and we can change it on a dime if we need. Our fall campaign reminds people that our weather remains great, and they can still enjoy the outdoors. Remote learning and working have made more time for travel.

So we’re marketing to that: Rent a beach house, get away and do your work and lessons from here. You can do both here as well as you can sitting at home, and you have the added benefit of an escape.

HUFHAM: We’re very fortunate in that our location and its climate allow for

WERZ: We’re inviting more social-media influencers and bloggers to visit because

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TRAVEL & TOURISM you can’t host larger familiarity tours right now. We’re promoting individual media experiences. We don’t have a huge budget, so we have to make every penny count. ESPN Radio Pittsburgh, for example, wanted us to spend significant funds to bring Gerry Dulac’s show here.

He works with the Pittsburgh Steelers football team and is a noted golf commentator. He has a huge following in Pittsburgh, which is a great target market for us. They visited this summer and said they’d do it for free, just let them play golf in exchange for the two-hour broadcast.

So we set them up, and they did the broadcast, interviewing Pinehurst Resort President Tom Pashley, Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club President Kelly Miller and other golf and community leaders.

They know we’ll come back to them when the economy improves.

Our video-production unit will roll out a weekly segment called Explore Moore on Mondays starting in January. Its, hosts Megan and Jeremy, live in Moore County.

Viewers will experience it through their eyes and hopefully want to do what they do. With it airing at the start of the week, viewers will have time to make plans for the weekend. Some of the content will be repurposed for Megan’s social media, including 50,000 Instagram followers and 200,000 Facebook friends, most of whom live outside the region.

CARDEN: I usually do a lot of international advertising, but I refocused it to domestic by late spring. We had visitors from 30 countries last year. That’s shifting.

HOW ARE YOU ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO TRAVEL IN WAYS THAT KEEP THEM AND YOUR DESTINATION’S RESIDENTS SAFE? TUTTELL: We created Count On Me NC — countonmenc.org — a health and safety campaign that encourages travelers and businesses to keep everyone safe from COVID. Most tourism businesses statewide are engaged with it.

It asks people to not travel while they’re sick, remain socially distant and wear a mask. We’re asking businesses to pledge safety efforts, too. We offer five courses,

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including food safety and cleaning. Once a business completes them, it’s placed on a list that visitors can reference. More than 10,000 businesses have done that.

We want visitors to be comfortable with traveling and residents comfortable with people visiting. The best way to do that is to make sure that visitors and residents do the proper behaviors to prevent the spread of COVID. CARDEN: Several years ago, I created my first trail brochure, Cheers Trail. It directed visitors to six beer and hard-cider venues. It’s up to 23 locations as of last year, including Sierra Nevada, whose East Coast operations are in Mills River, as well as Bold Rock Hard Cider, which is the country’s largest hard cider maker.

We’re an American viticulture region like California’s Napa Valley. So while everybody was closed, I created Cheers Trail Passport Program. If you visit at least 12 of the 23 — and get your passport stamped at each — you get a gift. People are already redeeming them. It allows people to travel at their pace and comfort such as choosing less busy times. It’s a way to enjoy what we have.

We are blessed to have a variety of things to see, do and experience. We’re a year-round destination with a mild climate. Our location is excellent; most of western North Carolina is within a couple hours drive. We’re focusing on what people can do and feel safe. Those activities are reflected in our national marketing.

When the pandemic hit, we already had marketing placed two months out. I always have done a lot of advertising in the Southeast. We recently put up billboards within a five-hour driving distance. We expect a great winter.

TAMBELLINI: We’re fortunate. We have access to a proprietary database that teases out characteristics of different visitor groups, helping us decide who’s most likely to be responsible and adhere to safety guidelines such as wearing masks. We’ve augmented these efforts with signage throughout the community that reminds of the three Ws — wash your hands frequently, wait at least 6 feet apart and wear a mask. We’re making

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a commitment to bring back visitors, making them feel safe in our community while keeping our residents safe, too.

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE COMING YEAR? SCHMIDT: There’s a lot of optimism.

There are three hotel projects being planned or breaking ground in uptown Greenville next year. People are counting on the pandemic easing, whether that’s from a vaccine or a course of treatment that, if you get COVID, will lessen its effects and you’ll be OK. We’re planning for the spring as if we’ll be rolling again, though maybe not as fast as we were last February. As a destination, we have to believe we can’t live like this forever.

We must be an aggressive market. All the signs I see point to the community feeling that way. We’re going to be working hard and traveling hard. And we’ve had time to plan in case we need to continue to do things differently.

HUFHAM: Collaborating more has been a silver lining to the pandemic. Many communities have realized that it’s more important than ever to pull together, supporting one another as we enter a new way of doing business. It’s never going to be the same. We must be flexible moving forward. We have to regain our visitors’ confidence. We have to promote that we’re a safe and welcoming destination. Tourism recovery is vital to our region and state.

KUESTER: I do believe that people are suffering from quarantine fatigue and are venturing out because we are social creatures. We’re blessed to live in North Carolina. Our state’s geography is incredibly diverse. I’ve visited the mountains, where my parents have a place in Banner Elk, and I’ve spent time at the coast. Each time that I’ve visited those places this year, I see people enjoying the outdoors.

It’s as if we’ve rediscovered the beauty of this great state. As for next year, we’re being cautious with our budgeting and capital planning, deciding how much to spend against next year’s forecast.

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TRAVEL & TOURISM I do think that we’ve hit bottom in the group-travel market.

Videoconferencing has been a wonderful communication tool, but it cannot replace face-to-face meetings forever. There is a happy medium in the future that we need to reach, and I think we are nearing it. We will continue to put our eggs in the leisure travel basket, because that is where the lowest risk remains in terms of the pandemic. We’ve seen the leisure consumer show resilience. We expect to see a continued flight to quality, less densely populated places. We are well positioned for that given our proximity to Charlotte, the Triangle and the Triad. The big question is when will the corporate market bounce back. We have rolled out a group market campaign called Meet Among the Pines, which invokes a feeling of wide-open spaces, pine canopies and fresh air. The village of Pinehurst was founded as a health retreat in 1895, so in a way we are going back to our roots. I think it will be a year of

two stories. The first will be challenging, but we’ll see occupancies progressively improve through the year. I’m optimistic that 2021 will be better for all hospitality owners and operators.

CARDEN: We must continue to do what we can to promote our regions and our local tourism-dependent businesses.

For many of them, the more money they made, the more they spent. They weren’t saving for a rainy day. And no one predicted that a pandemic would bring this many consecutive rainy days. Those businesses that did save kept their doors open, marketed themselves in unique ways and found success. We see brighter days ahead. I told my staff when the crisis first hit that tourism will be a leader in the recovery of our economy.

TAMBELLINI: There have been many amazing things happening — innovations and announcements — during the

pandemic. Who would have guessed that Asheville would host the Maui Invitational college basketball tournament, which receives national exposure on ESPN. But we are, at the end of November and beginning of December. We have to remain vigilant, certainly in January and February.

We’re exploring ways to help our small businesses that rely on visitors. We’ve done a good job bringing in customers to create sustainability for them over the last several years. But as we move into spring, we’re optimistic about inviting people into our communities. More leisure travelers better understand safe traveling. They are returning to air travel. Local governments and businesses within our community are collaborating, creating outside spaces and sidewalk parklets. Those, with the help of a vaccine and other COVID controls, will make people more confident about travel.

Certainly, our budget is predicated on seeing that through spring. And that positive trend should continue into 2022.

TUTTELL: We’re counting on more stimulus funds from the federal and state governments. It would bridge the gap to summer, when tourism, hopefully, is cranking again. Thank goodness for what the federal government, the governor’s office and state government already did to help. A big part of the Count On Me NC program is funded by the federal $2.2 trillion CARES Act. We’ve distributed grants to CVBs statewide. We’re ready to attract eager travelers. But other states are hungry for them, too. We must do all we can to market, keep people here and attract others as soon as they can travel.

Leisure travel will return, but the status of international and group travel is unknown.

The biggest question is business travel.

How much will technology, such as video conferencing, change it? If you used to travel 100 days a year, will you only be gone 80 or 60 in the future? Everybody is telling me that they can’t wait to get on the road again, because business works better with in-person interaction. I believe business travel will return, and hopefully that’s as soon as possible. ■

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RUFF TIMES Two Greenville canine enthusiasts have hung on through the virus with a renewed devotion to their doggy day care business.

BY TAYLOR WANBAUGH

Barking Buddies Doggy day care and boarding facility

PHOTO BY CHRISTER BERG

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t all started with a dog named Ruger.

Greenville resident Julie Linder adopted Ruger in 2014 as a buddy for her parents’ dog, Adam. It was a great fit, except for one major issue: Ruger had terrible separation anxiety. Left to his own devices while Linder worked occasional 12-hour shifts as a nurse, he would tear apart the house, chewing on furniture and ripping up blinds.

Linder knew she couldn’t be the only dog owner dealing with this issue. So it gave her an idea: Why not start her own doggy day care?

She reached out to her friend Phyllis Manning who had recently retired from a customer care position in the boating industry, and together the two dog lovers formed Greenville’s Barking Buddies, a 2020 Small Business of the Year.

Barking Buddies offers day care from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, overnight boarding, and a variety of add-on services such as individual cuddle time, paw massages, specialty treats and baths. Pricing ranges from $16 for a half-day of day care to $40 per night for boarding in the “family villa” for one pet. Linder, who still works full time in the health care industry, manages the business’ accounting while Manning handles day-to-day operations. More than three-fourths of the dogs that come through their doors are mixed breeds and rescue dogs, a higher percentage than for most operators, Manning says.

“We do a lot of sponsorships with animal organizations like the Humane Society in town because we feel like it’s our obligation to give back,” Linder adds. “The majority of the animals that we care for are rescue dogs, and so we try to help support those organizations to continue their work.”

Finding the right location that met city codes was a big initial challenge.

“Once we finally did find a place and rented [it], we were getting ready to get set up,” Linder says. “Phyllis’ niece was actually painting a mural on the wall of Ruger … and the county called us and said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, we made this mistake. You can’t actually use that [building]. It won’t fit code.’”

Feeling defeated, the women started the search again. Four months later, they found a new home in a former retail fabric shop in south Greenville. They renovated the building, installing kennels, play yards and dog runs.

Over the next five years, Barking Buddies grew in size and reputation. Initially averaging 15 to 20 dogs per day with five employees, in 2017, the business added 14 more boarding lodges, installed turf, and added play yards and dog runs. By January 2020, Barking Buddies had 25 employees and averaged between 65 to 75 dogs daily.

Then the business was met with its second big challenge: the

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Headquarters: Greenville Owners: Phyllis Manning and Julie Linder Employees: 20 Founded: 2015 Special sauce: Passion for pets

COVID-19 pandemic. Barking Buddies shut down in April for a month to “regroup and figure out our processes so that we could keep people safe,” Linder says. “We were worried about our team members coming into contact with our customers, many of whom work at the hospital.”

Linder and Manning say that they had about 826 boarding reservations canceled due to the coronavirus and were faced with an estimated revenue loss of more than $175,000. Due to statewide pandemic restrictions, many customers were quarantining at home and didn’t need to board their dogs. The owners were unsure if Barking Buddies would reopen.

But they recognized the important role their business played in the lives of the many dog-owning essential health care workers in Greenville, where one of the biggest employers is Vidant Health Care.

Manning worked with her staff to come up with a COVID-19-safe plan, and Barking Buddies reopened May 4.

“We had a supply chain challenge with our cleaning supplies,” Linder says. “And we needed to increase cleaning because of COVID. So that was a little bit more of a challenge.”

But Linder and Manning were determined. They began making

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Phyllis Manning, left, and Julie Linder, right, own Barking Buddies

daily visits to local businesses for supplies, as customers were limited to amounts they could purchase due to shortages.

Another obstacle was figuring out how to reduce person-to-person contact when customers dropped off or picked up their dogs. Barking Buddies purchased slip lead leashes for each employee to use, eliminating the need to touch potentially contaminated personal collars, harnesses and leashes. New practices such as twice-daily cleanings and banning personal belongings and beds were put in place to keep employees safe. Barking Buddies has Kuranda beds for each kennel, which can be sanitized after each use.

“One of the things that we did with the drop offs and the pickups is making sure everybody’s wearing a mask — we asked our customers to wear masks — [and] making sure that people are physically distanced apart,” Linder says.

On the first day of reopening, Barking Buddies welcomed 36 dogs.

As of early November, the day care was at about 75% of pre-COVID attendance. Though revenue hasn’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels, the business is continuing to profit and persevere through an unprecedented time.

Linder says Barking Buddies’ biggest challenge remains staffing.

Operating in a college town with many transient students, it’s difficult to maintain workers who are the right “fit” for the job.

“It is physically exhausting and a physically demanding job,” Linder says. “[It’s about] finding someone that can work hard but also show compassion to the dogs and [pay] attention to detail. The attention to detail is important for the dog’s health. … Staffing is always a challenge because you have got to have the right person. A lot of times, we find that just because [they’ve] worked in another doggy day care boarding facility, [it] doesn’t mean you fit in well with ours.”

For the owners, running Barking Buddies is more than just a job: Taking care of dogs is a passion. Manning recalls a conversation with a girl who came for a job interview. The interviewee asked her, “How many dogs do you own?”

“Well, personally, at the time I owned three,” Manning says. “But every day, I own every dog out there in that facility — all these dogs belong to me.”

She laughs. “The good part about that is I don’t have to pay for the vet bills — or the food.” ■

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SPIRIT LIFTERS A fourth-generation business reinvested in its community during a bleak time.

BY PAGE LEGGETT

E

PHOTOS BY BRANDI SWARMS

ven in the middle of health and economic crises, business at Asheville’s Bolton Construction and Service of WNC has been booming. Some problems — including anything having to do with plumbing, electrical, or heating and air — won’t wait for a pandemic to pass.

But leaders at the family-run company, in business since 1925, recognized the stress the pandemic was putting on their 65 employees, who had been declared essential workers. “The real heroes in our business are the field staff who can’t do their jobs from home,” says Mark Bolton, a company vice president and part of the family business’ fourth generation.

But many western North Carolina businesses weren’t faring as well through the pandemic restrictions. A drop in tourism and state government-mandated shutdowns slammed area companies.

“By June, the economic situation began to look bleak for many local businesses that have trusted our services for years,” Bolton says. To support those companies and lift his own staff’s spirits, “we decided to give every team member an extra $250 to spend as they choose, but made a special request that the money be spent in support of other local businesses harmed by the extreme drop in western North Carolina tourism.”

Employees shopped at Well-Bred Bakery & Café in Weaverville; Second Gear, an Asheville outdoor equipment consignment store; Summit Building Supply in Burnsville; and several other businesses.

The Boltons have a reputation for treating employees, customers and the community like kin. Perhaps it’s because many members of the Bolton clan still play a large part in the business.

The company’s roots are in Wake County, where William Bolton Sr. started a business in 1925 to install coal-fired heating and refrigeration systems for dairies and meatpackers. The company expanded across the state and once employed nearly 500 people. It later reorganized into separate Asheville and Raleigh plumbing, heating and air conditioning enterprises with Mark’s

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Bolton Construction and Service of WNC Plumbing, electric, heating and air company Headquarters: Asheville President: Bill Bolton Employees: 65 Founded: 1925 Special sauce: Local business boost

brother, Will, running the Wake County operation.

Mark’s dad, William “Bill” Bolton III, is involved in an advisory capacity. Mark runs the day-to-day operation, describing his role as “always looking at what’s next.” His sister, Cathey, answers the phone after hours.

“I’ve got to hand it to my dad,” says Mark Bolton, who is 34. “He set my brother and me up to run two separate businesses.” The brothers share ideas and business insurance, but there’s no chance of a power struggle.

Mark Bolton never felt pressured to join the family business. “I grew up in Raleigh and wanted a change of scenery, to do something different, so I went to Wyoming for five years,” he says. He earned a degree in mechanical systems engineering from the University of Wyoming.

There’s a fifth generation of Boltons — Mark’s nephews are N.C. State University students — who will have the option of joining one of the family businesses.

The pandemic caught many off guard, but Bolton Construction was as prepared as any business could be. “We’ve been very fortunate in that when this all started, we already had a warehouse stocked with protective gear — latex gloves, masks,” Bolton says. “Our guys in the field already had experience with having to wear masks. It’s just

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Mark Bolton, vice president of Bolton Construction and Service of WNC

standard practice when you’re drilling and creating dust.”

While longevity counts, Bolton emphasizes that the company has had to evolve to better serve customers. “We’ve got to make sure we’re changing with the times, because the way we did business just five years ago is not the way we do business today,” he says.

Take marketing, for instance. “We noticed our business was getting left in the dust by new competitors entering the market,” he says. “Our 95-year-old business only had 30 or 40 Google reviews about a year ago, while Joe down the street who opened up shop last year had over 100.”

Bolton didn’t know until he started investigating that many businesses urge customers to post Google reviews. “Using a simple phone app, our technicians have been able to quickly and easily send a request for review and get feedback.” The company has added a blog with customer tips and a Facebook page.

The company also shifted recruiting strategies, including placing ads in larger cities rather than just local media. They figured that people might want to flee big cities and have a shorter commute and cheaper cost of living. “We’ve had more qualified applicants from other cities than we have locally,” he says.

Like many in the construction and trade industries, Bolton

says that one of the company’s biggest challenges is recruiting qualified workers.

Bolton isn’t hoping for a pipeline of plumbers, electricians and HVAC techs to emerge from the ether. Seeking the next generation of workers, officials periodically visit local middle schools to talk about opportunities in the trades. “This is not a ‘dirty job,’” Bolton says. “It can be a career with great benefits.”

They used to set up at high school career fairs but found that most teens had already ruled out working in the field. “There are still preconceived notions — although that’s changing — and still a stigma,” Bolton says. “It’s like when you were in high school and your teachers would try to push you to do better by saying, ‘You don’t want to end up being the fry guy for the next 30 years.’ I think somehow the trades have been put into that category.”

Bolton Construction’s work is evident all over North Carolina including new classroom buildings at university campuses and Asheville-area breweries. “To see those buildings being used — something physical you can touch ­— it’s very gratifying,” Bolton says. “We’ve worked on buildings at N.C. State, Duke, Chapel Hill and at hospitals around the state. We help people solve problems.” ■ D E C E M B E R

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MEDIA MATTERS A year of change brought community to the forefront for the media-buying agency.

Media Two Media-buying agency

BY SAMANTHA ROSENFELD PHOTO BY CHRISTER BERG

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edia Two was born in 1998 in a small office space above an Ace Hardware store in Minnesota, proclaiming to be a digital media-buying agency back when some weren’t sure this newfangled internet thing had legs. “It all kind of happened from that old school in a bar, with a beverage napkin and a buddy drawing out a business plan,” CEO and founder Michael Hubbard says. More than two decades and 14 employees later, Media Two’s tagline “Ad Boldly” is still ringing true, prompting inclusion as one of our 2020 Small Businesses of the Year.

“I went to school for what I would call a soccer degree, and I learned that I really wasn’t as good at sports as I had thought I was,” Hubbard says. Instead, he stumbled upon statistics, numbers and marketing during his junior and senior years at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. After graduation, Hubbard joined an agency that handled direct responses, which deepened his passion for all things data.

Hubbard later sold ads for the Investor’s Business Daily newspaper, and he found himself fielding many calls from companies interested in investing in lead-generation tools. “I kept talking to them about this new thing called the internet and how they should really get involved with it,” Hubbard says. “At some point, one of my clients finally said, ‘Look, I’ll pay you millions of dollars to just go off and do this for us.’”

The millions never materialized, but it prompted him to start his business just as digital marketing was accelerating. Hubbard moved the business, which then had four employees, to the Triangle in 2003 after visiting a college friend in Durham. “One day we went down to the beach and then the next day we drove up to the mountains,” he says. “My wife and I looked at each other and said, ‘Why in the world do we not live in North Carolina?’”

Two decades later, Media Two has tried its hand in most anything related to the web. It served as a beta tester for Google’s AdWords service launched in 2000, managed social-media campaigns and designed websites. Nixing the allure to chase the next trend, Hubbard decided 11 years ago to specialize in media buying because of its potential, which he says proved to be a wise decision. “[Media buying] is understanding your audience and optimizing your data so that the right message gets placed in front of the right person at the right price and at the right time.”

Like many small-business owners, Hubbard says his purpose shifted significantly in 2020, thanks to COVID-19. “My role started to transition into focusing on developing new business about a year ago. So

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Headquarters: Raleigh CEO: Michael Hubbard Employees: 14 Founded: 1998 Special sauce: Pay-it-forward efforts

essentially, this year, with no new business, I really became useless,” he jokes. Instead, he says he’s added the designation of top cheerleader for his staff.

Media Two moved to its downtown Blount Street offices in 2017 with the owners investing in a snack bar with a beer tap, a fitness room, showers, custom decks and conference tables designed by Raleigh Reclaimed, and tree swings. But the look is very different today than in the past. “I am the only one currently sitting in an 8,000-square-foot office space,” Hubbard said in late October.

Management proactively sent employees to work from home in early March, for safety and family reasons. “Employees at Media Two now became full-time parents, teachers, health care providers, and so many more important roles than just a marketer in a cool space,” company officials noted.

Being in a downtown Raleigh storefront meant Media Two was one of many small businesses physically impacted by the May 31 protests over the death of George Floyd and other social justice issues. The company’s employees rallied together in the early morning hours to repair broken windows and other damage to their building while also

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Michael Hubbard, CEO of Media Two

looking to help others.

Despite challenges of 2020, Media Two has expanded over the last eight months. “We did actually hire three new people this year, which was beyond my wildest expectations to be hiring in this kind of environment,” Hubbard says.

An immediate effect of the pandemic was less revenue from Media Two’s travel and tourism clients, which have included the Downtown Raleigh Alliance and the Caribbean’s Curaçao Tourist Board. “In the marketing business, when things go bad, the first thing to happen is that marketing gets cut from the budget, so [Media Two] just stopped worrying about that side of things,” Hubbard says. “We decided instead to really hyper-focus on our current accounts and how we can get them through this process.”

The organization also decided to give bonuses to every employee, despite the pandemic’s initial shock and widespread layoffs among many rival marketers. The catch was that employees were encouraged to share a portion of the money with someone who was more greatly impacted by the unexpected crisis.

“We were starting to see success, and we knew that there were other people around us who weren’t,” says Hubbard in a thick voice, clearly moved even months later. “The stories that came back were just amazing.” Overall, Media Two’s 14 employees shared more than $20,000 with coaches, hairdressers, grocery and restaurant workers, and others.

Hubbard says the organization also redoubled its efforts to focus on human factors rather than just normal day-to-day business activities.

“A lot of the conversations I am having [with Media Two employees] are focused on mental health, asking them how they are doing and if they can do this for another year if we have to continue working remotely,” says Hubbard about his weekly one-on-one meetings.

Through late October, Media Two was on pace for a 30% increase in annual profit versus 2018 and a record year for revenue. Asked about plans for 2021, Hubbard says, “I think if there’s anything we take away from this year, it’s that we need to plan for upping the human element in every aspect of our lives.” ■

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VIEW FROM ON TOP Scotsman Iain Fergusson has turned a childhood interest into a thriving Wilmington roofing company.

BY JENNINGS COOL PHOTOS BY BRANDI SWARMS

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hile growing up in his ancestral home in Scotland, Iain Fergusson remembers spending time repairing its slate roof. He enjoyed the work, learning that preventing leaks requires good,

honest effort.

Decades later in 2005 at age 30 and living in Wilmington, Fergusson started Highland Roofing, the name a nod to his Scottish roots. He has built it into a $20 million revenue business with more than 50 employees, earning judge’s votes as a winner in Business North Carolina’s annual Small Businesses of the Year competition.

Fergusson came to the U.S. in the late 1990s after dropping out of the University of Glasgow, joining his former wife, Rebecca; they met while she was in Scotland on a study-abroad program. He found work doing shingle and tile projects for a residential roofing contractor for about nine months. “I just remembered I loved being up high on the roof.”

Not ready to settle down, the couple spent a few years adventuring around the world, traveling through Europe and the U.S. They planted roots in January 2000 after cutting short plans for a road trip through North Carolina that started and ended in Wilmington. The decision came after enjoying a lunch outdoors during a beautiful, sunny day. “We never finished the road trip; it was just too nice,” he says.

For the first five years in the coastal city, Fergusson worked odd jobs, including teaching tennis through a friendship with a local pro. After their twins were born, Fergusson got serious

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Highland Roofing Roofing company Headquarters: Wilmington President: Iain Fergusson Employees: 50 Founded: 2005 Special sauce: Successful expansion into commercial work

about finding a steady job to provide for his family.

“Because I dropped out of college, the only thing I knew was roofing,” Fergusson says. He decided to join a local roofing company, gaining knowledge needed to start his own business.

After a few months on the job, he broke off and founded Highland Roofing.

“I started the business without a whole lot of knowledge,” Fergusson says. “It’s kind of like what I did when I took a job teaching tennis, even though I did not know how to play tennis.

I found myself with a roofing company, not knowing enough about roofing. But I was aware of it and careful with it. I was successful because I learned on the job.”

The business, which is co-owned by Fergusson and Rebecca, specializes in commercial roofing projects, including repairs, replacements and restoration. In 2015, Highland Roofing moved away from residential roofing after acquiring a local competitor, Hanover Iron Works, a year earlier.

Hanover had revenue of about $2.5 million annually and

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Iain Fergusson, president of Highland Roofing

provided an established commercial customer base.

Revenue has increased from $8.5 million in 2017, $13.7 million in 2018 and $21.1 million in 2019. Customers include some high-profile Wilmington employers such as Live Oak Bank and fintech company nCino. Separately, Fergusson owns Coastal Fabrication, a sheet metal business that gets most of its revenue from making metal flashings and trim for Highland.

A key factor in Highland’s growth was the creation in 2017 of a division that applies a GE Silicone sealant. “The materials can be applied on top of the existing roof, and the membrane is essentially created onsite using a fluid-applied process resulting in a monolithic and lightweight system,” Fergusson says. “It saves on landfill materials, helps businesses be more energy efficient and saves on long-term energy costs.”

Some of the revenue growth also stems from repairs related to widespread damage caused by Hurricanes Florence and Dorian in 2018 and 2019. But Fergusson says the ultimate source is a team of talented and dedicated employees.

“Wilmington is a really good-sized town. If you do good work, if you treat people well and get a good reputation, your reputation will spread quite quickly,” he says.

Highland expanded to Myrtle Beach four years ago and added a Raleigh location in 2018. Growth at the beach has slowed this year because of the hospitality industry’s pandemic troubles, while the company has intentionally grown its Triangle-area business at a slow pace. “Now we are starting to put more boots on the ground and take on some larger projects,” he says.

Plans call for an expansion into Charlotte, but Fergusson says he’s more focused on expanding at the current locations and improving internal processes.

“I am going to grow, in terms of revenue, less than I probably could in order to grow right — to be able to continue to refine the internal processes, to continue to improve our culture, even more so, and to get the team that I do have really gelling.” ■

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START TO FINISH Scott Daugherty is stepping aside after leading the state’s small business development effort for 36 years.

BY EDWARD MARTIN

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The U.S. Small Business Administration says North Carolina has 1.6 million workers in businesses of fewer than 100 employees, approaching half of the workforce.

Daugherty has built the organization that has helped create many of those businesses and jobs into a force of its own, with 16 offices and about 75 employees. Part of the UNC System, it

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SBTDC

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t’s odd that Scott Daugherty’s career would end this way.

After a couple of years at Wake Forest University and earning a law degree from the University of Florida in 1972, he worked for a wealthy Palm Beach heir of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. supermarket family, creating nonprofits and “becoming an expert on charitable giving.”

Along the way, he would spend two years in the Army during the Vietnam War, much of it counseling amputees as a psychiatric technician or helping inner-city teens. He worked for a community-development organization and a commercial developer in the Mississippi Delta and was a deputy legal counsel for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., better known as Freddie Mac. Small businesses? Not much pointed that way, but Daugherty landed in Raleigh in 1984 when state officials were toying with a center that would help them get started, grow and thrive. The program would also pave the way for technology to make the leap from campus to commercialization.

Congress had created a national Small Business Development Center program in partnership with the Small Business Administration and universities. Daugherty helped University of North Carolina System President Bill Friday develop North Carolina’s program, then was then hired as its first director.

Daugherty, 77, will retire in January as director, the only one the N.C. Small Business and Technology Development Center has ever had. Its record of success over the last decade, only about the last third of his career there, speaks to his impact. During that time, the center helped N.C. small businesses increase sales by more than $1 billion, grow their capitalization by more than $1.3 billion, and create 36,000 jobs.

“About a third of our clients have fewer than 10 employees, and 45% have 10 to 50,” he says. “But it’s in the aggregate that small businesses are so important.”

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works with more than 500 business owners, offering counseling and other assistance in specialties such as exporting, market research, accessing private equity, technology development and communications.

“Scott and the SBTDC have been invaluable partners in supporting the creation, retention and growth of small businesses in the state,” says Christopher Chung, CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. “Scott has dedicated himself to helping small businesses, which employ nearly 45% of the state’s private-sector workforce, and his work these past 36 years no doubt leaves a lasting impact on North Carolina’s economic prosperity.”

N.C. Commerce Secretary Tony Copeland says that Daugherty has been an effective and reliable champion of the state’s smallbusiness community for decades. His accessible brand of leadership won’t be easy to replace, he adds. As of mid-November, a successor had not been chosen.

A veteran, Daugherty cites the center’s support for what it calls its Boots to Business program, helping former service members set up businesses. More than 12% of center clients are veterans.

“The fundamentals of building a company and struggling to break even haven’t changed much, though, of course, the business environment has,” he says. “The foundation underpinnings of finding capital and successfully launching have not changed a lot, though the shelf life of businesses seems a little shorter than it used to be.”

Attitudes have shifted, say Daugherty and other workforce

experts. Today’s small-business owner is more likely to choose to be one. “A lot of people in the 1980s were looking at small businesses as an alternative to job loss,” he says. Now, they’re showing more confidence in their ideas and products. “There’s a strong, broader interest in the possibility of a small business than there might have been 35 years ago.”

Another change strikes Daugherty. “There are more women and minority entrepreneurs than in 1984,” he says. The SBA says the state is seventh nationally in the growth of women-owned businesses. There are about 333,000 that employ more than 300,000, with sales that top $39 billion a year.

Daugherty’s first taste of North Carolina came more than 40 years ago. His grandfather relocated from Michigan to Statesville to work for Kewaunee Scientific, which still makes specialized laboratory cabinets and furniture for hospitals and universities.

“I wanted an away experience in college but wasn’t completely stupid,” he says. “I found Wake Forest — the best two years of my life — and my grandparents were 30 miles away in Statesville and not too obtrusive.”

In retirement, he’ll consult and make speeches and expects to travel with his wife. While that plan is dampened by the pandemic, his enthusiasm for his life’s work hasn’t waned.

“Small businesses are impressive because of the large number of people they employ,” he says. “Interestingly, for many people — the high school senior working as a bagger at the grocery store or flower shop or others with similar jobs — a small business remains their introduction to the workplace.” ■

▲ Daugherty helped UNC System President Bill Friday, right, form the state’s small business and technology center program in 1984. Friday retired two years later after running UNC for 30 years.

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FUTURE NC

The pandemic is altering the world of work at a dizzying pace, creating a mix of optimism and fear.

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n a pandemic world, this is the future of work. On the airy campus of Cone Health Cancer Center at Wesley Long Hospital in central Greensboro, a technician in blue scrubs places a vial in a stainless-steel cabinet and slides its glass-paneled door shut with a soft clang. Delicate robotic fingers connected to Popeye-like mechanical forearms of a $500,000 robot pick it up with surgical finesse, injecting its chemicals into an IV bag.

A patient’s life depends on this chemotherapy mix, but merely inhaling the vapors of some of these powerful drugs can endanger the technicians compounding them. “You can’t get it wrong in cancer care,” says Adam Peele, the former oncology pharmacy director, a Generation X pharmacist with close-cropped hair and chin scruff.

Variations of this scenario unfold daily in Durham and Chapel Hill, at Duke University Medical Center and UNC Medical Center, Charlotte’s Atrium Health, and a dozen other Tar Heel hospitals.

The future of work is here too, in Asheville, where a writer uses artificial intelligence to create magazine articles — not Shakespeare, he concedes, but readable.

On a late-summer day, the founder of a young company with clients such as Bayer Crop Science is using similar technology to calculate optimal conditions for crops in nearby Orange County or around the world in economically developing nations. Today, he’s working remotely, looking out the window across the pasturelands of his modest farm. Tomorrow, he’ll return to his office and a half-dozen colleagues in a former drugstore in a small town on the Virginia border. It’s in coworking spaces, part of a trend away from expensive office ownership that discourages promising young startups.

The future of work is here too, in downtown Charlotte, where Truist Financial is creating an Innovation and Technology Center incorporating intelligent automation and behavioral science. A few floors above in the 47-story Truist Center, more change is unfolding at the offices of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the global professional-services firm. But the outlook for office towers like this is hazy, and a recent PwC survey learned why. A third of the executives in 120 companies such as Truist and nearby Bank of America expect to need less office space as employees increasingly work from remote locations and press for flexible work schedules.

No, skyscrapers won’t become obsolete, assures a Charlotte developer who’s built millions of feet of office space, but there’ll be less need for them to cluster in downtowns.

Nine months ago, North Carolina recorded its first case of COVID-19 in Raleigh. Since then, more than 317,495 have been diagnosed and more than 4,852 have died. In that time, the pandemic has dramatically changed how we work, the tools we use, and even where and why we work. In many cases, such as with automation and artificial intelligence, the changes have been brewing for years, but the virus has accelerated them at a breathtaking pace.

Mark Wilson, an associate professor of industrial and organizational psychology at N.C. State University, considers the momentous events that have altered work and culture in the last 200 years, including the Industrial Revolution, Machine Age, Space Age and 9/11 and its accompanying Age of Terrorism.

“On an order of magnitude, this is bigger than all those things,” he says. “We are still in the early days of COVID-19, when people don’t even completely understand the implications.”

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FUTURE NC Another N.C. State expert, Michael Walden, the William Neal Reynolds Distinguished professor and extension economist, says we’re in a different world. “The big question is how far will we be pushed? Some estimate that 45% of the workforce will be working remotely in 10 years. We won’t ever go back to the preCOVID world.”

Work that undergoes revolutionary change is not unprecedented. Some past patterns, however, took eons or at least decades to establish. Cheap hydroelectricity christened Tar Heel textiles beginning in the late 1800s, luring farmers off the land and into plants and factories. Farm employment dropped from 81% in 1880 to about 2% today.

Now, pandemic-propelled technology is reimagining work in less than a year. Though long under development, artificial intelligence and machine learning in which computers “learn” from repetition are being hustled into applications such as Cone’s robotic pharmacist. Employers are balancing mission and worker and client safety through distancing or remote work.

More than two dozen Raleigh, Charlotte and Wilmington health care groups and other organizations were recently advertising for machine-learning specialists, typically salaried at $100,000 and more annually.

The pandemic is accelerating changes in future work in several fields once thought immune to automation, from police and health care to logistics. One fast-food chain is even experimenting with artificial intelligence with robotic burger flippers.

In a large distribution center in west Greensboro, computers using advanced barcode technology know the weight to within a gram of thousands of different products, boxing, labeling and sending them along conveyor lines to trucks untouched by workers, who are on hand to intervene in rare cases when automatedweighing devices detect a fraction of an ounce discrepancy.

Before long, the trucks will also drive themselves.

Industrial experts say such systems, often boasting good wages, are part of the future work matrix but carry a large caveat — human jobs will increasingly be replaced by robots and computers.

Amazon, which is filling the world with distribution centers, recently acknowledged its automation will force dramatic change and is allocating more than a half-billion dollars to retrain employees for more skilled roles.

In eastern North Carolina in towns such as Clinton, Tar Heel and St. Pauls, turkey, chicken and pork plants that employ 33,000 workers are increasingly relying on artificial intelligence, laser scanning, computers, and robots to slaughter and cut apart the animals we eat.

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Smithfield Foods, a giant pork producer, will be doing the bulk of its plant work with advanced robotics, automation and artificial intelligence by 2050, says a spokeswoman. But the importance of such technology has already been driven home after food-processing plants nationwide faced brief shutdowns because of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Another technological advance has arrived, experts say, just in time to accelerate pandemic-induced changes in future work.

The fifth generation of mobile technology, 5G, is erasing the distance between traditional and remote offices.

“Even if we have only a 10% to 20% less demand for office space, that will have a huge knockoff effect,” Wilson says.

Nature has timed COVID-19’s arrival perfectly, say experts, to spotlight not only technology but changing concepts of what we want in work and what we expect from it. Older workers place a higher value on stability and benefits while younger ones, particularly Generations Y and Z, born in the 1980s and 1990s, are more open to so-called gig or freelance employment. For the younger cohorts, a sense of purpose often matters more often than personal profit.

Indeed, the technology that the pandemic has hastened will make it easier to choose a location and lifestyle rather than chasing jobs in large cities.

“Work will become blurred with the other activities we engage in,” says Walden, the economist. “Particularly family activities.”

Obstacles exist, of course. Many fear that automation, machine learning and other technology shifts will spark unparalleled joblessness and reinforce income inequality.

Tech giant IBM, which has long been among the RaleighDurham area’s largest employers, says remote work has cut its real estate costs $50 million and boosted productivity by 10% or more.

If employers share those savings and gains with employees remains to be seen.

“Over time, a lot of technical changes have redistributed resources and wealth to smaller groups of people,” says Wilson, the psychologist.

Traditional industry thinking has held that jobs eliminated by automation will be replaced by jobs that involve programming and maintaining the automation. If so, some scholars say North Carolina will be well positioned with a robust community college system for retraining.

“The real money is in analysis, writing, documenting and data,” Wilson says.

Has the pandemic sealed the death of the water cooler, break rooms and stairwells as venues for creative workers to exchange ideas? PwC doesn’t think so, though three-quarters of workers surveyed would like to work remotely at least one or two days a week.

“The office isn’t obsolete yet, but it’s changing,” a PwC researcher says. “COVID-19 has shown that staff can interact well with colleagues in person. It’s why 50% go into the office.”

Wilson isn’t so sure. “People who benefit from social interaction are really struggling,” he says. “I like to say that the age of the introvert has finally dawned.”

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With so many workers eager to avoid the commute, commercial real estate faces big changes.

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ne company has developed more than 2 million square feet of offices, sometimes paired with apartments for workers and bicycle and walking trails to get back and forth. The other pioneered coworking offices where entrepreneurs can launch without sweating a mortgage. Both agree the pandemic shows remote work and home offices are here to stay, but the water cooler isn’t going the way of green eyeshades.

“There’s a tremendous desire for human interaction, whether you work at Starbucks or [coworking company] WeWork,” says Charlotte developer Clay Grubb. “Locking yourself in a room, being by yourself and not seeing anybody all day is really not a healthy or desirable option.”

Christopher Gergen is CEO and co-founder of Forward Cities, which is helping about two dozen cities advance their entrepreneurial economies. He’s a founding partner of Raleigh Founded, formerly HQ Raleigh, the state’s largest space-sharing network.

“The future of work is going to depend on innovative solutions driven by teams that can effectively communicate, advance ideas and drive those ideas forward,” he says. “You can’t do that in isolation.”

Charlotte has about 850,000 square feet of shared office space, and the Research Triangle, more than 1 million square feet, much of it targeted to startups, freelancers and other creatives.

Costs range from about $150 a month for a solitary worker to more than $500 for private offices.

Far more space is devoted to home offices, where the bulk of remote work is done. N.C. State University economist Mike Walden says the figure is swelling with residential architects increasingly designing dedicated offices and learning spaces for children. “You’ll see this blurring of lines, particularly with home management,” he says.

Pandemic isolation regulations, laid-off workers starting their own businesses and major employers responding to temporary workforce swings are sparking the growth in remote work. Some Tar Heel commercial real estate firms estimate a third of the demand for office space will be met by shared space in 10 years.

It’s not solely an urban phenomenon.

“Some estimates are [that] within 10 years, 50% of the workforce will be working remotely or from home,”says Cori Lindsay, Caswell County economic development director. She is based in Yanceyville, which has a county-sponsored, 9,000-square-foot coworking space. “We don’t have a time frame like incubators where they have to leave after two or three years, but our hope is when these companies do grow up and leave, they’ll just move out somewhere in our community.”

Human-resource and corporate-efficiency experts say companies and their employees are learning that at-home work can be as productive as in collaborative settings.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 120 major companies in June concluded 69% of employers found at-home workers were at least as productive as those entirely in conventional offices. More than 70% of employees said they would like to work at home at least two days a week on a permanent basis.

A blended office model is likely to become the norm, say Gergen and Grubb. It will include less space in conventional settings, more concessions to communicating with homebound workers, and offices shared by workers on the days they are on site. The shifts reflect the preference of most millennial workers, today roughly 24 to 40 years old.

“About 50% of the workforce is millennial, and in another five years, that will be about 75%,” Grubb says. “Truth is, the millennials already hated the concept of 9-to-5 and have been pushing back against it for the last five or 10 years.”

Once a vaccine for COVID-19 is widely available, “we will become much more comfortable working virtually,” Gergen adds. “I think what we’re going to find are hybrid solutions. The large corporate footprints where you have companies demanding all employees show up 9-to-5 in an office environment with a punch-the-clock mentality is going to be on the decline, but I doubt that the world of entirely virtual work is here to stay.”

Gergen says office space is also affected by a shift to knowledge work that emphasizes being “an effective problem solver and able to work efficiently with others in a digital environment. These employers are going to need fewer workers, and you can see what the implications of that are going to be.”

He notes that mature companies, typically more than 15 years old, tend to shed jobs more than create them and focus on improved productivity. Charlotte-based Bank of America employs 70,000 fewer workers than a decade ago, though its assets have increased more than 20% to $2.7 trillion.

Grubb owns and is developing offices in the Carolinas, Georgia, Ohio, Virginia and Washington, D.C. “We’re still investing in offices. We bought two more office buildings this year and are building one right now in Chapel Hill.” That’s a $50 million project. “We’re not bullish on offices in the short term, but we don’t believe there’ll be a dramatic, fundamental shift away from them.” Offices are more than just where people work.

“Folks ask me if people are going to live in cities again,” he says. “Well, there’s something about going to a show or music concert, a play, the opera. These are authentic experiences that are in tremendous demand.”

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Automated equipment may help N.C. food plants cure historic labor shortages and improve productivity.

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ear where the Cape Fear River winds through Bladen County farmland is a place of startling contrast. Beneath its maze of rooftop ductwork, steaming in the eerie glow of lights on misty nights, Smithfield Foods’ plant in tiny Tar Heel has an aura that belies what goes on inside its white, nearly windowless walls.

In a state where more than 30,000 workers slaughter and process pork, chicken and turkeys that feed millions, this is the flagship, the biggest pork-processing plant in the world. Here, and at dozens of other plants in North Carolina, some of the most difficult jobs in the global workplace face a revolution, prodded by a global pandemic.

Robotics, artificial intelligence and other space-age technology are coming to animal processing, an industry long considered practically immune to change.

“By 2050, Smithfield expects that advanced robotics, connectivity on the floor, banks of data, artificial intelligence and strong data analytics will be in the forefront of modern manufacturing,” says Lisa Martin, corporate communications director at the company’s Smithfield, Va., headquarters. Smithfield has about 10,000 North Carolina employees, more than 4,000 at the Tar Heel plant. “We envision a future where automation will impact the majority of tasks,” though handwork won’t be eliminated.

Clinton-based Prestage Farms last year opened a $320 million plant in Eagle Grove, Iowa, that is considered the pork industry’s most advanced. At the Midwest plant, handwork is succumbing to machines that don’t suffer carpal tunnel syndrome, an occupational hazard for workers repeating the same motions thousands of times per shift. Machines also don’t test positive for COVID-19, which temporarily shut down portions of the Smithfield plant in Tar Heel and Tyson Foods’ 2,000-employee chicken plant in Wilkesboro in May.

At Sanderson Farms’ $155 million, 1,100-employee plant in St. Pauls in Robeson County that opened in 2017, robotic technology is used to debone chickens, one of the most repetitious jobs.

“The good thing about automation is these machines and robots are always at work,” says Ron Prestage, the eldest son at family-owned Prestage Farms, which employs 2,800 workers in seven states. “The bad thing is, when something doesn’t work right, computers go down or whatever, you’d better have some

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very smart technical and maintenance people to get them back up quickly.”

That’s where the promising jobs of the future lie in North Carolina’s food industry: in specially trained technicians who keep advanced technology equipment running. Smithfield plants increasingly use X-rays to guide robotics in processing hogs, gaining optimum use of meat. Similarly, most companies turn to robots to clean plants and package, pack and ship processed products.

Prestage says turkey and chicken processing operations are easier to automate than hogs because of greater uniformity of the birds. Enter what Ron Prestage calls vision systems.

“You have a camera that looks at a carcass and says, ‘How can I do this step for this pig and then for another pig that is 20 pounds lighter that’s following it?’ You have to have the computer power to do this in a split second.”

Prestage, a veterinarian and past president of the National Pork Producers Council and National Turkey Federation, says many of those technologies will be incorporated in a new turkey plant his company is building in South Carolina. “We intend to use the vision and laser technology to robotically completely eviscerate a turkey, versus doing it with human hands and sharp knives. On this particular line, with existing technology, we’d probably be looking at 120 people or so. On the new one, [we] will do it with 40 [workers], who will primarily be monitoring the robots.”

Those systems will be called on to do complicated tasks.

“At Thanksgiving, you’re primarily putting a whole turkey in a bag, but the rest of the time, you’re taking the breast meat off, drums, wings, everything else. In a traditional plant, you’re probably looking at around 300 people with sharp knives. In our new plant, we’ll do this with about 65.”

While in some industries — Tar Heel textiles, for instance — automation has brought wholesale job losses, there’s less concern in food processing. The difficult, dangerous jobs have for decades been hard to fill, and technology should increase productivity with fewer workers. Inability to fill those jobs costs processors money when, for instance, they are unable to produce more profitable but labor-intensive boneless hams because of worker shortages.

Prestage has more than 200 openings at its highly automated Iowa plant, which employs about 700 workers. “A lot of Americans today don’t want old-line labor, standing on a line with a sharp knife in their hands,” Prestage says.

Artificial intelligence and automation are making their marks in other parts of the agricultural supply chain. In Carteret County north of Beaufort, for example, computers and satellites guide giant, driverless tractors across the sweeping fields of Open Grounds Farm. With 57,000 acres, it’s the biggest farm east of the Mississippi. The machines’ paths vary by less than the width of a dollar bill over a mile.

They’re raising the corn, soybeans and other grain that will feed the animals destined for the automated plants of the future.

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Remote medicine has accelerated as providers preach caution, prompting unprecedented change.

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he’d come from Tennessee, drawn by Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem and Julie Freischlag, whose international surgical reputation attracts patients from afar.

Suffering thoracic outlet syndrome, which squeezes nerves and blood vessels in the neck and upper chest causing loss of sensation in the arms, a day after the surgery, the patient prepares for the trip home. Freischlag examines her prior to release.

“When I said goodbye, I said, ‘I’ll see you again in two weeks.’”

She adds, after a pause, “Online.”

Freischlag is not only a surgeon but CEO of the medical center, dean of the Wake Forest School of Medicine and chief academic officer for Atrium Health. She’s an advocate of telemedicine.

“As a caregiver, I have no idea why we would make people drive two hours to see me again in two weeks if they are doing well, just to hear me say, ‘You’re looking well,’” she says.

As a medical educator, she’s also a portent of health care occupations in a post-pandemic environment.

Physicians, hospital administrators and health care analysts describe a world in which workers will rely on remarkable new technology to meet the crush of an aging population that needs more care. North Carolina’s over-65 population will be 2.6 million by 2036, up 67%.

For Tar Heels, that will mean growing demand for non-physician clinicians such as physician assistants, nurse practitioners and pharmacists, and more foreign-trained doctors. Regardless, the challenge remains to balance human contact with societal and economic demands for productivity.

“It’s going to change how I teach and train new doctors, nurses and physician assistants,” Freischlag says. Idealistic young medical students sometimes initially balk, for instance, at practicing medicine over the phone and computers. Once exposed to the benefits, she says, they quickly rethink.

At Winston-Salem-based Novant Health, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Lindsay was floored at the response after the system’s 15 hospitals clamped down on in-person visits starting in April.

“In the whole of 2019, we had around 250 virtual visits with clinicians or providers interacting with patients,” he says. “After COVID-19, recently, we were having 15,000 a day.” Terry Akin, CEO of Cone Health in Greensboro, says that shift offers hope for doctors, nurses and others facing an onslaught of patients in

the nonpandemic future. Cone’s virtual visits increased at least tenfold.

“Care can be equivalent or better quality, allowing physicians and others to practice at the top of their licenses,” Akin says.

“What we’re learning about virtual health care is going to be invaluable in the future.”

Elsewhere at Cone, pharmacy technicians guide a robot as it formulates chemotherapy drugs and administrators use artificial intelligence to schedule and automate operating rooms and infusions of drugs and chemicals necessary for complex surgeries.

Such technology will improve productivity and enable doctors and nurses to avoid burnout.

“With that in mind,” says Ben Patel, Cone’s executive vice president and chief information officer, “one of our goals is to have a virtual primary care physician — a machine or robot — that can take care of initial consultations, triage and so forth. A virtual PCP is on our roadmap to automate areas where we have scarcity or shortages and help make our providers’ lives easier so they can focus more on patients and diagnoses.”

The degree to which providers will need to master new technology, as well as old-fashioned listening, is clear at systems such as Greenville’s Vidant Health which pioneered robotic heart surgery and Gamma Knife radiosurgery. In the latter, no incision is necessary. At Duke, biomedical engineers are using machine learning to determine if a virus will resist antibiotics.

Machine learning is the use of computers so sophisticated they develop an “experience” or memory from repeating tasks.

At Morrisville-based Metabolon, which does research in a field called precision medicine, scientists are using machine learning to develop ways doctors can better understand how their patients’ treatments are working.

In North Carolina, future doctors and paraprofessionals will continue training at the East Carolina University, Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University and Campbell University medical schools. A new entrant is emerging: a campus of the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Charlotte, expected to open by 2022. The joint project of Wake Forest and Atrium expects to have about 1,600 students when it is at full capacity.

Novant’s Lindsay praises technological advances but says practitioners in the postpandemic era will face a challenge as old as Hippocrates — “hearing the voice of the patient.”

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The pandemic has taken a heavy toll on Black, Latino and female North Carolinians. Will lessons be learned?

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OVID-19 was not invited, but the pandemic may impact minorities and women for decades to disproportionate degrees that far outstrip their numbers. The outcome could be particularly grim for the first- or second-generation immigrants, mostly Hispanic, who make up nearly half of the population of Siler City, a Chatham County town with a large poultry production industry and median household income of $34,000. Many residents have loosened ties with their native countries but still lack competitive language and vocational skills in their new home.

“The perception back in the 1990s was they are here today and gone tomorrow,” says Ilana Dubester, head of the Hispanic Liaison, a Siler City-based nonprofit aiding Hispanics in Lee, Randolph, Chatham and Alamance counties. “Now, this is not a migrant farmworker community. Our people are not moving state to state looking for work. This is home.”

State health officials say there’s no question COVID-19 has affected minorities and women more than others. Inequities are “shining a bright light” on disparities in health care, says Gov. Roy Cooper. Through late September, Black and Latino deaths at 40.7 and 27.7 per 100,000 citizens in North Carolina were substantially higher than the 24.9 for whites, according to St. Paul, Minn.-based American Public Media Group.

When it comes to the job and business futures of those groups, more subtle statistics paint a bleak picture, too. A Federal Reserve study found 41% of Black-owned small businesses had closed since March, along with more than 25% of women-owned businesses. Other research found four in 10 parents have cut back or quit their jobs and that tellingly, 60% of working mothers said they, not fathers, were responsible for stay-at-home care and online learning for children.

“The new normal is women seem to be disproportionately struggling for a number of reasons,” says Olalah Njenga, whose Raleigh-based YellowWood Group provides consulting services for small businesses, many women- and minority-owned. She founded the business in 2003 and consults with owners in more than a dozen industries. “Primarily they are the ones who have to pick up additional responsibilities when it comes to things like elder care, child care and household management. And there are only 24 hours in a day, not 25.”

“It also appears that minority women businesses are really struggling due to being blocked out from opportunities such as EIDL — Economic Injury Disaster Loans — so they are running out of money faster than their white counterparts,” adds Njenga, also a member of the NCWorks Commission.

In Concord, at ball-bearing manufacturer Ketchie, owner Courtney Silver says she’s using the year to rebuild and prep for a rebounding economy. The 30-employee company has been hit by cutbacks suffered by its customers. “A lot of minority- and women-owned companies have trouble getting financing and having access to capital because they are minorities,” she says.

Adds Njenga, “I don’t have a crystal ball, but when I look at the long view, a year from now, two years, 10 years, the thing

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that gives me hope is that Black and brown women in business are extremely resilient. It will take them a little longer than their white counterparts, but most will stay alive.”

Silver, Njenga and others agree that the future is grim for unskilled minority and immigrant workers who are facing a perfect storm of pandemic, automation and discrimination.

Unskilled workers typically lack health care opportunities, often working or living in crowded conditions that make social distancing difficult. Examples included a Christmas tree farm near Sparta in northwest North Carolina, which reported more than 100 workers diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus, and in Wilkesboro, where nearly 700 workers at the Tyson Foods plant tested positive. Workers at both locations are mainly Hispanic, local officials say.

Shutdowns and lost profits are sending employers such as Tyson scrambling to automate plants to lessen future dependence on laborers. The shift could leave thousands of workers without permanent employment and in critical need of retraining. In eastern North Carolina, a turkey-processing plant that now employs 300 people will require about 60 when a new operation is completed because of advanced manufacturing, according to Ron Prestage of Prestage Farms.

Njenga remains hopeful. Black women are making rapid gains, “outpacing men in terms of economic resources and education,” she says. “So, for every Black man with a college degree, we’ve got two Black women with degrees. And women in single-parent families have figured it out.”

She praises state programs that offer “reskilling,” or teaching new jobs such as programming or maintenance of sophisticated factory equipment that are taking on an increased workload.

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Improved broadband infrastructure makes work from remote areas viable across North Carolina.

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anceyville, a Caswell County town 45 miles northwest of Durham, has no rivers, railroads or interstate highways for commerce. It has fine antebellum homes and thrived after a local slave discovered how to cure tobacco in the 1830s, but its future faded when health concerns sapped smoking.

Agriculture is back in Yanceyville now, though Mike Prorock’s crop is data, and he and his young tech company Mesur.io embody what will be the workplace for millions in a world in which technology puts purpose above place.

“My career had been largely on the cutting edge of the data world,” says Prorock, 39, a Cabarrus County native who previously served as engineering and emerging technology director at Raleigh’s Bardess Group, Compellon and other tech companies.

“What I’d been doing in my day job was mainly financial, predictive analytics, machine learning and things like that, and what interested me was what could we do from an agricultural standpoint with good information.”

In 2016, Prorock, chief technical officer, and partner Thomas Rump, CEO, founded Mesur.io, a cloudhosted company that provides detailed agricultural data worldwide. Four years later, Mesur.io counts among its clients small farmers and multinational agribusinesses BASF North America and Bayer Crop Science.

Mesur.io complies data such as soil types and properties, weather trends, timing of insect emergence, “things you need to get ahead of.” The private company doesn’t release financial results, but Prorock says, “Revenue-wise, we were up 10 times from last year and really on track to do well this year until COVID-19 hit. We’ll wind up between two times and three times this year.

COVID accelerated a lot of things, but it also exposed every crack in the system.”

Prorock and Mesur.io didn’t set out to do it, but they spotlight trends futurists say will be more common in the future.

Mesur.io moved to downtown Yanceyville in late 2018, to a former drugstore with a green, metal mansard roof and streetfront windows. This is coworking space, to become increasingly necessary as a new generation of entrepreneurs with big ideas

but small bank accounts start small businesses. It’s often the first jump from home offices to larger accommodations. Mesur.io has about a half-dozen employees, plus independent contractors, and expects to grow to about two dozen in two years.

The space was close to Mesur.io’s Chapel Hill roots, where it was originally headquartered, and just up the road from the Orange County farm owned by Prorock’s in-laws. It avoided the cost of buying space and was close enough — 40 miles to Chapel Hill, 70 to Raleigh — to major tech centers for Prorock and his staff to easily meet with clients or vendors.

“North Carolina is well-positioned because of its proximity to internet infrastructure, and these rural areas just outside of the metros are pretty thriving ecosystems,” he says.

For Caswell County, says Cori Lindsay, the county’s economic development director, the coworking space is a step toward bringing business back. Part of the state’s Hometown Strong initiative, CoSquare has about 9,000 square feet of sharable space and is one of the few spots in the county with high-speed internet access.

“We toured other coworking spaces and found out one of the things we would need is highspeed broadband,” she says. “It gives a young company access you wouldn’t have working at home.”

CoSquare is affiliated with Raleigh Founded, which was formerly called HQ Raleigh. It has aided more than 400 startups.

Mesur.io can use Raleigh Founded meeting space when clients want to meet in the capital.

In Yanceyville, Mesur.io’s work culture is a break from the past.

“Our expectation is not 9-to-5 behind the desk,” Prorock says.

“We don’t have a vacation policy as such — if you need time, you take time. People work at home. Everybody is on flex time. We’ve come out of that crazy first year or two when it was heads down, work all the time, and now we’re building a healthier culture.”

On a recent summer day, Prorock is working from home, a farm in Orange County a short drive from Yanceyville. Despite the pandemic, he says, Mesur.io’s cash flow is strong, and its business model works.

“We take time for our families, our people and the communities around us,” he says. “We should enjoy as much of life as we can but we should do as much for the communities around as we can. Work is part of that.” ■

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BOOK EXCERPT

BEYOND THE BANK Retired from Bank of America since 2001, Hugh McColl Jr., 85, has enjoyed great success with his McColl Partners and Falfurrias Capital investment firms, while serving as a leading philanthropist and Charlotte’s elder statesman.

But it hasn’t been an easy second act, as veteran N.C. author Howard Covington Jr. writes in his new book on McColl’s post-retirement life, Beyond the Bank, published

by Lorimer Press of Davidson. This excerpt describes how BofA’s nearcollapse shook McColl emotionally and financially.

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early a decade passed after Hugh McColl’s retirement before he again enjoyed the view from the top floor of the Bank of America Corporate Center. Even with access to the executive dining room on the 58th floor, he chose to lunch with McColl Partners analysts at blue-collar cafés. If he was looking for something a little more upscale, he often chose to eat at 300 East, a casual restaurant in the Dilworth neighborhood.

McColl had afforded his successor, Kenneth D. Lewis, the same crisp, military respect extended him twentyplus years earlier when Thomas I. Storrs stepped down from what was then NCNB. “The simplest way to put it,” McColl said, “is that I walked away from the bank, and walked away mentally and physically.” He was tired of the job’s unrelenting claim on his time, on his life. Even with all the power that came with his job, it had never brought him true freedom.

The past, however, could not be entirely out of mind. His stock portfolio was narrow and deep, with more than 2 million Bank of America shares. He entered retirement invested in only three companies: his bank — it was always “his bank”; Sonoco Corp., a South Carolina firm where he had a long-standing personal relationship; and CSX, the railroad company, where he had a seat on the board that he inherited in 1992 through family connections dating to the 19th century. In both the latter instances, he held only the requisite shares to qualify as a director. McColl was agnostic about investors’ faith in diversity. He ignored it out of caution over conflicts of interest or the appearance of the same. Simple as his one-stock strategy was, it had produced results. As he left for retirement, he was anticipating annual dividends of $5 million or more that he planned to use to underwrite his Chapter Two. He had no doubt his financial future was secure.

McColl comfortably eased into the role of Charlotte’s corporate elder statesman, a role he came by honestly.

Building on the foundation laid by his predecessors, whom he credited fulsomely and often, McColl had turned an up-and-coming regional bank into an international powerhouse. Along the way he became one of the bestknown businessmen in the nation.

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Looking back on it all some years later, McColl attributed much of his success to timing. In 1959, when he arrived in Charlotte, it wasn’t clear that it was the right place or the right time. He and Jane were newly married and so strapped for cash that they counted on Jane’s father for a washing machine and a hand-medown car. ...

At the time, banking was a dull business presided over by gray-headed men wounded by the Great Depression. Minimizing risk was paramount. ... Bankers of that day had come of age enjoying modest wealth and slow but steady growth. “They were all afraid of their shadow,” McColl said. “The people running institutions were very, very conservative and didn’t like to make decisions. I came out of a background where I’d always been the person making decisions. That coupled with having been a Marine officer, where you are trained to make decisions, sent me to the top fast.”

Fortunately for McColl, his father had arranged for him to join an outfit that was under the command of Addison H. Reese, a charismatic leader and the founding CEO of North Carolina National Bank. For Reese, banking was a zero-sum business when he set out to unseat Wachovia Bank and Trust Co., based in Winston-Salem, as the state’s leading financial institution. He was looking for ambitious young warriors to help him use North Carolina’s liberal laws regarding bank branching to expand NCNB west to Asheville and east to Raleigh through a succession of strategic acquisitions. ...

McColl acknowledges that his career succeeded for many reasons over which he had no control. In addition to his timely arrival in Charlotte, he was a white male with a good college education. In that day and time, as far as banking was concerned, no others need apply. Women worked at the teller windows but not on the loan platforms or in the executive offices, except to meet clerical needs. The only African Americans on the payroll were maintenance workers or janitors.

“So we came with a lot of things going for us,” McColl said. “Education, confidence, a feeling that Americans can do anything because we had won World War II. We came with the opposite of what the people who were there had. It allowed us early on to take charge of things. I was very irreverent [about the competition], because they were people to be irreverent about. They weren’t very aggressive, and they were timid. They were unwilling to change. ...”

In 2001, when McColl left for retirement, it appeared that perhaps the years of consolidation were at an end.

The way he saw it as he prepared to depart, the time had come for a leader who would iron out the kinks

and make the mergers effected during his watch as profitable as they had been advertised. It was time for a CEO like Ken Lewis, the man he had dispatched again and again to pull the pieces together, first in Texas, then in Georgia, and later in Florida.

Lewis followed that story line for a couple of years before he rekindled the bank’s expansionist fires and set out on a series of mergers of his own. The results were unsettling to McColl, but he withheld public criticism.

Especially troubling were the changes Lewis made to Bank of America’s board of directors in order to close the Fleet Boston Financial Corp. merger in 2003. That deal, a stock swap valued at $47 billion, installed Bank of America in New England and opened up New York City as a new market. It looked great on paper, but when a Charlotte Observer reporter stopped McColl at a civic fundraising event, he gave only faint praise. “I’m a large shareholder, and I think it’s a good acquisition, so I think that answers that question.”

McColl did not give voice to his deep concern that in gaining New England, Lewis had lessened the bank’s ties to Charlotte. McColl took great pride in having turned his hometown into the nation’s No. 2 financial center after enduring years of disdain from those who considered Southerners dumb rubes with funny accents. McColl and his tribe had changed the face of American banking, and everyone was reminded of that each time they dialed the 704 area code to do business.

But the Fleet Boston deal loosened Bank of America’s southern anchor. Two of the casualties in a reshuffling of the board of directors were Charlotteans John R. Belk, whom McColl had added to the board in 2001, and Frank Dowd IV. A member of the Belk and Dowd families had filled board seats since NCNB was founded in 1960. In making the changes, Lewis mollified the Boston crowd as well as critics who held that the bank’s board was too heavily weighted with Southerners. It was a shift in power that would later come back to haunt Lewis. ...

After the 2003 Fleet deal, Lewis acquired MBNA of Delaware, the leading credit card outfit in the country, then headed west to acquire LaSalle Bank in 2007.

That acquisition gave Bank of America the right to include Chicago on the letterhead.

In the fall of 2007, as McColl’s [private equity company] Falfurrias Capital was gathering money to purchase a controlling interest in Bojangles’, Lewis was taking the first steps to acquire a home mortgage machine called Countrywide Financial. A California company, Countrywide had roared out of the 1990s and into the aughts marketing billions of dollars of easy-to-write loans that didn’t fit the typical model of a responsible down payment and a repayment schedule over 15, 20 or 30 years. By the fall of 2007, CountryD E C E M B E R

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BOOK EXCERPT wide’s lax standards and shoddy vetting of its customers, plus a softening in the housing market, sent it into the arms of Bank of America for an infusion of cash. In January 2008 Bank of America announced it was buying Countrywide.

This deal so outraged McColl that he did something he had avoided since leaving the chairman’s office. He called a former lieutenant in the bank’s corporate suite.

“I sent for Greg Curl [who had put the deal together].

He came to my office, and I asked him, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ He said, ‘Don’t worry about anything.

We are paying $2 billion for it, and they have a net worth of $10 billion, so we are getting $8 billion worth of negative goodwill, which will be enough to cover any of the losses.’ My reaction was I was disgusted with the line of reasoning. But I did not do anything else or try to stop it. ...”

The Countrywide deal closed in mid-2008 after what insiders later said was only cursory due diligence by the buyer. Afterwards, Lewis declared that Bank of America would no longer market the risky loans, whose default rates were climbing into the double digits. He tried to convince investors that the home mortgage business could drive a wave of new customers seeking other bank services. ...

In September 2008, the world plummeted into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. In early October 2008, McColl watched the largest and most venerable financial institutions fall. For years, Hugh and his wife, Jane, set aside the first half of October to celebrate their wedding anniversary. In 2008 they were celebrating in the Pacific Northwest at a delightful resort on the coast, but Hugh couldn’t keep his eyes (and mind) off the reports on CNN. “It was a terrible period in my life,” he said years later. “I guess at some point I became convinced that I could survive. I really went into a deep depression for a while. ...”

It was embarrassing that many of the bank’s troubles were connected to a company whose toxic mortgages destroyed neighborhoods. The bank had honored McColl by donating millions to Habitat for Humanity, an organization founded on simple notions of sweat equity and careful vetting of prospective homeowners to build strong neighborhoods. In the 1990s, McColl’s bank had invested billions in building up neighborhoods with loans at fair and reasonable terms that built homeownership. Lewis had not only continued this investment but enlarged it even more. ...

Lewis headed into 2009 fending off complaints over Bank of America’s distress purchase of the securities firm Merrill Lynch, a transaction concluded just as the markets were failing. The liabilities from Countrywide

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▲ McColl was featured as Mover and Shaker of the Year in Business North Carolina’s January 1989 issue.

and loan losses from credit card debt continued to climb as the value of Bank of America stock steadily fell. It finally hit a low of three dollars and change. On the day President Barack Obama was inaugurated in January 2009, it had inched up to just a little more than five dollars per share. ...

Like other high-wealth investors with intertwined and leveraged financial arrangements, McColl had no choice but to ride his Bank of America stock all the way to the bottom. Quickly restructuring a large portfolio is a challenge in good times; it is virtually impossible in bad. The Great Recession punctured the spirit of a man who lived a life fueled by optimism. In the fall of 2008, he really wasn’t sure what lay ahead. “I thought I was going to be fixed for life,” he said, “and I wasn’t.

Falfurrias was only about a year old, and I didn’t know I was going to make any money there. I had a couple of bad years.”

Years later, McColl calculated his total losses at between $120 and $150 million. Even 10 years on, McColl’s Bank of America stock was worth about half what it had been before the calamity. In the intervening years, dividends that he had counted on to produce as much as $5 million a year disappeared, dropping from a high of 64 cents a share to a penny, where they remained for nearly five years before beginning to rebound. ...

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The strong, robust company that McColl and his team created had been brought to the very brink of destruction. In the end, Bank of America survived, unlike seven of its Tryon Street banking neighbors.

While it was still standing when Lewis departed as CEO at the end of 2009, Bank of America had become a “Charlotte” bank largely in name only. Lewis’ replacement, Brian T. Moynihan, was a Boston lawyer whose career had been spent not only north of the MasonDixon Line but in the lee of Cape Cod. ... Six of the seven Fleet directors elected in 2003 still occupied their seats on the board. Only five of the 12 from the Charlotte crowd remained. Charlotte still housed the corporation’s headquarters, but largely because there was no good reason to put everyone through the cost and upheaval of relocation. In reality the bank’s hub was wherever Moynihan’s big Gulfstream happened to be parked. More often than not, that was Boston, where he maintained his residence, or New York City.

McColl took satisfaction that Bank of America was strong enough to sustain an estimated hit of $200 billion. The Great Recession left its resources drained.

Imposition of penalties and fees rose to the tens of billions, and regulators called a lot of the shots for a period of time. ...

I’ve never given away a dollar I missed or paid a dollar in taxes that I missed.

– Hugh McColl Jr. Those who had been through the wars with McColl felt betrayed as their own stock holdings were diminished to pennies on the dollar. John Cleghorn had written speeches for McColl in the 1990s and had stayed on to manage other projects until 2008 when he left for the ministry. As the financial crisis drained his former coworkers’ savings in 2009, Cleghorn opened the sanctuary at Caldwell Presbyterian for a session of what amounted to grief counseling. McColl attended and delivered a pep talk, reminding his former coworkers that they had soldiered through tough times before.

“We worked on things together,” he said, the memory of the moment drifting back in place. “It was a remarkable company in that way. We liked each other, and we were. … It was something.” For him, the bond remained as strong as ever.

The new hard times actually worked in Charlotte’s favor. Interest rates fell to their lowest in years. The low cost of money, coupled with the hunger for construction projects, allowed the city to build and pay for projects much more cheaply than had been anticipated.

In addition, when defaulted loans were taken over by lenders, the rate of tax collections improved. Banks left holding the property proved to be more reliable in their payments than the original owners. Wells Fargo would actually increase its local payroll in the years ahead. ...

From McColl’s view, the road to the greatest financial upheaval in 70 years was relatively straight.

He attributed the problems to the greed of investment bankers who pushed the mortgage industry to produce more and more bad loans that fed into a market chasing higher and higher returns. “They came up with an idea of dicing [packages of loans] so we’re only going to have 10% losses, so we’ll have 90% of this paper is A paper, and 10% of it’s F paper. The problem was they didn’t know that there was no way to know which was which. And they got that all wrong. ...”

Falfurrias cashed out of Bojangles’ in 2011 with what McColl calls a “big, big win.” Most would agree that an investment of $50 million that turned into $300 million in three years would so qualify. McColl’s share of $15 million didn’t come close to filling the hole created by the devaluation of his Bank of America stock, but it helped. More important, it was a confidence builder.

The clouds were beginning to lift. ...

In 2013 McColl Partners was sold to Deloitte for an undisclosed sum. “We really became quite successful. That business lasted 13 years. We sold it in 2013 because it had the disease that every investment bank gets, which is that the big producers think they should be paid more money, a lot more money, no matter how much you pay them, and they’re jealous of each other.

It’s a sad treatise on the business.

“The six men that came in with me probably averaged making a million dollars a year during their entire time there with me. When it first started, they were only being paid $48,000, but within a few years, they were making a half a million dollars a year and then started making a million, a million-five. So we made good money. We took a business, built it from nothing, and made $50 million a year.”

“So I’m over it,” he allowed in the late fall of 2019.

“When you are older you think you need more money than you need. The only money I need today, or I should say the money I miss having, is the additional money that I could give away. I think I’ve told you I’ve never given away a dollar I missed or paid a dollar in taxes that I missed.” ■

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Lakewood, Colo.-based DataJoe asks doctors to identify specialists they think are the best in their fields.

An abridged list of 56 specialties follows.

Methodology and disclaimer: DataJoe Research is a software and research company specializing in data collection and verification and conducts various nominations across the United States on behalf of publishers. To create the “top doctors” list, DataJoe Research facilitated an online peer-voting process, also referencing government sources. DataJoe then tallied the votes per category for each doctor to isolate the top nominees in each category. After collecting nominations and additional information, DataJoe checked and confirmed that each published winner had a current, active license status with the state regulatory board. If we were not able to find evidence of a doctor’s current, active registration with the state regulatory board, that doctor was excluded from the list. In addition, any doctor who has been disciplined, up to the time-frame of our review process for an infraction by the state regulatory board, was excluded from the list. Finally, DataJoe presented the tallied result to the magazine for its final review and adjustments.

We recognize that there are many good doctors who are not shown in this representative list. This is only a sampling of the huge array of talented professionals within the region. Inclusion in the list is based on the opinions of responding doctors in the region and the results of our research campaign. We take time and energy to ensure fair voting, although we understand that the results of this survey nomination are not an objective metric. We certainly do not discount the fact that many, many good and effective doctors may not appear on the list.

DataJoe uses best practices and exercises great care in assembling content for this list. DataJoe does not warrant that the data contained within the list are complete or accurate. DataJoe does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions herein whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. All rights reserved. No commercial use of the information in this list may be made without written permission from DataJoe. For research/methodology questions, contact the research team at surveys@datajoe.com.

ADDICTION MEDICINE Stephen Wyatt Stephanie Newby Heather Michelle Manos Gary Leonhardt

Atrium Health Addiction Services Charlotte Atrium Health Behavioral Health Charlotte Charlotte Novant Health Addiction Recovery & Counseling Cornelius North Carolina Psychiatric Association

Macclesfield

ALLERGY IMMUNOLOGY Ranjan Sharma Michelle L. Hernandez Edwin H. Kim Maeve E. O’Connor Ekta Shah Edina C. Swartz Leslie McManus Cristiano Rebecca H. Buckley Sherif Taha Jose A. Bardelas Jr. Diane Krane Laber Sonia Bains Heather Gutekunst

LeBauer Allergy & Asthma UNC Allergy and Immunology Clinic UNC Allergy and Immunology Clinic Allergy Asthma & Immunology Relief of Charlotte Atrium Health Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Atrium Health Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Wake Forest Baptist Health Allergy Asthma and Immunology Services Duke Children’s Health Center Allergy and Immunology Allergy Partners of Eastern Carolina Allergy & Asthma Center of N.C. Allergy Partners of Pinehurst Allergy Partners of Raleigh Allergy Partners of Raleigh

Burlington Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Clemmons Durham Greenville High Point Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh

ANESTHESIOLOGY David Chiu John Bryant Farrukh I. Sair

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Salem Anesthesia Mission Community Anesthesiology Specialists Providence Anesthesiology Associates

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Advance Asheville Charlotte

Matthew V. Buck Joshua Schwartz Elsje Harker Shannon Page James V. Winkley John Berry Ben Judd Jay ReVille Brian K. Thwaites Justin Hauser

Duke Birthing Center East Carolina Anesthesia Associates Regional Anesthesia Regional Anesthesia Pinehurst Anesthesia Associates Pinehurst Anesthesia Associates Pinehurst Anesthesia Associates Pinehurst Anesthesia Associates Pinehurst Anesthesia Associates American Anesthesiology of North Carolina

Durham Greenville Mooresville Mooresville Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh

CARDIOLOGY Brett Izo William Kuehl Jan Pattanayak Jack Joseph Kuritzky Matthew Aaron Cavender Theodore A. Frank Robert Steven Iwaoka Sandy Charles

Asheville Cardiology Associates Asheville Cardiology Associates Asheville Cardiology Associates Chapel Hill Internal Medicine UNC Heart Center

Asheville Asheville Asheville Chapel Hill Chapel Hill

Atrium Health Heart Failure Clinic Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute Novant Health Women’s Heart & Vascular Center Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute North Carolina Heart & Vascular

Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte

John W. Holshouser Troy Leo Joseph D. Mishkin Christian Nathaniel Gring Robert J. Kastner North Carolina Heart & Vascular Radhakrishnan Ramaraj Champion Vascular Care

Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Clayton Clinton Dunn

C A R O L I N A

11/23/20 2:15 PM

Hari P. Saini Agodichi Nwosu Sylvester Ejeh David Frazier Anthony Christiano Jan Fox Levene Walter Ang Tan Cody Scott Deen Archie Alexander Tyson Jr. Daniel N. Koehler Stephen T. Iuliano H. Allen Strunk Jr. Peter J. Vassallo David M. Cowherd Joseph F. Hakas Jr. Steven M. Kent Angelo S. Milazzo Jr. Joseph M. Falsone William N. Newman Ravish Sachar Chelsea Ngongang John R. Sinden John J. Allan Robert J. Applegate Geoffrey T. Jao David X. Zhao

Carolina Heart & Leg Center Carolina Heart Physicians Cumberland Cardiology Heart Rhythm Associates Vidant Heart & Vascular Clinic Hendersonville Cardiology Associates Wake Forest Baptist Health Heart and Vascular UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus Novant Health Cardiology Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute FirstHealth Cardiology FirstHealth Cardiology Pinehurst Medical Clinic Pinehurst Medical Clinic Pinehurst Medical Clinic Duke Children’s Specialty Services North Carolina Heart & Vascular North Carolina Heart & Vascular North Carolina Heart & Vascular WakeMed Brier Creek Healthplex WakeMed Raleigh Campus Statesville Cardiology Wake Forest Baptist Health Cardiology Wake Forest Baptist Health Cardiology Wake Forest Baptist Health Cardiology

Fayetteville Fayetteville Fayetteville Greenville Greenville Hendersonville High Point Hillsborough Kernersville Lincolnton Mooresville Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Statesville Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

Camille G. Frazier-Mills Kevin L. Thomas Timothy P. Donahue Michael R. Komada Michael David Cooper Steven Cochran Klein Blase A. Carabello Herman Barrett Cheek David M. Fitzgerald Kurt Daniel Joseph Lake Trask Sr. Gary Joseph Renaldo Mark D. Landers Peter I. Ellman Ker Boyce Mark E. Leithe Robert Lee Jobe Stuart Russell John S. Kelley Robert Bruno Preli

Duke Electrophysiology Clinic Duke Electrophysiology Clinic Duke Triangle Heart Associates Duke Triangle Heart Associates Cone Health Medical Group HeartCare Cone Health Medical Group HeartCare East Carolina Heart Institute Congdon Heart and Vascular Center Congdon Heart and Vascular Center Wake Forest Baptist Health Internal Medicine Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute Novant Health Cardiology FirstHealth Cardiology FirstHealth Cardiovascular & Thoracic Center Pinehurst Medical Clinic Duke Cardiology North Carolina Heart & Vascular WakeMed Heart & Vascular WakeMed Raleigh Campus Novant Health Cardiology

Durham Durham Durham Durham Greensboro Greensboro Greenville High Point High Point High Point Huntersville Kernersville Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Winston-Salem

Bryon Evan Rubery Shannon Mitchell St. Clair Barbara A. Pisani Min Pu Tony W. Simmons

Novant Health Cardiology Novant Health Cardiology

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

Wake Forest Baptist Health Cardiology Wake Forest Baptist Health Cardiology Wake Forest Baptist Health Cardiology

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

Asheville Cary Charlotte Greensboro Greenville Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh

COLON AND RECTAL SURGERY

CARDIOTHORACIC SURGERY Mark Allen Groh Benjamin E. Haithcock Tom Prakash Theruvath Edward B. Gerhardt L. Wiley Nifong Stephen Davies William C. Kitchens Judson Williams

Wake Forest Baptist Health Cardiology

Bermuda Run

Mark J. Koruda Bradley R. Davis Gregory S. Waters Patrick Brillant Tiv A. Johnson Reid C. Vegeler Laura K. Altom Timothy S. Sadiq Richard G. Saleeby Jr. Sarah Fox Joseph M. Payne

North Carolina Heart & Vascular UNC Heart Center Atrium Health Heart Failure Clinic Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute

Cary Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte

J. Lynne Garrison Richard Rizzuti Jefferson K. Kilpatrick

Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute Duke Cardiology Duke Cardiology Duke Cardiology Duke Cardiology Duke Cardiology Clinic Duke Cardiology Clinic Duke Cardiology Clinic Duke Cardiology Clinic Duke Electrophysiology Clinic

Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham

Asheville Heart UNC Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute Triad Cardiac & Thoracic Surgery East Carolina Heart Institute FirstHealth Cardiovascular & Thoracic Center FirstHealth Cardiovascular & Thoracic Center WakeMed Raleigh Campus

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE Prashant Dattatraya Bhave James Patrick Zidar Sidney Crawley Smith Jr. Sanjeev K. Gulati Edward Beman McMillan John D. Symanski William E. Downey John M. Fedor Cheryl A. Russo B. Hadley Wilson Thomas M. Bashore Thomas Gehrig J. Kevin Harrison E. Magnus Ohman Michael Blazing Daniel B. Mark Joseph G. Rogers Andrew Wang James P. Daubert

UNC Hospitals Multispecialty Surgery Clinic CMC Surgery Wake Forest Baptist Health Colorectal Surgery Physicians East Union Surgical Associates Pinehurst Surgical Clinic North Carolina Surgery North Carolina Surgery Saleeby & Wessels Proctology NHRMC Physician Specialists NHRMC Physician Specialists

COSMETIC SURGERY Greenville Plastic Surgery Greenville Plastic Surgery Pinehurst Surgical Clinic

Greenville Greenville Pinehurst

CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE Mark A. Hellreich Rhonda Cadena Shannon Carson Lydia Chang John P. Wynne Toan T. Huynh David G. Jacobs William S. Miles Jason S. Zolak Oliver Wheeler Jervis Jr. Jeffrey Glen Walls Michael Wade Haley

Asheville Pulmonary & Critical Care Associates UNC Department of Urology UNC Hospitals Pulmonary Specialty Clinic UNC Hospitals Pulmonary Specialty Clinic Carolinas HealthCare System Pulmonary Care Carolinas Medical Center Carolinas Medical Center Carolinas Medical Center Carolinas Medical Center Novant Health Pulmonary & Critical Care Novant Health Pulmonary & Critical Care Pulmonary Critical Care Consultants

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Chapel Hill Charlotte Greensboro Greenville Monroe Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Wilmington Wilmington

Asheville Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte

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Alan Christopher Heffner Cheryl M. Weyers Stephen George Cochran Sahar Mansoor Neil Ross MacIntyre Claude Anthony Piantadosi Joseph A. Govert Mashael Al-Hegelan Dedrick Jordan Todd L. Kelly Lisa R. Lindauer Kevin M. O’Neil Drew A. MacGregor Roger L. Royster R. Shayn Martin Preston R. Miller III Daniel Clark Files

Pulmonary Critical Care Consultants

Charlotte

Pulmonary Critical Care Consultants Pulmonary Critical Care Consultants

Charlotte Charlotte

NorthEast Critical Care Associates Duke Department of Medicine Duke Department of Medicine

Concord Durham Durham

Duke Pulmonary Clinic Duke University Hospital Duke University Hospital FirstHealth Hospitalist Service FirstHealth Hospitalist Service Wilmington Health Pulmonary and Allergy Wake Forest Baptist Health Anesthesiology Wake Forest Baptist Health Anesthesiology Wake Forest Baptist Health Critical Care Wake Forest Baptist Health Critical Care Wake Forest Baptist Health Pulmonary and Critical Care

Durham Durham Durham Pinehurst Pinehurst Wilmington Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

DERMATOLOGY Elvira Chiritescu Lisa May Mark Hutchin Logan D’Souza Robert E. Clark Sue Ellen Cox Mark S. Fradin Naomi J. Kagetsu Luis Diaz Donna A. Culton Amy W. Fox Dean Scott Morrell Tara T. Byer-Parsons Marc Carruth Charles J. Brown Sasha Haberle Alyssa Searles Daniel Jennifer Helton Sarah B. Koch Adela Rambi G. Cardones Russell P. Hall III John C. Murray Elise A. Olsen Neil S. Prose Garrett Schell Bressler Brooke Jackson Daniel B. Jones Richard Lewis Russell Kilpatrick Peter L. Mattei Sarah Vieta Audrey Echt E Eugene Bain III Elias E. Ayli William Kaufman

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New Age Dermatology Biltmore Dermatology Dermatology of North Asheville Forest Dermatology Cary Skin Center Aesthetic Solutions Chapel Hill Dermatology Chapel Hill Dermatology UNC Department of Dermatology UNC Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center UNC Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center UNC Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center Atrium Health Dermatology Carolina Skin Surgery Center Dilworth Dermatology & Laser Metrolina Dermatology & Skin Surgery Specialists Novant Health Dermatology Steele Creek Dermatology Dermatology Group of the Carolinas Duke Dermatology Clinic

Apex Asheville Asheville Asheville Cary Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Concord Durham

Duke Dermatology Clinic Duke Dermatology Clinic Duke Dermatology Clinic Duke Pediatric Dermatology Duke Regional Hospital Skin Wellness Dermatology Associates Greensboro Dermatology Associates Eastern Dermatology & Pathology Physicians East Carolina Skin Care Vieta Dermatology Audrey Echt, M.D., P.A. Bain Dermatology Wake Skin Cancer Center Dermatology Associates

Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Greensboro Greenville Greenville Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Wake Forest Wilmington

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N O R T H

John G. Albertini The Skin Surgery Center Barry Leshin The Skin Surgery Center Daniel Pearce The Skin Surgery Center William Wei-Ting Huang Wake Forest Baptist Health Dermatology Joseph L. Jorizzo Wake Forest Baptist Health Dermatology Amy McMichael Wake Forest Baptist Health Dermatology Rita O. Pichardo Wake Forest Baptist Health Dermatology Steven R. Feldman Wake Forest Baptist Health Dermatology Phil M. Williford Wake Forest Baptist Health Dermatology

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY Valerie Jewells Deborah Agisim James H. Oliver III Amy H. Sobel Johanna R. Jorizzo Leroy Roberts Jr. Michael D. Tripp William B. Hudgins Allen M. Joseph Carolyn H. Maynor John P. Roberson Glen A. Toomayan John G. Alley Jr. Susan O. Holley

UNC Department of Radiology Charlotte Radiology Charlotte Radiology Charlotte Radiology Wake Forest Baptist Health Obstetrics and Gynecology Valley Regional Imaging Eastern Radiologists Pinehurst Radiology Pinehurst Radiology Pinehurst Radiology Pinehurst Radiology Pinehurst Radiology Raleigh Radiology Wake Radiology Consultants

Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Clemmons Fayetteville Greenville Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh

EMERGENCY MEDICINE Scott Ramming Michael Harrigan Sandra A. Craig Michael Gibbs Emily Champe MacNeill Jason A. Mutch Claudia Daly Herbert Garrison Linda Morris Taylor Don Bahner Jr. John A. Bridgman Roy R. Keys Frank L. Christopher Matthew Harmody Scott Hollrah James O. Lewis Julie Verchick Matthew Vreeland Laura Hester David E. Manthey

Mission Hospital Emergency Department UNC Hospitals Emergency Department Carolinas Medical Center Carolinas Medical Center Carolinas Medical Center Mid-Atlantic Emergency Medical Associates ECU Physicians ECU Physicians High Point Medical Center Emergency Department Sandhills Emergency Physicians Sandhills Emergency Physicians Sandhills Emergency Physicians Sandhills Emergency Physicians Sandhills Emergency Physicians Sandhills Emergency Physicians Sandhills Emergency Physicians Sandhills Emergency Physicians Sandhills Emergency Physicians Chatham Hospital Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Emergency Department

Asheville Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Greenville Greenville High Point Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Siler City Winston-Salem

ENDOCRINOLOGY, DIABETES AND METABOLISM Sung-Eun Yoo Amy Elizabeth Levenson John B. Buse David R. Clemmons Jean Dostou Elizabeth Harris Marian Sue Kirkman Eric L. Klett

Cary Endocrine & Diabetes Center UNC Hospitals Children’s Specialty Clinic UNC Hospitals Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic UNC Hospitals Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic UNC Hospitals Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic UNC Hospitals Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic UNC Hospitals Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic UNC Hospitals Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic

Cary Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill

C A R O L I N A

11/23/20 2:17 PM

Janet Rubin Laura Anne Young Kelli Coop Dunn E. Shannon Story Adva Tal Eisenberg D. Allen Brantley Jennifer Brigitte Green Kenneth W. Lyles Mark Warren Thomas L. O’Connell Brooks Mays Xanthia Samaropoulos Julia Warren-Ulanch Denis I. Becker K. Patrick Ober Donald A. McClain

UNC Hospitals Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic UNC Hospitals Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic Carolinas Medical Center Levine Cancer Institute Novant Health Endocrinology Tryon Medical Partners Duke Department of Medicine Duke Endocrinology Clinic Physicians East Kernodle Clinic Pinehurst Medical Clinic Capital Endocrine Consultants Creedmoor Centre Endocrinology Raleigh Endocrine Associates Wake Forest Baptist Health Endocrinology Wake Forest Baptist Health Endocrinology and Metabolism

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Durham Durham Greenville Mebane Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

FAMILY MEDICINE Tammi Waters James R. Liffrig John F. Redding II Timothy Poulton

Olical Health FirstHealth Convenient Care White Oak Family Physicians Appalachian Mountain Community Health Centers Justin Parker Asheville Family Medicine Heidi Knoll MAHEC Family Health Center Ginger Poulton MAHEC Family Health Center Candace Ireton MAHEC Family Health Center Timothy Plaut Mission My Care Plus Thomas R. Leonard FirstHealth Family Medicine Garett Franklin Cary Medical Group Dana M. Neutze The UNC Family Medicine Center Lauren Bennett-Ale Hull Atrium Health Carmel Family Physicians Tagbo J. Ekwonu Eastowne Family Physicians Chasse M. BaileyLevine Cancer Institute Dorton Melissa Jones Melissa Jones DO Primary Care Benjamin James Misick Novant Health Blakeney Family Physicians Augustus Garland Novant Health Blakeney Family Physicians Parker Jason Alexis Parker Novant Health Inpatient Care Specialists Pulak Dilipkumar Patel Novant Health Primary Care Mary Faison Green Knox Novant Health SouthPark Family Physicians Stacey Searson The Art of Health Thomas R. White Thomas Rhyne White M.D., P.C. Rodrigo Tesoro Samodal Jr. UNC Primary Care Craig White Davidson Family Medicine Viviana S. MartinezDuke Family Medicine Center Bianchi Bo Kopynec FirstHealth Family Medicine Micheal P. Ryder Duke Primary Care Henderson Lateef Cannon Pardee Family Medicine Associates Benjamin F. Simmons III Atrium Health Union Family Practice Christopher John J. Vieau Atrium Health Union Family Practice Thomas Gross Lake Norman Medical Group Holly Layman Lake Norman Medical Group Brent Douglas Penhall Novant Health Lakeside Family Physicians Ann Marie Richards FirstHealth Family Medicine Karen L. Smith Karen L. Smith M.D., P.A.

Apex Asheboro Asheboro Asheville Asheville Asheville Asheville Asheville Candler Carthage Cary Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Cherryville Clayton Davidson Durham Ellerbe Henderson Hendersonville Monroe Monroe Mooresville Mooresville Mooresville Pinehurst Raeford

Donna Tuccero Michael J Harris Amy Walsh Andrew J. Drabick Zane Lapinskes Patrick O’Connell Rachael Hollifield Ram Neelagiri Mary Catherine Moree Amy Howerton Shawn Howerton Andrew C. Hannapel Laura Klatt House Carolyn Vaught Brian Lanier Mohsin Ali Arshad Angela Bacigalupo Megan Johnson Andrew LePorte Crystal Sanchez Dorsey

Avance Health System Carolina Family Practice & Sports Medicine Doctor Direct Family Medical Associates of Raleigh Fischer Clinic Sentinel Primary Care UNC Family Medicine UNC Primary & Specialty Care FirstHealth Family Medicine Howerton Family Medicine Howerton Family Medicine Chatham Hospital Chatham Hospital Chatham Hospital Promina Health Novant Health Inpatient Care Specialists Burlington Family Practice Crissman Family Practice FirstHealth Primary Care Novant Health Maplewood Family Medicine

GASTROENTEROLOGY William R. Harlan Shannon Scholl Paul H. Hayashi

Digestive Health Partners Cary Gastroenterology Associates UNC Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease Todd Baron UNC Gastrointestinal Medicine Hans Herfarth UNC Gastrointestinal Medicine Robert S. Sandler UNC Gastrointestinal Medicine Nicholas J. Shaheen UNC Gastrointestinal Medicine Ian S. Grimm UNC Gastrointestinal Procedures Kim L. Isaacs UNC Gastrointestinal Procedures Nicholas E Anthony Atrium Health Gastroenterology and Hepatology Jason J. Lewis Atrium Health Gastroenterology and Hepatology Nilesh Lodhia Atrium Health Gastroenterology and Hepatology Martin W. Scobey Carolinas Medical Center Murtaza Parekh REX Digestive Healthcare Douglas A. Drossman Drossman Gastroenterology Eugene Michael Bozymski Duke Department of Medicine M. Stanley Branch Duke Endoscopy Clinic Rodger Alan Liddle Duke University School of Medicine Jeffrey Roy Medoff Wake Forest Baptist Digestive Health Mark Dellasega Physicians East Norman R. Clark III Digestive Health Partners James C. Rholl Digestive Health Partners Simon Allport Gastroenterology Associates Caroll Koscheski Gastroenterology Associates Gaa Richardson Gastroenterology Associates Spencer David Dorn UNC Gastrointestinal Medicine Jonathan James Hansen UNC Gastrointestinal Medicine Animesh Jain UNC Gastrointestinal Medicine Millie D. Long UNC Gastrointestinal Medicine Sarah McGill UNC Gastrointestinal Medicine Anne Peery UNC Gastrointestinal Medicine Yolanda V. Scarlett UNC Gastrointestinal Medicine Lisa M. Gangarosa UNC Gastrointestinal Procedures Scott A. Brotze Charlotte Gastroenterology & Hepatology Steven A. Josephson Charlotte Gastroenterology & Hepatology

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Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Rockingham Roseboro Roseboro Siler City Siler City Siler City Wilmington Winston-Salem Burlington Graham Raeford Winston-Salem

Asheville Cary Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Clayton Durham Durham Durham Durham Greensboro Greenville Hendersonville Hendersonville Hickory Hickory Hickory Hillsborough Hillsborough Hillsborough Hillsborough Hillsborough Hillsborough Hillsborough Hillsborough Huntersville Huntersville

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John H. Moore III John Clements Eric Frizzell Wayne B. Lucas Thomas M. Swantkowski Ravikant V. Varanasi Justin A. Crocker Rajat Chander Rig S. Patel Ronald Schwarz Kerry Whitt Steven D. Klein Richard Seth Bloomfeld Joel T. Bruggen John H. Gilliam III Rishi Pawa Nyree K. Thorne Herbert Lloyd Bonkovsky

Charlotte Gastroenterology & Hepatology Lake Norman Medical Group Pinehurst Medical Clinic Pinehurst Medical Clinic Pinehurst Medical Clinic Pinehurst Medical Clinic Duke Gastroenterology Raleigh Endoscopy Center REX Digestive Healthcare RMG Gastroenterology RMG Gastroenterology Wilmington Gastroenterology Wake Forest Baptist Health Digestive Health Endoscopy Wake Forest Baptist Health Digestive Health Endoscopy Wake Forest Baptist Health Digestive Health Endoscopy Wake Forest Baptist Health Digestive Health Endoscopy Wake Forest Baptist Health Digestive Health Endoscopy Wake Forest Baptist Health Digestive Health Services

Huntersville Mooresville Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Wilmington Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

GENERAL SURGERY William Bradshaw Mission Surgery Kolandaivelu Ramaswamy Mission Surgery Courtney Sommer Mission Trauma Services Anthony G. Charles UNC General and Acute Care Surgery Clinic Anthony A. Meyer UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics David A. Gerber UNC Hospitals Jason Ray Transplant Clinic Timothy M. Farrell UNC Hospitals Multispecialty Surgery Clinic David M. Levi Atrium Health Transplant Center Ashley Britton Christmas Carolinas Medical Center Lon Brian Eskind Carolinas Medical Center Cynthia W. Lauer Carolinas Medical Center Beverley L. Paton Carolinas Medical Center Lynnette M. Schiffern Carolinas Medical Center B. Todd Heniford CMC Surgery David A. Iannitti Levine Cancer Institute Richard L. White Jr. Levine Cancer Institute Theodore N. Pappas Duke Advanced Abdominal Disease Clinic Randall P. Scheri Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center Rachel A. Greenup Duke Cancer Center Allan D. Kirk Duke Kidney/Pancreas Transplant Clinic Stuart Johnston Duke Surgery Knechtle Herbert Kim Lyerly Duke Surgery Matthew C. Wakefield Central Carolina Surgery Kenneth MacDonald Physicians East Timothy McGuire Physicians East Robert F. Noel Jr. Maria Parham Surgical Associates David Charles Price Pardee Surgical Associates David Wayne Overby UNC General Surgery R. Ike Bhasin Surgical Specialists of Charlotte Natalie L. Nowak Surgical Specialists of Charlotte Eric L. Wallace Surgical Specialists of Charlotte Brian Burlingame Pinehurst Surgical Clinic H. Willy Chu Pinehurst Surgical Clinic

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N O R T H

Asheville Asheville Asheville Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Greensboro Greenville Greenville Henderson Hendersonville Hillsborough Huntersville Matthews Matthews Pinehurst Pinehurst

David W. Grantham Amelia M. Jeyapalan Raymond G. Washington Jr. Christopher R. Watters Richard A. Chiulli Carolyn S. Day Matthew C. Alleman Elizabeth Acquista W. Borden Hooks III William Hope Alan C. Farney Jeffrey Rogers Adolfo Z. Fernandez Russell M. Howerton Stephen S. McNatt J. Wayne Meredith Carl J. Westcott

Pinehurst Surgical Clinic Pinehurst Surgical Clinic Pinehurst Surgical Clinic

Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst

Duke General Surgery North Carolina Surgery North Carolina Surgery WakeMed Raleigh Campus New Hanover Regional Medical Center New Hanover Regional Medical Center New Hanover Regional Medical Center Wake Forest Baptist Health Abdominal Organ Transplant Wake Forest Baptist Health Abdominal Organ Transplant Wake Forest Baptist Health General Surgery Wake Forest Baptist Health General Surgery Wake Forest Baptist Health General Surgery Wake Forest Baptist Health General Surgery Wake Forest Baptist Health General Surgery

Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Wilmington Wilmington Wilmington Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY Ashley Case Blair Harkness Tim Vanderkwaak John F. Boggess Jubilee Brown Erin K. Crane Janelle Marie Fauci Brittany A. Davidson Rebecca A. Previs Paula S. Lee Diane Semer Michael J. Sundborg

Hope Women’s Cancer Centers Hope Women’s Cancer Centers Hope Women’s Cancer Centers UNC Gynecologic Oncology Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Novant Health Gynecologic Oncology Associates Duke Cancer Center Duke Cancer Center Duke University Hospital Physicians East FirstHealth Gynecologic Oncology

Asheville Asheville Asheville Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Durham Durham Durham Greenville Pinehurst

HAND SURGERY Samuel S. Abrams Christopher T. Lechner John Li Harrison G. Tuttle Glenn Gaston John S. Gaul III Lois K. Osier Julian McClees Aldridge III Julie C. Woodside Mark Brenner Christopher M. Johnson James R. Post Paul Schricker Richard S. Bahner L. Andrew Koman

Southeastern Sports Medicine and Orthopedics Carolina Hand and Sports Medicine Wake Forest Baptist Health Orthopaedics Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic OrthoCarolina OrthoCarolina OrthoCarolina Duke Regional Hospital

Arden Asheville Bermuda Run Cary Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Durham

OrthoCarolina Pinehurst Surgical Clinic Pinehurst Surgical Clinic Raleigh Hand to Shoulder Center Raleigh Hand to Shoulder Center EmergeOrtho Wake Forest Baptist Health Orthopaedics

Gastonia Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Wilmington Winston-Salem

HEMATOLOGY Alice D. Ma Reed Friend Mary Ann Knovich Ifeyinwa Osunkwo Charles H. Packman Srinivasa Sanikommu

UNC Hospitals Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute

Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte

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David Mack Todd A. Moore

Maria Parham Cancer Center FirstHealth Outpatient Cancer Center

Henderson Pinehurst

HEPATOLOGY Michael W. Fried Steven L. Zacks Mark W. Russo Andrew J. Muir

UNC Gastrointestinal Medicine Carolinas HealthCare System Liver Care Transplant and Liver Center Duke Gastroenterology

Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Durham

HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE Joshua Baru Sandra Whitlock Beth Elisa Susi Shenita Spencer Moore Bruce Kennedy Emily Rogers Sawyer Aaron M. Gavett Steven Strobel Ellen M. Willard Jennifer L. Davis

Mission Palliative Care Mission Palliative Care Levine Cancer Institute The Center for Supportive Care and Survivorship Levine Cancer Institute Four Seasons Compassion for Life FirstHealth Hospitalist Service Richmond County Hospice FirstHealth Hospice & Palliative Care Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

Asheville Asheville Charlotte Charlotte Concord Flat Rock Pinehurst Rockingham West End Winston-Salem

INFECTIOUS DISEASE Bruce Israel David McClain William McKenna James Whitehouse Anne Lachiewicz Thomas H. Belhorn Mindy M. Sampson

Mission Infectious Disease Associates Mission Infectious Disease Associates Mission Infectious Disease Associates Mission Infectious Disease Associates UNC Hospitals Jason Ray Transplant Clinic UNC Infectious Diseases Clinic Atrium Health ID Consultants & Infusion Care Specialists Catherine Passaretti Carolinas Medical Center David A. Weinrib Carolinas Medical Center Michael Leonard ID Consultants & Infusion Care Specialists Lewis H. McCurdy ID Consultants & Infusion Care Specialists Zainab Shahid ID Consultants & Infusion Care Specialists Stephanie L. Strollo NorthEast Infectious Diseases Gordon Ralph Corey Duke Department of Medicine Vance G. Fowler Duke Infectious Diseases Clinic Rachel A. Miller Duke Infectious Diseases Clinic Nathan M. Thielman Duke Infectious Diseases Clinic Cameron R. Wolfe Duke Infectious Diseases Clinic Edward F. Hendershot Duke University Hospital T. Ryan Gallaher Physicians East Keith Ramsey Vidant Medical Center Infection Control Christopher H. Parsons Pardee Center for Infectious Diseases Gretchen Shaughnessy FirstHealth Infectious Diseases Arnoczy Jaspaul S. Jawanda FirstHealth Infectious Diseases Octavio Cieza UNC Specialty Care Paul Kamitsuka Wilmington Health Stephen Florian Weber Novant Health Infectious Disease Specialists Christopher A. Ohl Wake Forest Baptist Health Infectious Diseases Aimee Maree Wilkin Wake Forest Baptist Health Infectious Diseases

Asheville Asheville Asheville Asheville Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Concord Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Greenville Greenville Hendersonville Pinehurst Pinehurst Smithfield Wilmington Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

INTERNAL MEDICINE Douglas E. Schultz Stephen D. Brown Scott Joslin Cristin Colford

Randolph Health Internal Medicine Carolina Internal Medicine Mission Hospital Medicine - Asheville UNC Internal Medicine

Asheboro Asheville Asheville Cary

James E. Kurz Kimberly Kylstra Marco A. Aleman Timothy S. Carey Paul Chelminski Darren DeWalt Thomas C. Keyserling Thomas M. Miller Shana Ratner Iris S. Cheng

North Chatham Pediatrics & Internal Medicine North Chatham Pediatrics & Internal Medicine UNC Internal Medicine UNC Internal Medicine UNC Internal Medicine UNC Internal Medicine UNC Internal Medicine UNC Internal Medicine UNC Internal Medicine Atrium Health Charlotte Internal Medicine and Specialty Group Atrium Health Charlotte Medical Clinic Atrium Health Charlotte Medical Clinic Atrium Health Charlotte Medical Clinic Atrium Health Charlotte Medical Clinic Atrium Health Randolph Internal Medicine Carolinas Hospitalist Group Carolinas Hospitalist Group Carolinas Medical Center H3 Healthcare Levine Cancer Institute Novant Health Ballantyne Medical Group

Erika L. Bono Michael B. Friedland Al D. Hudson Benjamin A. Kirk Gregory V. Collins Brian A. Dalrymple Kelly M. Forb Lane Knox Jacobs Jane Harrell Edward A. Copelan Faye Sherwood Campbell Jimmie W. Adcock Novant Health First Charlotte Physicians EpiCentre Walter Wallace Johnson Novant Health Presbyterian Internal Medicine Lorri A. Ayers Perspective Health & Wellness Jeffrey Constantine Tryon Medical Partners Wanda Robinson Tryon Medical Partners Enrico Belgrave Tryon Medical Partners Robert Bowen III Tryon Medical Partners Peter Copsis Tryon Medical Partners Charles Ferree Tryon Medical Partners Adam Ligler Tryon Medical Partners Alexandra Thomas Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Trang T. Q. Vuong Novant Health Primary Care Ranee Chatterjee Duke Primary Care Montgomery Vijay K. Agarwal Envision R. Doug Barrow Physicians East Michael Soboeiro WakeMed Primary Care Benson Okeiyi CaroMont Health Lawal Garba Ladan Medical Center Elizabeth Fry Physicians East Laura P. Diefendorf Duke Primary Care Henderson Eric Wayne Byrd Carolina Mountain Internal Medicine Thomas Allen Batchelor Atrium Health North Charlotte Medical Specialists Joseph Barrocas Novant Health Huntersville Pediatrics & Internal Medicine Josephine Hooten Lake Novant Health Huntersville Pediatrics & Internal Medicine Thomas Stephen Webb Novant Health Huntersville Pediatrics & Internal Medicine Aaron Matthew Miller Novant Health Inpatient Care Specialists Michelle Lynette Foster Novant Health Southern Piedmont Primary Care Jenifir J. Bruno FirstHealth Hospitalist Service Charles B. Howarth FirstHealth Hospitalist Service Nimit Patidar FirstHealth Hospitalist Service Van “Beaux� Slaughter Jr. FirstHealth Hospitalist Service D E C E M B E R

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Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Clemmons Concord Durham Elizabeth City Farmville Garner Gastonia Greensboro Greenville Henderson Hendersonville Huntersville Huntersville Huntersville Huntersville Matthews Monroe Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst

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Robert M. Watt Mary Belle Weitzel Robert L. Deucher Ronald D. Walters Bobby R. Maynor Jr. Eric Landis Andrea McGrath Benjamin P. Fischer Wells Edmundson Jessica Heestand Michol Stanzione Walter S. Morris III Jon R. Hutchinson Thomas Vincent Wolff David Michael Tarter Peter R. Lichstein Erik Christian Summers Megan M. Alexander Francis X. O’Brien William Y. Rice III James F. Donohue Michael B. Daley Rita Mikhail

FirstHealth Hospitalist Service FirstHealth Hospitalist Service FirstHealth Hospitalist Service FirstHealth Internal Medicine Pinehurst Medical Clinic Tryon Medical Partners Tryon Medical Partners Fischer Clinic Raleigh Medical Group Wake Internal Medicine Pinehurst Medical Clinic Walter S. Morris III, M.D., PLLC Piedmont HealthCare Novant Health Inpatient Care Specialists Novant Health Inpatient Care Specialists Wake Forest Baptist Health Internal Medicine Wake Forest Baptist Health Internal Medicine Wake Forest Baptist Health University Internal Medicine Wake Forest Baptist Health University Internal Medicine Wake Forest Baptist Health University Internal Medicine UNC Hospitals Pulmonary Specialty Clinic Pinehurst Medical Clinic Sampson Regional Medical Center

Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pineville Pineville Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Southern Pines Southern Pines Statesville Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Chapel Hill West End Clinton

INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY Michael J. Rinaldi William L. Harris Keith E. Davis Patrick J. Simpson Mohit Pasi Scott Denardo

Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute FirstHealth Cardiology Pinehurst Medical Clinic Pinehurst Medical Clinic North Carolina Heart & Vascular FirstHealth Primary Care and Cardiology

Charlotte Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Troy

MATERNAL AND FETAL MEDICINE Carol Coulson Julie Johnson M. Kathryn Menard Nikki Koklanaris Rebecca Pollack Lorene A. Temming Chad A. Grotegut Brenna L. Hughes Andra H. James

MAHEC OB/GYN Specialists UNC OB/GYN UNC OB/GYN Atrium Health Women’s Institute Atrium Health Women’s Institute Atrium Health Women’s Institute Duke Birthing Center Duke Birthing Center Duke Birthing Center

Asheville Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Durham Durham Durham

MEDICAL ONCOLOGY AND HEMATOLOGY Raymond Thertulien Asheville Hematology & Oncology Christopher Chay Messino Cancer Centers Michael Messino Messino Cancer Centers Sean Xiang Wang Duke Cancer Center Amanda Sherrod REX Hematology Oncology Associates Anureet Copeland REX Hematology Oncology Associates Bradford C. Powell UNC Adult and Cancer Genetics Clinic Nigel S. Key UNC Hospitals Stephan Moll UNC Hospitals Elizabeth Claire Dees UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics Autumn Jackson McRee UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics

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N O R T H

Asheville Asheville Asheville Cary Cary Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill

Matthew I. Milowsky Hyman Muss Jared Weiss Asim Amin Earle F. Burgess Gary P. Frenette Daniel E. Haggstrom Bei Hu Jimmy J. Hwang Kunal C. Kadakia Edward S. Kim Kathryn F. Mileham Reza Nazemzadeh Nelson J. Chao James L. Abbruzzese Jeffrey Crawford Harry P. Erba Gretchen G. Kimmick Paul Kelly Marcom David A. Rizzieri Thomas E. Stinchcombe Thomas L. Ortel Louis F. Diehl Samer S. Kasbari Gary “Brad” Sherrill Heather White Navin Anthony James Earl Radford Jr. Kathryn Willoughby Brownlee Gregory Michael Brouse Z. Luke Farmer Richard Krumdieck Timothy Kuo Michael S. Batalo Robert A. Pohlmeyer Thomas J. Richard Charles S. Kuzma Jeremiah C. Boles Nirav S. Dhruva Alan Kritz Susan G. Moore Oludamilola A. Olajide James Norman Atkins Omotayo Olusola Fasan Rhonda Bitting Stefan Charles Grant Dianna Sue Howard David D. Hurd Heidi Diana Klepin Glenn J. Lesser Tim Pardee

UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Duke Adult Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinic Duke Cancer Center Duke Cancer Center Duke Cancer Center Duke Cancer Center Duke Cancer Center Duke Cancer Center Duke Cancer Center Duke Hematology Clinic Duke University Hospital Southeastern Medical Oncology Center Cone Health Cancer Center Physicians East Hendersonville Hematology and Oncology Hendersonville Hematology and Oncology Novant Health Cancer Institute

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Goldsboro Greensboro Greenville Hendersonville Hendersonville Matthews

Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Lake Norman Oncology Lake Norman Oncology FirstHealth Outpatient Cancer Center FirstHealth Outpatient Cancer Center FirstHealth Outpatient Cancer Center Pinehurst Medical Clinic REX Hematology Oncology Associates REX Hematology Oncology Associates REX Hematology Oncology Associates REX Hematology Oncology Associates REX Hematology Oncology Associates Wilkes Medical Center Novant Health Cancer Institute Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology

Monroe Monroe Mooresville Mooresville Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Wilkesboro Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

C A R O L I N A

11/23/20 2:17 PM

William Jeffrey Petty

Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Bayard L. Powell Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Caio Max Sao Pedro Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology Rocha Lima and Oncology Jimmy Ruiz Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Paul D. Savage Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Steven Mark Sorscher Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Christopher Y. Thomas IV Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Pierre L. Triozzi Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology Brittany K. Ragon Levine Cancer Institute

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Charlotte

NEPHROLOGY Joseph R. Aiello Brian England Samuel Bryson Fleming II Nam Dai Vo Winfield Word-Sims James E. Godwin Thomas Hostetter Randal Detwiler

Mountain Kidney & Hypertension Associates Mountain Kidney & Hypertension Associates Mountain Kidney & Hypertension Associates

Mountain Kidney & Hypertension Associates Mountain Kidney & Hypertension Associates North Carolina Nephrology UNC Division of Nephrology and Hypertension UNC Hospitals Kidney Specialty and Transplant Clinic Ronald J. Falk UNC Hospitals Kidney Specialty and Transplant Clinic Gerald A. Hladik UNC Hospitals Kidney Specialty and Transplant Clinic Chris Neil Fotiadis Metrolina Nephrology Associates Todd Frederick Griffith Metrolina Nephrology Associates Nancy Jo Gritter Metrolina Nephrology Associates David W. Butterly Duke Nephrology Clinic Eugene C. Kovalik Duke Nephrology Clinic Ruediger W. Lehrich Duke Nephrology Clinic John P. Middleton Duke Nephrology Clinic Kenneth Melton Carolina Kidney Care Joseph Coladonato Carolina Kidney Associates James L Deterding Carolina Kidney Associates Cynthia B Dunham Carolina Kidney Associates Kellie Goldsborough Carolina Kidney Associates Martin Webb Carolina Kidney Associates Maxwell E. Fisher Eastern Nephrology Associates Carney Taylor Jr. Eastern Nephrology Associates Tariq Abo-Kamil Maria Parham Nephrology & Hypertension Richard V. Paul Piedmont Nephrology Kimberly M. Yates Metrolina Nephrology Associates Hanna Von Hardenberg Pinehurst Nephrology Associates Edward W. Hoehn-Saric Pinehurst Nephrology Associates John D. Shepherd Pinehurst Nephrology Associates Jennifer K. Stoddard Pinehurst Nephrology Associates Michael J. Casey North Carolina Nephrology Anthony J. Bleyer Wake Forest Baptist Health Kidney Services Isai Gopalakrishnan Wake Forest Baptist Health Kidney Services Bowline Barry I. Freedman Wake Forest Baptist Health Kidney Services

Asheville Asheville Asheville Asheville Asheville Cary Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Durham Durham Durham Durham Fayetteville Greensboro Greensboro Greensboro Greensboro Greensboro Greenville Greenville Henderson Hickory Huntersville Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

Shahriar Moossavi Michael V. Rocco Alexander T. Page

Wake Forest Baptist Health Kidney Services Wake Forest Baptist Health Kidney Services Pinehurst Nephrology Associates

NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY Richard A. Lytle Jr. Matthew G. Ewend Deanna Sasaki-Adams Domagoj Coric E. Hunter Dyer Martin M. Henegar Erin Nicole Kiehna Charles L. Branch Jr. Christopher I. Shaffrey Allan H. Friedman James B. Walker Lars Gardner Laith Khoury Robin Koeleveld David Joseph Hart William Ray Brown Jr. Stephen B. Tatter

Carolina Spine & Neurosurgery Center UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics UNC Neurosurgery Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates Novant Health Brain & Spine Surgery Wake Forest Baptist Health Spine Center Duke Spine Center The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center FirstHealth Neurosurgery Raleigh Neurosurgical Clinic Raleigh Neurosurgical Clinic REX Neurosurgery and Spine Specialists Novant Health Brain & Spine Surgery Triad Neurosurgical Wake Forest Baptist Health Neurosurgery

Asheville Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Clemmons Durham Durham Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

NEUROLOGY Suzette LaRoche Duff Rardin Alexander Schneider Nina M. Browner Michael Forbes Daniel Roque Heidi L. Roth Bradley V. Vaughn Hae Won Shin

Mission Neurology Mission Neurology Mission Neurology UNC Hospitals Neurology Clinic UNC Hospitals Neurology Clinic UNC Hospitals Neurology Clinic UNC Hospitals Neurology Clinic UNC Hospitals Neurology Clinic UNC Hospitals Vascular Interventional Radiology Clinic Andrea L. Diedrich Carolina Neurological Clinic Steven F Karner Carolina Neurological Clinic Liya Beyderman Charlotte Neurological Services Sanjay S. Iyer Memory & Movement Charlotte Nikhil Balakrishnan Neurosciences Institute Ajmal Gilani UNC Neurology Clark William Pinyan Wake Forest Baptist Health Neurology Vern C. Juel Duke Electromyography Laboratory Aatif M. Husain Duke Neurological Disorders Clinic Joel C. Morgenlander Duke Neurological Disorders Clinic Rodney A. Radtke Duke Neurological Disorders Clinic Janice M. Massey Duke Neurological Disorders Clinic Richard S. Bedlack Jr. Duke Neurology Richard J. O’Brien Duke Neurology Robert Frere ECU Physicians Joel Travis Callahan Jr. Pardee Neurology Associates Melanie J. Blacker FirstHealth Hospitalist Service Sarah H. Uffindell FirstHealth Hospitalist Service Steven C. Lewis FirstHealth Hospitalist Service Jonathan Richman Pinehurst Neurology Kenneth M. Carnes Raleigh Neurology Associates Mitch Freedman Raleigh Neurology Associates Rhonda Gabr Raleigh Neurology Associates Susan Glenn Raleigh Neurology Associates

D E C E M B E R

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Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Pinehurst

Asheville Asheville Asheville Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Clayton Clemmons Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Greenville Hendersonville Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh

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11/23/20 2:18 PM

Keith Hull Patricia Naslund Bradley Robottom John Scagnelli Richard Tim Pavan Yerramsetty J. Thaddeus Coin James S. McKinney III Francis J. O’Donnell Joseph Keith Miller Jane G. Boggs Michael Stephen Cartwright Sandhya Kumar Cormac A. O’Donovan Emily Poole Pharr Patrick S. Reynolds Aarti Sarwal Mustafa Saad Siddiqui Jessica Amelia Tate Rebecca Erwin Wells

Raleigh Neurology Associates Raleigh Neurology Associates Raleigh Neurology Associates Raleigh Neurology Associates Raleigh Neurology Associates Raleigh Neurology Associates J. Thaddeus Coin, Ph.D., M.D. NHRMC Physician Group Neurology NHRMC Physician Group Neurology Novant Health Inpatient Stroke & Neurosciences Wake Forest Baptist Health Neurology Wake Forest Baptist Health Neurology

Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Wilmington Wilmington Wilmington Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

Wake Forest Baptist Health Neurology Wake Forest Baptist Health Neurology Wake Forest Baptist Health Neurology Wake Forest Baptist Health Neurology Wake Forest Baptist Health Neurology Wake Forest Baptist Health Neurology Wake Forest Baptist Health Neurology Wake Forest Baptist Health Neurology

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY Lisa Chitour Biltmore OB-GYN PA Breanna Bolivar MAHEC OB/GYN Specialists Kiran Sigmon MAHEC OB/GYN Specialists Vijay Sheshadri Triangle Physicians for Women Diana Spahlinger WakeMed Cary Hospital McCarthy William Goodnight UNC Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Thomas Ivester UNC Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Kim A. Boggess UNC OB/GYN Alice Chuang UNC OB/GYN Robert A. Strauss UNC OB/GYN Alison M. Stuebe UNC OB/GYN Leslie M. HansenAtrium Health Charlotte OB/GYN Lindner Robert T. Wicker Jr. Atrium Health Charlotte OB/GYN Emily E. Hutcheson Atrium Health Eastover OB/GYN Astrid G. Jain Atrium Health Eastover OB/GYN Jennifer A. Kalich Atrium Health Eastover OB/GYN Jerry F. Matkins Atrium Health Eastover OB/GYN M. Kathryn Whitten Atrium Health Eastover OB/GYN Grant L. Campbell Atrium Health Eastover University OB/GYN Suzanna J. Fox Atrium Health Eastover University OB/GYN Kevin J.E. Stepp Atrium Health Women’s Center for Pelvic Health Bradley Shawn Hurst Atrium Health Women’s Institute Heather Mertz Atrium Health Women’s Institute R. Wendel Naumann Levine Cancer Institute Jennie Jarvis Hauschka Mintview OB/GYN Claire Stallings Bowles Novant Health Bradford Clinic OB/GYN Stephen Charles Moore Novant Health Bradford Clinic OB/GYN Scott Matthew Schneider Novant Health Bradford Clinic OB/GYN Kellie Elizabeth Novant Health Gynecologic Oncology Associates Schneider John Raymond Allbert Novant Health Maternal-Fetal Medicine David Corydon Shaver Novant Health Maternal-Fetal Medicine Philip William De Hoff Novant Health Providence OB/GYN Eleanor Mark McCurdy Novant Health Providence OB/GYN

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N O R T H

Asheville Asheville Asheville Cary Cary Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte

James Thomas Bohmer Novant Health Rankin OB/GYN Thor Owen Svendsen Novant Health Rankin OB/GYN Jack L. Crain Reproductive Endocrinology Associates of Charlotte Seth E. Katz Reproductive Endocrinology Associates of Charlotte Joseph G. Whelan III Reproductive Endocrinology Associates of Charlotte Amy Fletcher Thrive Personalized Healthcare & Wellness Carlos Fernando UNC Women’s Health Bendfeldt Caroline Marchand UNC Women’s Health Lewis Jennifer Mury UNC Women’s Health Oona L. O’Neill Wake Forest Baptist Health Obstetrics and Gynecology Scott Augustine Sampson Women’s Center Brigitte Miller Levine Cancer Institute Lisa C. Muasher Davis Ambulatory Surgical Center Latoya Patterson Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center Beverly A. Gray Duke Birthing Center Angeles Alvarez Secord Duke Cancer Center Thomas M. Price Duke Fertility Center Anne Z. Steiner Duke Fertility Center Elizabeth G. Livingston Duke Infectious Diseases Clinic John Wilson Schmitt Duke Obstetrics & Gynecology Matthew D. Barber Duke University Hospital Andrea Karen Dickerson A Woman’s Place Delores Johnson Premier Women’s Care Jody Bovard Greensboro OBGYN Associates John S. McComb Physicians for Women of Greensboro Daniel Lyle ClarkeUNC Gynecologic Oncology Pearson Angela Haskins Physicians East William Taft Physicians East Kori Whitley Physicians East Roy David Beaty Pardee OB/GYN Associates Laura Faruque A Woman’s View Wake Forest Baptist Health Gynecology Oncology Samuel S. Lentz Michael O’Keefe Wake Forest Baptist Health Obstetrics and Gynecology AnnaMarie Connolly UNC Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery Ehab M. Sharawy Atrium Health Women’s Care One Health OB/GYN Dao Q. Vuong Atrium Health Women’s Care One Health OB/GYN Raleigh Kirby Godsey Jr. Novant Health Bradford Clinic OB/GYN John K. Park Carolina Conceptions Jeffrey A. Kuller Duke Perinatal Consultants Nichelle Satterfield Durham Women’s Clinic Bari Byrd Kamm McKenzie OBGYN John Yoon Kamm McKenzie OBGYN Jack R. Inge Jr. Mid-Carolina Obstetrics & Gynecology Marc A. Fritz UNC Fertility Jennifer Mersereau UNC Fertility Steven L. Young UNC Fertility Prashanti Aryal Wake Internal Medicine Lisa Marie Roberts WakeMed Gynecology & Laparoscopic Surgeons Michelle M. Homeister Wilkerson OBGYN Mohamed A.Y. Ibrahim FirstHealth OB/GYN

Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Clayton Clayton Clayton Clemmons Clinton Concord Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Fayetteville Fayetteville Greensboro Greensboro Greensboro Greenville Greenville Greenville Hendersonville Hickory High Point High Point Hillsborough Huntersville Huntersville Matthews Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Rockingham

C A R O L I N A

11/23/20 2:18 PM

John W. Byron Pamela G. Kantorowski Kendall R. Zmiewsky William M. Johnstone Jr. Tamer M. Yalcinkaya Arnold S. Grandis

Southern Pines Women’s Health Center Southern Pines Women’s Health Center Southern Pines Women’s Health Center Coastal OBGYN Specialists Carolinas Fertility Institute Wake Forest Baptist Health Comprehensive Fetal Care Center

Southern Pines Southern Pines Southern Pines Wilmington Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE Kristen Said

Duke Employee Occupational Health and Wellness Clinic

Durham

Waverly Hematology Oncology UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Hayworth Cancer Center Novant Health Cancer Institute

Cary Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte High Point Matthews

ONCOLOGY Mark Graham Ethan Basch Hanna Kelly Sanoff Jing Ai Arielle L. Heeke Lane B. Hellner Jessica-Lyn Masterson Sridhar E. Pal Bernard R. Chinnasami Nusrat Ahmad Chaudhary

OPHTHALMOLOGY Thomas L. Beardsley W Zachery Bridges Jr. W Copley McLean Jr. Robert E .Wiggins Jr. Chadwick R. Brasington Steven A. Dingeldein Sanjay G. Asrani Jan Niklas Ulrich Galen Grayson Andrew N. Antoszyk Justin C. Brown David J. Browning K. Casey Mathys Nehali V. Saraiya David N. Ugland David Greenman Herb Greenman Vandana R. Minnal Royce R. Syracuse Sandra M. Brown Edward G. Buckley Alan N. Carlson Pratap Challa Glenn J. Jaffe Terry Kim Felipe Medeiros Eric A. Postel Cynthia A. Toth Lejla Vajzovic Robin R. Vann Leah Bonaparte David Alston Chesnutt Cameron M. Stone

Asheville Eye Associates Asheville Eye Associates Asheville Eye Associates Asheville Eye Associates Alamance Eye Center Alamance Eye Center Duke Eye Center of Cary UNC Kittner Eye Center Atrium Health Ophthalmology Care Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates Greenman Eye Associates Greenman Eye Associates Horizon Eye Care Horizon Eye Care Cabarrus Eye Center Duke Eye Center Duke Eye Center Duke Eye Center Duke Eye Center Duke Eye Center Duke Eye Center Duke Eye Center Duke Eye Center Duke Eye Center Duke Eye Center Cape Fear Eye Associates Waynesborough Ophthalmology Asheville Eye Associates

Asheville Asheville Asheville Asheville Burlington Burlington Cary Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Concord Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Fayetteville Goldsboro Hendersonville

Christina H. Choe Jonathan P. Fritz Patrick Albert Hageman Tushar Patel Isaac W. Porter Pradeep Mettu Kerry E. Hunt Alice A. Lin Syndee J. Givre Arghavan Almony Anna Fakadej John W. French Winston J. Garris Tarra W. Millender Gregory J. Mincey Jeffrey J. White R. Allan Sharpe Terry M. Semchyshyn Susan Katharine Burden Paul J. Dickinson Matthew Giegengack Craig M. Greven Timothy J. Martin Rajiv Edlagan Shah Keith A. Walter

Carolina Ophthalmology Carolina Ophthalmology Kernersville Eye Surgeons Lake Norman Ophthalmology Porter Ophthalmology Raleigh Eye and Face Plastic Surgery Raleigh Eye Center Raleigh Eye Center Raleigh Neurology Associates Carolina Eye Associates Carolina Eye Associates Carolina Eye Associates Carolina Eye Associates Carolina Eye Associates Carolina Eye Associates Carolina Eye Associates Carolina Eye Associates Duke Eye Center Wake Forest Baptist Health Eye Center Wake Forest Baptist Health Eye Center Wake Forest Baptist Health Eye Center Wake Forest Baptist Health Eye Center Wake Forest Baptist Health Eye Center Wake Forest Baptist Health Eye Center Wake Forest Baptist Health Eye Center

ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY Jeffrey S. Almony

Southern Pines Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Pinehurst

ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY Selene G. Parekh Adam Kaufman Andrew Kersten John Shepherd Shields Timothy Ned Taft R. Alexander Creighton Christopher W. Olcott Robert F. Ostrum Jeffrey T. Spang Stephen Hubert Sims Joshua Charles Patt Thomas K. Fehring William L. Griffin J. Bohannon Mason Claude Moorman III W. Alan Ward Richard Alioto Brian Rosenberg Joe T. Minchew Annunziato Amendola David S. Ruch Dean C. Taylor Brian E. Brigman David E. Attarian Michael P. Bolognesi James K. DeOrio Mark E. Easley James A. Nunley II

Duke Orthopaedics Mission Orthopedic Trauma Services Southeastern Sports Medicine and Orthopedics Wake Forest Baptist Health Orthopaedics UNC Department of Family Medicine UNC Orthopaedics UNC Orthopaedics UNC Orthopaedics UNC Orthopaedics Atrium Health Orthopaedic Surgery Levine Cancer Institute OrthoCarolina OrthoCarolina OrthoCarolina OrthoCarolina OrthoCarolina UNC Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Rosenberg Bone & Joint Davis Ambulatory Surgical Center Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center Duke Cancer Center Duke Orthopaedics Duke Orthopaedics Duke Orthopaedics Duke Orthopaedics Duke Orthopaedics

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Hendersonville Hendersonville Kernersville Mooresville Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Southern Pines Southern Pines Southern Pines Southern Pines Southern Pines Southern Pines Southern Pines Southern Pines Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

Apex Asheville Asheville Bermuda Run Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Clayton Columbus Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham

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Scott S. Kelley William J. Richardson Richard C. Mather III

Duke Regional Hospital Duke Spine Center James R. Urbaniak, M.D., Sports Sciences Institute Rhett Hallows North Carolina Orthopaedic Clinic Steven R. Olson Greensboro Radiology David Allen Thompson Guilford Orthopaedic Christopher C. Hasty Orthopaedics East Philip S. Perdue Jr. Orthopaedics East Suzanne Ellen Hall Appalachian Shoulder Specialists R. Christian Estes Southeastern Sports Medicine and Orthopedics Neil A. Conti Pinehurst Surgical Clinic Alexander C. Lemons Pinehurst Surgical Clinic Sarah E. DeWitt Orthopaedic Surgery of the Foot & Ankle Bradley K. Vaughn Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic Greig McAvoy UNC Orthopaedics Richard S. Moore Jr. EmergeOrtho Christopher D. Parks EmergeOrtho Eben A. Carroll Wake Forest Baptist Health Orthopaedics Cynthia L. Emory Wake Forest Baptist Health Orthopaedics Jason J. Halvorson Wake Forest Baptist Health Orthopaedics Gary G. Poehling Wake Forest Baptist Health Orthopaedics Aaron T. Scott Wake Forest Baptist Health Orthopaedics Robert D. Teasdall Wake Forest Baptist Health Orthopaedics Ethan R. Wiesler Wake Forest Baptist Health Orthopaedics Cristin Martha Ferguson Wake Forest Baptist Health Sports Medicine

Durham Durham Durham Durham Greensboro Greensboro Greenville Greenville Hendersonville Hendersonville Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Rocky Mount Wilmington Wilmington Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

ORTHOPEDICS Harold Frisch Christopher J. Tuohy Milan M. DiGiulio

Mission Orthopedic Trauma Services Wake Forest Baptist Health Orthopaedics Performance Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine Kevin J. Logel Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic Stephen Graham Struble WakeMed Cary Hospital Michael Bates OrthoCarolina Virginia F. Casey OrthoCarolina Nady Hamid OrthoCarolina Bryan J. Loeffler OrthoCarolina Gregory Tayrose UNC Orthopedics & Sports Medicine W. Alexander Huff Huff Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Sergio Mendoza Lattes Duke Spine Center Frank V. Aluisio EmergeOrtho Robert Wainer Murphy Wainer Orthopedic Specialists Gary R. Kuzma The Hand Center of Greensboro Christopher M. Barsanti Orthopaedics East Mark D. Suprock OrthoCarolina Kevin J. Stanley OrthoCarolina Ward S. Oakley Pinehurst Surgical Clinic Kurt P. Wohlrab Pinehurst Surgical Clinic Shepherd F. Rosenblum EmergeOrtho William M. Isbell Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic

Asheville Bermuda Run Cary Cary Cary Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Clayton Clinton Durham Greensboro Greensboro Greensboro Greenville Huntersville Mooresville Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh

OTOLARYNGOLOGY John A. Garside Trevor G. Hackman Samip N. Patel Harold C. Pillsbury III Brent A. Senior Rupali N. Shah

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REX Ear, Nose and Throat Specialists UNC Ear, Nose and Throat UNC Ear, Nose and Throat UNC Ear, Nose and Throat UNC Ear, Nose and Throat UNC Ear, Nose and Throat

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N O R T H

Cary Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill

Brian Thorp Mark C. Weissler Adam M. Zanation Hunter A. Hoover Darrell A. Klotz Nicholas Daniel Lukacs Kenneth Lee Johnson David M. Kaylie David Latham Witsell

UNC Ear, Nose and Throat UNC Ear, Nose and Throat UNC Ear, Nose and Throat Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates Queen City Ear, Nose, and Throat UNC Ear, Nose and Throat Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center Duke Department of Head and Neck Surgery Howard W. Francis Duke Otolaryngology Eric M. Kraus The Ear Center of Greensboro Marcus Albernaz Eastern Carolina ENT Paul Brechtelsbauer Eastern Carolina ENT Eric Lindbeck Eastern Carolina ENT Stephen Randall Seal Asheville Head, Neck & Ear Surgeons Michael W. Sicard Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates J. Robert Silver Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates Roy S. Lewis Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates Waldemar Riefkohl Pinehurst Surgical Wyman T. McGuirt Pinehurst Surgical Clinic John T. McElveen Jr. Carolina Ear & Hearing Clinic Steven H. Dennis Raleigh Capitol Ear, Nose & Throat Jeevan B. Ramakrishnan Raleigh Capitol Ear, Nose & Throat Michael Ferguson WakeMed Raleigh Campus J. Dale Browne Wake Forest Baptist Health ENT/Head and Neck Surgery Christopher A. Sullivan Wake Forest Baptist Health ENT/Head and Neck Surgery Nathan Calloway WakeMed Raleigh Campus

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Clayton Durham Durham Durham Greensboro Greenville Greenville Greenville Hendersonville Matthews Matthews Mooresville Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Garner

PAIN MANAGEMENT Kevin Costello Raza Khan Paul J. Kuzma

Southeast Pain and Spine Care Southeast Pain Care National Spine & Pain Centers

Charlotte Charlotte Pinehurst

Carolinas Pathology Group Carolinas Pathology Group Carolinas Pathology Group Carolinas Pathology Group Atrium Health Cabarrus Pinehurst Pathology Center Pinehurst Pathology Center The Skin Surgery Center

Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Concord Pinehurst Pinehurst Winston-Salem

PATHOLOGY Jared G. Block Edward H. Lipford Elton T. Smith Jr. Carol Jean Weida Tim Davis Wax Megan J. DiFurio Charles C. Schirmer Omar P. Sangueza

PEDIATRICS GENERAL Brian Bowman Peter Chu Hope Mustoe Laurie Pulver John Templeton Ansley Miller Hope Seidel Mike Villareal Michael F. Minozzi Laura C. Windham William A. Mills Jr.

Cary Pediatric Center ABC Pediatrics of Asheville ABC Pediatrics of Asheville ABC Pediatrics of Asheville French Broad Pediatric Associates Mission Children’s Specialists Cary Pediatric Center Cary Pediatric Center Chapel Hill Children & Adolescents’ Clinic Chapel Hill Children & Adolescents’ Clinic UNC Hospitals Emergency Department

Apex Asheville Asheville Asheville Asheville Asheville Cary Cary Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill

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Anitha M. Leonard

Atrium Health Levine Children’s Arboretum Pediatrics Lubna S. Elahi Atrium Health Levine Children’s University Pediatrics Amy Garrett Ryan Eastover Pediatrics Patricia D. Morgan Levine Children’s Hospital May K. Slowik Duke Children’s Hospital Gabriela M. Maradiaga Duke Children’s Primary Care Panayotti Ave M. Lachiewicz Lenox Baker Children’s Hospital Alison Kavanaugh UNC Pediatrics Jasna Sator Nogo Kernodle Clinic Marisa C. Flores Kernodle Clinic Elon Andrea Scholer Triad Adult & Pediatric Medicine Nicole S. McMahon FirstHealth Hospitalist Service Sara B. Page Duke Children’s Primary Care Lillian R. Harris Raleigh Children & Adolescents Medicine Samareh Hill WakeMed Raleigh Medical Park Christoph Diasio Sandhills Pediatrics Natalee French Sandhills Pediatrics William “Bill” Stewart Sandhills Pediatrics Charles Sigman Hayek Novant Health Twin City Pediatrics Daniel P. Krowchuk Wake Forest Baptist Health Pediatrics

Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Durham Durham Durham Durham Elon Elon High Point Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Southern Pines Southern Pines Southern Pines Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION Kevin Carneiro Raj Telhan William Louis Bockenek Vishwa Sharma Raj Sonya G. Rissmiller Terrence M Pugh Raymundo Millan Clinton Faulk

UNC Spine Center UNC Spine Center Carolinas Rehabilitation Carolinas Rehabilitation Sports Medicine and Injury Care Supportive Oncology Clinic Vidant Wound Healing Center Vidant Wound Healing Center

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Greenville Greenville

PLASTIC AND RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY Eric G. Halvorson Snehankita G. Kulkarni Ryan M. Garcia Enam Haque William Leonard Overstreet III Steven Zoellner Matthew W. Blanton Richard E. Carlino Sanjay V. Daluvoy Shruti Tannan Michael Zenn James Appel Lisa Renee David Joseph A. Molnar

Plastic Surgery Center of Asheville CMC Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery OrthoCarolina Queen City Plastic Surgery Blue Ridge Plastic Surgery

Asheville Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Hendersonville

Pinehurst Plastic Surgery Specialists Specialists in Plastic Surgery Specialists in Plastic Surgery Specialists in Plastic Surgery Tannan Plastic Surgery Zenn Plastic Surgery Wilmington Health Wake Forest Baptist Health Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Wake Forest Baptist Health Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Wilmington Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

PLASTIC SURGERY Kevin L. Smith David C. Matthews Joseph P. Hunstad Scott L. Tucker Malcolm W. Marks

Charlotte Plastic Surgery David C. Matthews M.D., P.A. H/K/B Cosmetic Surgery Salem Plastic Surgery Wake Forest Baptist Health Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Charlotte Charlotte Huntersville Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

PSYCHIATRY David Freeman Richard Zenn Joseph Piven Nicole Wolfe Gary Peterson Gary J. Gala Bradley Gaynes

MMA Psychiatric Services MMA Psychiatric Services Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities Central Regional Hospital Southeast Institute for Group & Family Therapy UNC Adult Psychiatry Clinic UNC Adult Psychiatry Clinic

Asheville Asheville Carrboro Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill

Julia S. Knerr B. Anthony Lindsey Kenan Penaskovic Diana O. Perkins Donald L. Rosenstein David R. Rubinow Samantha E. MeltzerBrody Amy Ursano Kateland Napier Anthony Joseph DiNome Linda B Mundle Sherif Soliman Alicia Romeo Maria La Via Jonathan McKinsey Tia Konzer Linmarie Sikich Harold G. Koenig Shelley A. Holmer Richard D. Weiner Maria La Via Mary T. Mandell Meredith Stanton Scott Klenzak Ashwin A. Patkar Zachary Feldman Richard H. Weisler Michael Zarzar

UNC Adult Psychiatry Clinic UNC Adult Psychiatry Clinic UNC Adult Psychiatry Clinic UNC Adult Psychiatry Clinic UNC Adult Psychiatry Clinic UNC Adult Psychiatry Clinic UNC Center for Women’s Mood Disorders

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill

UNC Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic UNC Department of Psychiatry Atrium Health Behavioral Health Charlotte

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte

Atrium Health Behavioral Health Charlotte Atrium Health Behavioral Health Charlotte Atrium Health Behavioral Health Primary Care Veritas Collaborative NorthEast Psychiatric Services Konzer Psychiatric Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development Duke Geriatric Evaluation and Treatment Clinic Duke Psychiatry Clinic Duke Psychiatry Clinic Veritas Collaborative FirstHealth Behavioral Services FirstHealth Behavioral Services Pine Cone Clinic Avance Psychiatry Raleigh Psychiatric Associates Richard H. Weisler M.D., PA UNC Health Care Alcohol and Drug Detoxification Unit Johnston Health Mood Treatment Center Wake Forest Baptist Health MHS

Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Concord Davidson Durham Durham Durham Durham Durham Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh

Hasan A. Baloch Chris Aiken Stephen I. Kramer

PULMONARY MEDICINE Raymond Dermot Coakley Scott H. Donaldson Michael Drummond Ashley Glyn Henderson Michael R. Knowles Peadar G. Noone Maria Patricia Rivera Sailaja Allamneni Jaspal Singh Robert A. Heyer Nicolo Marsoni Justin Stephen Swartz Azeem Elahi

UNC Hospitals Pulmonary Specialty Clinic

Chapel Hill

UNC Hospitals Pulmonary Specialty Clinic UNC Hospitals Pulmonary Specialty Clinic UNC Hospitals Pulmonary Specialty Clinic UNC Hospitals Pulmonary Specialty Clinic UNC Hospitals Pulmonary Specialty Clinic UNC Hospitals Pulmonary Specialty Clinic Carolinas HealthCare System Pulmonary Care Carolinas HealthCare System Pulmonary Care Carolinas Medical Center Novant Health Pulmonary & Critical Care Pulmonary Critical Care Consultants NorthEast Lung Associates

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Concord

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Smithfield Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

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James R. Snapper Michael Jon Cicale William J. Fulkerson Jr. Scott M. Palmer Yash Kataria John Fogarty Scott Johnson Michael A. Pritchett David C. Thornton William B. Hall Travis L. Dotson Wendy C. Moore Jill Ohar Rodolfo M. Pascual Stephen Peters

Duke Asthma, Allergy & Airway Center Duke Department of Medicine Duke Pulmonary Clinic Duke Pulmonary Clinic ECU Physicians Physicians East Pinehurst Medical Clinic Pinehurst Medical Clinic Pinehurst Medical Clinic REX Pulmonary Specialists Wake Forest Baptist Health Pulmonary and Critical Care Wake Forest Baptist Health Pulmonary and Critical Care Wake Forest Baptist Health Pulmonary and Critical Care Wake Forest Baptist Health Pulmonary and Critical Care Wake Forest Baptist Health Pulmonary and Critical Care

Durham Durham Durham Durham Greenville Greenville Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

RADIATION ONCOLOGY Eric Kuehn William McCollough Bhisham S. Chera Ellen L. Jones Trevor J. Royce Carolina Elizabeth Fasola Roshan S. Prabhu Matthew C. Ward Rachel C. Blitzblau Brian G. Czito W. Robert Lee Christopher G. Willett Matthew A. Manning Kevin S. Roof Dean A. Gant Jeffrey C. Acker Stephen C. King Sushma M. Patel Courtney Bui Justin J. Wu Kathryn M. Greven

Mountain Radiation Oncology & Mission Mountain Radiation Oncology & Mission UNC Hospitals Radiation Oncology UNC Hospitals Radiation Oncology UNC Hospitals Radiation Oncology LCI - Morehead Radiation Therapy Center LCI - Morehead Radiation Therapy Center LCI - Morehead Radiation Therapy Center Duke Cancer Center Duke Cancer Center Duke Cancer Center Duke Cancer Center Cone Health Cancer Center Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center Atrium Health Union Pinehurst Radiation Oncology Pinehurst Radiation Oncology Pinehurst Radiation Oncology REX-UNC Radiation Oncology REX-UNC Radiation Oncology Wake Forest Baptist Health Radiation Oncology

Asheville Asheville Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Durham Durham Durham Durham Greensboro Huntersville Monroe Pinehurst Pinehurst Pinehurst Raleigh Raleigh Winston-Salem

UNC Department of Radiology Charlotte Radiology Mecklenburg Radiology Associates Mecklenburg Radiology Associates Duke Radiology Raleigh Radiology Wake Radiology Consultants Wake Radiology Consultants Wake Radiology Consultants

Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Durham Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh

REPRODUCTIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY Travis W. McCoy Ashley M. Eskew

Piedmont Reproductive Endocrinology Group Atrium Health Women’s Institute

Asheville Charlotte

Michelle Matthews Rebecca S. Usadi

Atrium Health Women’s Institute Atrium Health Women’s Institute

Charlotte Charlotte

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ECU Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Atlantic Reproductive Medicine Specialists Atlantic Reproductive Medicine Specialists

Greenville Raleigh Raleigh

RHEUMATOLOGY Kristin M. Gowin Christopher G. Meyer Ellison L. Smith Mary Anne Dooley Abigail Gilbert Beth L. Jonas Saira Z. Sheikh Andrew J. Laster Amanda Kocoloski Elnaz Nassehzadeh Tabrizi Leslie Pack Ranken Manika K. Zeri Diane George E. William St. Clair Megan E.B. Clowse Nancy B. Allen Lisa G. CriscioneSchreiber David S. Caldwell Gwenesta B. Melton Duncan Fagundus Garland R. Moeller Alison Johnson Sean M. Fahey Karen Schorn Rachel M. Wolfe

Asheville Arthritis & Osteoporosis Center Asheville Arthritis & Osteoporosis Center Asheville Arthritis & Osteoporosis Center Dooley Rheumatology UNC Hospitals Rheumatology Specialty Clinic UNC Hospitals Rheumatology Specialty Clinic UNC Hospitals Rheumatology Specialty Clinic Arthritis & Osteoporosis Consultants of the Carolinas Atrium Health SouthPark Rheumatology Novant Health Rheumatology & Arthritis

Asheville Asheville Asheville Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte

SouthPark Rheumatology SouthPark Rheumatology Tryon Medical Partners Duke Infusion Center Duke Lupus Clinic Duke Rheumatology Duke Rheumatology

Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Durham Durham Durham Durham

Duke Rheumatology Clinic LaFayette Clinic Physicians East Carolina East Internal Medicine Tryon Medical Partners Piedmont HealthCare Pinehurst Medical Clinic Wake Forest Baptist Health Rheumatology

Durham Fayetteville Greenville Havelock Huntersville Mooresville West End Winston-Salem

Charlotte Charlotte

SLEEP MEDICINE Kimberly N. Mims Michael S. Reif Giridhar Chintalapudi Maria C. Sam Andrew Michael Namen Alexander Ong Sy

Atrium Health Sleep Medicine Carolinas HealthCare System Pulmonary Care Sandhills Neurologists Wake Forest Baptist Health Neurology Wake Forest Baptist Health Pulmonary and Critical Care Wake Forest Baptist Health Pulmonary and Critical Care

Charlotte Charlotte Pinehurst Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

SPINE SURGERY

RADIOLOGY Sheryl G. Jordan Robyn Stacy-Humphries Emmanuel J. Botzolakis Fakhra S. Chaudhry Nicholas Said Kirk Peterson Eithne Burke Philip R. Saba Danielle L. Wellman

Clifford C. Hayslip Jr. Susannah Copland David Walmer

N O R T H

Keith M. Maxwell Moe R. Lim Byron C. Branch John M. Hicks Scot Reeg

Southeastern Sports Medicine and Orthopedics UNC Spine Center Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates EmergeOrtho: Blue Ridge Division Duke Orthopaedics

Asheville Chapel Hill Concord Hendersonville Knightdale

SPORTS MEDICINE Aaron Vaughan O. Josh Bloom James G. Blount Lauren P. Porras David J. Berkoff Bryan M. Saltzman Aaron Leininger Karl Bertrand Fields

Mountain Area Family Health Center Carolina Family Practice & Sports Medicine Carolina Family Practice & Sports Medicine The UNC Family Medicine Center UNC Orthopaedics OrthoCarolina UNC Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Cone Health Sports Medicine Center

Asheville Cary Cary Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Clayton Greensboro

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Megan Ferderber Brett H. Foreman Mark W. Galland John M. Neidecker

East Carolina University Carolina Family Practice & Sports Medicine Raleigh Orthopaedic Specialists of North Carolina Orthopaedic Specialists of North Carolina

Greenville Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh

SURGICAL ONCOLOGY Paul Ahearne Benjamin F. Calvo Hong Jin Kim Michael Owen Meyers David W. Ollila Karen B. Stitzenberg Meghan R. Forster Joshua Shaeffer Hill Jeffrey S. Kneisl Zvonimir L. Milas Jonathan C Salo Ilan D. Avin Wyatt Charles Fowler Peter Smith Turk Marissa M. HowardMcNatt Gregory S. Georgiade Paul J. Mosca Nizar Habal Emmanuel Zervos Mark Arredondo David B. Eddleman Michelle M. Fillion Konstantinos Votanopoulos Clancy Jake Clark Perry Shen

Mission Cancer Specialists UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics UNC Hospitals Adult Oncology Clinics Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Novant Health Carolina Surgical Novant Health Carolina Surgical Novant Health Multidisciplinary Cancer Clinic Wake Forest Baptist Health Breast Care Services

Asheville Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Clemmons

Duke Aesthetic Center Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center Carolina Breast & Oncologic Surgery ECU Physicians - Surgical Oncology Wake Forest Baptist Health Surgical Specialists North Carolina Surgery NHRMC Zimmer Cancer Center Wake Forest Baptist Health Comprehensive Cancer Center Wake Forest Baptist Health General Surgery Wake Forest Baptist Health General Surgery

Durham Durham Greenville Greenville High Point Raleigh Wilmington Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

THORACIC SURGERY Timothy E. Oaks John S. Ikonomidis Eric R. Skipper Thomas A. D’Amico Betty C. Tong Carmelo A. Milano Peter K. Smith Charles Harr Edward Hal Kincaid Neal D. Kon Leonard James Wudel Jr.

Alamance Surgical Associates at Burlington UNC Hospitals Jason Ray Transplant Clinic Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute Duke Cancer Center Duke Cancer Center Duke Heart Transplant Clinic Duke Heart Transplant Clinic WakeMed Raleigh Campus Wake Forest Baptist Health Cardiology Wake Forest Baptist Health Cardiology Wake Forest Baptist Health Cardiology

Burlington Chapel Hill Charlotte Durham Durham Durham Durham Raleigh Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

Mission Urology Associated Urologists of North Carolina Associated Urologists of North Carolina Associated Urologists of North Carolina UNC Urology UNC Urology UNC Urology UNC Urology Atrium Health CMC Atrium Health’s Carolinas Rehabilitation

Asheville Cary Cary Cary Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Charlotte

Peter E. Clark Kris E. Gaston Stephen Boyd Riggs Angela K. Schang Zane Kevin Basrawala Joseph Corey Allen Judd W. Moul Thomas J. Polascik Michael E. Lipkin Jonathan Taylor Jonathan Hamilton Paul Coughlin Manlio Adam Goetzl Greg L. Griewe Davis P. Viprakasit Mark W. Jalkut Samuel Hamilton Eaton Carmin Kalorin Gordon L. Mathes Jr. Chad Michael Gridley Ashok K. Hemal Robert J. Evans

Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute Levine Cancer Institute McKay Urology Urology Specialists of the Carolinas UNC Specialty Care Duke Cancer Center Duke Cancer Center Duke Urology Clinic Physicians East Vidant Urology Wake Forest Baptist Health Urology Pinehurst Surgical Clinic Pinehurst Surgical Clinic UNC Specialty Care Associated Urologists of North Carolina Duke Department of Medicine WakeMed Raleigh Medical Park Rocky Mount Urology UNC Specialty Care Wake Forest Baptist Health Comprehensive Cancer Center Wake Forest Baptist Health Urology

Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Clayton Durham Durham Durham Greenville Greenville High Point Pinehurst Pinehurst Pittsboro Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh Rocky Mount Smithfield Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

VASCULAR SURGERY Lemuel B. Kirby Jason Dew Mark A. Farber

Carolina Vascular Alamance Vein and Vascular Surgery UNC Hospitals Vascular Interventional Radiology Clinic William A. Marston UNC Vascular Center Frank R. Arko III Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute C. Steven Powell East Carolina Heart Institute John Richard Hobson Jr. Vascular Surgery at Pardee Lance Diehl Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute Nestor Cruz Jr. Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute H. Douglas Hobson Shelby Surgical Associates David A. Weatherford Coastal Carolina Surgical Associates Daniel Barzana Wilmington Health Thomas D. Eskew Jr. Wilmington Surgical Associates Julie Ann Freischlag Wake Forest Baptist Health Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Randolph L. Geary Wake Forest Baptist Health Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Justin Hurie Wake Forest Baptist Health Vascular and Endovascular Surgery

Asheville Burlington Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Charlotte Greenville Hendersonville Monroe Salisbury Shelby Wilmington Wilmington Wilmington Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Winston-Salem

UROLOGY Matthew Young Marc D. Benevides Timothy P. Bukowski William Kizer Matthew E. Nielsen Mathew C. Raynor Angela B. Smith Eric M. Wallen Michael R. O’Neill Michael J. Kennelly

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MEDICAL

CELEBRATING NURSES

CELEBRATING NURSES Long before any of us had heard of COVID-19, the World Health Organization decided to designate 2020 as the “International Year of the Nurse and Midwife.”

It was (and still is!) a fitting way to honor the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. Nurses are in the spotlight this year, but not the way we had hoped or planned. The alarming and accelerating global coronavirus pandemic has largely put the festivities on hold. We can celebrate later, but right now nurses are laser-focused on one of the greatest health threats our country has faced in generations.

Here in North Carolina, there are more than 142,000 Registered Nurses.

Nursing is the single largest population of health care providers in the world. From the bedside to boardrooms, they impact every aspect of health care delivery and

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help shape the way the entire health system evolves. That has never been more apparent than this year.

When the pandemic first took grip of the country, there was a massive economic impact due to the health threat to our society. Millions of people lost their jobs, including, I should point out, some in the nursing profession. We do not know how long it will take for the economy to dig out from this hole, but nurses are and will be a critical part of that recovery process. Businesses simply will not be able to return to normalcy until their customers feel safe, and that basic truth depends on the entire healthcare system’s ability to care for patients, educate people about forthcoming vaccination options, implement vaccination plans, and demonstrate confidence that the trends are steady, once they start

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heading back in the right direction, of course. Nurses are ideally suited for this role, having been rated the most trusted profession in the country for 18 consecutive years, according to Gallup polling organization.

There is a direct link between access to care and local economies, especially in rural areas, and you must build an adequate nursing workforce to even begin that calculus. This impacts both tangible statistics – such as health outcomes and cost – and some data that may be harder for many people to grasp, such as the importance of preventative care. Recent research published in the Wiley Journal of Clinical Nursing showed that nurseled preventive health services have a positive economic impact on both health outcomes and clinical cost-effectiveness.

The nursing profession is growing quickly, although there is a looming shortage based on expected demand. The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics projects an increase of more than 370,000 nursing jobs between 2018 and 2028. One major concern with those estimates could be a kink in the supply line. Many North Carolina schools of nursing currently need to cap attendance due to a shortage of

faculty available to teach eager students.

If the state could find a way to fully staff our schools, we would have a steady stream of new nurses ready and willing to work in every aspect of society: public health, school nurses, at the bedside in hospitals, in birth centers, in research, and so much more.

An important sub-header of those BLS statistics is that 50,000 of those jobs are expected to go to nurse practitioners, one of the most highly educated and flexible specialties in the profession. They can be educated to specialize in many facets of the healthcare universe and provide high quality care, often without any need for physician input on care plans.

In North Carolina, modernized regulations for Nurse Practitioners and other advanced nurses could mean savings of $400 million to $4.3 billion, according to a 2015 study from Duke University health care economist Chris Conover. What is known as “full practice authority” for advanced practice registered nurses would cut red tape and increase access to care in some of the communities within the state that need it most. Decades of research demonstrates the opportunity for improvement here, and even the Institute

of Medicine began pushing for these changes a decade ago.

This could be a grim winter for North Carolina. Coronavirus cases are already beginning to spike and the supply of both hospital beds and the healthcare workers to staff those beds is becoming a critical metric to watch. The health of our economy depends on our collective ability to protect the health of our citizens. Hopefully, we can withstand this second wave and enter 2021 with a brighter picture ahead. Just how bright that view is will depend in large part on the nurses on the front lines of the pandemic.

The North Carolina Nurses Association sees the way people look toward nurses during the Year of the Nurse and Midwife. We appreciate the “hero” memes and are grateful for the admiration that many have expressed as nurses confront the pandemic head on. I suspect many of our members would reject the “hero” label, however, since they see this as a more complicated version of exactly what they signed up for when they chose this path. I would be willing to bet, however, that Florence Nightingale would be proud of the state of the profession she helped create.

By Tina C. Gordon, MPA, CAE, FACHE CEO, North Carolina Nurses Association

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By Alyssa Pressler

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t’s no secret that downtown areas throughout the state have been faced with difficult challenges this year due to the pandemic.

A town or city’s downtown is typically a collaborative hub for residents, visitors and a community of businesses. With safety precautions in place that prohibit or limit the number of people that can get together as well as businesses struggling to stay open, it might seem as though the state’s various downtown areas would be struggling.

We heard a different story from Fayetteville, Wilmington and Greenville when we reached out to see how they were doing. Despite an incredibly difficult year, each of the cities’ downtown

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districts have exciting things that have been announced or are coming soon.

Take Fayetteville’s Cool Spring Downtown District, which has seen a net gain of 15 new businesses over the past few months, despite everything that’s been going on. The Segra Stadium continues to be an exciting addition to the area, bringing a 120-room hotel and a 100,000-square-foot Class-A office building to the downtown district in the near future with views directly into the stadium.

Greenville, which calls its downtown area its “uptown district,” recently announced a $150 million, 19-acre master development named Intersect East.

The goal of the project is to create a

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hub of business, innovation and culture; it’s also expected to create 1,500 jobs in the area.

Meanwhile, in Wilmington, the North Waterfront Park project is in the works.

The park is right near the Wilmington Convention Center and will have stunning views of the Cape Fear River.

Its largest feature will be an open-air concert venue managed by Live Nation.

The stories each of these downtown districts had to share were of hope and resilience. There is excitement in what’s to come and support for what already exists in each of the communities. It’s a good reminder that there’s still a lot to look forward to, even during uncertain times like these.

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WILMINGTON

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ilmington is ushering in a new era of vitality with its downtown transformation, combining the city’s historic charm and rich past with modern design and new attractions including a riverfront hotel, waterfront restaurants, rooftop bars and the North Waterfront Park and Amphitheater scheduled to open in 2021. All of this is connected by the Riverwalk, which is lined with tours, attractions, locally-owned shops and cafés and nightlife. Already home to one of the largest National Register Historic Districts in the country, Wilmington recently became the first city to be designated an “American World War II Heritage City.”

Smaller, unique neighborhoods like South Front District and Castle Street Arts & Antique District are also popping up with their own distinct vibe.

One of the most anticipated projects taking place downtown is North Waterfront Park and Amphitheater. Located near the Wilmington Convention Center, this urban green space will take advantage of Cape Fear River views and be connected by the Riverwalk. The park’s largest feature will be a large open-air music venue managed by Live Nation.

Located downtown along the Cape Fear River, the Aloft Coastline Hotel is

Riverwalk

under construction and slated to open in 2021. It will join other accommodations and meeting facilities in the Convention District totaling nearly 900 rooms and suites. The new Aloft is connected to the Coastline Conference & Event Center, which was used as the headquarters for the Atlantic Coastline Railroad beginning in the early 1900s and will undergo additional renovations as part of the Aloft project.

A $60 million expansion project scheduled for completion in late 2022 or early 2023 will add four gates at Wilmington International Airport, along with a restaurant, concessions and more. The 13-story mixed-use River Place features condos, shops and restaurants overlooking the river. New commercial offerings began opening there in the fall, with Ruth’s Chris Steak House coming soon.

Downtown Wilmington is in the midst of a dining renaissance. Recent additions include beloved Washington D.C. restaurant Floriana, which opened its second location in an iconic riverfront space offering scenic views and balcony dining. The newly opened Quanto Basto Wilmington, housed in a building dating back to the 1800’s, offers fresh-made Italian food along with a courtyard and fountain. Dean Neff, a James Beard Best Chef nominee and

River Place

the former head chef of the award-winning PinPoint, plans to open his own restaurant in early 2021. Seabird will be located in a historic building near the Riverwalk.

Wilmington has also gained notoriety as one of the country’s fastest-growing craft beer hot spots. TRU Colors, a local for-profit group whose tagline is Brewing Peace Through Prosperity, is renovating the old Century Mills complex in South Front District for a brewery and restaurant opening in 2021. And Wilmington can now tout its first grain-to-glass craft distillery, End of Days Distillery, which is offering public tours and tastings.

Wilmington was recently selected as one of “The South’s Best Cities” by the readers of Southern Living magazine and TripAdvisor’s “Top Destinations on the Rise” for good reason. In the past two years alone, there has been an investment of more than $84.6 million in the city’s burgeoning downtown, with more to come.

Visit WilmingtonAndBeaches.com.

North Waterfront Park & Amphitheater

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FAYETTEVILLE

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hile the City of Fayetteville and Cumberland County are well known for Fort Bragg and the elite forces who have bravely served our country for over 100 years, the history of this special place dates further back, when Scottish immigrants arrived on the Cape Fear River in 1739. From the earliest residents who settled the area to patriots who fought for American independence and delegates who ratified the U.S. Constitution here, we have claimed our place in North Carolina — not through empty gestures, but through concrete action and determination. And “Can Do Carolina” has not been idle since.

Today, just one mile from the Cape Fear River and five miles from I-95, downtown Fayetteville serves as the charming gateway to the city, with Cool Spring Downtown District acting as the managing partner to its dedicated arts and entertainment district.

The half-mile walkable footprint offers a vibrant center of artistic, cultural, civic and commercial activity.

Downtown Fayetteville has experienced a surge of revitalization and construction in the recent past that has boosted the city’s economy in several ways. Anchored by the new Segra Stadium, downtown Fayetteville’s private development partners and the City of Fayetteville are executing a $125 million public-private partnership. Home to the Houston Astros’ Class-A Advanced affiliate Fayetteville Woodpeckers, Segra Stadium was named the 2010-2019 MiLB High-A “Ballpark of the Decade” by Ballpark Digest.

Coinciding with the stadium’s construction, the 95-year old Prince Charles Hotel has been historically transformed into The Gathering at the Prince Charles and offers 59 luxury apartments with ground-floor retail. Plans are also in the pipeline for a

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120-room hotel and a 100,000-square-foot Class-A office building, both with views directly into Segra Stadium.

Downtown’s thriving arts and entertainment scene serves to enhance the area’s appeal even more. Fayetteville is one of the only cities in the state that diversifies the use of its hotel occupancy tax to support public arts programs through the 47-yearold Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County. This crucial organization helps ensure downtown plays host to an array of art exhibits, cultural festivals, concerts and more year-round. In addition to supporting several arts venues, the Arts Council has invested over $500,000 in public art,

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including several permanent art pieces that decorate public spaces.

While 2020 created economic hardships for many, the Cool Spring Downtown District has seen a net gain of 15 new businesses. They have also provided existing companies with vital resources and support.

Simply put, we are committed to serving as the unifying voice of our stakeholders, as well as the primary catalyst for advancing the collective vision of downtown as an artful, dynamic, economically vital urban core. Because we stand united by the conviction that we “Can Do” together, we achieve what others cannot. Learn more at VisitDowntownFayetteville.com.

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strong, vibrant downtown is key to the success of any city. As the thriving hub of eastern North Carolina, the city of Greenville has earned the reputation of being unusually welcoming and affordable and has become a well-rounded and diverse destination to live, work, learn, visit and invest.

The downtown community, known as Uptown Greenville, is situated between medical and education institutions along the Tar River.

Home to East Carolina University, the Uptown District has emerged as one of the fastest growing in the state with more than $750 million in public and private investments completed or announced in recent years. There are dozens of development projects in the works, from upscale living options and an innovative research campus to trendy new restaurants and chic hotels. This means more opportunity in the area to grow the market for business, research, sports and leisure.

A 19-acre master development proj-

ect has been announced in the downtown Greenville area with an investment of at least $150 million. The campus is called Intersect East and will become the nation’s first Pacesetter Urban Hub bringing together business, innovation and culture. The eight-year-master plan is a public-private partnership effort and is expected to create up to 1,500 jobs.

Located in the city’s Warehouse District, the project will include the development or repurposing of 14 buildings, including three historic structures.

In addition to the more than 90,000 people who already call the city of Greenville home, the region attracts visitors for area events and local recreation.

In the heart of the city, unique restaurants, breweries, shopping, nightlife and outdoor adventure are all within walking distance. With a rich history dating back more than 300 years, Greenville embraces its distinct Carolina culture. Residents and visitors alike revel in everything from the annual Pirate Fest, which draws swashbucklers of all ages, to the

legendary BBQ joints and award-winning craft breweries along the Pitt County Brew & ‘Cue Trail. There are top-notch dance and stage performances at ECU; a lively art, music, and culinary scene in the Uptown and Dickinson Avenue Arts District; antique shops and boutiques for browsing; historic sites for history buffs and pick-your-own farms aplenty.

It’s not called Greenville for nothing.

The area has one of the most extensive greenway systems in the state, including the 324-acre River Park North, the Greenville Town Common and the six-mile Greenville Greenway System, in addition to several nearby golf and tennis facilities. The development of additional parks, shops, restaurants and hotels along with research sites and business opportunities will increase tourism and residency, giving people from outside the region a chance to experience the wonderful people and incredible places in Uptown Greenville. Visit us online at uptowngreenville.com.

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Business North Carolina Community: For many years, business leaders in eastern North Carolina have weathered storms and, now, a pandemic.

Through it all, partnerships across the region made recovery from difficult challenges easier and allowed us all to envision a brighter tomorrow. This moment in time is no different than the ones we have faced before.

Over the last decade, we learned some important lessons. As a trusted partner, East Carolina University listened to the concerns partners in government and industry voiced about having a place and space that focuses research-driven innovation on challenges across our region. Strong workforce pipelines fuel advanced manufacturing, data-driven decisions and solutions to our biggest problems. Employees in 21st-century environments want a place to come to work and relax at the end of the day.

Together with partners in government and industry, we are working to connect classrooms and marketplaces.

Our collaborations are linking higher education with opportunities that can move individuals as well as communities forward toward higher levels of economic prosperity. We are starting the next phase to build a place where innovation and business intersect.

And so, I am thrilled to announce Intersect East. It will be the crown jewel of an expanding innovation ecosystem in eastern North Carolina. This 19-acre property will be the nation’s first Pacesetter Urban Hub — a campus where scientific research, business and downtown culture merge. Complete with a high-tech research and innovation hub, new and historically renovated office space, on-site residential and nightlife amenities, a biopark and walking trail, Intersect East has all of the advantages of a first-class university alongside business and technology development collaboration spaces. Combined, this asset and ECU’s growing research portfolio and brand-new Life Sciences and Biotechnology Building prepare us well to meet North Carolina’s future industry demands.

Learn more about our new project online at intersecteast.com, and don’t miss your opportunity to join us at the intersection of business, innovation and culture.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

Ron Mitchelson Interim Chancellor East Carolina University

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A FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

PHOTO COURTESY OF EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

Innovation and collaboration equals transformation in Pitt County. It all adds up to better business opportunities and quality of life for its residents.

Innovation and collaboration equals transformation in Pitt County. It all adds up to better business opportunities and quality of life for its residents.

Pitt County is finding new ways to use a simple calculation — innovation + collaboration = transformation — to keep the positive momentum that it has been cultivating for decades going.

Recent developments, despite challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, have encouraged the team that recruits opportunities and markets the enormous potential the area presents.

“We couldn’t be who we are or even strive to be what we want to be without our whole community, including all of our municipalities and our surrounding counties,” says Kelly Andrews, Pitt County Development Commission’s executive director. “And we are all in this together. It’s a collaborative effort of many public and private partners.”

The Pitt County Development Commission has been around since 1959, and it has worked with local utilities and municipalities, Pitt Community College, East Carolina University, Vidant Health, local chambers of commerce and others on initiatives to attract businesses, develop a workforce, promote the arts and create a better quality of life for its residents. Greenville-Eastern North Carolina Alliance, a newly formed public-private partnership, augments the commission’s economic-development efforts.

The two entities are partnering on initiatives to further promote, recruit and expand the capabilities of the Greenville metropolitan area.

Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic era, when tertiary markets are getting more attention for economic-development projects, Greenville is moving onto more radars. “We are energized by the strong partnerships

that exist and the ones that are forming in our area, and we know that we have a great story to tell,” Andrews says.

ENCOURAGING COLLABORATION Elliott Sidewalk Communities, East Carolina University’s development partner, unveiled Intersect East in October.

It’s an eight-year master plan to bring life to the ECU Millennial Campus, where its academic institutions will collaborate with industry, community, government and other partners to support commercial ventures. “Intersect East is a place where business and science will merge and a place where innovation will flourish,” says Tim Elliott, managing partner of Elliott Sidewalk Communities. “It’s a place where university and business intelligence will intersect, and the possibilities are endless.”

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PITT COUNTY building that could address real-world problems in our region, involving our students and creating innovative solutions to those issues,” says Ron Mitchelson, ECU’s interim chancellor.

The building, funded through the $2 billion Connect NC bond, which voters statewide approved in 2016, is expected to open in August.

Developer Elliott Sidewalk Communities and partner East Carolina University are developing 19 acres, including three historic buildings on campus, into a project called Intersect East, which will be a catalyst to drive economic development and growth in Greenville, Pitt County and North Carolina.

ECU was the eighth UNC System school to receive a Millennial Campus designation, which was granted in 2015.

Intersect East includes developing and repurposing three vacant historic structures and constructing 11 buildings in Greenville’s former warehouse district.

Its construction value is more than $325 million.

The public-private partnership will work to attract business clients that align with ECU’s mission and leverage research capabilities. The campus also will include mixed-use space, restaurants, townhomes and apartments. The completed project is expected to create as many as 1,500 jobs with an economic impact exceeding $141 million annually and $3 million in annual tax revenue.

BREAKING GROUND ECU had the fourth-largest enrollment of universities in North Carolina in 2020, and it’s the only one with a medical school, school of dental medi-

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cine and college of engineering. With a student population nearing 30,000 and two campuses — one in Greenville’s uptown and the other home to its medical, nursing and dental schools in the heart of the city’s medical district — it’s fiercely committed to its motto: Servire, or “to serve.”

ECU’s commitment is clearly seen in Greenville’s transforming skyline, especially along 10th and Evans streets.

Construction of the $90 million ECU Life Sciences and Biotechnology Building has passed the halfway point. It will serve as a gateway to ECU and eastern North Carolina, providing a dynamic environment where industry and community partners can engage with university faculty and students to develop innovative solutions, collaborate on product commercialization and strengthen strategic partnerships.

With this project, ECU is giving life to a transformational project in the heart of uptown Greenville. “We wanted a C A R O L I N A

Entrepreneurs can find fertile ground in Pitt County thanks to a growing support system. ECU established its Miller School of Entrepreneurship, the only named school of entrepreneurship in North Carolina, in 2015.

ECU, in partnership with Pitt and three other counties, created RISE29 in 2019 as part of a $1 million grant from Rocky Mount-based Golden LEAF Foundation, which distributes the state’s portion of the national tobacco settlement to economic-development projects.

It’s the first university-wide initiative targeted at transforming students into emerging entrepreneurs. The program is developing a national model for rural microenterprise, job development and support for existing businesses. Through RISE29, students connect small-business ideas with regional needs, strengthen businesses with long-term continuity plans, develop and launch microenterprises, and commercialize the latest technology.

RISE29 recorded more than 18,000 hours of fieldwork with 36 business clients in Beaufort, Hyde, Martin and Pitt counties during its first year. It was saluted for its co-curricular innovation by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship earlier this year.

EARNING HONORS Pitt County has been recognized nationally as one of the 10 All America Award winners by the National Civic League this year. The honor recognizes communities that leverage civic engage-

RENDERINGS COURTESY OF ALLISON ELLIOTT (ELLIOTT SIDEWALK COMMUNITIES)

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RENDERINGS COURTESY OF ALLISON ELLIOTT (ELLIOTT SIDEWALK COMMUNITIES)

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PITT COUNTY Aerial view of uptown Greenville

ment, collaboration, inclusiveness and innovation to successfully address critical issues and create stronger community connections.

Pitt was the only county recognized among this year’s winners. “Receiving the designation of All-America County for 2020 by the National Civic League demonstrates Pitt County’s collaborative approach to addressing community needs,” says Pitt County Manager Scott Elliott.

“Through involvement of both internal and external partners, we have been able to effectively meet the needs of citizens that otherwise might not be addressed.”

Identified in Pitt County’s mission is an intentional commitment to engage all residents, determine their needs and implement solutions to community issues.

Three initiatives were highlighted in Pitt County’s application for the award.

Improving Patients’ Quality of Life CMP Pharma develops and manufactures high value brand and generic oral liquid medicines to meet the needs of patients who have difficulty swallowing tablets and capsules. Additionally, CMP’s product line includes generic and over the counter topicals to treat various skin conditions.

CMPPHARMA.COM

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8026 US Hwy 264A | Farmville, NC 27828 | 252-753-7111

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PITT COUNTY The Reentry Council helps individuals recently released from incarceration find temporary housing, training, job placement, transportation, substance-abuse support, mentoring and education. More than 500 individuals have participated in the program since 2015. Fewer than 16% of them have returned to jail or prison.

The countywide Community Paramedic Program was showcased for its success in educating residents about health care and wellness and reducing readmittance to the hospital.

It was launched in 2018 and is focused on the county’s commitment to health education.

Established in 2017, the Farm and Food Council promotes a healthy, sustainable and economical community food system. It developed Pitt County

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Food Finder, a mobile app that lists and locates local food resources. The council also helps provide transportation to markets, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Electronic Benefits Transfer card readers, a mobile farmers market and food vouchers for seniors.

GROWING INDUSTRY Manufacturing comprises nearly 25% of Pitt County’s gross domestic product, well above any other sector, and 9.6% of the labor force works in manufacturing and distribution. Despite the unknowns of 2020, there have been opportunities for the manufacturing industry, and Pitt County has seen more jobs, investment and accolades at several local companies.

World Cat, a manufacturer of outboard-motor-powered catamarans

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used by recreational boaters worldwide, recently announced it was renovating a 230,000-square-foot factory in Greenville, where it will invest $8.9 million and create 60 jobs. It will position the company for long-term growth in the fastest-growing segment of the recreational boating market. A brand of HC Composites, it has been headquartered in Tarboro since 2002, and it will maintain its 180-person workforce there.

Greenville-based Grover Gaming, a designer and developer of software, game content and gaming systems, is utilizing an N.C. Department of Commerce Building Reuse grant of $125,000 at its Greenville location. It created 13 jobs. It plans to create 100 jobs over the next five years, nearly doubling its workforce. It recently was ranked 194th on the Inc. 5000 list, placing it in the top

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4% of the nation in revenue growth.

This is the company’s second consecutive year ranking among the nation’s fastest-growing and most prestigious private companies.

Raleigh-based Victra, Verizon Wireless’ largest retail partner, chose Greenville for its newest telesales center. It plans to create 200 jobs there.

Utah-based Focus Services, a global innovator in customer-contact solutions, selected Greenville for its new 380-seat customer-solutions center. It has hired 400 and plans to hire 150 more.

Metrics Contract Services, a division of Australia-based Mayne Pharma Group and a full-service global contract development and manufacturing organization, is spending $10 million on an expansion of its novel oral solid dosage factory in Greenville. It invested $80 million and added 200 jobs there in 2015.

Mayne Pharma also is creating its own talent pipeline by partnering with Winterville-based Pitt Community College to award scholarships. As part of the first award, it gave eight students $2,000 per semester for as many as four semesters. While in school, students also will be eligible for part-time paid internships at the company.

Greenville-based Grady-White Boats President Kris Carroll was inducted into the National Marine Manufacturers Hall of Fame in September. The first female inductee, she has been at GradyWhite for 45 years and its president since 1993.

small but growing company in western Pitt County. It’s making a name for itself among larger companies with more recognizable names in its industry. Thermo Fisher Scientific and Mayne Pharma, for example, have had well-publicized local expansion announcements — totaling more than $300 million since 2014 and adding more than 700 jobs — in recent years. But CMP has a great story to tell, too. It adds to the mix of companies in the county, contributing to a stable economy that is poised for growth.

Going strong for 45 years, CMP was founded by James Olsen and Henry Smith, pharmacists with a vision for a company that develops products for unmet patient needs. In 1986, CMP introduced SPS Suspension, the first oral treatment for hyperkalemia — abnormally high potassium levels in the blood. Not only did it innovate this niche product, but it’s the leading provider. It remains its best-selling product.

Over the years, CMP added other products that fulfill needs while remaining “under the radar” with a stable and successful existence that creates quality jobs in its rural hometown. Gerry Sa-

kowski was named CMP’s CEO in 2013, and he immediately began exploring the company’s growth potential. With the original mission, a great team and a future-focused-strategy, it has grown to 75 employees from 28, building more robust analytical and formulation development and quality controls.

CMP received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for its first branded cardiovascular product, CaroSpir, in 2017. A new drug application was approved in 2019, and today, CMP has five products under review and one more to be filed in January. Its growth strategy has included adding 19 sales representatives who promote CMP’s branded products nationwide. Its team is expanding, innovating and preparing for the future while honoring the company’s original mission.

Pitt County mirrors CMP’s spirit — building on a solid foundation, identifying unmet needs and producing innovative solutions. It’s creating a vision for the future to make the area stand out and be recognized for all that it is and all that it can be.

REALIZING POTENTIAL Pitt County has great support, great partnerships and great assets. It is poised for great things. But when compared to others in the state, it’s still a relatively small metro area. It can be tough being the little guy among big players.

Farmville-based CMP Pharma can relate, but it’s forging ahead. CMP is a

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TOWNSQUARE

Rutherfordton

GOLDEN APPEAL

+ TALKING POINTS

It’s not easy to say, but Rutherfordton is easy to like for those seeking a distinctive foothills small town.

RUT H E RF O R DTO N

4,087

ESTIMATED POPULATION IN 2019

1787

TOWN FOUNDED, NINE YEARS AFTER FORMATION OF RUTHERFORD COUNTY

RUTHERFORDTON ACADEMY FIRST STATE-CHARTERED SCHOOL IN 1806

BECHTLER FAMILY

BY BRYAN MIMS

1,940

RUTHERFORD COUNTY MEN WHO FOUGHT FOR THE CONFEDERACY

100-PLUS

STRUCTURES WITH NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACE STATUS

BETSY BRANTLEY ACTRESS GREW UP IN RUTHERFORDTON. SHE APPEARED AS THE MOTHER IN THE PRINCESS BRIDE.

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he name “Rutherfordton” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. Among natives and newcomers alike, Rutherfordton comes out as “Ruff”ton” or “Rolph’ton” or “Rudder4ton” or “Rullerfourton.” These alternate spellings appear on a T-shirt for sale at town hall or on the town website, where the name has yet another spelling: rutherfordtown.com.

Rutherford Town was the original name given to the community when founded in 1787, springing from Griffith Rutherford, a general in the Revolutionary War. The General Assembly designated it as the seat of government for Rutherford County, the first county created in western North Carolina after the Declaration of Independence was signed. When state legislators chose the site for a courthouse, the town was a cluster of farms along a wagon road and creek. Located on a main route at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Rutherford Town was the most important commercial center in sparsely populated western North Carolina for several decades.

The town, eventually condensed into one word, logged several firsts for western North Carolina: first post office, first school, first newspaper. Snug in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this town of roughly 4,100 people is making a name for itself as a place where down-home meets tattoos and Thai food and Greek Revival meets industrial chic and coffeehouse cool.

New Creation Tattoo and Piercing and Central Street Electric Tattoo show how the town is repurposing. The shops opened downtown in 2019 in brick buildings that had long sat vacant. Just a few years earlier, tattoo artists were seen as more of a taboo. But in January 2019, the town council allowed tattoo parlors and body-piercing studios, prompting Billy Hardin to open New Creation, which has the feel of a doctor’s office, with modern decor and clean-cut staff.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF TOWN OF RUTHERFORDTON

HANDLED MORE GOLD THAN U.S. MINTS IN PHILADELPHIA AND CHARLOTTE IN THE 1830s

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF TOWN OF RUTHERFORDTON, RUTHERFORD COUNTY TOURISM

▲ More than 150 homes and buildings dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries reflect Rutherfordton’s history as a pioneering N.C. town. It is the Rutherford County seat, though neighboring Forest City has a larger population.

“It [took] five months of town hall meetings to whittle what it was going to mean to have tattooing in downtown Rutherfordton,” says Hardin, 44, who grew up in the town. “Once we got open, they saw it wasn’t the nightmares of tattooing from the ’50s and ’60s where you had motorcycle gangs and drug dealers.”

Town Manager Doug Barrick says the tattoo shops show a willingness to entertain nontraditional business concepts to keep the central business district dynamic. “The [town] council has been very pro smart business ideas,” he says. “When presented with a good idea from a business sense, the council has been open to not just large industrial growth but promoting small business growth, too.”

As for industry, Rutherfordton is home to the national headquarters of Trelleborg Engineered Coated Fabrics, a Swedish company that employs 250 people making polymercoated materials. The Timken Co., a North Canton, Ohiobased firm that makes industrial bearings, has about 240 employees.

Small businesses add avant-garde fizz to the area’s sensibilities. In 2015, Yellow Sun Brewing opened in a dormant warehouse next to the Rutherfordton Police Department.

It’s as well-known for its “unique artisanal pizza” as it is for its craft pale ales and porters. A recent Facebook post noted: “This week at Yellow Sun: Italian sausage, ricotta, spinach, Calabrian chilis, roasted onions, mozzarella and red sauce. Try it with a little hot honey!”

A block away on Washington Street, the Copper Penny Grill serves up mahi fish tacos, parmesan crusted chicken and cocktails inside a building where the town used to house its trash trucks and motor graders. Across the street, The Firehouse Inn bed and breakfast is located inside a 1925 building that once served as the town hall and fire station.

“Both the old residents and new residents have a vision that they are retaining the historical significance and at the same time being very progressive,” says Clark Poole, director of the

Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce. “Being able to assimilate people with different concepts and cultures coming to us, combined with the depth of heritage that we have, is an exercise in creativity.”

Blazing new trails Poole says the coronavirus pandemic has urban dwellers reexamining life and considering moves to places with more elbow room. “We have inquiries from people everywhere, not just because of COVID, but because of the accessibility [to] many areas of culture in [a] very close proximity, as well as our own thing.”

▲ More than 500,000 have visited the town’s KidSenses museum, which is expanding its space by nearly 50% in 2021.

He’s referring to Rutherfordton’s proximity to Asheville, an hour’s drive northwest, and Charlotte, about 90 minutes east.

Rutherfordton’s “own thing” includes an 11,000-square-foot children’s museum called KidSenses, which opened in 2004 inside a building that once housed a car dealership. While closed temporarily due to the pandemic, it features more than a dozen interactive exhibits designed for children as old as 11. An D E C E M B E R

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addition called The Factory, tailored to students between the ages of 11 and 16, is scheduled to open in 2021. “To have that resource for families in a town of 4,000 people, it just blows my mind,” Barrick says.

With the area’s abundance of woods, hills and rock-strewn creeks, there are plenty of ways to spend time outdoors. In 2015, the town opened the Purple Martin Greenway trail, which is about 4.5 miles long and weaves along Cleghorn Creek. It leads to Kiwanis Park, a four-acre green space that links the Purple Martin trail to the Thermal Belt Rail Trail, an old railroad bed repurposed for foot and bike traffic. It meanders 13.5 miles through the county. Poole says locals have told their leadership where to invest. “It’s not housing,” he says. “It’s recreation and outdoor activity.”

A rich history As the town has evolved over the years, so has its slogan. For a good while, it was “Small Town Friendly.” Town boosters recently shifted to “A Minted Original,” a nod to a defining moment in Rutherfordton’s history. Back in the 1830s, years before the California Gold Rush, North Carolina was home to one of America’s first gold rushes.

In 1830, German immigrant Christopher Bechtler opened a store making watches in Philadelphia. When he learned of gold discoveries in North Carolina, he moved to Rutherfordton and opened a private mint that produced the first $1 gold coin in America. Through the 1830s and 1840s, the mint stamped more than $2.25 million in gold coinage. The site of the Bechtler mint is now a park just north of town along U.S. 221, and the Bechtler home on West Sixth Street is open for tours.

People still dig for new opportunities in Rutherfordton. At Small Town Coffee Roasters, located in the old First National Bank building, owner Monte Vega is the product of a crazy dream. His late father, Cuban immigrant Enrique Vega, closed his blacksmith

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shop near Durham in 2012 and began driving to Ecuador. In Guatemala, he passed people on the side of the road roasting and selling coffee. He smelled an opportunity. “He called me up and said, ‘What do you think about starting a coffee roasting business?’”

Monte Vega says. “And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m on board. Let’s do it.’”

In October 2014, father and son opened their coffee shop. They chose Rutherfordton because the younger Vega’s wife has family in the area, and its small-town setting proved ideal. The older Vega died of a heart attack in 2018. “Fortunately, the place has kind of turned into a magnet for good energy,” Vega says. “It really allows me to connect with folks.”

The nearby Main Street Market features its own fresh-start story. The deli, with sandwiches named “Oinker,” “Gobbler” and “Oink Moo Cluck,” is a go-to spot for lunch. It also features a wine bar called Bread & Wine that often offers live music in the evening.

After a career in insurance and restaurants, Rob Burbank decided to become his own boss. He and his wife, Beth, opened the market in October 2019. They moved from Charlotte and have bought into their adopted town’s vision. As a member of a booster group called Rutherford Town Rising, he thought, what better way to invest in Main Street than to wine-and-dine it? “If you’re serious about being a part of downtown, be a part of downtown,” he says between making sandwiches. “It’s what we did. It’s been a blast.”

He’s found a new purpose, preserving something old while planting something new. That’s how Rutherfordton rolls. ■ Bryan Mims is a writer and reporter at WRAL-TV in Raleigh.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TOWN OF RUTHERFORDTON, RUTHERFORD COUNTY TOURISM

▲ Bed and breakfasts and outdoor adventures attract visitors to Rutherfordton. It developed as an important commercial center because of its location on a main 18th-century path.

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