Business North Carolina January 2023

COOL KIDS: TOP N.C. LAWYERS SHARE THEIR HIGH SCHOOL PASSIONS

JANUARY 2023

CENTENE’S ABRUPT EXIT | WOOBLES’ CRAFTY SUCCESS | APP STATE’S GRIDIRON SCHEME

Price: $3.95 businessnc.com

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J A N U A R Y

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+ DEPARTMENTS 4 UP FRONT 6 POWER LIST INTERVIEW Developer Kirk Bradley kicks off a new BNC series of interviews with prominent state leaders.

8 ENERGIZERS Two Duke University grads craft a success story by teaching people how to crochet.

10 NC TREND Stacey Moore lifts cornhole to unexpected heights; Jim Segrave pilots flyExclusive to the public markets; Four investors pick stocks that can rebound; The Petty family grinds away with a shop for high-performance cars; What you missed from the N.C. Tribune.

COVER STORY

80 GREEN SHOOTS

2023 LEGAL ELITE

Lumberton wants its $3 million civic-center expansion to rouse the Robeson County city.

It’s our annual list of top North Carolina lawyers as selected by their peers. We asked the talented barristers to share briefs on their favorite high school activities, revealing some jocks, nerds and a “floater.”

+ SPONSORED SECTIONS 28 ROUND TABLE: ADVOCACY Leaders of N.C. bankers, hospitals and other groups discuss the coming legislative session.

CO V E R P H O TO S B Y B RYA N R E G A N

80 COMMUNITY CLOSE UP: FORSYTH COUNTY Medical marvels are routine in Winston-Salem, which has become a potent innovation hub.

January 2023, Vol. 43, No. 1 (ISSN 0279-4276). Business North Carolina is published monthly by Business North Carolina at 1230 West Morehead Street, Suite 308, Charlotte, NC 28208.

Phone: 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.

NOT JUST MONEY

DASHED HOPES

Appalachian State’s winning football tradition may offer clues for others seeking success.

Charlotte scored big with Centene’s expansion plan.

Then the world changed.

BY DAN BARKIN

BY EDWARD MARTIN

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

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UPFRONT

David Woronoff V O L U M E 4 3 , N O. 1 PUBLISHER

Ben Kinney

bkinney@businessnc.com

SHINING LIGHTS

EDITOR

I

Ebony Morman

’ve called Pinehurst home for the past 27 years and am always proud of our Eden in the Pines.

But, I was especially proud of the Sandhills during the nearly weeklong power outage in early December. So much so, I practically popped a couple of buttons off my shirt.

That’s because our service-above-self ethos was on full display — along with a heaping helping of resiliency — when villains attacked two electrical transmission stations and plunged us into darkness.

The attack happened on a Saturday night. It took most businesses the better part of Sunday to get the word out about what had happened and to make a plan for the workweek. In true Sandhills fashion, that plan was all about philanthropy.

From First Bank (headquartered in Southern Pines) partnering with The Country Bookshop (part of our company) to dole out free books to 500 stunned and suddenly unplugged children, to the Chamber of Commerce grilling hot dogs at the Southern Pines Growler Co. when hot meals were in short supply, we helped each other cope with the deeds done by society’s darker elements.

Caring communities like ours don’t happen by accident. They’re built by businesses devoted to the community’s betterment.

The assault on our electrical infrastructure couldn’t have come at a worse time for the small businesses in our small towns — in the middle of the Christmas season. They call the day after Thanksgiving Black Friday for a reason. That's when most retailers hit profitability. This nefarious act moved the goalpost for financial sustainability that much further away.

So, the best thing you can do to help is to come visit our charming central North Carolina community, shop in our unique shops, play golf on our world-class golf courses

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and dine in our eclectic restaurants.

In the midst of the crisis, our Convention and Visitors Bureau created the Moore Miracles advertising campaign. CEO Phil Werz and his able crew built a website and directory of independent retailers, restaurants and accommodations as well as allocated $50,000 for a national and statewide advertising blitz to raise awareness of these negatively impacted businesses.

You can see their impressive work here: www.homeofgolf.com/MooreMiracles This unforeseen disaster occurs as Moore County is enjoying some notable gains.

FirstHealth of the Carolinas will cut the ribbon on a $70 million cancer center in a few weeks; Pinehurst Resort is riding the wave of golf ’s postCOVID resurgence; the United States Golf Association is building its second headquarters in Pinehurst; and Sandhills Community College just opened a $30 million nursing and health sciences building.

We have plenty to be grateful for here in the Sandhills. No doubt, this attack shocked our community. But, it also gave us the opportunity to demonstrate to the entire state our gumption and grace under pressure.

We didn’t let that opportunity go to waste.

We remained unbowed and unbroken.

As I reflected on the events of early December, I remembered then-Vice President George H.W. Bush’s speech accepting the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 1988.

Here in the suddenly darkened Sandhills, we did our best to live up to his pledge “to keep America moving forward, always forward — for a better America, for an endless enduring dream and a thousand points of light.”

David Mildenberg

dmildenberg@businessnc.com ASSOCIATE EDITORS

emorman@businessnc.com

Colin Campbell

ccampbell@businessnc.com

Cathy Martin

cmartin@businessnc.com SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Edward Martin

emartin@businessnc.com SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR

Katherine Snow Smith CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Dan Barkin, Connie Gentry, Sarah Nagem, Carroll Walton CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Peggy Knaack

pknaack@businessnc.com CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Bryan Regan

MARKETING COORDINATOR

Jennifer Ware

jware@businessnc.com

ADVERTISING SALES ACCOUNT DIRECTOR

Melanie Weaver Lynch, eastern N.C. 919-855-9380 mweaver@businessnc.com

ACCOUNT MANAGER AND AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST

Scott Leonard, western N.C. 704-996-6426 sleonard@businessnc.com

CIRCULATION: 818-286-3106 EDITORIAL: 704-523-6987 REPRINTS: circulation@businessnc.com

BUSINESSNC.COM OWNERS

Jack Andrews, Frank Daniels III, Lee Dirks, David Woronoff, in memoriam Frank Daniels Jr. PUBLISHED BY

Old North State Magazines LLC PRESIDENT

— David Woronoff is president of Old North State Magazines. He lives in Pinehurst and says his golf handicap is ridiculously high.

David Woronoff

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LIST INTERVIEW

with Nido Qubein at High Point University

UNLIMITED UPSIDE Kirk Bradley is the first participant in Business North Carolina’s Power List Interview feature in which High Point University President Nido Qubein talks with some of the state’s most influential leaders.

Kirk Bradley is CEO of Lee-Moore Capital, a Sanfordbased real-estate development company with projects including Governors Club and Triangle Innovation Point.

He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and a Duke University MBA. The Chapel Hill resident was appointed to the UNC Board of Governors in 2021.

During the interview, Qubein told Bradley, “Any organization or city or community or state, to be truly ready for the future, must have leaders like you who care deeply about it and who invest themselves in every way.”

This story includes excerpts from Bradley’s interview and was lightly edited for clarity.

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What are you focused on at your company?

The biggest thing we are working on is Mosaic, which is a gateway to Chatham Park, the 8,500-acre project being built around Pittsboro. We’re doing a 750,000-square-foot mixed-use urban development with buildings that will be one to six stories.

It’s going to be the heart of the projects around Chatham Park.

What’s your view of North Carolina’s future?

I’m very excited for the next 20 years with what’s happening with our business climate.

Our university and community college system, the military and our expertise in the life sciences. We can be the Silicon Valley of ag tech, power electronics and many other things.

You see that in a microcosm with the plants we’ve gotten, VinFast and Wolfspeed (planned for Chatham County) and the Toyota battery plant (in Randolph County). All of these are terrific future industries for our country and the world.

Surprisingly, Sanford is now the global center of excellence for gene therapy manufacturing, which is the future of life sciences. You take all of that and the upside for North Carolina is unlimited.

What must happen for North Carolina to remain prosperous?

I’d say it’s workforce, workforce, workforce. We’ve got to have people educating themselves, whether it’s the 18-to-24 age group, which is the university system’s target market, or those

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people who need to change careers. We’ve got to have systems in the community colleges and flexibility in our universities with certificate programs and other educational attainment services.

It’s a challenge and not going to be easy. But if we can master that, we’ll have a competitive advantage not only in the rest of the United States but the rest of the world.

What else do we need to do to create more jobs and a stronger workforce?

I think certain infrastructure is missing. Funding is an issue.

But it’s also a mindset. What are our mission, vision, values? You look at successful enterprises, be it a town or private enterprise, and if they are having success, they have defined their mission, vision and values. We have not quite defined that and pulled it all together as a state.

It’s great to win, and I’m all for winning, but sometimes you win by accident. Sometimes you win by design. I like winning by design because then you can repeat it and sustain it. That’s what you are really talking about here for the workforce.

I think it’s a combination of getting elected leaders as well as private business, industry and other stakeholders and others in the state to have an understanding about what we can do.

I’m very concerned about our rural areas. We have 100 counties; 51 of them lost population. I want to find things in those counties so that we get the kind of economic development that will [aid] the counties east of I-95 and west of I-77. The cities are always going to do well, but if we have a conscious strategy, we can grow our rural areas as well.

What are your impressions of the UNC System?

Is there agreement around the BOG table?

First and foremost, you have to have a great leader. President Hans is terrific. I think Peter was born and spent most of his career preparing, not necessarily because he knew it, to become president of the university system.

The chairman, Randy Ramsey, is doing a great job bringing the other 23 of us on the board together in a structural way that is positive. You can have disagreement, but there needs to be a way to resolve that disagreement over specific issues without having that go all the way through. The board has had some challenges, but most of those have been resolved. So we’re very focused.

At the individual campus level, great chancellors make great universities. Having longevity, strategic planning, these things take a while. Those campuses that get good leaders make a difference. We’ve got some chancellors that are nearing the end of their careers, so the challenge is to bring a leader who is equally as good to keep those campuses moving forward.

How many more people can North Carolina accommodate without losing its appeal?

People need to accept density. People say they don’t want urban sprawl but when you try and do a dense development, they resist that. Elected officials have got to understand that we have to encourage more density, which allows for mass transit. We’re going to have certain elements of rail but in our urban areas, we need to be working on bus mass transit. That makes sense. We’re still too

spread out and always will be. I think we can accommodate, who knows, 5 or 10 million more people.

But we need to be mindful if we are going to double in population that we have a design that encourages the kinds of things that do not diminish this great quality of life we have.

Whose job is it to lead in our state?

You’ve got to have great convenors. I think the university can do that. The Piedmont Triad Partnership is a good example.

Obviously our chief executive, which is our governor, needs to do that. Our General Assembly leaders, Senator Berger and Speaker Moore, need to be a part of that. It’s up to whoever wants to go forward. We’ve got to convene the right stakeholders and get everybody focused on that same mission, vision and values.

Do you see that type of united effort developing?

I get very frustrated. We’ve had a lot of success but I don’t think our economic development infrastructure is anywhere near where it should be for North Carolina to reach its full potential.

What is your view of the Carolina Core concept?

Carolina Core is a great name. From Winston-Salem to Fayetteville, we’ve got all the things we’ve talked about. Great places to live and work. Great workforce, between the military and our universities, which are well represented. We have the land set aside. To think we have Boom Supersonic on one end and silicon chips on the other and electric vehicles all through that. It was a good name before we knew they were coming and it’s still a good name.

We’ve got to figure out a way to work together. People don’t care where the county line is. We need borders, but most people don’t care if they are in Lee or Chatham County as long as what they need for their company or their families is in the right place.

You’ve shown great interest in environmental issues. Is that unusual for a developer?

To me, they fit together because if you are a good steward of the environment, you are able to sustain the quality of life. It’s a balancing act, and when you are developing, you are grading, you are putting the environment at risk, it’s a risk you have to take, but it’s a calculated risk. I think some of my environmental friends don’t understand that and want to leave everything to nature. But that can’t accommodate the kind of growth that we are going to have. You’re better to be proactive.

What lies ahead for you?

Just trying to make North Carolina a better place and look after my family. We got our first grandchild and I’m excited about that.

When I first started at the company, I dropped my keys on the floor and I saw these picture frames under the desk. I pulled them out and my uncle apparently had done this sometime before. It was a quote from Benjamin Franklin that said, “The use of money is the only use there is in having money.” Whether that’s used for a philanthropic intent or economic development or a private enterprise, I enjoy doing that. It’s a passion of mine. That’s what my future is going to be about. ■ J A N U A R Y

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ENERGIZERS Energizers is a new Business North Carolina feature spotlighting enterprising young Tar Heel entrepreneurs.

FIRED BY FIERO

Two Duke University graduates craft a success story by inspiring people to learn crochet.

he rush of learning something new, something that seemed impossible, has taken Justine Tiu and Adrian Zhang from a modest $200 investment to a $5 million business in just two years.

They describe Cary-based Woobles as an ed-tech company that teaches the art of crocheting miniature plushies, while combining physical crafting kits with online education. Using the Japanese art of amigurumi simplified into an easy step-by-step process, customers create colorful penguins, dinosaurs and assorted cute critters. The crafting inspires renewed confidence in one’s ability to tackle unknowns.

The couple, who got married in 2021, use a term popular among some gaming enthusiasts, “fiero,” to describe the adrenaline rush of conquering the challenges of starting and now scaling their entrepreneurial venture.

They mainly sell direct to consumers through the company website and Amazon and by wholesale channels to boutique stores and chain retailers. It’s a big shift from their former New York jobs on Wall Street (Zhang at Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan) and in technology (Tiu at Google) before the Duke University graduates returned to North Carolina in 2020.

Amid filling orders for the 2022 holiday rush, Zhang says, “We’re 10 times busier this year. Last year we were packing orders from a single bedroom in my parents’ basement. Now we’re in four warehouses [in Apex.]”

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Their fulfillment team has grown from one to eight associates, shipping six, sometimes seven, days a week. As for the business partners-newlyweds, they live, breathe and dream Woobles.

“I don’t even think about how many hours we’re working; pretty much if we’re not cooking, eating, or walking our dog, we’re working,” Tiu says.

While the first two years were a whirlwind, the last six months have accelerated even more dramatically, punctuated with a winning Sept. 30 appearance on the ABC TV network’s “Shark Tank,” publication of a crafting book that became an Amazon bestseller and the launch of Shortcake, their proprietary online learning platform that simplifies the craft process.

The couple were surprised by the opportunity to compete on “Shark Tank,” but even more astounded when business tycoons Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner agreed to invest $450,000 for a 6% stake in Woobles — well above their pitch for $250,000. (The transaction was never completed. “It simply wasn’t the right fit for us,” Tiu says.)

“It was a fantastic experience. We didn’t know what to expect but what you see on TV is exactly what happens there,” Zhang says.

They are thrilled with how the prime-time moment catapulted awareness of their company.

In July, Woobles had 14,000 Facebook followers and 34,500 followers on Instagram. By December, their Facebook following topped 37,000 and Instagram, 97,000.

PHOTO BY DYAD PHOTOGRAPHY

By Connie Gentry

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The book has also raised awareness. Launched in mid-October, “Crochet Amigurumi for Every Occasion: 21 Easy Projects to Celebrate Life’s Happy Moments” became Amazon’s No. 1 book in toy making, No. 1 in stuffed-animal crafts and No. 3 in crochet — all within one month.

Popi Makris, owner of After School Brilliance in Madison in Rockingham County, was hooked by the “Shark Tank” episode.

She ordered a kit for her 10-year-old and liked it so much she began selling Woobles at her store, which is about 30 miles north of Greensboro. The kits typically sell for about $30.

“They flew off the shelves,” Makris says. “I ordered two more shipments and then Woobles told me they couldn’t ship more wholesale orders until January. I’ll resume selling them as soon as they’re available.”

Woobles are for sale at a variety of retail settings, including the gift shop at the N.C. Museum of Art and Durham’s Crafts and Drafts N.C. bar. Next on the to-do list is growing the wholesale business through national chains. Canadian retailer Loblaws was the first chain to stock Woobles, while a U.S.–based retailer is expected to soon offer the product.

The biggest challenge for Zhang and Tiu is scaling to meet demand. They see huge growth potential for businesses that effectively combine physical products with online learning. In their case, Shortcake is a series of videos that walks Wooblers through the

learning process as simply as possible. Shortcake’s videos never last more than 60 seconds, which is critical, Tiu says.

“When people try to learn something on YouTube, inevitably what happens is they try to follow along, mess up somewhere, but the video keeps going and suddenly it’s at 10 minutes and they’re still stuck at 30 seconds, so that’s like an impossible place,” she says.

Problem-solving is second nature to the couple, whose engineering backgrounds led them to design their Easy Peasy yarn that effectively eliminates the pesky habit of traditional yarn to fray, snag and undermine every stitch. It’s a hassle that frustrates many would-be knitters. Every Woobles kit utilizes the Chinese-made yarn, while individual skeins can be bought on Amazon.

Now the challenge is finding a textile manufacturer closer to home to speed delivery and support growth.

“Because our yarn is not like regular yarn, we don’t know how to find the right manufacturer in North Carolina,” Zhang says. The complicated aspect is the specialized process to make the yarn, which isn’t adaptable to traditional industry machinery.

“We’d like to talk with anyone interested in doing this because we’d love to bring some of the production to North Carolina,” he says.

Other goals for 2023 and beyond include adding licensed characters, such as Harry Potter or Pokemon, expanding into international markets and, ideally, replacing multiple warehouses with one large one. ■

COMPANY The Woobles FOUNDERS Adrian Zhang and Justine Tiu AGES: 33 EDUCATION Duke University bachelor’s degrees: Biomedical engineering and economics (Zhang); electrical engineering, visual arts and German (Tiu) HEADQUARTERS: Cary LAUNCHED: July 2020 EMPLOYEES: 20

PHOTOS BY DYAD PHOTOGRAPHY AND PETER TAYLOR

PHOTO BY DYAD PHOTOGRAPHY

ANNUAL REVENUE: $5 million

FUN FACTS

Real men wooble!

30% of customers are male.

90% of sales are from the company website.

A new Wooble is introduced monthly.

Google picked Woobles as the sole N.C. business featured in its 2021 Economic Impact Report.

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NCTREND ››› Entertainment 10 12 14 18 20 22

Entertainment Aviation Investing Automotive Public affairs Statewide

BEAN BAG BONANZA

Tossing aside cynics’ doubts, Stacey Moore is lifting cornhole to unexpected heights.

By Carroll Walton

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discovered was the potential to grow cornhole.

Moore, whose office is in Rock Hill, South Carolina, discussed how he saw what nobody else did. This interview was edited for clarity.

How did you land on cornhole?

Everywhere we went, people were playing cornhole way more seriously than other tailgating games. I thought, “What is it about this particular tailgating game that gets everyone so amped up?” I started talking to players who were playing competitively, who wanted to enter in tournaments and play for money, to get to know more about it. The best way to learn is to actually run events. So that’s what I did [with the Carolinas Cornhole Tour in 2013-14].

What were they so passionate about?

Cornhole gets compared a lot to bowling or another recreational sport, but to me it was always more like tennis because you’ve got offense and defense. You’re throwing a bag and the result of that bag determines the strategy for the next person. There was a lot more strategy to the sport at the competitive level than people were recognizing. And I enjoyed watching it: the pace of play, the cadence, the interaction between opponents.

What made your league different from your peers?

We developed software to capture scores and stats and manage events specific to the sport of cornhole. Then being able to display it on television to an audience was the next part.

How did ESPN get into the picture?

[A high school friend] introduced me to one of his buddies who was working at Disney ABC. Then I got introduced to someone on the content team at ESPN that I just started pitching. They gave us a shot on ESPN3 on their digital network. That was in 2016. We were about two months out from the World Championships in 2017, and a person said, “Hey, we’ve got a live slot on ESPN2 on Saturday during your world championships. Do you want to do something?”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AMERICAN CORNHOLE LEAGUE

ornhole has become continually more popular since emerging in the 1980s as a favorite game at bars and football tailgates. But only one person, Charlotte’s Stacey Moore, has had the vision to elevate it from a game to a sport.

The 52-year-old commissioner of the American Cornhole League is seven years into a venture that no one, including his friends and family, saw as ending well.

The privately held business has a regular slot with ESPN, where it has periodically attracted more viewers than more established sports. It also has a three-year contract with CBS Sports, a database of 250,000 players in 15 countries, and a stake in manufacturing cornhole boards. Sponsors, including Bacardi, Discount Tire, Johnsonville and Mike’s Hard Lemonade, view cornhole as a savvy pitch to the target market of 21- to 40-year-old males.

“There was no one that said, ‘Hey, Stacey, I think this is a great idea,’” Moore says. “Other than cornhole players. They said, ‘If you can bring us prize money, we’ll come play for your league.’”

In 2015, when he established the ACL, Moore spent $50,000 in prize money. Last year, the company paid out more than $5 million to contestants, including $1 million to tournament winners among the 250 professionals in the league’s top division.

The 1991 graduate of N.C. State University is the son and grandson of textile executives. His grandfather rose from mopping the factory floor to CEO of Reeves Brothers, a New York textile company that had North Carolina plants. His father, William Moore, was a top executive there and later owned Spartanburg, South Carolina-based Sally Foster Gift Wrap, a school fundraising product.

Moore graduated from college a year early to help his family launch the Greensboro Gators professional basketball franchise in Greensboro. It folded after just one season in the Global Basketball Association.

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What was your biggest challenge then?

When I got the price of what it was going to take to produce the show, I had sticker shock. I had to find another sponsor, and I didn’t have a ton of time to do it. I picked five companies to email on LinkedIn, and [Wisconsin-based sausage company] Johnsonville was one of the five. (I wrote,) “I’ve got a cornhole broadcast on ESPN coming up and I’m looking for sponsors. Would you be interested?”

And he emailed me back, “You had me at cornhole.” It was just timing. It was the right person. A lot of it was luck.

What’s the closest you’ve come to giving up?

There were times I thought, financially, I was going to be forced to pack it up. Once COVID hit, that was one of the times I thought we were done. We were up in Cleveland in March 2020. We’d set up 180,000 square feet, 200 sets of boards, and a broadcast court.

Everyone from the production companies, all the players had flown in that Thursday to start the first thing Friday morning. They pulled the plug on us Thursday night. We had already paid a ton of money to put on that show, and then we couldn’t execute on it.

How did the broadcast go?

Within 10 minutes of the opening of the show, we got an email from a producer [at ESPN] saying, “You did this wrong, this wrong, and this wrong.” I thought, “We’re done.” But then halfway through our show, the executive producer said, “Do you have any idea what’s going on Twitter?” I said, “No, I’m just trying to make sure the next player is out of the bathroom and to the board on time.”

How did you pull yourself out of that?

It was probably three or four days, where I thought, “This thing has just miserably crashed and burned. It’s over.” But then I said, “You know what? We’re going to become the first live sport back on TV.”

What was happening on Twitter?

Twitter erupted about the broadcast and the fact that cornhole was on live TV. A lot of people wanted to make a joke about it and laugh about it. But people tuned in just to see what it’s all about, and then they realized they wanted to keep on watching it. Coming out of that broadcast, ESPN entered into a two-year agreement with us.

Was that your most gratifying moment?

That first telecast. Running that championship took four days. We didn’t sleep. The people working at it may have gotten an hour or two of sleep a day. Just the stress of not having ever done a linear telecast or know what that’s all about. Then to have it blow up like that was pretty crazy. Once all the dust settled that night, it was a really emotional time.

Why was it so emotional?

No one else could see what I was seeing with the sport. Even the people that were working there, friends and everyone else around, no one understood the magnitude of what just happened.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AMERICAN CORNHOLE LEAGUE

Were you thinking of your late father, knowing he would have been proud?

Yeah, you could say that. By the same token, I may not have done it if he was still alive. He might have talked me out of it. He probably would have been the only person in my family telling me that I was crazy where I probably would have thought, “OK, I’m not going to take the risk on it because he told me it was dumb.”

What made you think that?

Our sport has a natural social distance component to it that no other sport has. We developed social distancing rules, pitched them to ESPN and to the governor of South Carolina. We limited the number of players that could come and play to 25-to-30 or Stacey Moore 30-to-60, depending on the location. The second place I was targeting was Texas because we needed to get somewhere within driving distance of at least 30 good pros. And we went to Phoenix.

Were you the first live sport back on TV? Yes. Ultimate Fighting Championship did an event the same day we did but later in the day, so technically, we were first. And we were on for seven straight weeks.

Did regular ESPN airtime cause a shock to the heart that ACL needed?

Yeah, people were watching the sport, loving the sport. Our social media went to a different level. And that’s when I started getting emails from groups out of New York, saying, “Hey, we got money we’re going to throw your way.” I knew I was going to need investors and other partners, so I listened to three different groups. The people I liked best were John Thompson III (a former Georgetown University basketball coach who is with Monumental Sports & Entertainment in Washington, D.C.) and his partner Jim Simmons (of Asland Capital Partners in New York). That enabled us to build out the headquarters, invest more money in infrastructure and hire more people. ■

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NCTREND ››› Aviation

SKY’S THE LIMIT

Jim Segrave’s private-jet company is going public, creating a potential Down East high flier.

everal thousand feet below the approach of a flyExclusive jet into Kinston Regional Jetport, Lenoir County sprawls with farms and forests in one of the state’s least robust areas economically.

This, concedes President Tommy Sowers, is an unlikely site to attract former managers at the likes of Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines and NetJets, the leader in the business of selling shares of aircraft for use by businesses and wealthy individuals.

“But we can offer what companies based in large towns can’t,” says Sowers, who joined the company in July 2021 and has recruited executives from those companies.

The London School of Economics graduate is a former Army Green Beret major. He held senior positions in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, taught at Duke University and ran unsuccessfully for a Missouri congressional seat in 2009.

“I tell them if you want to be an anonymous business executive, you’ve got the rest of the world. [In Kinston], you can walk into Lowe’s and people stop you and say, ‘Hey, my cousin works there!’ That’s usually my closing pitch.”

CEO Jim Segrave formed flyExclusive in 2015, five years after he sold a similar charter-jet service to Delta Air Lines for an undisclosed amount.

In October, the Kinston company said it will go public in early 2023 through a combination with a special purpose acquisition company led by New York investor Gregg Hymowitz of EnTrust Global. Segrave will be CEO of the

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company, which is expected to be valued at $600 million and trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The plans come amid turmoil at the company and in the private-jet travel industry. On Dec. 16, flyExclusive cut 50 jobs “to insure the long-term health and success of the company,” Sower said in a staff email. Operations, maintenance and HR units were affected.

Rival JetSuite of Dallas filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020. New York-based Wheels Up Experience, which went public by merging with a special-purpose company, has lost more than $350 million over the last three years. Its shares have slumped from $10 to about $1 since its IPO. Sowers and Segrave say they can defy the odds.

FlyExclusive flew about 43,000 hours in 2021, 75% more than a year earlier and the fastest growth rate of the industry’s four largest companies. The market leader is Berkshire Hathaway’s NetJets, which flew about 470,000 hours.

Jet clubs typically sign fliers to memberships – flyExclusive’s can cost $150,000 or more – for guaranteed future flights.

Over the last two years, flyExclusive’s jet fleet increased from 60 aircraft to about 90, and it is poised to expand after ordering 30 new Cessna Citations in April, for $330 million.

They are the first new jets purchased by the company, which like most peers relies on used aircraft. Delivery will occur over five years, Sowers says.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FLYEXCLUSIVE

By Edward Martin

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12/18/22 10:01 PM

Tommy Sowers

Jim Segrave

“People put off a lot of travel during the pandemic, and now they want to do it, with minimum trouble and delays, and they want to do it safely,” Sowers says. “We’ve got the highest safety rating in the industry, we own our aircraft and they’re flown by our pilots. If I’m flying loved ones across the country at 500 miles per hour and 43,000 feet, I want to know who’s in the cockpit.” ■

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FLYEXCLUSIVE

Sales are expected to exceed $360 million in 2022 and $530 million this year, with pre-tax operating earnings of $52 million and $63.7 million, respectively, according to flyExclusive.

Demand for charter jet service has grown as affluent people prefer to avoid crowded commercial airports.

Meanwhile, the number of used jets for sale is at a record low, which has boosted their value, according to New York investment bank Jeffries Financial Group.

That demand has also prompted flyExclusive’s parent company, LGM Enterprises, to expand its jet-refurbishing business, Jetstream Aviation, which was formed three years ago. About 100 employees were hired in mid-2022 as Jetstream expanded into maintenance of the electronic systems that keep today’s planes in the air.

Overall, Segrave’s businesses employ 750 workers, including more than 500 in North Carolina. Many are parttimers. A 15-member software development team has been organized in the Triangle area. In early October, flyExclusive opened its fourth hangar in Kinston as it plans to handle 80% of its maintenance in-house.

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NCTREND ››› Investing

ake a bow, Frank Jolley! The veteran Rocky Mount investor pulled off an amazing feat, selecting three stocks that paid off during a bloody year in the markets.

Shares of Jolley’s picks — Novartis, Nutrien and Honeywell — have each increased over the last year, through midDecember. The S&P 500 Index tumbled 17% in the same period.

It continues a history of success for Jolley, who has participated in Business North Carolina’s annual feature for many years. His typical approach is to favor well-capitalized companies that are out of favor and avoid the more speculative names.

Our other stock pickers hope that no one paid attention to last year’s story. Only one of last year’s 12 other stock picks showed a gain: Walmart, which increased 1%. Ten companies declined more than the S&P Index, including nine that lost more than 25%.

But these folks are gamers, willing to share their thoughts again because investing is a long-term activity. The companies have to be based in North Carolina or have major operations here.

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TOP STOCK PICKS FOR 2023

LESSONS LEARNED

TOP N.C. GAINERS

Panelist Ann Zuraw made three picks for BNC in 2021 that bombed this year.

Don’t beat her up: She’s had success in previous years. But the experience prompted her to share these key investing principles.

Liquidia

47%

Nucor

24

Curtiss-Wright

23

Peoples Bank

11

Diversify. Do not have a portfolio of only three stocks.

SPX

9

Enforce stop-loss rules. While I worked for Bank of America, the trading desk sold a stock if it declined 20%. It was no longer my decision.

TOP N.C. DECLINERS Avaya

-97%

Science37

-95

Precision Biosciences

-86

LendingTree

-83

Glatfelter

-80

Data shown for 12 months through Dec. 16.

There are always market cycles. When everything has been too good to be true — then it is.

Know your risk tolerance. It is better to go for base hits and not a home run.

Keep investing in public stocks and bonds. Real estate and private equity have done well, but both are illiquid and entail long-term risk.

Define honestly what long term means to you. My definition is five-plus years.

Never give up. Keep studying opportunities. We can figure it out together.

BANK OF AMERICA (BAC)

TARGET (TGT)

ADVANCE AUTO PARTS (AAP)

MARKET CAP: $254 BILLION DIVIDEND YIELD: 2.8%

MARKET CAP: $68 BILLION DIVIDEND YIELD 2.9%

MARKET CAP: $8.4 BILLION DIVIDEND YIELD 4.2%

FRANK JOLLEY

Higher interest rates and clientcentered technology and digital offerings position Charlotte-based Bank of America well for the coming year. BofA trades at 10 times earnings. We believe fears of recession and credit fears are priced in the shares, which are down more than 35% from the 52-week high.

The general-merchandise retail company’s shares have suffered in 2022 as bloated inventories, due to supply chain issues, resulted in huge markdowns. We believe the bad news is largely priced in and sets the company up for easy year-over-year comparisons in the coming year. Target shares trade at about 16 times forward earnings estimates.

Raleigh-based Advance Auto Parts is a leading retailer of aftermarket auto parts and accessories.

The most recent quarter was disappointing, and the shares are trading more than 40% below their January 2022 highs. The shares trade at a large discount to peers AutoZone and O’Reilly Automotive and we would expect shares to recover in 2023. With a strong dividend, investors get paid to wait.

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Managing director and co-chief investment officer Live Oak Private Wealth Rocky Mount

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CHRISTY PHILLIPS

Head of equity strategies and director of research Franklin Street Partners Chapel Hill

BOBBY EDGERTON

Co-founder, Capital Investment Companies Raleigh

ANN BENJAMIN ZURAW

President Zuraw Financial Advisors Greensboro

THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC (TMO)

DOLLAR GENERAL (DG)

RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES (RTX)

MARKET CAP: $218 BILLION DIVIDEND YIELD 0.2%

MARKET CAP: $55 BILLION DIVIDEND YIELD 0.9%

MARKET CAP: $144 BILLION DIVIDEND YIELD: 2.2%

TMO, which already has major N.C. operations, bought Wilmingtonbased PPD in December 2021, adding a clinical research organization to its life sciences and analytics businesses. The company has high levels of recurring revenue due to the consumables used in its testing and diagnostic equipment.

During the pandemic, increased testing benefited TMO, but investors have underestimated the staying power of some of that business.

COVID testing and treatments have declined, but not nearly as much as some anticipated. Demand for TMO’s non-COVID business should continue to rebound.

DG is a retailer with defensive characteristics allowing it to grow in both good and bad economic times. High gasoline prices and elevated inflation set DG up to outperform many retail peers because customers tend to stay closer to home for fill-in grocery trips. Also, in high-inflation periods, DG’s low-price offerings attract higher income customers who normally don’t shop there regularly.

With plans to add more than 1,000 stores in 2023, DG has room to grow even if sales per store is more muted.

RTX’s commercial aerospace and defense businesses provide the company with a rare combination of short-term stability and longerterm secular growth opportunities. In commercial aerospace, RTX should continue to benefit from a recovery in consumer and business air travel, both in its aftermarket parts sales and with new installations of its Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan engine.

The defense segment has dealt with myriad supply chain and labor issues in 2022, but RTX is poised to capitalize on significant increases in global defense budgets and strong bookings thanks to its technologically advanced capabilities in air and missile defense systems and electronic warfare.

INSTEEL INDUSTRIES (IIIN)

AMAZON (AMZN)

EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES (EW)

MARKET CAP: $500 MILLION DIVIDEND YIELD: 0.5%

MARKET CAP: $897 BILLION DIVIDEND YIELD: N.A.

MARKET CAP: $46 BILLION DIVIDEND YIELD: N.A.

The Mount Airy-based company is the largest maker of steel-wire reinforcing products used for concrete construction. It has $50 million in cash, property and equipment valued at $250 million and virtually no debt. CEO H.O. Woltz III learned the pitfalls of debt in 2007, having borrowed $140 to enhance growth.

A tough economy and a lot of debt is something he probably wants to avoid. The company paid a $2 special dividend in December.

Duke Energy signed a three-year deal with Amazon’s cloud com puting unit to advance power grid and clean energy goals, showing the power of the e-commerce giant.

The stock trades for less than $90 after peaking at more than $170, creating a bargain price. Cash is $58 billion, while debt is $164 billion.

Andy Jassey is a hyper-competitive CEO. The acquisition of One Medical makes expansion into health care look promising. Don’t ever bet against founder Jeff Bezos.

Edwards, with its heart-valve products in major hospitals, is a phenomenal health care company.

It has $1.5 billion in cash and $500 million in debt. CEO Michael Mussallem is a super-smart CEO who cares about peoples’ health.

Demand for heart-disease products will increase, including in other nations. Revenue and profit should grow by double digits in 2023, though a strong dollar hurts.

RXO (RXO)

LABCORP (LH)

SEALED AIR (SEE)

MARKET CAP: $1.9 BILLION DIVIDEND YIELD: N.A.

MARKET CAP: $20 BILLION DIVIDEND YIELD: 1.2%

MARKET CAP: $7.5 BILLION DIVIDEND YIELD: 1.6%

The Charlotte-based truck brokerage company was spun off in November from Greenwich, Conn.-based XPO. Its connections to a network of independent carriers provides shippers access to capacity for truckload, less-thantruckload and other transportation services. The company’s proprietary technology and highly variable cost structure helps optimize productivity, profit and volume.

Shares declined from about $20 at the IPO to $16 in mid-December.

The Burlington-based company offers nearly 5,000 different tests and operates about 2,000 patient service centers. It has invested in greater automation and information technology to increase efficiency for physicians and patients, which should also lead to improved profit. Shares declined by more than 20% in the last year.

The Charlotte-based company owns food-packaging brands such as Cryovac, Darfresh, and OptiDure, while other products include Bubble Wrap, Instapak and various shrinkfilm packaging systems. In November Sealed Air bought Liquibox for $1.15 billion. It expects earnings growth from the fast-growing Cryovac fluids business. Shares are off more than 25% from previous highs.

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NCTREND ››› Automotive

GARAGE GURUS

The Pettys no longer dominate NASCAR. But family members still lead in revving high-performance cars.

hen her Filipino family visits Randolph County, Charina Reeder of Asheboro says there’s one clear way to show them “how America feels.” That involves a visit to the Richard Petty Museum and Petty’s Garage in Level Cross in rural Randolph County, 15 miles south of downtown Greensboro.

In the Triad countryside, she is spot on — especially in NASCAR country, where the Petty name has defined motorsports for generations.

Within a 2-mile radius of the Petty museum and garage are acres of farmland, more than a dozen churches, motorcycle and gun shops, and a couple of mom-and-pop service stations. The sole national brand is Dollar General.

Remarkably, the Petty name is living on 30 years after the retirement of the most successful driver in NASCAR history, in large part because of the mechanical skills of about 20 technicians who attract a nationwide clientele.

Richard Petty, 85, clocked 200 career wins and seven series championship titles during a career stretching from 1958 to 1992. David Pearson, with a total of 105 wins, is a distant second.

Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt matched Petty’s seven NASCAR championship titles, but neither approached 100 wins.

The Petty legacy extends beyond Richard, of course. His father, Lee, won the first Daytona 500 in 1959 and set records for dirttrack racing before the sport moved to asphalt tracks. His son, Kyle, also had significant success in NASCAR between 1979 to 2009.

That legacy draws roughly 15,000 to 20,000 museum visitors annually, while the family’s racing business, Petty Enterprises, was sold and moved to Mooresville in 2008 to be closer to other NASCAR operations. While Richard Petty retains an interest in what is now the Petty GMS, its majority owner since 2021 has been Maury Gallagher, the CEO of Allegiant Air. Jimmie Johnson bought a minority stake in November.

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Separately, Petty’s Garage has become a substantial business since its formation in 2008.

The garage has performed work for celebrity car buffs including musician Kid Rock, NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, and rockerturned-racer Brian Johnson of AC/DC fame.

“We work on cars from Texas, Michigan, New York, all across the U.S., and Canada; and people Rebecca Petty Moffitt and her father, Richard Petty. from all over the world order our parts. But the guy 15 minutes up the road doesn’t know we’re here,” says Rebecca Petty Moffitt, Richard’s youngest daughter and executive director of the Petty Family Foundation.

Outside NASCAR, few people may know about their garage.

But people who covet high-performance, speed-infused rides, from backyard mechanics to grassroots racers, find their way along the back roads of Randolph County.

Petty’s Garage has continued the legacy of building highperformance cars at the site where it all began, utilizing a mishmash of buildings encircling the “reaper shed.”

“My grandfather started racing in 1949 and this barn is where they built his cars,” Moffitt says. “They called it the reaper shed because the tractor was usually out farming.”

The building is now listed as a historic landmark. It’s miniscule compared to the company’s main multi-bay garage.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF RICHARD PETTY MUSEUM AND PETTY’S GARAGE

By Connie Gentry

C A R O L I N A

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF RICHARD PETTY MUSEUM AND PETTY’S GARAGE

“I have the same birthday as the King, July 2,” says a visitor who had driven from his home in Pennsylvania’s Poconos Mountains to see the Petty museum. “Been waiting to meet him for over 30 years.

It would be really cool if I could see him.”

Thanking them for their visit, Moffitt says, “Looks like Daddy’s car is over there, so he must be around here somewhere.” She welcomes them to sit by the car and wait.

Richard Petty frequents the property and stays engaged with fans and the industry. Most of his followers are over 55, although Pixar’s animated 2006 movie “Cars,” which featured Petty’s voice for the Plymouth Superbird, has raised his profile with a younger set.

For all the nostalgia and history packed into the museum, Petty’s Garage is a serious business. A full restoration can run $150,000 to $200,000 and take 18 months or more to complete.

A “restomod,” which Moffitt explains is a car that has the classic “old” appearance with modern tech and creature comforts, can be a similar undertaking.

“If you’re looking at supercharging the car, which is more horsepower, it’s usually around $10,000,” she says. “The highest we’ve done is 1,000 horsepower.”

Wolfgang Schulz, a self-proclaimed “car crazy,” follows NASCAR religiously and collects high-performance cars of all makes and models. His favorite: A 2010 Dodge Challenger, that he hauled from his home near Ottawa, Canada, to Petty’s Garage, where he invested around $40,000 getting the car rebuilt with a new motor, supercharger, sway bars, strut bars — the list goes on.

“I had it painted Plum Crazy Purple, with custom logos on the head rests, Petty floor mats, all kinds of things,” Schulz says. “That was 2019. Today I expect the same build would cost $55,000 to $60,000. But I got to meet Richard Petty and Dale Inman (Petty’s crew chief) when I picked up the car, and they signed the car with me there.”

Schulz, an operations manager, typically does the mechanical work on his cars. But his 2010 Dodge was always destined for Petty’s signature build.

The Pettys opened a museum in 1988 to showcase the NASCAR legend.

RICHARD PETTY’S NASCAR RECORDS WINS: 200 POLE POSITIONS: 123 MOST LAPS COMPLETED: 307,836 MOST LAPS LED: 51,514 MOST SERIES CHAMPIONSHIPS: 7* *Tied with Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson.

“We might have a customer bring an $80,000 Hellcat [Challenger] in here and want some modifications to it, or we can take a $35,000 model and do $40,000 of add-ons to personalize it,” says Greg Steadman, the garage’s chief operating officer and a former NASCAR crew chief. “We’ve done race car restorations and some expensive classic muscle cars, but now we’re getting a lot of newer cars, 2005 and up.”

Restoration and performance upgrades make up 75% of the revenue with parts sales making up the balance. Plans call for flipping that percentage as capacity at the garage maxes out.

An expanded website, of which 90% of the products are Petty-branded parts, is expected to fuel that transition. “The parts and components we focus on are top of the line,” Steadman says.

“Richard’s brand is built on high performance; we won’t be selling any bottom-shelf parts.”

The company also builds vehicles used by corporations for promotional or charity campaigns. Clients have included Continental Tire, General Tire, and Wyndham Resorts.

“We don’t donate the cars for charity auctions, but we work within their budget,” Moffitt says. “Like they’ll make $150,000 to $200,000 on a car we’ve built for $75,000.”

Wyndham started in 2021 with a Chevy Camaro contest as an incentive aimed at gathering contact information from potential customers. It followed up with a Jeep Rubicon as a prize in 2022, and a Ford Bronco is on tap this year.

“Petty’s Garage already has a solid base in the industry, but it is time to take the business to the next level,” Steadman says. ■ J A N U A R Y

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NCTREND ›››

Public affairs Our paid daily newsletter provides detailed interviews with key lawmakers, Q&As of other political leaders and lots of stories tracking daily happenings at the state legislature as the 2023 long session begins later this month.

Here’s some of what you missed. Sign up today at nctribune.com.

NEW COUNTY TIER DESIGNATIONS SHOW CHANGES

MCHENRY, FOXX IN LINE FOR KEY COMMITTEE CHAIR POSTS

The N.C. Department of Commerce released its new “tier” ratings used to assess each county’s level of “economic distress” for economic development programs.

The report serves as a good indication of how each of the 100 counties is faring economically. The rankings factor in the unemployment rate, median household income, population growth and assessed property value per capita.

A total of 90 counties are staying in their current tier, with Tier 1 as the most “economically distressed” and Tier 3 as the most prosperous. Here are the 10 counties that are changing.

As most expected, U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry was picked by GOP leaders to serve as chair of the House Financial Services Committee next year. He’s been the ranking Republican on the committee.

“As chairman, I will pursue an innovation and opportunity agenda,” he said in a news release.

“We will focus our efforts on conducting appropriate and aggressive oversight of the Biden administration, as well as pursuing bipartisan legislation to put Americans back in control of their personal financial data, enhance capital formation opportunities, and develop a comprehensive regulatory framework for the digital asset ecosystem.”

McHenry might not be the only member of the North Carolina delegation with a powerful gavel next year. U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx could chair the House Education and Labor Committee. Politico reports that she got a waiver to run for that position, avoiding term limit rules.

IMPROVING TIERS • Mountainous Avery and Swain counties are moving from Tier Two to Tier Three because of their improving population growth rate.

• Caldwell County is moving from Tier One to Tier Two thanks to a better unemployment rate.

• Cleveland County is moving from Tier One to Tier Two thanks to lower unemployment and higher household income.

• Pasquotank County is shifting from Tier One to Tier Two due to improvements in household income.

WORSENING TIERS • Onslow and Transylvania counties are moving from Tier Two to Tier One thanks to a higher unemployment ranking.

• Pitt, Randolph and Surry counties are shifting from Tier Two to Tier One due to a decline in median household income.

2023 tier designations 1

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FCC’S BROADBAND MAPS COULD BE INACCURATE

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE FAVORS MORE COMPUTER EDUCATION

The Federal Communications Commission recently released a draft of its new broadband infrastructure maps, which it calls “the best picture available to date of where broadband is and is not available across the country.”

The maps online paint a surprisingly rosy picture of high-speed internet availability in North Carolina, labeling most areas as having “100% coverage” with the exception of a few sparsely populated spots near the coast and in the far western mountains.

It’s also not an accurate picture, according to the N.C. Department of Information Technology’s Division of Broadband and Digital Equity.

“It overstates broadband‘s availability even more than the FCC’s current maps,” deputy secretary Nate Denny says. He said the data factors in the availability of satellite internet, and while that’s a piece of the broadband puzzle, “it’s not necessarily reliable yet and it’s not necessarily affordable yet.”

Denny says he’s hopeful the FCC will make major improvements in the maps before they’re used to determine future federal funding allocations for broadband. His agency will weigh in with the data it has collected. “It’s a good step in the right direction, but it needs a lot more work” he said.

Fortunately, state government doesn’t have to wait for the mapbased federal $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment, or BEAD, program, to launch before it makes major strides in expanding broadband access.

The GREAT grant program has issued $270 million in new grants in recent months, and now NCDIT is working on the new Completing Access to Broadband program, which will involve partnerships with county governments.

Should computer science classes be required as one of the UNC System’s undergraduate admission requirements?

The N.C. House Select Committee on Advancing Women in STEM is considering the change. The committee, formed this year and led by Rep. Erin Paré, R-Wake, wrapped up its work by recommending two draft bills for this year’s long session.

One of the bills would require the UNC Board of Governors to study “whether to incorporate one or more computer science courses into the minimum course requirements for admission as an undergraduate student.” UNC leaders would report their findings to a legislative oversight committee.

The bill comes after the committee heard a presentation from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction that the state has “close to 30,000 unfilled jobs that require some type of computer science and, by 2040, more than 70% of all jobs will require a background in computer science.”

The committee’s report also encourages the legislature to increase computer science course availability in K-12 schools by offering stipends and higher pay to teachers who train to teach those classes.

The second draft bill would appropriate $1 million to create a competitive grant program to expand middle-school STEM offerings. As many as 20 school districts would receive some the funding. ■

“Serving the Carolinas for 39 years”

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NCTREND ››› Statewide

etting on the popularity of protein grown in a lab instead of a farm, Israel’s Believer Meats plans to set up shop in Wilson with a factory that entails an investment of more than $123 million.

The company expects to add 100 jobs at a 200,000-square foot plant at the Wilson Corporate Park that would be the largest of

B

LANE COLLAPSES nited Furniture Industries, whose business included the venerable Lane Furniture brand, laid off its entire workforce in late November through email and text after suddenly halting operations in California, Mississippi and North Carolina. More than 2,700 workers were

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impacted company-wide, including 530 employees who worked in multiple Triad facilities in North Carolina.

The decision came as a result of “unforeseen business circumstances,” a company email noted. Some affected employees in Mississippi and California have initiated lawsuits for lost wages.

Retailers remain uncertain regarding equipment and inventory.

United Board Chair David Belford, in a statement provided to the Columbus Business First newspaper in Ohio, said the company’s board was not aware of its severe financial problems until it was too late. “This is not the outcome anyone could ever have imagined,” he said.

Remaining staff are working with lenders to handle the liquidation, with hopes that some proceeds can be distributed to former employees and creditors, Belford said. He owns an investment firm, a $23 million home in Naples, Florida, and once donated $10 million to a spinal cord injury research center at Ohio State University, according to the New York Post.

The Lane family started the company in Altavista, Virginia in 1912 and diversified into tables, casegoods and reclining chairs.

United Furniture bought Lane from Heritage Home Group in 2017. ■

PHOTO COURTESY OF BELIEVER MEATS

TRUE BELIEVERS

its kind globally. The company was founded by Professor Yaakov Nahmias in 2018 and is led by CEO Nicole Johnson-Hoffman, a former executive of major beef suppliers OSI Group and Cargill. It has raised nearly $400 million from about 20 investors, according to the Crunchbase website.

Believer’s proprietary process combines biotechnology and agriculture to create products with a goal of sustainability as more consumers opt for healthier foods. The system involves the use of bioreactors, which enable chemical processes that lead to alternatives to traditional farm-grown meat.

Global revenue for alternative meats, including plant-derived products and animal meat grown from cells in labs, is expected to double to $12 billion by 2029, according to the Fortune Business Insights research firm. Still, demand for meat substitutes made by Beyond Meat and others has slowed this year as costs have increased significantly.

Believer says its average annual salary of about $60,000 will produce an annual payroll topping $5 million. It’s the company’s first large-scale food manufacturing facility, following a pilot plant in Rehovot, Israel.

Gov. Roy Cooper says the expansion speaks to the state’s innovative research and development efforts for food technology startups. Regulatory approval is still required for the new plant.

The One North Carolina Fund will support the new location through a $500,000 performance-based grant. ■

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12/19/22 10:45 AM

CHARLOTTE CHARLOTTE The Skiptown pet services startup received $27 million in new funding for expansion plans. Maggie Williams started the company in 2018 and has created dog and cat care operations in eight cities.

Investors include Focus Impact Partners, Meaningful Partners and former Dave & Buster’s CEO Steve King.

Atrium Health closed its combination with Illinois-based Advocate Aurora Health to create Advocate Health, which operates in six states and ranks as the fifth-largest U.S. nonprofit health care system. National Gypsum CEO Tom Nelson will chair the board.

EAST Former Mars executive Jeremiah Ashukian will succeed Josh Charlesworth as Krispy Kreme’s CFO. Charlesworth will remain global president.

Richard Matheiu was named president of Johnson & Wales University’s local campus. He has been dean of Queens University’s McColl School of Business.

KINGS MOUNTAIN

CLINTON Donna Bullard is the new CEO of Star Communications based here. She succeeds Jeffrey Nethercutt, who held the position since August 2017 and had worked for the company for nearly 30 years. Bullard joined Star in 1998.

FOUR OAKS

Catawba Two Kings Casino may face fines and possible closure for violating gaming laws, according to a National Indian Gaming Commission report. It notes that the Catawba Indian Nation failed to submit required contracts for approval.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALBEMARLE CORP; KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS; LS3P; COCA COLA CONSOLIDATED

PHOTO COURTESY OF BELIEVER MEATS

NEWTON Pasta Piccinini will move its U.S. production, operations and corporate office here from Pasadena, California. It plans a $6 million investment and 27 jobs with an average salary of $48,000.

Johnston County leaders plan to contribute $17.5 million for a jobtraining center here in an effort to attract advanced manufacturers. Johnston Community College will use 70% of the 60,000-square-foot building.

Albemarle Corp. is adding a $180 million R&D center in Charlotte that is expected to create at least 200 jobs.

Salaries will average around $94,000 with research focused on lithium use in electric-vehicle batteries.

Skyla Credit Union, based here, agreed to merge with California-based Parsons Federal Credit Union, creating a $1.4 billion asset group. The move adds three offices in California and Virginia.

Charlotte Metro and Greensboro-based Premier Federal Credit Union combined to form Skyla in 2021.

CHARLOTTE Coca Cola Consolidated, the biggest U.S. soft-drink bottler, raised its quarterly cash dividend to 50 cents per share and is paying a special dividend of $3 per share.

CEO J. Frank Harrison III credited the company’s strong financial performance.

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NCTREND ››› Statewide LELAND Cape Fear Commercial’s Bryce Morrison and Lindsey Hess have partnered with SAMM Properties on The Offices & Shoppes of Waterford. Construction is planned to start early this year.

WILMINGTON

TRIAD CLEMMONS

HIGH POINT Local CPA firm Smith Leonard acquired the Hickory-based Whisnant & Co. accounting firm. Smith Leonard also has offices in Lexington and Winston-Salem and now has about 100 employees..

MOUNT AIRY

Pool equipment manufacturer Hayward Holdings is cutting 57 jobs at its factory here. The Charlotte-based company is the town’s biggest private employer with more than 1,000 workers.

Scott Jafroodi succeeded Mark Carano as CFO of steel wire manufacturer Insteel Industries. Jafroodi was previously the chief accounting officer.

GREENSBORO

WINSTON-SALEM Krispy Kreme will add 180 jobs in a $5.8 million expansion focused on its Branded Sweet Treats line. The average pay will average $17 an hour.

Florida Turbine Technologies was named as the engine developer for Boom Supersonic’s Overture aircraft. The partnership was announced as site preparation is under way for Boom’s planned $500 million, 400,000-square-foot factory at Piedmont Triad International Airport.

Novant Health CEO Carl Armato received a 10% increase in overall compensation to $4.47 million for the 2021 fiscal year. His base salary grew by 16.7%.

Truliant Federal Credit Union surpassed $4 billion in total assets and 300,000 members. Formed to serve Western Electric workers in 1953, it exceeded $1 billion in assets in 2005. It has expanded to Charlotte and Greenville, South Carolina.

WINSTON-SALEM Nelipak, a health care packaging manufacturer, plans to open an $11.8 million, 110,000-square-foot plant that will create 79 jobs The Cranston, Rhode Island.-based company said the plant will serve as a flagship location. Pay will average $57,500 annually.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF DARK HORSE STUDIOS; NELIPAK; BOOM SUPERSONIC; TRULIANT

Dark Horse Studios, which is based here, plans a $20 million expansion starting in March. Additions include two 40,750-square-foot sound stages.

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Michael Andreasen will succeed David Routh as UNC Chapel Hill’s vice chancellor for development. Andreasen previously served as University of Oregon’s vice president for university advancement.

Canada-based Titan Medical will temporarily furlough 40 employees at its facility here. The medtech company has been assessing plans for a potential sale, merger or other alternatives.

DURHAM

PHOTOS COURTESY OF WOODGRAIN; CATALENT; TOWN OF WENDELL

G1 Therapeutics raised $50 million through a stock offering with plans to invest in more clinical trials. The oncology company received FDA approval for its Cosela oncology drug.

Idaho-based Woodgrain plans to invest $7.5 million to expand here and create 42 additional jobs. The building products company has seven N.C. facilities.

RALEIGH State Treasurer Dale Folwell said BlackRock CEO Larry Fink should resign or be removed at the New York company that manages about $9.5 trillion. He cited “Wacktivism,” because of Fink’s focus on environmental, social and corporate governance initiatives. BlackRock says it receives criticism from both progressives and conservatives.

Developer Hoffman & Associates has started construction on a 149-room Hyatt House hotel at its downtown Seaboard Station development. The project will include a restaurant and a rooftop bar as part of the project’s second phase.

WENDELL

Oppidan Investment’s plan for a 257-acre development was approved by the local board. Plans for the $350 million mixed-use development project include a grocery story, commercial and retail space and multifamily units. Former Carolina Hurricane player Tim Brent is the company’s executive vice president of the Southeast.

WILSON

New Jersey-based medical testing company Catalent is adding more than 200 jobs here in a five-year, $40 million expansion. State officials approved an $805,000 incentive if the company meets its hiring targets over eight years.

Cyemptive Technologies opened a regional office here to support East Coast clients. The Snohomish, Wash.-based cybersecurity company is led by Microsoft veteran Rob Pike.

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WEST CULLOWHEE Graduate tuition at Western Carolina University will increase 3% in the 2023 school year. Undergraduate tuition, which is capped at $500 per semester under the N.C. Promise plan will remain unchanged.

HENDERSONVILLE Lassonde Industries, which makes fruit drinks, is expanding here with a $55 million investment that will add about 30 jobs. The company’s 135 staffers produce more than 200,000 gallons per day.

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ASHEVILLE Asheville Mall, which is owned by New York-based Kohan Retail Investment Group, is now at 90% store occupancy. Last August, the mall was purchased for $62 million after the previous owner, CBL Properties, filed for bankruptcy in 2020.

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LEGISLATIVE OUTLOOK Leaders in some of the state’s key industries sat down to discuss issues they’ll be monitoring in the upcoming legislative session. Incentives and new tactics for addressing the dire shortage of employees are at the top of the list. Expanding training programs at high schools and community college could be part of the solution. Also, expect to see a continued push for expanding Medicaid, changes in the state’s alcohol distribution system and more effective public-private partnerships.

Photography by Bryan Regan

Peter Gwaltney

Tim Kent

Steve Lawler

CEO, North Carolina Bankers Association

executive director, North Carolina Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association

president and CEO, North Carolina Healthcare Association

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THE CHAMBER RECENTLY WROTE AN OPED ON POTENTIAL CHANGES TO FUNDING ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION BECAUSE OF CONCERNS OVER THE GAS TAX. WHAT’S THE SOLUTION THERE?

SALAMIDO: North Carolina is growing and attracting business. We have good balanced policies, but we have more jobs than we do people.

So the question is how do we create and align our education and talent supply and workforce systems to not only train our young people for these jobs, but how do we address the adult learning community? Veterans and spouses of veterans? What do we do with “second chance” hiring? How do we address the folks who, through the pandemic, have reassessed their jobs? How do we get them trained and educated for the jobs of today and tomorrow?

We also want to preserve and protect the tax climate that we have

and all those things that go into the cost of a job. We’re watching the regulatory sides of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the new executive order the governor put out about trucks. There’s great innovation. We think innovation does best when it has limited government regulation around it. We’ve got to do better in the state on finding solutions for small businesses to come together. Businesses want to take care of their people, and they want to provide health care. They want to be competitive. The state is continuing to diversify our transportation infrastructure as we’re growing along with other infrastructure pieces like water, sewer and broadband, and computer hardware.

As we attract these larger businesses, what are we doing to make sure that those small businesses can thrive? We always have to take a look at the franchise tax, for lack of a better description, it’s a statewide property tax, everybody pays before they sell one thing on their own. So we are continuing to look at making that competitive and eventually, get rid of it all together. We want to stay competitive on our personal income taxes. On the corporate income tax side, we’re pretty competitive right now.

Gary Salamido

Dave Simpson

Ardis Watkins

president and CEO, NC Chamber

president and CEO, Carolinas AGC

executive director, State Employees Association of North Carolina

North Carolina Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association, North Carolina Healthcare Association, State Employees Association of North Carolina and NC Bankers Association sponsored the discussion. It was moderated by Colin Campbell, editor of N.C. Tribune and Business North Carolina. It was edited for brevity and clarity.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR TOP ISSUES AND GOALS ENTERING THE 2023 LEGISLATIVE SESSION.

SALAMIDO: The more diversified, the better and the less reliant you are on one or two or three things.

So we had some good success last year, allocating a percentage of (vehicle-related) sales tax receipts to transportation funding was a big win.

I think looking at an access user fee is a good idea. But there are a lot of good options out there. How do we look at public private partnerships?

There aren’t enough resources for the government to do it all alone. So how do we structure those public-private partnerships differently?

So we had some good success last year, allocating a percentage of sales tax receipts to transportation funding was a big win.

WHAT’S HAPPENING OF NOTE IN YOUR WORK, STEVE? LAWLER: We’re coming off a threeyear, unprecedented event in health care. The pandemic showed the stress

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and pure volume of work within the field. So folks who had thought about retiring, they decided that it was just time to do so. Our top priority is making sure that we have a way to recruit and retain the best talent.

That means creating a workforce environment that’s safe and healthy.

Right now health care organizations have the highest incidence of workplace violence, more than any other business minus the prison system.

When we have programs to recruit and retain the best kids coming out of school, there’s a really high likelihood of them staying in state. So it takes working with local school systems to really elevate STEM programs that get kids interested in science and health care and working to provide scholarships for those kids.

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Stabilizing our current health care ecosystem is really important. These past three years have been the most difficult three years in the history of health care in North Carolina.

You know, right now, you know, the average operating margin for hospitals is almost negative 4%. So there are significant pressures on hospitals and health systems financially.

We look for innovative ways to support hospitals to ensure that they’re able to continue to be an active part of that community, especially in rural communities where many hospitals are the top three employers.

Medicaid expansion is really important. It creates coverage for 600,000 North Carolinians. It brings millions of dollars into the state, that we can purpose for jobs. There’s

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also a program at the federal level, the Healthcare Access Protection Program, which allows the state to draw down additional federal dollars.

We know that when people are healthier, health care costs less. We’re able to keep dollars in their pocket, and we’re able to help employers reduce the cost of care as well.

WHAT PROSPECTS DO YOU SEE FOR MEDICAID EXPANSION THIS YEAR? LAWLER: We’re grateful for leadership in the House and Senate for introducing Medicaid expansion into their budgets and their conversations in 2022. So we’re encouraged. We’re going into 2023 committed to working with our elected officials to find pathways to get that done.

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ON THE HOSPITAL STABILITY ISSUE, ARE THERE THINGS THAT THE LEGISLATURE SHOULD BE DOING TO HELP RURAL HOSPITALS?

DAVE, IT SOUNDS LIKE THE WORKFORCE IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE A BIG ISSUE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY.

LAWLER: I think taking advantage of the things that worked during the public health emergency and making that standard practice is really important. Telehealth is really an added value as we found out for small communities and allows those small communities to deliver high quality care. So investments in kind of laying that last mile of (broadband) wire are really important, and then making sure that telehealth is available and funded from a payment parity perspective.

Medicaid expansion will help create sustainability in the future for those small hospitals.

SIMPSON: It is a huge one. We’ve been involved with two tricked-out tractor trailers that will visit with 40,000 students in North Carolina next year and with similar efforts in South Carolina, pushing construction and other skills that people are not necessarily going to get at four-year colleges but make for a really good career.

And I’d like to point out that on Nov. 8, voters approved every referendum for construction on the statewide ballots — about $4.7 billion total. And everybody wants to live in North Carolina and South

Carolina. You can drive throughout the Carolinas and see tower cranes on building sites and orange traffic cones in the work zones all over the place, and utility work is booming.

We need to get people into the workforce and get them excited about doing what needs to be done.

The legislature was very generous to us, awarding to our CAGC Foundation $5.5 million to help with the workforce shortage in the construction industry. We will use that for a statewide training effort focused on minorities, with help from the community colleges.

I will say community colleges are doing an outstanding job in North Carolina in offering training and I’m starting to feel momentum is picking up.

One thing that I’m a little concerned about and we haven’t yet

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taken a position on it, is the medical marijuana issue. We are concerned about the prospect of people perhaps being legally able to use marijuana, and they’re working on job sites.

TIM, WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT ON THE ALCOHOL, BEER AND WINE REGULATORY FRONT? KENT: The hospitality industry took a big hit during the pandemic, like so many other industries. And thankfully, things are returning to normal, but the kinds of challenges that we face, you can boil them down to workforce, fuel prices and supply chain.

We’re having trouble hiring CDL (commercial driver’s license) drivers and retaining CDL drivers in a highly competitive situation. Companies like Amazon and others are hiring them up. We have record prices right now for diesel, which is another big challenge.

We’ve worked very closely with Rep. Tim Moffitt, who is soon to be a senator. He has been very active trying to modernize the alcohol and liquor system in the state. And in doing it in a responsible way to make things more efficient. Three bills that were passed in the last session [that led to] 40 different changes made to the alcohol laws. I would expect that there’s going to be one or more omnibus bills in the next two years.

Rep. Moffitt primarily wants to make the ABC liquor system more efficient, and make it more capable to meet growing consumer demand. He’s made a couple of trips to Kentucky during the off-season to try to become more fluent on what are some of the challenges facing distillers and liquor supply system.

There’s a very old ABC warehouse, located out in Garner that is just

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absolutely overloaded and incapable of meeting all of the needs of the system right now. So I think there’s probably going to be some talk about modernizing the existing warehouse system or building a new one. The [alcohol] system generates $650 million a year for state and local governments. And if you have a more efficient system, it can produce more money for the state. So I think that’s where we’re going to be focused.

What we don’t want is disruption.

Because there’s been enough disruption since March of 2020.

We would like to have things settled and let us do our work and help provide the products to 20,000 retail permittees. We’ve got a vibrant system across the state with more than 400 craft breweries and 200 wineries. We’ve got a growing distilling business. We just need to let people operate.

ARDIS, WHAT DOES THE STATE EMPLOYEE LANDSCAPE LOOK LIKE? WATKINS: It’s the same refrain of not being able to get people to take jobs. Vacancy rates are high. At prisons it’s over 50%. There are some prisons with a Sonic (burger store) down the road where you can make the same or better money. So why would you put your life on the line?

Not that the work at Sonic is easy, but it’s less dangerous.

The overall [state employment] vacancy rate is around 20%. That affects not only the rest of the state employees who are supposed to (pick up extra work), it affects every taxpayer. They’re paying taxes and getting 20% less services.

We do hope to continue to build that bridge to business to realize we all have to work together because

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without a solid infrastructure you won’t have successful businesses. Certainly in prisons and in health and human services facilities, but even when you get on an elevator, you need state employees to not only be there and not have too many vacancies, but you need them to be adequately compensated and respected.

And I know union is a bad word.

We’re an advocacy group for workers. Workers in business need to get together. Employers need to do what they can with their resources to treat employees in a way that makes them not get more training and leave.

They need to want to stay and give a valuable contribution.

There are jobs where the state is paying a perfectly competitive wage.

There are definitely some large gaps and again, we keep coming back to prisons because that’s, I think, what gets the most attention. We are woefully lacking compared to any other state. I’m thankful to Sen. (Phil) Berger because a few years ago, they gave some law enforcement benefits to correctional officers. But we need to complete that process and get them recognized properly as law enforcement across the board.

These are some of the toughest jobs in this state. We’re going to have to get some serious retention bonuses in some of these agencies.

LAWLER: Just to tack on to that, I think mental health is a priority for everyone. Our mental health system in North Carolina is broken. We have an opportunity coming off a pandemic, to think differently and say how can we change this to make this better, versus exhaling, and just going back to the way that it was before. On any given day, you’ve got HHS employees that are dealing with behavioral health patients who are

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showing up to work and concerned for their own safety. But even more tragic, we’ve got hundreds of people sitting in emergency departments, including children, that are there for days at a time waiting for placement.

So I think it’s the collective work of all North Carolinians to build a better behavioral health system that has better access to care. Medicaid expansion helps with that. But a lot of it is funding and making sure we’ve got the right dollars going to the right place.

WHAT IS THE N.C. BANKERS ASSOCIATION LOOKING AT THIS YEAR? GWALTNEY: I’m glad to go last, because we’re all so interconnected.

The banking industry in North

Carolina is really the backbone of our economy. Our banks only do as well as the local economies and the broader North Carolina economy, so we stand shoulder to shoulder with the NC Chamber on these larger economic issues and public policy issues. We’re one of the major banking states in the country and Charlotte is the second-largest banking center, so we are very involved in advocacy at the national level. Most banking policy is affected at the national level in Congress and in the federal regulatory agencies.

In our state legislature, we are more focused on what we refer to as technical bills. They’re important to bankers and customers, because our banking laws have to keep up with innovations technology and

changes in how customers want to work with banks. We also work closely with our state regulator, the Office of Commissioner of Banks, and our top priority in this session will be the nomination and confirmation of our banking commissioner. That’s a four-year position nominated by the governor, confirmed by the Senate.

We have a great commissioner in Katherine Bosken. We’ll be working for her reconfirmation as well as a basket of technical bills. North Carolina has always had very progressive banking laws. It’s why we are a major banking state, so we’re always looking at being right where we need to be to make sure that we’re attractive for banks to want to do business here. We have 87 banks doing business in the state from some

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of the nation’s largest banks to very small banks, and 43 of those banks are headquartered here. More than half of the banks in our state have come from out of state to acquire North Carolina banks, because they want to participate in this economy. They want it to be where there’s growth. And that’s why these larger economic issues, whether it’s transportation, education, early childhood reading, and health care are all important to us, because our banks are only as strong as our economy.

methodology can be used for water and sewer or broadband.

LET’S TALK ABOUT THE STATE BUDGET. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES? SALAMIDO: It is continuing to invest in our education and talent supply system, our K-12 education, making sure our young people can read by third grade. If they can’t read, nothing else matters. We look at our high schools and how to get our young people trained. How do we prepare our young people for a post-secondary career of their choice, whatever that looks like.

We talked about it a little bit earlier, getting creative on all types of infrastructure and putting in longterm plans. The state did a great job with the STIP (State Transportation Improvement Program). That same 34

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WATKINS: We always have to have a (State) Health Plan fund and that plan is marching towards potentially being in the red in about three years. So we have to try to make sure we get enough money for the health plan and to fund the retirement system.

For years, if you took a job with the state, you knew that you weren’t gonna make as much, but the benefits made up for that. But that’s not turning out to be the case for our newer retirees. They’re seeing their retirement look a lot different than they had ever envisioned.

I’m not sure exactly how it will play on the budget, but the issue we’re all having in terms of workers, finding workers and getting jobs filled. A lot of that seems to be wrapped around younger workers and what they’re looking for versus what we’re all used to providing.

Things like health care or retirement benefits are not necessarily doing the trick. So we’re having to try to figure out how to reinvent ourselves. So that’s part of the work we want to do with the legislature is figure out what kind of things in the budget we can do to make public state employment look more attractive to some of the younger workers.

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KENT: The one budget issue we have would be making some sort of investment in the ABC system to get a warehouse that is more efficient, more modernized to address consumer demand. We’re less involved on the appropriation side and more involved on the finance side. We’re concerned about tax law, both as it affects personal income and corporate levels, but also the excise tax. We deliver $160 million dollars a year back to the state so we work with the Revenue Department and the finance chairs on those issues.

DAVE, ARE THERE MORE THINGS THAT CAN BE DONE AT THE STATE LEVEL TO HELP GET MORE PEOPLE INTERESTED IN CONSTRUCTION JOBS? SIMPSON: Anything that can be done to get the high schools and the community colleges focused on what work is out there to get them to provide the badly needed work is smart ball. I just came back from a national construction meeting, and one of the speakers said that there are 10 million job openings in the United States right now – and 7 million people at home who could work but are choosing not to. It’s just mind boggling. We’ve got all these needs here. And we’re all representing industries and SPONSORED SECTION

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businesses and organizations that do great things for the public and for safety and our quality of life. And we need to be able to get people plugged in to making careers out of rewarding opportunities.

STEVE, ARE THERE MAJOR BUDGET INITIATIVES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE? LAWLER: Well, I think, picking up on Medicaid expansion, hospitals have said that we will take on the responsibility for the nonfederal share, which, you know, is significant, it’s close to half a billion dollars a year in commitment that hospitals are making to get that across the finish line. So those two things are important because they impact behavioral health and impact jobs. Health care makes up 6% of the

GDP. So as we think about it, how do we protect that 6% and make sure it’s there for today and tomorrow and future generations?

I think we need targeted funding within our community colleges, to help underwrite the education for people that we need in specific sectors. There are states in the country, where if you’re going into health care, or if you’re going into a state agency that requires a community college degree, your education is paid for, and it’s paid back by years of service. So I think we need that kind of forward thinking.

GWALTNEY: I’m all about investing in things that are working. We are blessed in North Carolina to have a great community college system. One in particular is Blue Ridge Community College in Henderson County. They have a number of apprenticeship

programs, ranging from construction to banking. They reach into the high schools, talk about careers, show students what’s available to them, and then those students can get jobs as apprentices in the industries they’ve chosen while they pursue their education. It’s a brilliant model that should be replicated.

WATKINS: But at the same time, our community college faculty salaries are among the lowest in the country, and by a significant amount.

And so if you want to excite young people, you have to have an overall solid program. And I think we’ve just been reluctant to the extent we’re going to have to bite the bullet and make some significant investments. We definitely need to fund our university system properly as well. ■

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By Dan Barkin A version of this article was published by The Assembly website.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Against the odds, Appalachian State University retains a winning football tradition. Are there clues for others in the cash-crazed sport?

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W

hen Appalachian State University’s football team went to College Station, Texas, and beat Texas A&M in September, football fans, analysts and bettors were shocked. A&M was ranked sixth in the nation, and App State is a much smaller school in a less prestigious conference.

It was a big story for a few days, recalling the even more shocking upset of Michigan in 2007, when App State was in an even smaller conference. Making the story even more compelling was that A&M paid App State $1.5 million to entice the Mountaineers to show up; instead of getting an easy win, the Aggies paid to lose on their home field.

PHOTO COURTESY OF TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

PHOTO COURTESY OF APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY

App State at the University of Michigan, 2007.

The sports world moved on. But I was curious. Usually, teams with deep pockets win against competitors with fewer resources, unless those competitors have figured something out.

Answering the question of what App State has figured out turns out to be important for much of college football, for these are turbulent times. The richest programs are growing richer with new TV money, threatening to relegate the rest to a sideshow.

College football has been dominated by what are called the Power Five conferences: the Southeastern Conference (SEC), including Texas A&M; the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC); the Big Ten; the Pac-12; and the Big 12. App State is in the Sun Belt Conference, one of the five other athletic conferences that play in college football’s top division.

In the past 18 months, the tectonic plates of the Power Five have shifted as Texas, Oklahoma, UCLA and USC have switched to the SEC or Big Ten. The aftershocks have rippled everywhere, especially in North Carolina.

The Big Ten and SEC were already taking in hundreds of millions more than the other three Power Five conferences, and distributing more to their members. The gap will get larger as two dominant leagues will have more cash for coaching salaries and swanky facilities for top recruits. Conferences like the ACC, with members including UNC Chapel Hill, N.C. State, Wake Forest and Duke, will struggle to keep up.

And that raises the stakes for ACC schools that have

national aspirations in football. Can they remain relevant, or do they have to jump to the SEC or Big Ten? Fans and deeppocketed boosters expect these football teams to compete for ACC championships and sometimes be Top 25 or even Top 10 programs. How do athletic directors say, “Sorry, we don’t have the money to keep up with Alabama?"

A resort at Texas A&M But it may not be all about the money. When App State played Texas A&M, it was playing a much better-funded football program on a much larger campus, with more than 68,000 students to App State’s 20,400. Texas A&M spent $36.6 million on football in the year that ended August 2021, according to federal Department of Education reports. App State spent $8.5 million.

The difference is partly coaching salaries. Jimbo Fisher, the Texas A&M coach, makes $9 million a year, making him the sixth-highest-paid college football coach. Shawn Clark, App State’s head coach, makes about $900,000, plus some incentives, according to the USA Today coaching salary database.

As of 2021, the assistant coaches at Texas A&M made five times their App State counterparts in total salary, $7.6 million versus around $1.5 million. The App State assistant-coach salaries ranged from around $100,000 to $300,000; the Texas A&M assistants made from around $375,000 to $2.1 million.

So App State hires less pricey assistants who are on the way up and other coaches who want the Boone lifestyle.

It also keeps a rein on game-day spending – what it takes to get players suited up, transported, housed and fed for games.

Texas A&M was spending $4.7 million annually, compared with App State’s $1.4 million.

Facilities also matter because they can drive up operating expenses. Based on photos and video on the football program’s web pages, App State has decent but not ornate athletic facilities that look like normal locker rooms and weight rooms.

Texas A&M’s facilities look like a resort. Players have a spacious lounge filled with TVs and video game consoles. There’s

Texas A&M.'s facilities wow recruits., but wins don't always follow.

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a barbershop. A snack bar. A high-tech weight room with dumbbells stamped with a map of Texas. An indoor field with artificial turf to practice lateral movement. A studio for the SEC Network. Club Aggie doesn’t run itself — all this has to be staffed.

And then there is Kyle Field, which can seat more than 100,000 for big games. App State has Kidd Brewer Stadium, which seats 30,000 but can squeeze more on the grass. In September, a crowd of more than 40,000 saw App State lose to UNC, 63-61. (Yes, App State almost beat ACC and SEC teams on successive weekends. The Tar Heels spent $30 million on football, roughly 3.5 times App State’s football budget.)

Crazy work ethic Since it moved up to Division I-A in 2014, App State has been successful in the Sun Belt and beyond. From 2015 to 2021, it went 73-19, with six bowl wins and four Sun Belt titles, making App State the winningest I-A program in North Carolina during those years.

In 2019, App State went 13-1, beat UNC and South Carolina (in Chapel Hill and Columbia, to boot) and finished 19th in the Associated Press poll. Despite the win against Texas A&M and the near-miss against UNC, App State finished 6-6 this year and was ineligible for a bowl game. Its losses were close and App State is in the tough Sun Belt.

Given the historic success and average attendance of 33,600 this year, a move to a bigger conference with more TV money would seem like a no-brainer. But the sparse population of the Boone area doesn’t impress the networks that invest heavily in conferences. UNC Charlotte, which is in an attractive media market, is moving into the more prominent American Athletic Conference this year despite having had much less football success than App State.

Still, gridiron glory is generally considered a factor in App State’s 15% growth in enrollment between 2013 and 2022.

That’s nearly twice as fast as the overall UNC System. During the same period, UNC Charlotte grew by 11%, while UNC Greensboro had a slight decline.

As for why App State punches above its weight in football, two narratives exist. Both are true.

The first is culture and tradition, which started with retired Coach Jerry Moore, who won 215 games in Boone and three national championships in the old I-AA division. The App State program still runs on the template he created from 1989 to 2012, with speed, resiliency and conditioning. There’s a statue of Moore at the stadium.

Conditioning also shouldn’t be overlooked. It doesn’t cost more to have a team that’s going strong in the fourth quarter.

What it takes is a very determined coaching staff and players

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willing to put in the work because they have large, collective chips on their shoulders about Power Five recruiters.

“I’ve been to enough practices,” says Tommy Bowman, who covered App State for the Winston-Salem Journal during the Moore era.

“There were very few, if any, teams that worked any harder than they did. Their work ethic was crazy.”

The other narrative A statue of former App State Coach Jerry is more of a "Moneyball" Moore honors his legacy. explanation. The Michael Lewis book and subsequent movie showed how Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics and general manager Billy Beane figured out how to sign undervalued players by focusing on attributes that mattered, as opposed to how players looked. That is how App State has always recruited players.

“Five-star recruits don’t say, ‘I’m going to go to App State over Alabama because I like the mountains,’” says David Jackson, the former associate athletics director and play-by-play announcer who called the Michigan game.

“What schools like App must do is prioritize the diamond in the rough,” says Jackson, now the CEO of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce.

This can mean different things. It often gets simplified to a high-school center who would be on the Power Five radar if he were 2 inches taller or 30 pounds heavier.

But it is more complicated than that. Power Five schools go certain places and don’t go other places, like corporations that only recruit at elite universities. They also like finished products rather than projects.

The upside is that prospects who aren’t being pursued by Power Five schools tend to be less concerned about player lounges and the quality of game hotels. They just want to play ball.

And because they just want a shot, they’re more likely to be flexible. When Moore was recruiting Armanti Edwards, one of the heroes of the Michigan game in 2007, he wasn’t a lock to play quarterback.

“When we recruited Armanti, we were recruiting CoCo Hillary at the same time,” Moore, now 83, says. “We told both

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players we don’t know if you’re going to be a receiver, we don’t know if you’re going to be a defensive back, or if you’re going to be a quarterback. But we want you to come to school at Appalachian State.

“They were both good runners, but we thought Armanti was the better thrower. And it worked out. Hillary was one of the best receivers we had.”

Edwards passed for three touchdowns against Michigan and ran for another. Hillary, playing in his first college game, returned seven kicks for 151 yards and caught four passes for 63 yards.

Perhaps the most well-known find in the bargain bin was Dexter Coakley, a defensive star in the 1990s who built himself through the strength and conditioning program into an NFL prospect, despite being 5’10”. He went to the Pro Bowl three times.

“Coakley wouldn’t open his mouth in practice,” says Moore.

“He just worked and worked and worked.”

Chick-fil-A and Gatorade To illustrate how a frugal program like App State operates, former Athletics Director Charlie Cobb told the story of when he first came from N.C. State to be the athletic director in Boone in 2005. He is now the AD at Georgia State University.

The team buses were headed to a game at Eastern Kentucky.

They pulled off the interstate at a rest stop to eat lunch, and pulled coolers out with Chick-fil-A and Gatorades.

“If N.C. State had gone on the road, and we were playing [Kentucky], we’d have left RDU, we’d have had three catered meals and flown 35, 40 minutes to get to Lexington to get to go stay at a hotel and ate again,” he says.

That was 17 years ago, but the culture endures. “We talk all the time, ‘Spend it like it’s yours,’” says Doug Gillin, the current App State athletics director.

He needed to upgrade the nutrition program, which was going to cost $100,000 to $150,000. And so they did it through a golf tournament.

National rankings of N.C. college football teams

N.C. State ........ 25 UNC ................. 26 Duke ................. 40 Wake Forest ..... 42 East Carolina ... 61 App State .......... 79 Charlotte .......... 125 Source: The Athletic website, Dec. 5

“We do a real nice dinner with a nice silent auction, and candidly, that’s how we raised the money to increase our nutrition spend,” Gillin says. “Because the program didn’t have the money lying around. Selling more game tickets or hot dogs wasn’t an option.”

Among the unsung heroes of App State’s football success are the students, each of whom pays an annual “athletics fee” of $783. The $13.6 million collected in 2021 dwarfed other revenue sources, according to the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database. While most UNC System students pay comparable fees, those attending N.C. State and UNC Chapel Hill pay $232 and $279, respectively. Big payouts from TV contracts lessen their need to charge students.

Sports boosters also make key impacts at many campuses.

Over the years, the late oil tycoon Boone Pickens gave more than $300 million to athletics at Oklahoma State University, according to the university.

At App State, 61 individuals have committed a combined $29 million over the past decade to the Yosef Club’s Circle of Excellence Society. In 2017, Mark Ricks, an alum and securityindustry expert, pledged $10 million. (The club is App State’s athletics booster group.)

Sarah Holder, who is App State’s assistant athletics director for business, spent eight years as an accountant in Boone before joining the university. She holds monthly budget meetings with the athletics department’s programs.

“We’re a public institution,” says Holder, who is a 2006 App State graduate. “We very much have our fingers closely on all our spending.”

Given App State’s success on a limited budget, you might question whether Holder gets asked about this often when she attends conferences on spending among athletic administrators.

“No,” she replies. “Which is surprising. … If someone’s successful at something, you kind of want to know what they’re doing. But I have not gotten any of those phone calls.” ■

Total football victories posted in past five years

Total Athletics Revenue (2021, in millions)

App State ......... 49 N.C. State .......... 38 Wake Forest ...... 37 UNC .................. 32 Duke .................. 26 East Carolina .... 24 Charlotte ........... 22

UNC ................. $101.9 N.C. State ......... 78.2 Duke ................. N/A Wake Forest ...... N/A East Carolina ... 43.2 Charlotte .......... 37.7 App State .......... 33.2

Source: Sports-reference.com

Source: Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database

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DASHED HOPES The collapse of an insurance industry star’s landmark project cost Charlotte a major windfall.

By Edward Martin

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CENTENE RENDERING COURTESY OF LS3P; PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID MILDENBERG

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onstruction scaffolding and exposed beams lent a touch of reality as Centene CEO Michael Neidorff, standing next to Gov. Roy Cooper, pointed out details on a tabletop architectural model of a huge building under construction in northeast Charlotte.

“It’s amazing,” Cooper beamed, “what a billion dollars can do.”

At the June 2021 gathering at Charlotte’s University Research Park, Neidorff told Cooper, Mayor Vi Lyles and others that 3,230 employees would soon work in the 800,000-squarefoot structure for the nation’s largest Medicaid managed-care insurance company.

The $450 million in potential state and local incentive payments, arranged by Cooper and others, helped entice what promised to be one of North Carolina’s biggest economicdevelopment home runs. Lyles hailed the project as a “milestone” for the area.

The plan called for a completed building by late 2022, when construction would be well under way on adjacent campus projects. Centene envisioned recreational areas, a child-care site and other amenities.

It all sounded logical given Neidorff ’s success in creating a Fortune 500 company with 71,000 employees. Centene’s plans seemed akin to New York financial services giant TIAA, which opened an adjacent 92-acre campus in 2000 that now employs 5,000.

But Neidorff ’s promises of new jobs and investment are now a distant memory.

In August, Centene told Cooper it was quitting the unfinished project after investing $700 million. That’s more than triple the amount of money that Carolina Panthers David Tepper walked away from at his ballyhooed Rock Hill, South Carolina development after disputes with municipal leaders earlier this year.

The Centene property, which Neidorff said would become its East Coast headquarters, is listed for sale by the Cushman & Wakefield real estate firm. It’s hoped that a major enterprise will pounce on the building — probably at a big discount. “They’re watching a couple of hundred million dollars evaporate,” says a Charlotte executive who helped attract Centene.

Centene, in a statement, says the reversal reflects “a fundamental shift in the way people want to work. About 90% of our workforce is fully remote or in a hybrid work environment, and workplace flexibility is essential to attracting and retaining top talent.” Officials declined to elaborate.

The company is "drastically" office space across the U.S., as more employees work remotely or in hybrid settings, notes Sam Chan, Cooper’s press secretary. The company employs 1,300 statewide, including 700 in Charlotte.

But there was much more to Centene’s expensive incursion

into the University City area near UNC Charlotte than bungled planning and a shifting workplace culture, according to people familiar with the failed project. Several other factors behind the abrupt shift have received limited attention.

Perhaps most notable, with all due respect, is that Michael Neidorff is dead.

Former CEO Michael Neidorff talks with Gov. Roy Cooper at the Charlotte site in a June 2021 gathering.

An infection claimed the CEO’s life in April at age 79, ending an increasingly fractious relationship with investors, Centene’s home state of Missouri, regulators, board members and others. He had gone on medical leave two months earlier.

As the Charlotte project was rising, Neidorff was facing growing dissatisfaction by institutional investors over the company’s financial performance and significant pressures from regulators over its operations.

In November 2021, he agreed with Boston-based hedge fund Politan Capital Management to step down as CEO and executive chair in late 2022. The deal also included remaking Centene’s board with six directors leaving and five new ones added.

Politan owned less than 1% of Centene’s stock, or about $900 million, while Neidorff personally controlled about $500 million. But Politan founder Quentin Koffey had successfully forced management upheaval at his previous jobs. While working for the New York-based DE Shaw fund in 2018, he was credited with helping oust Robert Niblock, who had been CEO of Mooresville-based Lowe’s Cos. for 13 years.

Given Centene’s long-term history, investor complaints seemed surprising. It’s hard to understate Neidorff ’s impact, which in some ways mirrors Charlottean Hugh McColl Jr.’s skill of turning a regional bank into Bank of America.

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The Altoona, Pennsylvania, native joined the health insurance company when it was based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1995. A year later, he moved the headquarters to St. Louis, where he had led a physicians-owned health plan. He took Centene public in 2001 when it had $327 million in revenue and 235,000 members.

By 2013, revenue topped $10 billion with a membership of 2.7 million. Its rapid growth continued with revenue likely to top $135 billion this year. During the decade ended December 2021, the company’s stock soared more than 750%, double the S&P 500 Index.

That history didn’t impress Politan, which criticized Centene for profit margins that lagged peers, causing its shares to stagnate between 2018-21. Also, it isn’t unusual for hedge funds to target aging CEOs with unclear succession strategies. During his final years as CEO, Neidorff received annual compensation of about $25 million. No other company executive topped $10 million.

Centene also faced headwinds because of criticism that it profits at the expense of its main customers, low-income Americans.

It’s the largest provider of health-insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces and the largest provider of Medicaid managed care with 15.4 million enrollees nationally.

Most state Medicaid programs contract with private insurers to cover people who have disabilities or low incomes. The programs are jointly funded by state and federal taxpayers.

In many states, the insurers procure medications for the program through a pharmacy benefit manager, which acts as an intermediary between health plans and pharmacies. Centene has both a health plan and a PBM. In September, Texas became the 12th state to settle claims that Centene had defrauded their Medicaid programs involving excessive charges for pharmacy services. The settlements have totaled $475 million, according to Kaiser Health News.

Centene has denied any wrongdoing and continues to operate in the states where it has struck settlements. But it set aside $1.1 billion to settle the allegations, according to company filings. It’s not clear if Centene is under investigation in North Carolina.

Ohio Attorney General David Yost, in an interview, faults Centene for “corporate greed.” A Mississippi legislator accused the company of taking “$55 million of our money that was supposed to be spent on the poor, the sick, the elderly, the mentally ill and disabled.”

Neidorff thought the big Charlotte site could help consolidate operations and improve Centene’s financial performance, says a company official, who asked to remain anonymous. It also reflected an emphasis on East Coast states after Centene’s $17 billion acquisition of Tampa, Floridabased WellCare Health Plans in 2019. But questions on why companies need more office space spiked during the pandemic.

“The desire for flexibility in work was driving change,” says Tobe Holmes, senior director for land use and economic development of University City Partners, a nonprofit that promotes the area where Centene planned to operate. He recalls

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discussing the issue with Gov. Cooper before the pandemic broke out in early 2020.

“Centene has some very skilled people, and some call centers can be virtual, with people who can discuss health care, benefits.

Others, like in banking, find people more efficient when they’re in the office together,” Holmes says.

To be sure, the pandemic has changed the landscape of corporate workplaces.

In Charlotte, Duke Energy says remote work is enabling it to cut office-space needs by 60%, which will save $90 million a year in real-estate leases. The company is consolidating its downtown Charlotte operations into the new 40-story Duke Energy Plaza slated to open in early 2023. The company ended its lease of 21 floors of the nearby Duke Energy Center and is selling its former 13-story headquarters building.

Other corporations have had second thoughts about remote work after measuring productivity. Last fall, Bank of America limited the time that some staffers could work from home to two days a month. CEO Brian Moynihan has emphasized the benefits of building corporate culture through office work.

Centene’s cut-and-run also came amid significant tension between Neidorff and politicians in the company’s home state.

Beyond his status building one of Missouri’s most successful companies, he gained respect for promoting diversity long before it became popular in corporate America. He also made Centene a major philanthropic force in St. Louis, which has struggled to retain major corporate headquarters.

Clayton, Missouri, Mayor Michelle Harris says she grew very fond of Neidorff. “He was a visionary leader and a person who’d take action on his visions. He didn’t just talk about it, he went out and did it.”

Neidorff also wasn’t afraid to raise concerns publicly. In press interviews and comments to civic groups, he complained about the increasing murder and crime rates in St. Louis.

Leading up to the location decision, several Charlotte officials say that Neidorff repeatedly compared the Queen City’s

MEMBERSHIP GROWTH (in millions)

source: Centene B U S I N E S S

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crime statistics and available workforce favorably to similar metrics in St. Louis.

“Mr. Neidorff basically put a stake in the ground and said, ‘Hell no St. Louis, we aren’t doing this anymore,” says a Charlotte official who asked not to be identified because of his role in recruiting Centene. “He was really angry at St. Louis, but he kind of kept it under cover. He had a special bee in his bonnet about getting away from there.”

Neidorff also was disappointed that Missouri didn’t increase Medicaid funding, according to several sources familiar with the matter. He met with Gov. Michael Parsons in 2021, but Press Secretary Kelli Jones declined to discuss the subject of the meeting.

Sources say Neidorff told Parsons that Missouri was an “embarrassment” for refusing to boost Medicaid funding, his company’s core business. Missouri voters had approved an increase, but Parsons refused to sign enabling legislation after the state’s Republican lawmakers declined to fund the growth. (North Carolina has not approved expanded Medicaid funding, either.)

Whether the CEO threatened to move the company headquarters to Charlotte is unclear. Clayton Mayor Harris doubts it. “He cared very much about the St. Louis community at large, and he was committed to the business community and trying to attract other companies here,” she says. “His family lives here. I couldn’t imagine him saying that.”

To succeed Neidorff a month after his medical leave began, Centene’s board picked a CEO with a very different history: Sarah London, 41, had worked for a venture-capital division of rival United Healthcare before joining Centene to lead digital strategy in 2020. The Harvard University graduate and University of Chicago MBA is an expert in data analytics and technology innovation. “[She] was the absolute opposite of Neidorff,” says a Charlotte official who worked with the company. “This was a total change in attitude about what technology can

Michael Neidorff and Centene's new CEO Sarah London

provide for the future.” London had confidence that remote communications technology could serve customers with less need for office space.

“Mr. Neidorff was proceeding in a way the board didn’t appreciate,” the executive said. “This gave her the leverage she needed to dump the project altogether.”

Centene paid $10 million for its initial 80-acre tract in University Research Park, then added another 130 acres. It planned to pay average salaries topping more than $100,000, according to data required to secure state incentives.

Writing off hundreds of million of dollars isn’t a major hit for Centene, which has a market value of nearly $50 billion. Its stock gained about 4% this year through early December; the S&P 500 Index declined 14% in the same period.

It’s unclear if the building will end up in the hands of a single tenant or include multiple occupants, says Jade Hubbard, a spokesperson for Cushman & Wakefield. The building remains unfinished.

Holmes, the University Research Park official, says “Centene was locating in University City for a reason, and those reasons still exist.” It’s the region’s second-largest employment center with close proximity to nearby UNC Charlotte.

“That’s exactly the kind of environment that has legs,” he says. ■

CENTENE'S HEALTHY VITALS REVENUE GROWTH (in billions)

PROFIT PICTURE (millions/billions)

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CLASS ACTS J

ocks, nerds, hoods and other groups make up the woodwork of every high school, including those attended by the best lawyers in North Carolina. We asked this year’s winners of Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite to recall their favorite friends’ group, or an enjoyable high school activity.

The answers to those and other questions provide insight into this talented crew.

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It’s the 22nd class of Legal Elite, which honors lawyers chosen by their peers. Business North Carolina contracted DataJoe Research to facilitate an online peer-voting and internet research process. About 1,000 lawyers received votes, with those receiving the most getting recognition in 16 specialties as Hall of Fame members.

The responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Previous Hall of Fame members are listed by their firm at the time of selection, unless otherwise noted.

DataJoe Research is a Boulder, Colo.-based software and research company specializing in data collection and verification, and conducts various nominations across the nation on behalf of publishers. DataJoe confirmed that each published winner had, at time of review, a current, active license status with the appropriate state regulatory board. If unable to find evidence of a lawyer’s active registration with the state regulatory board, that lawyer was excluded from the list. In addition, we checked available public sources to identify lawyers disciplined for an infraction by the state regulatory board. They were excluded from the list. DataJoe presented the tallied results to Business North Carolina for its final review and adjustments.

DataJoe and Business North Carolina recognize that there are many talented lawyers who are not listed. This is a subset of talented professionals across the state. Inclusion in the list is based on the opinions of responding lawyers in North Carolina. DataJoe thoroughly ensures fair voting but the company understands that the results of this survey nomination and internet research campaign are not an objective metric.

Disclaimers: 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.

CONTENTS

CATEGORY

LIST PROFILE

CATEGORY

LIST PROFILE

ANTITRUST

47

46

ENVIRONMENTAL

63

62

APPELLATE

47

48

FAMILY

63

64

BANKRUPTCY

49

50

IMMIGRATION

65

66

BUSINESS

51

52

INTELLECTUAL

67

68

CONSTRUCTION

53

54

LITIGATION

67

70

CORPORATE

55

56

REAL ESTATE

73

72

CRIMINAL

55

58

TAX & ESTATE PLANNING

75

N/A

EMPLOYMENT

61

60

YOUNG GUNS

76

74

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ANTITRUST DENISE M. GUNTER Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, Winston-Salem

PRACTICED LAW: 33 years HOMETOWN: Bergenfield, New Jersey FAMILY: Husband, Dale Gunter, and cat, Snowball HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: Nerds KARAOKE NIGHT SONG: “Only the Good Die Young” ONE MEAL TO EAT FOREVER: PB&J BUCKET LIST ITEM: A trip to Australia.

BIGGEST RISK TAKEN: Moving to North Carolina without having any family or connections.

RANDOM IMPULSE BUY: Orthopedic pet dishes for an aging cat.

LAST SHOW BINGE-WATCHED: “The Watcher” MOVIE YOU COULD QUOTE BY HEART: “North by Northwest” FAVORITE WINTER ACTIVITY: Watching Netflix.

FAVORITE SNACK: Ice cream DEFINITION OF SUCCESS: Practicing law for 33 years.

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UNDERGRADUATE: NORTHWESTERN | LAW: THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY N O R T H C A R O L I UNIVERSITY N A

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ANTITRUST DENISE M. GUNTER

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Winston-Salem Jenna F. Butler Ward and Smith PA, Wilmington E. Bradley Evans Ward and Smith PA, Winterville Jason Doughton Evans Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, Charlotte Lisa F. Garrison Garrison Law Group PLLC, Asheboro Robert N. Hunter Jr. Higgins Benjamin, Greensboro M. Keith Kapp Williams Mullen, Raleigh Gregory Lee Skidmore Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Mary K. Mandeville Alexander Ricks PLLC, Charlotte Larry S. McDevitt The Van Winkle Law Firm, Asheville Lawrence C. Moore III Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Clinton R. Pinyan Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro Alan M. Ruley Bell Davis Pitt PA, Winston-Salem HALL OF FAME: Matthew W. Sawchak, Ellis & Winters LLP, Cary (2002, 2003); Rodrick J. Enns, Enns & Archer LLP, Winston-Salem (2004); Larry B. Sitton, Smith Moore LLP, Greensboro (2005); Everett J. Bowman, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte (2006 );

Douglas Wayne Kenyon, Hunton & Williams LLP, Raleigh (2007); Mark W. Merritt, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte (2008); Mark J. Horoschak, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC, Charlotte (2009); Jennifer K. Van Zant, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro (2010); Catharine B. Arrowood, Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Raleigh (2011); Jonathan Heyl, Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP, Charlotte (2012); Noel L. Allen, Pinnix & Nichols PA, Raleigh (2013); John F. Graybeal, Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Raleigh (2014); Press Millen, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC, Raleigh (2015); W. Andrew “Andy” Copenhaver, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC, WinstonSalem (2016); Stephen Feldman, Ellis & Winters LLP, Raleigh

Christopher G. Browning Jr. Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, Raleigh Alexander Clay Dale Ward and Smith PA, Wilmington Robert H. Edmunds Jr. Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Christopher Scott Edwards Ward and Smith PA, Wilmington Stephen Daniel Feldman Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Raleigh Narendra Kumar Ghosh Patterson Harkavy LLP, Chapel Hill Robert Daniel Gibson Stam Law Firm PLLC, Apex Bonnie Lynn Keith Green The Green Firm PLLC, Charlotte Harvey M. Hamlet Hamlet & Associates PLLC, Wilmington L Cooper Harrell Mullins Duncan Harrell Russell PLLC, Greensboro APPELLATE Samuel Batiste Hartzell Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, Raleigh ANGELA FARAG Noah H. Huffstetler III CRADDOCK Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough Young Moore and Henderson P.A., LLP, Raleigh Raleigh Patrick Michael Kane Norris Arden Adams II Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Essex Richards PA, Charlotte John Joseph Korzen Natasha Marie Barone Wake Forest Law, Winston-Salem Jordan Price Wall Gray Jones & Carlton, Bradley R. Kutrow PLLC, Raleigh McGuireWoods LLP, Charlotte Chad Alan Archer Lorin J. Lapidus Blanco Tackabery & Matamoros PA, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Winston-Salem Jaye Elizabeth Bingham-Hinch Winston-Salem Michael T. Medford Batten Lee PLLC, Raleigh Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh Christopher Anderson Allison Overbay Mullins Brook, Patterson Harkavy LLP, Turning Point Litigation, Greensboro Chapel Hill

Kip David Nelson Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Preston O. Odom III James McElroy Diehl PA, Charlotte David S. Pokela Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Greensboro Deborah Sandlin Sandlin Family Law Group, Raleigh Matthew W. Sawchak Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Raleigh Troy Shelton Fox Rothschild LLP, Raleigh Mark Russell Sigmon Sigmon Law PLLC, Raleigh Amie Carol Sivon Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Paul K. Sun Jr. Ellis & Winters LLP, Raleigh D Martin Warf Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Raleigh Rebecca K. Watts Collins Family Law Group, Monroe John R. Wester Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Barbara B. Weyher Yates Mclamb & Weyher LLP, Raleigh Erik Randall Zimmerman Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Chapel Hill HALL OF FAME: Matthew Nis Leerberg, Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP, Raleigh (2018); Toby Hampson, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP / N.C. Court of Appeals, Raleigh (2019); Drew Erteschik, Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh (2020); Beth Brooks Scherer, Fox Rothschild LLP, Raleigh (2021); Michelle D. Connell, Fox Rothschild LLP, Raleigh (2022)

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APPELLATE ANGELA FARAG CRADDOCK Young Moore and Henderson P.A., Raleigh

PRACTICED LAW: 18 years FAMILY: Wife to Tyler, dog mom to Hoss and glitter aunt to Jacob, Brett, Lauren, Harper and Asher.

HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: Cheerleader KARAOKE NIGHT SONG: “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’” by Loretta Lynn.

ONE MEAL TO EAT FOREVER: Egyptian stuffed cabbage rolls, preferably as prepared by my Aunt Yolanda.

BUCKET LIST ITEM: I’ve still never been to Dollywood. That really needs to change.

RANDOM IMPULSE BUY: Too many things from my Instagram feed early in the morning before my discretion is awake. The latest is a t-shirt with the faces of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings that says “Where there’s a Willie, there’s a Waylon.”

MOST USED EMOJI: Shoulder shrug MOVIES YOU COULD QUOTE BY HEART: “The Big Lebowski,” “Clueless,” “Goodfellas” and “Spaceballs” FAVORITE WINTER ACTIVITY: Binge-watching Hallmark Channel holiday movies.

DEFINITION OF SUCCESS: Favorably impacting outcomes — for my family, clients, my team, the jurisprudence and even for, or maybe especially for, the people at the party enjoying music on the playlist I likely insisted on curating for the event.

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HOMETOWN: UNC CHAPEL HILL | LAW: UNC SCHOOL OF LAW B U S I N E WICHITA S S N O FALLS, R T H TEXAS C A R |O UNDERGRADUATE: L I N A

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BANKRUPTCY MATT TOMSIC

Rayburn Cooper & Durham PA, Charlotte Rayford K. Adams III Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC, Winston-Salem Brian Richard Anderson Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Charles N. Anderson Jr. Ellis & Winters LLP, Raleigh Ronald A. Anderson Jr. Anderson Law Firm, Archdale James B. Angell Howard Stallings, Raleigh David R. Badger David R Badger PA, Charlotte Paul Rudd Baynard Offit Kurman Attorneys At Law, Charlotte Stephen L. Beaman Beaman Bennington PLLC, Wilson John C. Bircher III Davis Hartman Wright Attorneys LLP, New Bern Joseph A. Bledsoe III Joseph A Bledsoe III, New Bern Samantha K. Brumbaugh Ivey McClellan Siegmund Brumbaugh & McDonough LLP, Eden Daniel C. Bruton Bell Davis Pitt PA, Winston-Salem Algernon L. Butler III Butler & Butler LLP, Wilmington Clyde R. Cash Craige Brawley Liipfert & Walker LLP, Winston-Salem Garland S. Cassada Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte

Richard Preston Cook Cape Fear Debt Relief, Wilmington Stacy C. Cordes Cordes Law PLLC, Charlotte John Paul Hughes Cournoyer Northen Blue LLP, Chapel Hill Damon Terry Duncan Duncan Law PLLC, Greensboro Albert F. Durham Rayburn Cooper & Durham PA, Charlotte David L. Eades Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Benjamin Robert Eisner The Law Offices of Oliver & Cheek PLLC, Wilson Paul A. Fanning Ward and Smith PA, Winterville Joseph Zachary Frost Buckmiller Boyette Frost PLLC, Raleigh Joseph W. Grier III Grier Wright Martinez PA, Charlotte Edward C. Hay Jr. Pitts Hay & Hugenschmidt, Asheville Cole Hayes Hayes Law, Charlotte Jason L. Hendren Hendren Redwine & Malone PLLC, Raleigh Ashley Lee Hogewood III K L Gates LLP, Raleigh Andrew Thomas Houston Moon Wright Houston PLLC, Charlotte Charles M. Ivey III Ivey McClellan Siegmund Brumbaugh & McDonough LLP, Greensboro Luis Manuel Lluberas Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Michael Leon Martinez Grier Wright Martinez PA, Charlotte Robert Ashley Mays Mays Johnson Law Firm, Asheville

Jack Miller Rayburn Cooper & Durham PA, Charlotte John R. Miller Jr. Rayburn Cooper & Durham PA, Charlotte Dennis M. O’dea Sfs Law Group, Charlotte Jeffrey E. Oleynik Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro George M. Oliver The Law Offices of Oliver & Cheek PLLC, New Bern Felton E. Parrish Alexander Ricks PLLC, Charlotte Benson Thomas Pitts Pitts Hay & Hugenschmidt, Asheville Alan W. Pope Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Melanie Dawn Johnson Raubach Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin PLLC, Charlotte Charles Richard Rayburn III Rayburn Cooper & Durham PA, Charlotte Travis P. Sasser Sasser Law Firm, Cary Philip M. Sasser Sasser Law Firm, Cary David M. Schilli Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Dirk W. Siegmund Ivey McClellan Siegmund Brumbaugh & McDonough LLP, Greensboro Kevin L. Sink Kevin Sink Law, Raleigh John H. Small Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro Zachary H. Smith Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte

William C. Smith Jr. Manning Fulton & Skinner Pa, Raleigh Andrew William James Tarr Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Glenn Clark Thompson Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin PLLC, Charlotte Scott P. Vaughn McGuireWoods LLP, Charlotte Joseph Jude Vonnegut Hutchens Law Firm LLP, Fayetteville Thomas William Waldrep Jr. Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC, Winston-Salem Jill Christine Walters Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, Raleigh Margaret R. Westbrook K L Gates LLP, Raleigh James C. White JC White Law Group PLLC, Chapel Hill Matthew Alexander Winer Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin PLLC, Charlotte A. Cotten Wright Grier Wright Martinez PA, Charlotte HALL OF FAME: J. Michael Booe, Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman LLP, Charlotte (2002, 2003); Gregory B. Crampton, Nicholls & Crampton PA, Raleigh (2004); Richard M. Hutson II, Hutson Hughes & Powell PA, Durham (2005); C. Richard Rayburn Jr., Rayburn Cooper & Durham PA, Charlotte (2006); Terri L. Gardner, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Raleigh (2007); John A. Northen, Northen Blue LLP, Chapel Hill, (2008); Holmes P. Harden, Williams Mullen, Raleigh (2009); Christine Myatt, Nexsen Pruet LLC, Greensboro (2010); Gerald A. “Jeb” Jeutter Jr., Gerald A. “Jeb” Jeutter Jr. Attorney at Law PA,

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BANKRUPTCY MATT TOMSIC Rayburn Cooper & Durham, Charlotte

PRACTICED LAW: 5 years FAMILY: Wife, Patee; Kids, Winnie and Wyatt.

BUCKET LIST ITEM: Attend a Liverpool F.C. match at Anfield.

BIGGEST RISK TAKEN: Switching careers from journalism to attend law school.

I worked at newspapers in Wilmington, Danville, Virginia and Charleston, South Carolina.

Covering murder trials, including a capital murder case, got me generally interested in the legal field. That interest grew when I got to Charleston and started covering civil litigation and governmental investigations/actions. But for most of those four years, I saw a legal career as something interesting that I would have done if I had a second lifetime as the saying goes. One day, with the help and encouragement of my wife, Patee, I realized it wasn’t too late for me to switch careers and start fresh.

The things I loved about journalism have translated well to a legal career, especially my goal as a reporter to fully understand whatever I was covering better than anyone else might understand it and then to effectively communicate that understanding and story to a wider audience. I was very interested in advocating directly for clients and using my legal training to help others, whether through my private practice or pro bono work.

MOST USED EMOJI: Smiley face LAST SHOW BINGE-WATCHED: “The Office” MOVIE YOU COULD QUOTE BY HEART: “Christmas Vacation” FAVORITE WINTER ACTIVITY: Cooking for and going to oyster roasts.

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Raleigh (2011); Kenneth M. Greene, Carruthers & Roth PA, Greensboro (2012); Trawick H. “Buzzy” Stubbs Jr., Stubbs & Perdue PA, New Bern (2013); Benjamin Kahn, Nexsen Pruet LLC, Greensboro (2014); James S. “Charlie” Livermon, Poyner Spruill LLP, Rocky Mount (2015); Richard S. Wright, Moon Wright and Houston PLLC, Charlotte (2016); Heather W. Culp, Essex Richards PA, Charlotte (2017); William P. Janvier, Janvier Law Firm PLLC, Raleigh (2018); Richard D. Sparkman, Richard D. Sparkman & Associates PA, Angier (2019); George Sanderson, The Sanderson Law Firm PLLC, Raleigh (2020); John “Woody” C. Woodman, Essex Richards PA, Charlotte (2021); Rebecca Finch Redwine, Hendren Redwine & Malone PLLC, Raleigh (2022)

BUSINESS JOHN M. CROSS, JR.

Brooks Pierce, Greensboro Justin Evan Agans Spengler & Agans PLLC, Charlotte William Albert Anderson III Kennon Craver PLLC, Durham Alexander R. Atchison Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh

Beth F. Atkins Howard Stallings, New Bern Samuel Eric Bass Venn Law Group, Charlotte Adam Matthew Beaudoin Ward and Smith PA, Wilmington Marc D. Bishop Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro Rachel Marie Blunk Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Greensboro Stacey A. Brady Schell Bray PLLC, Greensboro William P. Bray Bray Long PLLC, Charlotte Dorothy B. Burch Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Michael A. Burger NC Planning, Cary Terry J. Carlton Jordan Price Wall Gray Jones Carlton PLLC, Raleigh Kenneth G. Carroll Morningstar Law Group, Raleigh Vincent D. Childress Jr. Roberts & Stevens PA, Asheville Ryan William Coffield The Van Winkle Law Firm, Asheville Galen G. Craun III Bell Davis Pitt PA, Winston-Salem Scott Dillon Carruthers & Roth PA, Greensboro

Randolph M. Fletcher Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh Natalie Crenshaw Folmar Tuggle Duggins PA, Greensboro Kerry A. Friedman Patla Straus Robinson Moore PA, Asheville Stephen P. Gennett II Johnston Allison & Hord Pa, Charlotte Garland G. Graham Schell Bray PLLC, Greensboro William B. Gwyn Jr. Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh Dan M. Hartzog Hartzog Law Group LLP, Raleigh Steven A. Hockfield Erdman and Hockfield LLP, Charlotte Lee Carlton Hodge Ward and Smith PA, New Bern Justin Kenneth Humphries The Humphries Law Firm PC, Wilmington Michael Anthony Ingersoll Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, Charlotte Cyrus M. Johnson Jr. Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, Charlotte Gene A. Jones Jr. Morningstar Law Group, Raleigh Warren P. Kean Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP, Charlotte Nick Kendall Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte

April Epley Kight Schell Bray PLLC, Greensboro Ben E. Klein Sigmon Klein PLLC, Greensboro Christopher Henry Kouri Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Charlotte David R. Krosner Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh Stephen F. Later Robbins May & Rich LLP, Pinehurst David K. Liggett Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Stefan Joseph Longo Blanco Tackabery & Matamoros PA, Winston-Salem Carmen Joseph Marzella Marzella Law Group, Cary Jeffrey Michael McCraw Crisp Cherry McCraw PLLC, Charlotte J. Dickson McLean Block Crouch Keeter Behm & Sayed LLP, Wilmington Carolyn P. Meade Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Emily Jeffords Meister Law Firm Calorinas, Greensboro Joseph William Norman Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Jeffrey James Owen McGuire Wood Bissette PA, Asheville Christopher Mark Reinhard Arch Capital, Raleigh

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BUSINESS JOHN M. CROSS, JR. Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard, Greensboro

PRACTICED LAW: 22 years FAMILY: Wife, Jennifer Van Zant; Kids, George, 20, Caroline,18 and Sam,16 HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: Floater.

My friends and I were not limited to one clique, but most of us would qualify as floaters.

KARAOKE NIGHT SONG: “Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi.

ONE MEAL TO EAT FOREVER: Bagels and baguettes BUCKET LIST ITEM: Build a lake house.

RANDOM IMPULSE BUY: Whatever is near the entrance at Costco on a random Saturday.

MOST USED EMOJI: Thumbs up LAST SHOW BINGE-WATCHED: “Heels” MOVIE YOU COULD QUOTE BY HEART: “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I discovered it about the time I was in middle school, just watching TV on a Sunday afternoon. Most of my family groans at the possibility of watching at least part of it each Christmas.

What I enjoy most is that George transforms from thinking his life was never worth living to celebrating and loving his life. Nothing about his life changed in the time of that transformation, however. The only thing that changed was his perspective, which was life-changing. His investment in other people comes back to him. It’s a “what goes around, comes around” in the best of terms.

FAVORITE WINTER ACTIVITY: Skiing FAVORITE SNACK: Dry cereal.

Cheerios, Grape Nuts and granola are probably the most common.

DEFINITION OF SUCCESS: Happiness grounded in gratefulness and positively impacting others.

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Thomas Duke Ricks Alexander Ricks PLLC, Charlotte Megan Sadler Venn Law Group, Charlotte Gary W. Smith Venn Law Group, Charlotte Richard C. Stephenson Stephenson Law LLP, Cary Kevin Giese Sweat Lord Law Firm PLLC, Charlotte Ritchie W. Taylor Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh David Lee Tkach David L Tkach PLLC, Charlotte Bryan Lee Tyson Marcellino & Tyson PLLC, Charlotte John C. Woodman Essex Richards PA, Charlotte HALL OF FAME: Russell M. Robinson II, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte (2002;2003); Doris R. Bray, Schell Bray PLLC, Greensboro (2004); J. Norfleet Pruden III, Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman LLP, Charlotte (2005); William M. Flynn, Hunton & Williams LLP, Raleigh (2006); Robin L. Hinson, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte (2007); Peter C. Buck, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte (2008); Gerald F. Roach, Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh

(2009); Mark Davidson, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro (2010); Stephen M. Lynch, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte (2011); Amalie L. Tuffin, Whitmeyer Tuffin PLLC, Raleigh (2012); Grayson S. Hale, Morningstar Law Group, Morrisville (2013); David D. Beatty, Myers Bigel Sibley & Sajovec PA, Raleigh (2014); Charles S. Baldwin IV, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Wilmington (2015); James R. Forrest, Forrest Firm PC, Durham (2016); Gregory S. Connor, The Connor Law Firm PLLC, Raleigh (2017); John Babcock, Wall Babcock LLP, Winston-Salem (2018); M. Keith Kapp, Williams Mullen, Raleigh (2019); Matthew Marcellino, Marcellino & Tyson PLLC, Charlotte (2020); George Stephen Diab, Murchison, Taylor & Gibson PLLC, Wilmington (2021); Daniel Stephen Trimmer, Skufca Law PLLC, Charlotte (2022)

CONSTRUCTION ARTY BOLICK II

Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Raleigh Greg C. Ahlum Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte

Aleksandra Elzbieta Anderson The Law Firm of Anderson Legal PLLC, Cary Thomas Steven Babel Davis Hartman Wright Attorneys LLP, Wilmington Stacey Denise Bailey-Pharr Pharr Law PLLC, Winston-Salem Ryan Lee Beaver Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Charlotte Christopher K. Behm Block Crouch Keeter Behm & Sayed LLP, Wilmington John T. Benjamin Jr. Law Office of John T Benjamin Jr PA, Raleigh Eric H. Biesecker Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Greensboro Steven Allen Bimbo Smith Terry & Johnson, Charlotte Matthew C. Bouchard Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh Ross Joseph Bromberger Hedrick Gardner, Charlotte Melissa D. Brumback Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Carl Jeffress Burchette Rosenwood Rose & Litwak PLLC, Charlotte Robert L. Burchette Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte

Benjamin Thomas Buskirk Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh Clay Anders Campbell Marcellino & Tyson PLLC, Charlotte David Anderson Carmen Bell Davis Pitt PA, Winston-Salem Ben David Carson Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte David S. Coats Bailey Dixon LLP, Raleigh Chad Joseph Cochran Hannah Sheridan & Cochran, Raleigh Keith E. Coltrain Wall Templeton Haldrup PA, Raleigh Adam Reese Denobriga Bell Davis Pitt PA, Charlotte Robert Cowan Derosset IV Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh Sean Ferguson Doyle Ortiz Doyle PLLC, Raleigh William S. Durr Ward and Smith PA, Asheville Stephanie Underwood Eaton Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC, Winston-Salem Luke J. Farley Ellis & Winters LLP, Raleigh J. Scott Flowers Hutchens Law Firm LLP, Fayetteville John Thomas Floyd Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Chad Lorenz Halliday McGuire Wood Bissette PA, Asheville

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CONSTRUCTION ARTY BOLICK II Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard, Raleigh and Greensboro

PRACTICED LAW: 28 years FAMILY: Cheryl, my wife of 21 years and professor at UNC Chapel Hill; Daughters Ellie, 18, Virginia, 16, and Belle, 13 HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: I tried my best to be friends with everyone, but my closest friends were people who enjoyed the outdoors. Growing up in western North Carolina, we were close to great hikes, whitewater streams and ski slopes. We would go skiing after school whenever conditions were good.

KARAOKE NIGHT SONG: “Don’t Stop Believing.” My girls just used to get a kick out of me singing falsetto to try to match Steve Perry’s voice.

ONE MEAL TO EAT FOREVER: Burritos, as long as I can mix up the fillings from time to time.

BUCKET LIST ITEM: If this is something I have accomplished, it’s sleeping on the rim of the Grand Canyon and watching the sunrise. If it is one I want to do, travel to New Zealand.

BIGGEST RISK TAKEN: Signing a contract to buy our current house on March 17, 2020.

LAST SHOW BINGE-WATCHED: “Stranger Things” MOVIE YOU COULD QUOTE BY HEART: “Caddyshack” FAVORITE WINTER ACTIVITY: Skiing; My favorite slope is Heavenly at Lake Tahoe. My favorite place in North Carolina is Sugar Mountain.

DEFINITION OF SUCCESS: Happiness in all aspects of my life.

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David B. Hamilton Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin PLLC, Charlotte Mark Hamlet Hamlet & Associates PLLC, Wilmington Daniel R. Hansen Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP, Charlotte Steven C. Hemric Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC, Winston-Salem Edward F. Hennessey IV Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Robert Jason Herndon Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Raleigh Jessica Soles Humphries Hamlet & Associates PLLC, Wilmington Edward Aubin Jesson Jesson & Rains PLLC, Charlotte Neale T. Johnson Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Todd A. Jones Anderson Jones PLLC, Raleigh Wesley S. Jones The Law Office of Wesley Scott Jones PC, Wilmington Daniel G. Katzenbach Cranfill Sumner LLP, Raleigh Rebecca Ann Knudson Cranfill Sumner LLP, Wilmington Michael Aaron Lay Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin PLLC, Charlotte Nancy Stewart Litwa Rosenwood Rose & Litwak PLLC, Charlotte Jeffrey Anderson Long Bray Long PLLC, Charlotte Jeffrey Robert Monroe Miller Monroe Plyler PLLC, Raleigh Parker Evans Moore Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Joseph W. Moss Jr. Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Charlotte Evan Monroe Musselwhite Ward and Smith PA, Raleigh John M. Nunnally Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Michael R. Ortiz Ortiz Doyle PLLC, Raleigh James A. Penry Penry Riemann PLLC, Raleigh William W. Pollock Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Lindsey Ellis Powell Anderson Jones PLLC, Raleigh Eugene F. Rash Smith Currie Hancock, Charlotte Jeffrey Mark Reichard Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Greensboro R. Lee Robertson Jr. Robertson & Associates, Charlotte John C. Rogers III Allen Moore Rogers LLP, Raleigh Whitaker Boykin Rose Rosenwood Rose & Litwak PLLC, Charlotte Stephen Peterson Safran Safran Law Offices, Raleigh

Byron Lee Saintsing Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers LLP, Raleigh Bryan G. Scott Akerman LLP, Winston-Salem David A. Senter Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Raleigh Gregory L. Shelton Shelton Law PLLC, Charlotte Ronald A. Skufca Skufca Law PLLC, Charlotte Nicole B. Slaughter Hamlet & Associates PLLC, Wilmington Mitzi Riana Smith Smith Bowers PLLC, Raleigh John Edward Spainhour McAngus Goudelock & Courie LLC, Asheville Jeffrey Kendal Stahl Allen Stahl + Kilbourne, Asheville Jason Trent Strickland Ward and Smith PA, Raleigh Ryal W. Tayloe Ward and Smith PA, Wilmington Jay P. Tobin Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh Margaret Caroline Lindsey Trautman Oak City Law LLP, Durham Scott M. Tyler Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte William Casey Vaughn Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh Judson A. Welborn Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh Gary J. Welch Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Martin L. White Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Jay M. Wilkerson Conner Gwyn Schenck PLLC, Raleigh Steele B. Windle III Smith Terry & Johnson, Charlotte HALL OF FAME: James A. Roberts III, Lewis & Roberts PLLC, Raleigh (2004); Jeffrey J. Davis, Moore & Van Allen PLLC, Charlotte (2005); John L. Shaw, Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh (2006); Dudley Humphrey, Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, Winston-Salem (2007); James S. Schenck IV, Conner Gwyn Schenck PLLC, Raleigh (2008); Michael Wilson, Johnston, Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte (2009); John B. “Jack” Taylor, Nexsen Pruet LLC, Charlotte (2010); Peter J. Marino, Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh (2011); William H. Gammon, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Raleigh (2012); Richard D. Conner, Conner Gwyn Schenck PLLC, Greensboro (2013); Joseph H. Nanney Jr., Meynardie & Nanney PLLC, Raleigh, (2014); Bob Meynardie, Meynardie & Nanney PLLC, Raleigh (2015); Harper Heckman, Nexsen Pruet LLC, Greensboro (2016); Nan E. Hannah, Hannah Sheridan Loughridge & Cochran LLP, Raleigh (2017); James Johnson, Smith Terry & Johnson, Asheville (2018); Tracy James, Hamilton Stephens Steele & Martin PLLC, Charlotte (2019); Jason James, Bell, Davis & Pitt, Charlotte (2020); Bentford “Ben” Martin, Hamilton Stephens Steele

& Martin PLLC, Charlotte (2021); Erik Rosenwood, Rosenwood, Rose & Litwak PLLC, Charlotte (2022)

CORPORATE ROB RUST IV

Moore & Van Allen PLLC, Charlotte Evan K. Auberry Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Nicole Elizabeth Bleuer Stephenson Law LLP, Cary Galen Edward Boerema Boerema Law PLLC, Raleigh Philip S. Chubb Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP, Charlotte W. Scott Cooper Rayburn Cooper & Durham PA, Charlotte Richard John Crow Ward and Smith PA, Wilmington G. Stephen Diab Murchison Taylor & Gibson PLLC, Wilmington Megan P. Farley Allen Stahl + Kilbourne, Asheville John N. Fleming McGuire Wood Bissette PA, Asheville James R. Forrest Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Raleigh Jeremy H. Godwin Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Gregory S. Hilderbran Hilderbran Hitchcock PA, Asheville Nathan M. Hull Hull Chandler PA, Charlotte Gregory D. Hutchins Roberts & Stevens PA, Asheville G. William Joyner III Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Winston-Salem Robert D. Kidwell Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Deana Ann Labriola Fox Rothschild LLP, Raleigh Thomas I. Lyon Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh William David Mannheim Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Raleigh Matthew Thomas Marcellino Marcellino & Tyson PLLC, Charlotte Jonathon Adam Martin Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Chapel Hill Jason L. Martinez Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh Gerald F. Roach Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh Brian Everett Russ Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Charlotte Joseph J. Santaniello Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP, Charlotte Jason Robert Schneider Schneider Law Group PLLC, Raleigh

Scott D. Syfert Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Elizabeth Adell Tedford Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Chapel Hill Jennifer L. Van Doren Morningstar Law Group, Raleigh Jennifer Weaver Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh Michael L. Wilson Northwood Ravin LLC, Charlotte Jeffrey Robert Wolfe Schell Bray PLLC, Greensboro William Huntley Zimmern Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte HALL OF FAME: Russell M. Robinson II, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte (2002); James E. Creekman, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co., Raleigh (2003); David L. Ward Jr., Ward and Smith PA, New Bern (2004); Douglas R. Edwards, Wachovia Corp., Charlotte (2005); Stephen K. Coss, Sonic Automotive Inc., Charlotte (2006); Keith Smith, Carolinas HealthCare System, Charlotte (2007); John Taggart, Genworth Financial Inc., Raleigh (2008); B. Judd Hartman, Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc., Wilmington (2009); Gaither M. Keener, Lowe’s Cos., Mooresville (2010); Meredith B. Stone, NACCO Materials Handling Group Inc., Greenville (2011); Lisa D. Inman, Waste Industries USA Inc., Raleigh (2012); Robert Wicker, General Parts International Inc., Raleigh (2013); Michael A. Springs, Bank of America Corp., Charlotte (2014); Santiago Estrada, Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc., Durham (2015); Jeffrey M. Davis, Lincoln Financial Group, Greensboro (2016); Gerald L. Walden Jr., The Fresh Market Inc., Greensboro (2017); Andrew Spainhour, Replacements Ltd., Greensboro (2018); Chris Matton, Bandwidth Inc., Raleigh (2019); Jennifer Venable, Capitol Broadcasting Co., Raleigh (2020); John M. Cross Jr., Brooks Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro (2021); Jonathan Jenkins, Jenkins Haynes PLLC, Greensboro (2022)

CRIMINAL ROB HEROY

Goodman Carr Laughrun Levine & Greene PLLC, Charlotte A. Brennan Aberle Aberle Wall LLC, Greensboro F. Hill Allen IV Tharrington Smith LLP, Raleigh James Thomas Amburgey Amburgey Law, Asheville Russell D. Babb Tharrington Smith LLP, Raleigh Andrew B. Banzhoff Devereux Banzhoff PLLC, Asheville J A N U A R Y

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CORPORATE ROB RUST IV Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte

PRACTICED LAW: 19 years FAMILY: Spouse, Lizzy; Daughters, Dempsey and Molly HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: Athletes KARAOKE NIGHT SONG: “Jolene” ONE MEAL TO EAT FOREVER: Pizza.

The pepperoni pizza with a chipotle and tomato sauce from Pizza Peel.

BUCKET LIST ITEM: Visiting the Amalfi Coast.

BIGGEST RISK TAKEN: Joining Moore & Van Allen as a lateral move almost 17 years ago.

MOST USED EMOJI: Laughing with tears MOVIE YOU COULD QUOTE BY HEART: “The Princess Bride” FAVORITE WINTER ACTIVITY: Skiing in Solitude, Utah.

UNDERGRADUATE: UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH | LAW: VANDERBILT LAW SCHOOL B U S I CHARLOTTE N E S S N O| R T H C A R O L I N THE A 5HOMETOWN: 6

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CRIMINAL ROB HEROY Goodman Carr Laughrun Levine & Greene, Charlotte

PRACTICED LAW: 16 years FAMILY: My mother taught history at Northeast Guilford High School, and my dad was a photographer in Greensboro. I have two brothers in Charlotte. My wife, Katie, is a former prosecutor who is now occupied chasing after our maniacal boys, ages 6, 8 and 10.

HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: It definitely was not the athletes or the cool kids. We were just normal kids. We played cards, board games and video games. We were surrounded by woods and spent a lot of time exploring.

KARAOKE NIGHT SONG: Karaoke is far and away my greatest fear in life. I was coerced into it once at a Mecklenburg County Bar function.

To add insult to injury, I drew “Hit Me Baby One More Time” by Brittany Spears.

That was embarrassing.

ONE MEAL TO EAT FOREVER: Nashville hot chicken BIGGEST RISK TAKEN: My law school roommates and I were once fairly serious poker players — online poker and trips to casinos.

I came just short of a final table in the World Series of Poker in 2009. As exciting as that life was, I wouldn’t go back to it. I can no longer see myself doing any job but criminal defense.

LAST SHOW BINGE-WATCHED: “Better Call Saul.” No other show comes close to capturing the stress and the pain of trying to make it and to find your way around when you’re new to the practice of criminal law.

MOVIE YOU COULD QUOTE BY HEART: Name a Will Ferrell movie. I don’t mean to brag, but I have seen “Old School” and “Anchorman” more than 100 times each. I’m kind of a big deal.

FAVORITE WINTER ACTIVITY: Snow skiing with the maniacal boys mentioned above.

FAVORITE SNACK: My beautiful wife is also an avid runner who talked me into running a marathon with her. So the consistent snack is now salted watermelon flavored running gel washed down with lemon-lime Nuun.

DEFINITION OF SUCCESS: Criminal law is brutal.

High-stakes decisions are made quickly. Each day, I see the impact of those decisions on my clients and their families. It can be hard to step away from that, but to consistently get good results in the arena, you can’t be blinded to the rest of the system. You have to see the Matrix.

The judge, law enforcement and the prosecutor are all part of this system with important jobs. You can’t succeed without recognizing everyone’s role.

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Christopher Anthony Beechler Beechler Tomberlin PLLC, Winston-Salem Robert Daniel Boyce Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Raleigh David G. Budd II The Law Offices of David G Budd, Asheville Jones Pharr Byrd Jr. Freedman Thompson Witt Ceberio & Byrd PLLC, Winston-Salem Timothy Michael Cannady Jetton Meredith PLLC, Charlotte Ames C. Chamberlin Federal Public Defender’s Office, Greensboro Marcus W. Chesnutt Chesnutt Clemmons PA, New Bern Christine Elizabeth Clarke-Peckham The Law Office of Chrissy ClarkePeckham, Charlotte Kathleen Cunningham Clary Rawls Scheer Clary & Mingo PLLC, Charlotte Andrew Carter Clifford Clifford & Harris PLLC, Greensboro Andrew Nicholas Clifford The Clifford Law Group PLLC, Raleigh Christopher R. Clifton Grace Tisdale Clifton PA, Winston-Salem Collin Patrick Cook Cheshire Parker Schneider PLLC, Raleigh David T. Courie Beaver Courie Hearp Broadfoot & Quantock, Fayetteville Jason Harris Cowley McGuireWoods LLP, Charlotte Brian S. Cromwell Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Charlotte Kelly Margolis Dagger Ellis & Winters LLP, Raleigh Russell W. Dement III Dement Askew & Johnson, Raleigh Sean P. Devereux Devereux Banzhoff PLLC, Asheville James Martin Doermann JMD Law James Doermann PLLC, Greensboro William Michael Dowling The Dowling Firm PLLC, Raleigh John Anderson Fagg Jr. Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte John Kiah Fanney Fanney Law Office PLLC, Raleigh Christopher C. Fialko Fialko Law PLLC, Charlotte Berryman J. Fitzhugh III Sandman Finn & Fitzhugh, Raleigh Shana LaVerne Fulton Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Raleigh Christon S. Halkiotis The Law Office of Christon S. Halkiotis PLLC, Greensboro Daniel Allen Harris Clifford & Harris PLLC, Greensboro Mark Lee Hearp Beaver Courie Hearp Broadfoot & Quantock, Raeford Joshua B. Howard Gammon Howard Zeszotarski PLLC, Raleigh J A N U A R Y

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EMPLOYMENT PATTI W. RAMSEUR Ramseur Maultsby, Greensboro

PRACTICED LAW: 23 years HOMETOWN: Drexel. After law school and clerking at the N.C. Court of Appeals in Raleigh, I have lived in Greensboro for 22 years.

FAMILY: I have been married to my husband, Chris, for more than 23 years. We have two daughters, Reece,16, and Riley, 13. They are superstar swimmers and constantly inspire me with their drive and hard work. We have two Aussiedoodles, Finn and Missy, who are brother and sister.

They add chaos and love to our lives.

HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: Basketball was my true love and focus. I played on the varsity team for three years. I also played on an AAU basketball team in Hickory. After basketball season ended, I enjoyed playing softball on the high school team and summer recreation teams. My senior year, I received the superlative for most athletic female. I identified most with the athletes.

ONE MEAL TO EAT FOREVER: Baby back ribs with mashed potatoes, cream-style corn, and French or sourdough bread.

BUCKET LIST ITEM: Visit Hawaii.

BIGGEST RISK TAKEN: In September 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, Alex Maultsby and I left a large national firm to launch our own law firm.

There was such uncertainty with everything at that time but we strongly believed that creating a different structure would allow us to better serve our clients. Although this was a huge step for us, we had support from the N.C. Bar Association’s Center for Practice Management and amazing clients who continued to partner with us.

MOST USED EMOJI: I rarely use emojis and tend to text in complete sentences. With my daughters, however, I often use the winky-kissy face throwing a kiss emoji.

LAST SHOW BINGE-WATCHED: I rarely watch TV shows. My husband and I, however, anxiously religiously watch the “Chicago PD,” “Chicago Fire,” and “Chicago Med” shows.

FAVORITE WINTER ACTIVITY: Attending our daughters’ swim meets and cheering them on, along with their friends.

FAVORITE SNACK: For a healthy snack, trail mix. For an unhealthy one, chips with French onion dip.

STATE | LAW: WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW B U S I N E S S NORTH N O R TCAROLINA H C A R O L I N UNIVERSITY A 6 0 UNDERGRADUATE:

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Banks Hudson Huntley Law Offices Of Banks Huntley PLLC, Charlotte Mark Steven Jetton Jr. Jetton Meredith PLLC, Charlotte Mark Andrew Jones Bell Davis Pitt PA, Winston-Salem George V. Laughrun III Goodman Carr Laughrun Levine & Greene PLLC, Charlotte Aaron Raymond Lee Lee & Lee Law Firm PLLC, Huntersville Thomas Courtenay Leitner Jr. Leitner Bragg & Griffin PLLC, Monroe Thomas K. Maher Law Offices of Amos Tyndall PLLC, Carrboro Thomas Courtland Manning Manning Law Firm PLLC, Raleigh Duncan A. McMillan McMillan & Smith, Raleigh Joel Hart Miles Jr. Cheshire Parker Schneider PLLC, Raleigh Patrick Melton Mincey Cranfill Sumner LLP, Wilmington Carole Melissa Owen Tin Fulton Walker & Owen PLLC, Charlotte Corey Vaughn Parton Parton Law PLLC, Charlotte Wayne James Payne W. James Payne Attorney at Law, Shallotte Caitlin McLaughlin Poe Williams Mullen, Raleigh Bill Powers Powers Law Firm PA, Charlotte Emily Jones Queen Burney & Jones PLLC, Wilmington Eben Turner Rawls III Rawls Scheer Clary & Mingo PLLC, Charlotte Edd K. Roberts III Roberts Law Office PA, Raleigh Daniel Powers Roberts Goodman Carr Laughrun Levine & Greene PLLC, Charlotte James F. Rutherford James Rutherford Attorney At Law, Wilmington Ronald James Shook II The Law Offices of Ronald J Shook, Gastonia Miriam M. Thompson Miriam M. Thompson PLLC, Wilmington Noell P. Tin Tin Fulton Walker & Owen PLLC, Charlotte Amos G. Tyndall Law Offices Of Amos Tyndall PLLC, Carrboro Nancy E. Walker Tin Fulton Walker & Owen PLLC, Charlotte Thomas G. Walker Alston Bird, Charlotte Ryan Michael Watson The Law Office Of Ryan M Watson PLLC, Charlotte

Aaron Bader Wellman Ivey McClellan Siegmund Brumbaugh & McDonough LLP, Greensboro Brett Thomas Wentz Wentz Law PLLC, Wilmington Edwin L. West III Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Wilmington Joseph E. Zeszotarski Jr. Gammon Howard Zeszotarski PLLC, Raleigh HALL OF FAME: Wade M. Smith, Tharrington Smith LLP, Raleigh (2004); James F. Wyatt III, Wyatt & Blake LLP, Charlotte (2005); David Freedman, White and Crumpler, Winston-Salem (2006); Joseph B. Cheshire V, Cheshire, Parker, Schneider, Bryan & Vitale, Raleigh (2007); James P. Cooney III, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC, Charlotte (2008); Stephen T. Smith, McMillan, Smith & Plyler, Raleigh (2009); T. Patrick Matus II, Essex Richards PA, Charlotte (2010); David S. Rudolf, Rudolf, Widenhouse & Fialko, Charlotte (2011); Locke T. Clifford, Clifford Clendenin & O’Hale LLP, Greensboro (2012); Peter C. Anderson, Beveridge & Diamond PC, Charlotte (2013); Michael J. Greene, Goodman, Carr, Laughrun, Levine & Greene PLLC, Charlotte (2014); Robert K. Corbett III, The Law Offices of Harold Cogdell Jr. PC, Charlotte (2015); Ryan T. Smith, RTS Law Group, Charlotte (2016); George V. Laughrun II, Goodman, Carr, Laughrun, Levine & Greene PA, Charlotte (2017); Les Robinson, The Robinson Law Firm PA, Greenville (2018); Wes J. Camden, Ward and Smith PA, Raleigh (2019); Kearns Davis, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro (2020); Cristopher L. Oring, Oring Law Firm PLLC, Wilmington (2021); Elliot Abrams, Cheshire Parker Schneider PLLC, Raleigh (2022)

EMPLOYMENT PATTI W. RAMSEUR

Ramseur Maultsby LLP, Greensboro G. Bryan Adams III Van Hoy Reutlinger Adams Pierce PLLC, Charlotte Heather Bell Adams Parry Law PLLC, Chapel Hill Erin Jones Adams Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC, Winston-Salem Zebulon D. Anderson Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh Hannah Auckland Marcellino & Tyson PLLC, Charlotte Patricia T. Bartis Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Raleigh

Norwood P. Blanchard III Crossley McIntosh Collier Hanley & Edes PLLC, Wilmington Kenneth P. Carlson Jr. Constangy Brooks Smith Prophete LLP, Winston-Salem Connie E. Carrigan Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers LLP, Raleigh William S. Cherry III Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh Jonathan Tristram Coffin Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Leto Copeley White Stradley PLLC, Raleigh Cate Edwards Edwards Beightol LLC, Raleigh Brodie Davis Erwin Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Raleigh Jeremy Michael Falcone Ellis & Winters LLP, Greensboro Ashley Louise Felton Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Raleigh Patrick H. Flanagan Cranfill Sumner LLP, Raleigh Jared Edgar Gardner Gardner Skelton PLLC, Charlotte Patricia W. Goodson Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Raleigh Matthew Justin Gray Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh Marc E. Gustafson Bell Davis Pitt PA, Charlotte Holly Elizabeth-Ross Hammer Hammer Law PLLC, Raleigh Michael Clyde Harman Harman Law, Huntersville Sean Franklin Herrmann Herrmann Murphy PLLC, Charlotte Elizabeth Binion Hilker Smith Law Firm PC, Charlotte Paul Siegfried Holscher Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, Raleigh Susan Miller Huber Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Tamara Lynn Huckert Strianese Huckert LLP, Charlotte John C. Hunter John C Hunter Attorney at Law, Asheville Charles E. Johnson Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Lori P. Jones Jordan Price Wall Gray Jones Carlton PLLC, Raleigh Kevin S. Joyner Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, Raleigh Patrick E. Kelly Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Susan Raphaela Russo Klein Roberts & Stevens PA, Asheville Michael A. Kornbluthz Kornbluth Ginsberg Law Group PA, Durham Dena Beth Langley Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro

Matthew E. Lee Whitfield Bryson LLP, Raleigh Gwendolyn Williams Lewis Lincoln Derr PLLC, Charlotte Micheal Leray Littlejohn Littlejohn Law PLLC, Charlotte Michael C. Lord Williams Mullen, Raleigh Kathleen K. Lucchesi Jackson Lewis PC, Charlotte Margaret B. Maloney Maloney Law Associates PLLC, Charlotte Alexander L. Maultsby Ramseur Maultsby LLP, Greensboro Christine Fernicola Mayhew Anderson Jones PLLC, Raleigh Karin M. McGinnis Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Michael Douglas McKnight Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, Raleigh Andrew K. McVey Murchison Taylor & Gibson PLLC, Wilmington Michael Murchison Murchison Taylor & Gibson PLLC, Wilmington Kevin Patrick Murphy Herrmann Murphy PLLC, Charlotte Paul M. Navarro McGuireWoods LLP, Charlotte Sarah Hayward Negus Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Laura Lee Noble The Noble Law Firm PLLC, Charlotte William Augustus Oden III Ward and Smith PA, Wilmington Grant B. Osborne Ward and Smith PA, Asheville Annemarie Pantazis Wilder Pantazis Law Group, Charlotte Linda Nicole Patino Law Offices of L Nicole Patino PLLC, Greensboro Paul Javier Peralta Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte J. Heydt Philbeck Bailey Dixon LLP, Raleigh Charles Grainger Pierce Jr. Van Hoy Reutlinger Adams Pierce PLLC, Charlotte Donna R. Rascoe Cranfill Sumner LLP, Raleigh Dawn Dillon Raynor Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh Alyssa Michelle Riggins Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Raleigh Sabrina P. Rockoff McGuire Wood Bissette PA, Asheville Robert A. Sar Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, Raleigh Jeremy Regan Sayre Fox Rothschild LLP, Raleigh Karen McKeithen Schaede Schaede Attorney at Law PLLC, Greensboro Sandra Woods Schilder Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh J A N U A R Y

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ENVIRONMENTAL AMY RICKERS Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte

PRACTICED LAW: 23 years HOMETOWN: Lincoln, Nebraska FAMILY: Husband, Jon; Three sons, Jacob, Caleb and Eli HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: I was more of a nomad, floating between my eclectic friend groups.

ONE MEAL TO EAT FOREVER: Eggplant Parmesan. I can almost convince myself it is healthy.

BUCKET LIST ITEM: I have always wanted to travel to Australia for an extended visit.

BIGGEST RISK TAKEN: Moving our family overseas while our children were young was risky. Living in a foreign country with three children under the age of 11 and without speaking the native language was difficult.

I learned we are resilient. It also provided an amazing opportunity to see other parts of the world in a unique way, which has impacted our children greatly and will serve them well as they grow older.

MOST USED EMOJI: The classic, universally understood, thumbs up and thumbs down emojis are my go-tos. They are the easiest and fastest way to respond to the many texts from our children. It doesn’t leave them wondering if I really meant to choose that emoji or if I even really understand what it means.

FAVORITE WINTER ACTIVITY: Snow skiing, preferably on fresh powder.

DEFINITION OF SUCCESS: I define my own success, which is a work in progress, as finding a balance between a fulfilling career where I am able to do my best for the client and attend to each matter thoroughly and maintain a strong, connected family life.

While we may all be running in different directions, we are happiest when we are all sitting around together.

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UNDERGRADUATE: CHRISTIAN | LAW: UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA COLLEGE OF LAW B U S I N E S S N TEXAS O R T H C A R O LUNIVERSITY I N A

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Kerry A. Shad Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh Jenny L. Sharpe The Sharpe Law Office, Charlotte Robin E. Shea Constangy Brooks Smith Prophete LLP, Winston-Salem Ann Herlocker Smith Jackson Lewis PC, Raleigh Mimi Soule Soule Employment Law, Raleigh Phillip John Strach Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Raleigh Christopher Robert Strianese Strianese Huckert LLP, Charlotte Jill Susanne Stricklin Constangy Brooks Smith Prophete LLP, Winston-Salem Michael Todd Sullivan Fitzgerald Hanna & Sullivan PLLC, Raleigh Mark T. Sumwalt Sumwalt Anderson, Charlotte Jessica Beauvais Thaller-Moran Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Raleigh Frederick M. Thurman Jr. Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP, Charlotte Linda D. Tindall Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh Benton Louis Toups Cranfill Sumner LLP, Wilmington Joshua Reed Van Kampen Van Kampen Law, Charlotte Angelique Regail Vincent-Hamacher Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Jennifer Vuillermet Soule Employment Law, Chapel Hill Hayley Roper Wells Ward and Smith PA, Asheville Laura J. Wetsch Winslow Wetsch PLLC, Raleigh Devon Diane Williams Ward and Smith PA, Raleigh Danielle Barbour Wilson The Banks Law Firm PA, Durham Charlot F. Wood Bell Davis Pitt PA, Winston-Salem Jonathan W. Yarbrough Constangy Brooks Smith Prophete LLP, Asheville John A. Zaloom Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte HALL OF FAME: Philip M. Van Hoy, Van Hoy, Reutlinger, Adams & Dunn, Charlotte (2002); George J. Oliver, Smith Moore LLP, Raleigh (2003); Penni Pearson Bradshaw, Constangy, Brooks & Smith LLP, Winston-Salem (2004); Jonathan R. Harkavy, Patterson Harkavy LLP, Greensboro (2005); Patricia L. Holland, Jackson Lewis PC, Cary (2006); Louis L. Lesesne Jr., Essex Richards PA, Charlotte (2007); Robert M. Elliot, Elliot Pishko Morgan PA, WinstonSalem (2008); Sarah J. Kromer, Sara J.

Kromer PLLC, Charlotte (2009); Susan Brown Grady, SPX Corp., Charlotte (2010); Lisa Grafstein, Disability Rights North Carolina, Raleigh (2011); N. Renee Hughes, Essex Richards PA, Charlotte (2012); W. Randall Loftis Jr., Constangy, Brooks & Smith LLP, Winston-Salem (2013); Amie F. Carmack, Morningstar Law Group, Morrisville (2014); Nicole Gardner, Gardner Skelton PLLC, Charlotte (2015); Mike Okun, Patterson Harkavy LLP, Chapel Hill (2016); Bryan L. Tyson, Marcellino & Tyson PLLC, Charlotte (2017); Susie Gibbons, Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh (2018); Denise Smith Cline, Law Offices of Denise Smith Cline PLLC, Raleigh (2019); Kyle R. Still, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh (2020); David C. Lindsay, K&L Gates LLP, Charlotte (2021); Meredith Jeffries, Alexander Ricks PLLC, Charlotte (2022)

ENVIRONMENTAL AMY RICKERS

Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Stanford D. Baird K L Gates LLP, Raleigh F. Bryan Brice Jr. The Law Offices of F Bryan Brice Jr., Raleigh Billy Clarke Roberts & Stevens PA, Asheville James L. Conner II Calhoun Bhella & Sechrest LLP, Durham Boyd Alexander Correll Jr. Caudle and Spears PA, Charlotte Richard Steven Degeorge Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Alexander Elkan Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro John M. Flynn Carruthers & Roth PA, Greensboro David A. Franchina McGuireWoods LLP, Charlotte Steven J. Levitas Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Raleigh Peter J. McGrath Jr. Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Joseph Andrew Ponzi Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro Natalie Dawn Potter Essex Richards PA, Charlotte Lisa K. Rushton Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, Raleigh Emily Sabrina Sherlock Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte V. Randall Tinsley Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro Mona Lisa Wallace Wallace & Graham, Salisbury Steven D. Weber Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Charlotte

Noelle E. Wooten Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Charlotte HALL OF FAME: Charles D. Case, Hunton & Williams, Raleigh (2002; 2003); H. Glenn Dunn, Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh (2004); George W. House, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro (2005); William D. Dannelly, Hunton & Williams LLP, Raleigh (2006); Benne C. Hutson, Helms Mulliss & Wicker PLLC, Charlotte, (2007); Amos C. Dawson III, Williams Mullen,Raleigh (2008); Richard C. Gaskins Jr., Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation Inc., Charlotte (2009); Stephen W. Earp, Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP, Greensboro (2010); Ramona Cunningham O’Bryant, Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP, Greensboro (2011); William Clarke, Roberts & Stevens PA, Asheville (2012); Grady L. Shields, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh (2013); Craig A. Bromby, Hunton & Williams LLP, Raleigh (2014); Garry S. Rice, Duke Energy Corp., Charlotte (2015); Sean M. Sullivan, Troutman Sanders LLP, Raleigh (2016); Carol Jones Van Buren, Van Buren Law PLLC, Charlotte (2017); Steve Berlin, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Winston-Salem (2018); Keith Johnson, Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh (2019); Amy Wang, Ward and Smith PA, New Bern (2020); Susan H. Cooper, Womble Bond Dickinson, Charlotte (2021); Mary Katherine Stukes, Moore & Van Allen PLLC, Charlotte (2022)

FAMILY KETAN P. SONI

Soni Brendle PLLC, Charlotte Carole R. Albright Law Firm Carolinas, Greensboro Janet Haney Amburgey GHMA Law, Asheville Lisa M. Angel The Rosen Law Firm, Raleigh Erika Nicole Angles Jetton Meredith PLLC, Charlotte Marcia H. Armstrong The Armstrong Law Firm PA, Smithfield Sarah Bennett Sodoma Law PC, Charlotte Shelby D. Benton Benton Family Law, Goldsboro Heidi C. Bloom Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh Kim R. Bonuomo Allman Spry Davis Leggett & Crumpler PA, Winston-Salem Andrea Bosquez-Porter Bosquez Porter Family Law PLLC, Raleigh Jennifer M. Bradley Triangle Smart Divorce, Cary Andrew Steven Brendle Soni Brendle PLLC, Winston-Salem

Amy Lynn Britt Parker Bryan Family Law, Raleigh Chad M. Buckingham Regent Law, Charlotte Holden Blake Clark Hometown Counsel, Gastonia James A. Clyburn J. Albert Clyburn PLLC, Wilmington Charles W. Coltrane Coltrane & Overfield PLLC, Greensboro Samuel Thomas Currin II Rik Lovett & Associates, Raleigh Nicholas Lee Cushing Miller Bowles Cushing PLLC, Charlotte Lindsey Sink Dasher Dasher Law PLLC, Matthews Joslin Davis Allman Spry Davis Leggett & Crumpler PA, Winston-Salem Kavita Christina Desai James McElroy Diehl PA, Charlotte Lindsey Ann Easterling Easterling Law PLLC, Matthews Steven Bruce Epstein Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh Candace Strickland Faircloth Collins Family Law Group, Monroe Christine R. Farrell Mulligan Epstein PLLC, Wilmington Jonathan Daniel Feit James McElroy Diehl PA, Charlotte Marilyn Feuchs-Marker Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Joshua Finney The Law Office of Tamela T Wallace PA, Charlotte Katherine Ann Frye Frye Law Office PA, Raleigh Maren Tallent Funk Godley Glazer & Funk PLLC, Mooresville Chelsea Elise Gajewski Sodoma Law PC, Charlotte Janet L. Gemmell Cape Fear Family Law, Wilmington Katie Walsh Gilbert Rech Law PC, Charlotte Nancy L. Grace Wake Family Law Group, Raleigh C. Ray Grantham Jr. Robinson Lawing LLP, Winston-Salem Kelly L. Greene Greene Wilson PA, New Bern Jordan Marie Griffin Leitner Bragg & Griffin PLLC, Monroe Monica R. Guy Kurtz Evans Whitley Guy Simos PLLC, Winston-Salem Rachel Dawsey Rogers Hamrick Tom Bush Law Group, Charlotte Tara Austin Harrawood Marcellino & Tyson PLLC, Charlotte Michael S. Harrell Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh James Gregory Hatcher Hatcher Law Group PC, Charlotte Jessica Burgess Heffner Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh Penelope Lazarou Hefner Sodoma Law PC, Charlotte J A N U A R Y

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FAMILY KETAN P. SONI Soni Brendle, Charlotte

PRACTICED LAW: 22 years FAMILY: Married with children HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: Nerds KARAOKE NIGHT SONG: “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice. ONE MEAL TO EAT FOREVER: Portillo’s hot dogs. I was born in Charlotte, but I moved to Chicago when I was about two and a half years old. It’s the best hot dog ever. The waffle fries are unmatched. I have never found a better hot dog in nearly 50 years of life.

That’s the first stop I make after leaving the airport when visiting friends or family in Chicago. If you’re there, you have to get the Jumbo with everything.

BUCKET LIST ITEM: Visiting Antarctica with my dad. We lost my mom 18 years ago when she was about to retire at age 57. She and my dad had put off major traveling until after her retirement. We told my dad to never wait to see the world again. Since then, he’s basically visited two to three different countries each year. By 2018, he had visited a ton of different countries on every continent, except Antarctica.

He insisted he would go there, but only if my sister and I joined him because it was a threeweek cruise across the Drake Passage, which can be dangerous. At the time, my wife and I had a three-year-old daughter and had been going through lots of fertility to have another child. We gave up and were then in the middle of adoption proceedings in late 2017 and early 2018. Then, my wife got pregnant without any fertility help. The day before I left for Antarctica, we went to her 12-week appointment and the baby was viable. The morning after I returned three weeks later, I attended her next appointment. It’s a memorable trip in that I went with my dad to visit his last continent, and it codifies the struggle and reward my wife went through to have our second child, who is now four.

BIGGEST RISK TAKEN: Starting my own law practice.

MOST USED EMOJI: Thumbs up in brown color LAST SHOW BINGE-WATCHED: “Cobra Kai” MOVIE YOU COULD QUOTE BY HEART: “Tron” FAVORITE SNACK: Twix

CHARLOTTE OF ILLINOIS | LAW: WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW B U S I N E S S N O| UNDERGRADUATE: R T H C A R O L UNIVERSITY I N A 6 4 HOMETOWN:

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David Christopher Herring The Law Firm of David Christopher Herring PLLC, Charlotte David Eric Holm Parker Bryan Family Law, Holly Springs Beth Tate Hondros James McElroy Diehl PA, Charlotte Paul Doughton Horton Sodoma Law PC, Charlotte Evan Bonder Horwitz Tharrington Smith LLP, Raleigh Lindsey Ann Houk Waple Houk PLLC, Charlotte Clara Ann Ignich Bell Davis Pitt PA, Winston-Salem Paige Elizabeth Inman Ward and Smith PA, Wilmington Jill Schnabel Jackson Jackson Family Law, Raleigh Elizabeth Johnstone James Offit Kurman Attorneys at Law, Charlotte Jonathan Mack Jerkins Jerkins Family Law, Raleigh Irene Patrice King King Collaborative Family Law, Charlotte Katherine Hardersen King Wake Family Law Group, Raleigh Julia Anne Kirby Marcellino & Tyson PLLC, Charlotte George R. Kornegay III James McElroy Diehl PA, Charlotte Carolyn Lovejoy Krueger-Andes Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin PLLC, Charlotte Jon B. Kurtz Kurtz Evans Whitley Guy Simos PLLC, Winston-Salem Dara Duncan Larson Duncan Law PLLC, Charlotte James W. Lea III The Lea Schultz Law Firm, Wilmington Kyle Wesley Leblanc Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin PLLC, Charlotte Anna Gray Leblanc Offit Kurman Attorneys at Law, Charlotte Lisa Lefante Triangle Smart Divorce, Apex Alyssa Michelle Levine Charlotte Collaborative Divorce, Charlotte Lauren Vaughn Lewis Essex Richards PA, Charlotte James F. Lovett Jr. Rik Lovett & Associates, Raleigh John M. Martin Ward and Smith PA, Winterville Brandon Timothy McCarthy Tom Bush Law Group, Charlotte Laura Anderson McCoy Howard McCoy & Bolton LLP, Raleigh Dustin Spencer McCrary The Law Office of Dustin S McCrary PLLC, Statesville Patrick S. McCroskey GHMA Law, Asheville Joy Gragg McIver Montford Family Law, Asheville John Edward McKnight McKnight Law, Raleigh

Jonathan Stephen Melton Gailor Hunt Jenkins Davis Taylor PLLC, Raleigh Eric Steven Meredith Jetton Meredith PLLC, Charlotte Jaye Meyer Tharrington Smith LLP, Raleigh Ashley N. Michael Michael & Russell PLLC, Wilmington John G. Miskey IV Bagwell Holt Smith PA, Chapel Hill Caroline Trapeni Mitchell James McElroy Diehl PA, Charlotte Jennifer Paternostro Moore Marcellino & Tyson PLLC, Charlotte Barbara R. Morgenstern Morgenstern Associates PLLC, Greensboro Gena G. Morris James McElroy Diehl PA, Charlotte Henry D. Niblock Craige Brawley Liipfert & Walker LLP, Winston-Salem Steven Blaine Ockerman Epperson Law Group PLLC, Charlotte Marion Kathleen Parsons Parsons Law, Asheville Manisha Pravinchandra Patel Law Office of Manisha P. Patel PLLC, Greensboro M. Catherine Crowell Pavur Law Offices of Catherine Pavur, Durham Chelsea Anderson Peele Cordell & Cordell, Greensboro Lauren Taylor Quinn Ward and Smith PA, New Bern Katherine Adkins Rech Rech Law PC, Charlotte Eric A. Richardson Richardson Law PLLC, Greensboro Mark D. Riopel Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin PLLC, Charlotte Stephen Edward Robertson Law Office of Stephen E. Robertson PLLC, Greensboro Barbara Jane Rynne Goodman Carr Laughrun Levine & Greene PLLC, Charlotte Claire Joanne Samuels Claire Samuels Law PLLC, Charlotte Linda B. Sayed Block Crouch Keeter Behm & Sayed LLP, Wilmington Ryan Binderup Schultz The Lea Schultz Law Firm, Wilmington David Kenneth Self David Self Law PLLC, Cornelius Jim Siemens Siemens Family Law Group, Asheville Susan Sullivan Simos Kurtz Evans Whitley Guy Simos PLLC, Winston-Salem Mary Celeste Skinner McKnight Law, Raleigh Courtney Hamer Smith Tin Fulton Walker & Owen PLLC, Charlotte Michele G. Smith Hill Evans Jordan Beatty PLLC, Greensboro

Tonya Graser Smith Grasersmith PLLC, Charlotte Megan Elizabeth Spidell Spidell Family Law, Greensboro Dale Virginia Stephenson Ward Family Law Group, Cary Robin J. Stinson Bell Davis Pitt PA, Winston-Salem Caroline Wingate Strauss Powers Law Firm PA, Charlotte Alice C. Stubbs Tharrington Smith LLP, Raleigh Eric Carl Trosch Conrad Trosch & Kemmy PA, Charlotte John Paul Tsahakis James McElroy Diehl PA, Charlotte Shannan Barclay Tuorto Tuorto Family Law, Asheville Meghan A. Van Vynckt Cordes Law PLLC, Charlotte Theresa Eileen Viera Modern Legal, Charlotte Danielle Jessica Walle Marcellino & Tyson PLLC, Charlotte Linda K. Ward Ward Family Law Group, Cary Angela Marie Watkins Leitner Bragg & Griffin Law, Monroe Elise Morgan Whitley Kurtz Evans Whitley Guy Simos PLLC, Winston-Salem Mallory Ann Willink Conrad Trosch & Kemmy PA, Charlotte Lindsay Woodard Willis Rosen Law Firm, Raleigh Melissa Davis Wright Block Crouch Keeter Behm & Sayed LLP, Wilmington Kathryn E. Yates Easterling Law PLLC, Matthews HALL OF FAME: John H. Parker, Cheshire, Parker, Schneider, Bryan & Vitale, Raleigh (2007); Carlyn Poole (retired), Tharrington Smith LLP, Raleigh (2008); Richard D. Stephens, Dozier, Miller, Pollard & Murphy LLP, Charlotte (2009); Lana S. Warlick, Law Office of Lana S. Warlick, Jacksonville (2010); Michael F. Schilawski, Wake Family Law Group, Raleigh (2011); D. Caldwell Barefoot Jr., Barefoot Family Law, Raleigh (2012); Stan Brown, Hamilton Stephens Steele & Martin PLLC, Charlotte (2013); Lori M. Vitale, Vitale Family Law, Raleigh (2014); Kimberly Bryan, Cheshire Parker Schneider & Bryan PLLC, Raleigh (2015); Rob Blair, Essex Richards PA, Charlotte (2016); Afi S. Johnson-Parris, Ward Black Law, Greensboro (2017); Chris Eatmon, Eatmon Law Firm PC, Wake Forest (2018); Kristin M. Hampson, Hampson Family Law, Raleigh (2019); Mariana Godwin, Barefoot Family Law, Raleigh (2020); Cary Close, Close Smith Family Law, Raleigh (2021); Richard Gantt, Gantt Family Law, Raleigh (2022)

IMMIGRATION BENJAMIN A. SNYDER

Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC, Charlotte Jorgelina E. Araneda Araneda Law Firm PC, Raleigh Laura D. Burton Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Paul Mercer Cauley Cauley Forsythe Immigration, Charlotte Rosa Maria Corriveau Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, Raleigh Amanda Carrano Franklin Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Steven H. Garfinkel Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm, Charlotte Lindsey Taylor Goehring Charlotte Immigration Law Firm, Charlotte Vanessa Ann Gonzalez The Law Office of Vanessa A Gonzalez, Wilmington Alan S. Gordon Alan Gordon Immigration Law, Charlotte Jordan Forsythe Greer Cauley Forsythe Immigration, Charlotte Stephen M. Hader Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Hannah Faith Little Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm, Charlotte Jeremy L. McKinney McKinney Immigration Law, Greensboro George N. Miller Dozier Miller Law Group, Charlotte Colleen Forcina Molner Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm, Charlotte Jorge Ivan Pardo Pardo Law Firm PLLC, Charlotte Helen Louise Parsonage Elliot Morgan Parsonage PLLC, Winston-Salem Susan Waller Ramos Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, Charlotte Emily Elizabeth Scotton Elliot Morgan Parsonage PLLC, Winston-Salem Stephen Hugh Smalley Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, Raleigh Zachary Richard Snyder Law Office of Zach R Snyder, Concord Julie Christine Spahn Spahn Law Firm PLLC, Charlotte Helen Laura Tarokic Helen Tarokic Law PLLC, Wilmington Douglas Bradley Thie Clawson and Staubes LLC, Charlotte HALL OF FAME: Laura Edgerton, Edgerton Immigration Law, Raleigh (2018); Gerard M. “Gerry” Chapman, Chapman Law Firm, Greensboro (2019); Murali Bashyam, Bashyam Shah LLP, Raleigh (2020); Gigi Gardner, Gardner Gordon, Charlotte, Raleigh (2021); Devon Senges, Dummit Fradin, Attorneys at Law, Greensboro (2022) J A N U A R Y

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IMMIGRATION BENJAMIN A. SNYDER Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi, Charlotte

PRACTICED LAW: 10 years FAMILY: Wife and one daughter.

HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: Musicians.

I was in a couple of rock bands in high school.

KARAOKE NIGHT SONG: “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler. It’s a total jam and one that everyone goes “Oh yeah, I remember that song.” People just love it. It’s a very dynamic song that shifts in mood and melody throughout.

My vocal range is suited perfectly for it.

RANDOM IMPULSE BUY: Clothes from Glory Days Apparel in Charlotte.

MOST USED EMOJI: Thumbs up LAST SHOW BINGE-WATCHED: “Severance” FAVORITE WINTER ACTIVITY: Staying inside and waiting for spring.

FAVORITE SNACK: Pork rinds DEFINITION OF SUCCESS: Reputation for honesty and respect among peers.

CHARLOTTE B U S I N E S S N O R | TUNDERGRADUATE: H C A R O L I N A GUILFORD COLLEGE | LAW: ELON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 6 6 HOMETOWN:

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Jonathan M. Hines Trego Hines Ladenheim PLLC, Huntersville Seth Lee Hudson KIMBERLY BULLOCK GATLING Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Charlotte Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Blake Patrick Hurt Ani Agrawal Tuggle Duggins PA, Greensboro NK Patent Law PLLC, Charlotte John Timothy Kivus Stephen Smith Ashley Jr. Morningstar Law Group, Raleigh Ashley Law Firm PC, Charlotte Shawna Cannon Lemon Karen Schuller Boardman Stanek Lemon, Raleigh Ascension Law, Charlotte Richard Thomas Matthews Bernard Andrew Brown II Williams Mullen, Raleigh Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Raleigh Douglas William Meier Scott Kenyon Burger Allen Stahl + Kilbourne, Winston-Salem NK Patent Law PLLC, Raleigh Justin Robert Nifong Carla Hermida Clements Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, Charlotte NK Patent Law PLLC, Raleigh Russell D. Nugent Kathryn Gusmer Cole The Humphries Law Firm PC, Wilmington Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte William Kevin Ransom Ticora Elaine Davis Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte The Creator’s Law Firm, Charlotte Ray Wallace M. Rayburn Arthur J. Debaugh Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Bell Davis Pitt PA, Winston-Salem David W. Sar Angela Powers Doughty Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey Ward and Smith PA, New Bern & Leonard LLP, Greensboro Eva Gullick Frongello Trevor P. Schmidt Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Hutchison PLLC, Raleigh Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh Jeffrey J. Schwartz William Lyle Gravatt Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Durham Schwartz Law Firm PC, Charlotte Jeffrey Richard Gray Ryan Kirby Simmons Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Ward and Smith PA, New Bern

INTELLECTUAL

Elizabeth Ann Stanek Stanek Lemon, Raleigh Steven N. Terranova Withrow Terranova PLLC, Cary Christina Davidson Trimmer Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP, Charlotte Robert Charles Van Arnam Williams Mullen, Raleigh Thomas Glenn Varnum Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Wilmington Henry B. Ward III Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Franklin Emmett Weindruch Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Lance S. White Apollo Sports & Entertainment Law Group, Charlotte HALL OF FAME: Mitchell S. Bigel, Myers Bigel Sibley & Sajovec PA, Raleigh (2002; 2003); Kenneth D. Sibley, Myers Bigel Sibley & Sajovec PA, Raleigh (2004); Wesley Thaddeus Adams III, Adams Evans PA, Charlotte (2005); J. Scott Evans, Yahoo! Inc., Charlotte (2006); Philip Summa, Summa, Allan & Additon PA, Charlotte (2007); Susan Freya Olive, Olive & Olive PA, Durham (2008); David M. Carter, Carter & Schnedler PA, Asheville (2009); David M. Krasnow, Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP, Raleigh (2010); William J. Mason, MacCord Mason PLLC, Wilmington

(2011); E. Eric Mills, Ward and Smith PA, New Bern (2012); Anthony Biller, Coats & Bennett PLLC, Cary (2013); Larry L. Coats, Coats & Bennett PLLC, Cary (2014); Sarah E. Nagae, The Nagae Law Firm PLLC dba Triangle Trademarks, Raleigh (2015); Maury M. Tepper III, Tepper & Eyster PLLC, Raleigh (2016); John C. Nipp, Additon, Higgins & Pendleton PA, Charlotte (2017); Matthew Ladenheim, Trego, Hines & Ladenheim PLLC, Charlotte (2018); Julie H. Richardson, Myers Bigel PA, Raleigh (2019); Russ Racine, Cranfill Sumner LLP, Charlotte (2020); Rick McDermott, McDermott IP Law, Charlotte (2021); Rebecca Crandall, McGuire Wood & Bissette PA, Asheville (2022)

LITIGATION ROSS FULTON Rayburn Cooper & Durham PA, Charlotte Noah Breen Abrams Abrams & Abrams PA, Raleigh James C. Adams II Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro Derek Paul Adler DeVore Acton & Stafford PA, Charlotte W. Sidney Aldridge Nicholls & Crampton PA, Raleigh

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INTELLECTUAL KIMBERLY BULLOCK GATLING Fox Rothschild, Greensboro

PRACTICED LAW: 23 years HOMETOWN: Hampton, Virginia. I have lived in Greensboro for more than 25 years.

FAMILY: Husband, LaDaniel Gatling II; Children, LaDaniel III, Jordan and Fletcher.

HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: Cheerleaders and student government.

ONE MEAL TO EAT FOREVER: Fish & grits BUCKET LIST ITEM: Visit Dubai.

MOST USED EMOJI: Face palm emoji.

LAST SHOW BINGE-WATCHED: “Handmaid’s Tale” MOVIE YOU COULD QUOTE BY HEART: “Coming to America” FAVORITE SNACK: Popcorn DEFINITION OF SUCCESS: Happiness, peace and balance.

N.C. B U S I N E S S N O A&T R T STATE H C AUNIVERSITY R O L I N A | LAW: THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL 6 8 UNDERGRADUATE:

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Derek J. Allen Allen Stahl + Kilbourne, Asheville David Neal Allen Allen Chesson & Grimes PLLC, Charlotte Philip A. Baddour Jr. Baddour Parker Hine & Hale PC, Goldsboro John P. Barringer McAngus Goudelock & Courie LLC, Charlotte Allison Becker Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP, Raleigh Jonathan A. Berkelhammer Ellis & Winters LLP, Greensboro Brian O. Beverly Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh Robert C. Bowers Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Martha Sharpe Bradley Law Office of Martha Sharpe Bradley PLLC, Waynesville Ellen Anne Bragg Leitner Bragg & Griffin PLLC, Monroe John E. Branch III Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Raleigh Ashley Kamphaus Brathwaite Ellis & Winters LLP, Raleigh Walter E. Brock Jr. Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh Matthew William Buckmiller Buckmiller Boyette Frost PLLC, Raleigh John R. Buric James McElroy Diehl PA, Charlotte Seth Peter Buskirk Clark Newton Evans PA, Wilmington Anthony T. Capitano Erwin Capitano Moss PA, Charlotte Bo Brandon Caudill Villmer Caudill, Charlotte Karen Harris Chapman Poyner Spruill LLP, Charlotte Charles E. Coble Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Raleigh Edward Eugene Coleman III Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Heather Graham Connor McAngus Goudelock & Courie LLC, Charlotte Steven Dennis Corriveau Martin & Jones PLLC, Raleigh Richard A. Coughlin Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Meredith Lyn Cushing McAngus Goudelock & Courie, Charlotte Richard S. Daniels Patla Straus Robinson Moore PA, Asheville Eric M. David Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Raleigh Alexandra Shae Davidson Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Charlotte Cary Baxter Davis Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Edward Bilbro Davis Bell Davis Pitt PA, Charlotte Tricia M. Derr Lincoln Derr PLLC, Charlotte Pamela S. Duffy Sharpless McClearn Lester Duffy PA, Graham J A N U A R Y

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LITIGATION ROSS FULTON Rayburn Cooper & Durham, Charlotte

PRACTICED LAW: 20 years HOMETOWN: Clifton Park, New York FAMILY: Married to wife, Marni, for 18 years.

HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: Funny kids? Or at least we thought we were funny…

KARAOKE NIGHT SONG: “Total Eclipse of the Heart” ONE MEAL TO EAT FOREVER: Pizza. I’ll eat anything and the more toppings the better. I either make it at home or we get it from Bird Pizzeria in Optimist Park.

RANDOM IMPULSE BUY: Just about every new electronic trinket when it first comes out — Alexa, Apple Watch, etc.

MOST USED EMOJI: The bumblebee, which my wife and I use to communicate our progress on the New York Times spelling bee each day.

LAST SHOW BINGE-WATCHED: “Cobra Kai.” It’s a fun show. I think it’s okay to bask in mindless nostalgia once in a while.

MOVIE YOU COULD QUOTE BY HEART: “The Princess Bride” FAVORITE WINTER ACTIVITY: Watching movies inside.

GENESEO | LAW: COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY SCHOOL OF LAW B U S I N E S SSTATE N OUNIVERSITY R T H C AOF R NEW O L I YORK, N A 7 0 UNDERGRADUATE:

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David M. Duke Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh Alan W. Duncan Mullins Duncan Harrell Russell PLLC, Greensboro Joshua B. Durham Bell Davis Pitt PA, Charlotte J. Nicholas Ellis Poyner Spruill LLP, Rocky Mount Mary E. Euler McGuire Wood Bissette PA, Asheville Henry Lee Evans Jr. Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Lynwood P. Evans Ward and Smith PA, Winterville James Robert Faucher Brown Faucher Peraldo Benson PLLC, Greensboro Daniel James Finegan Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin PLLC, Charlotte Mark A. Finkelstein Fox Rothschild LLP, Raleigh Andrew Larry Fitzgerald Fitzgerald Litigation, Winston-Salem Paul T. Flick Miller Monroe Plyler PLLC, Raleigh Deedee Rouse Gasch Cranfill Sumner LLP, Wilmington Charles George Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh Tikkun A. S. Gottschalk Deutsch Gottschalk PA, Asheville Christopher T. Graebe Morningstar Law Group, Raleigh Christopher Andrew Gray Burns Gray & Gray, Monroe Alex J. Hagan Ellis & Winters LLP, Raleigh Jonathan E. Hall Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Raleigh Robert E. Harrington Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte James McKinley Hash Everett Gaskins Hancock LLP, Raleigh John Alexander Heroy James McElroy Diehl PA, Charlotte Marcus C. Hewitt Fox Rothschild LLP, Raleigh Mark Alexander Hiller Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Raleigh Dana H. Hoffman Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh Chip Holmes Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Charlotte Ann Patton Hornthal Roberts & Stevens PA, Asheville Matthew Thomas Houston K L Gates LLP, Raleigh George D. Humphrey III Allman Spry Davis Leggett & Crumpler PA, Winston-Salem John N. Hutson Jr. Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh Phillip T. Jackson Roberts & Stevens PA, Asheville

Christopher Ward Jackson Ellis & Winters LLP, Greensboro Jason Burke James JD Law Carolinas, Charlotte Melody Jewell Jolly Cranfill Sumner LLP, Wilmington Amanda Patricia Just Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Lori R. Keeton Law Offices of Lori Keeton, Charlotte Charles Bailey King Jr. Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Charlotte Kimberly Jill Kirk Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Heryka Rodriguez Knoespel McGuireWoods LLP, Charlotte Mark Raymond Kutny Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin PLLC, Charlotte Gilbert C. Laite III Williams Mullen, Raleigh Christopher Carlisle Lam Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Charlotte Joshua D. Lanning Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Kenneth T. Lautenschlager Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Jodie Herrmann Lawson McGuireWoods LLP, Charlotte Sara R. Lincoln Lincoln Derr PLLC, Charlotte Trey Lindley Lindley Law PLLC, Charlotte Harrison A. Lord Lord Law Firm PLLC, Charlotte Lesley Skye Macleod Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Jennifer D. Maldonado Yates McLamb & Weyher LLP, Raleigh J. Michael Malone Hendren Redwine & Malone PLLC, Raleigh John P. Marshall White Allen PA, Kinston John D. Martin Cranfill Sumner LLP, Wilmington Dennis Lee Martin Jr. Roberts & Stevens PA, Asheville John M. McCabe The Law Offices of John M McCabe PA, Cary Valecia M. McDowell Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte James P. McLoughlin Jr. Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Thomas Richmond McPherson III McGuireWoods LLP, Charlotte Roy H. Michaux Jr. Alexander Ricks PLLC, Charlotte Jason Andrew Miller Miller Monroe Plyler PLLC, Raleigh Kimberly Turner Miller Owens Miller PLLC, Raleigh Mike Mitchell Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh

Mark Andrew Nebrig Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Lauren Oriana Newton Tin Fulton Walker & Owen PLLC, Charlotte Douglas David Noreen Howard Stallings, Raleigh Leslie C. Packer Ellis & Winters LLP, Raleigh Paige Loralea Pahlke Pahlke Law PLLC, Charlotte Alan Parry Parry Law PLLC, Chapel Hill Joel R. Rhine Rhine Law Firm PC, Wilmington Amy E. Richardson Harris Wiltshire & Grannis LLP, Raleigh William C. Robinson Robinson Elliott & Smith, Charlotte Morgan Hunter Rogers Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Charlotte Erik M. Rosenwood Rosenwood Rose & Litwak PLLC, Charlotte William Kirk Sanders Hendrick Bryant Nerhood Sanders Otis LLP, Winston-Salem Nicole Rochelle Scallon Henson Talley & Scallon LLP, Greensboro Steven Andrew Scoggan Ellis & Winters LLP, Greensboro Thomas Hamilton Segars Ellis & Winters LLP, Raleigh Colleen Shea Cranfill Sumner LLP, Wilmington Timothy Alfred Sheriff Crumley Roberts LLP, Charlotte Ben E. Shook Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Grant Sigmon Sigmon Klein PLLC, Greensboro Hayden J. Silver III Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, Raleigh Theodore B. Smyth Cranfill Sumner LLP, Raleigh Jeffrey Scott Southerland Tuggle Duggins PA, Greensboro Luther D. Starling Jr. Daughtry Woodard Lawrence & Starling, Smithfield James B. Stephenson II Stephenson Law LLP, Cary Wyatt S. Stevens Roberts & Stevens PA, Asheville Colin R. Stockton Regent Law, Charlotte Walter L. Tippett Jr. Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Raleigh B. Elizabeth Todd The Law Office of B Elizabeth Todd PLLC, Charlotte Christopher Donald Tomlinson Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Allen Nelson Trask III Ward and Smith PA, Wilmington

Anna Claire Turpin Whitley Law Firm, Raleigh Jason Nolan Tuttle Everett Gaskins Hancock LLP, Raleigh Jennifer K. Van Zant Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro K. Matthew Vaughn Stevens Martin Vaughn & Tadych PLLC, Raleigh Jessica Blair Vickers Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh Matthew M. Villmer Villmer Caudill PLLC, Charlotte John Bowen Walker Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Suzanne Renfrow Walker Yates McLamb & Weyher LLP, Raleigh Zachary D. Walton McAngus Goudelock & Courie LLC, Charlotte Mary McHugh Webb Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Camden R. Webb Williams Mullen, Raleigh Dixie T. Wells Ellis & Winters LLP, Greensboro Kevin G. Williams Bell Davis Pitt PA, Winston-Salem Jeremy M. Wilson Ward and Smith PA, Wilmington HALL OF FAME: James T. Williams Jr., Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro (2002; 2003); Clarence W. Walker, Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman LLP, Charlotte (2004); Gary S. Parsons, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Raleigh (2005); William K. Davis, Bell, Davis & Pitt PA, Winston-Salem (2006); Dan J. McLamb, Yates, McLamb & Weyher LLP, Raleigh (2007); Robert D. Walker, Walker, Allen, Grice, Ammons & Foy LLP, Goldsboro (2008); J. Donald Cowan Jr., Ellis & Winters LLP, Greensboro (2009); G. Gray Wilson, Wilson, Helms and Cartledge, Winston-Salem (2010); James H. Kelly Jr., Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Winston-Salem (2011); Daniel L. Brawley, Williams Mullen, Wilmington (2012); Lee M. Whitman, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh (2013); Michael J. Byrne, Byrne Law PC, Raleigh (2014); Jonathan D. Sasser, Ellis & Winters LLP, Raleigh (2015); Jean Sutton Martin, Law Office of Jean Sutton Martin PLLC, Wilmington (2016); Greg Merritt, Harris, Creech, Ward & Blackerby, New Bern (2017); Ward Davis, Bell, Davis & Pitt PA, Charlotte (2018); Elizabeth Scott, Williams Mullen, Raleigh (2019); Clay A. Campbell, Marcellino & Tyson PLLC, Charlotte (2020); Kristen L. Beightol, Edwards Kirby LLP, Raleigh (2021); Fred W. DeVore III, DeVore, Acton & Stafford PA, Charlotte (2022) J A N U A R Y

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REAL ESTATE JOANNE BADR MORGAN Ward and Smith, Asheville

PRACTICED LAW: Five months as a law clerk and 14 years in private practice.

FAMILY: My husband and I have two children. My parents, brother and two sisters all live in Asheville, as well.

HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: I didn’t really have a specific clique or group — I remember getting along with everyone. I was close with my three siblings, had supportive parents and a great group of friends, and loved my teachers. Mom used to let us bake after dinner and take snacks in to school to pass out to friends, which must have contributed to me being named Miss Congeniality 1999 at A.C. Reynolds High.

ONE MEAL TO EAT FOREVER: Anything that includes potatoes.

BUCKET LIST ITEM: I have many.

The most difficult one to pull off is to have dinner with Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and Dave Chappelle, at my parents’ house. Mom is an amazing cook. They would rave about her food while I masked being starstruck.

BIGGEST RISK TAKEN: I tell myself that my job is to avoid risks for myself and my clients.

RANDOM IMPULSE BUY: Law school.

I did not know how to narrow down my many interests or what direction to take for graduate school. I went to law school because I knew I wouldn’t have to decide exactly what I wanted to do until I actually earned the degree.

MOST USED EMOJI: Crying laughing face LAST SHOW BINGE-WATCHED: “Chef’s Table.” I don’t watch much TV but when I do, it is something food related. I could watch Barefoot Contessa make meals that I’ll never actually cook myself for hours.

FAVORITE WINTER ACTIVITY: Holiday parties and post-holiday dinner parties to get through the February seasonal slump.

FAVORITE SNACK: I make a pretty amazing chocolate walnut cookie.

DEFINITION OF SUCCESS: Raising children who know they are loved and capable, spending quality time with family and friends, and being a contributing member to my community and colleagues.

CHAPEL HILL | LAW: QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW B U S I N ASHEVILLE E S S N O | RUNDERGRADUATE: T H C A R O L I NUNC A 7 2 HOMETOWN:

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REAL ESTATE JOANNE BADR MORGAN

Ward and Smith PA, Asheville Kenneth J. Abner Bishop Dulaney Joyner Abner PA, Charlotte Calvin Grant Armstrong Norwood Armstrong & Stokes PLLC, Charlotte Mary Burgett Ashley Ashley Law Firm PC, Charlotte Anthony J. Barwick Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Raleigh Evan Michael Bass Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Ashleigh Elizabeth Black Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Jonathan Matthew Bogues Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Raleigh James Drake Brinkley Ward and Smith PA, Winterville Jefferson W. Brown Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte John R. Buben Jr. Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Margaret S. Burnham Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Greensboro Alison R. Cayton Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh

Barbara R. Christy Schell Bray PLLC, Greensboro Gordon L. Cory Jr. Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, Charlotte Katherine Marie Dowell Raleigh Real Estate Law, Raleigh Hunter Sutton Edwards Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, Charlotte James Scott Efird St Amand & Efird PLLC, Charlotte Susan Y. Ellinger Ellinger & Carr PLLC, Raleigh Jessica Lynn Elliott Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh Andrew Davis Evans Capital City Law, Raleigh Randall Wayne Faircloth Regent Law, Charlotte Samuel Benjamin Franck Ward and Smith PA, Wilmington Michael Robert Frongello Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh Nancy M. Guyton Law Firm Carolinas, Wilmington Jonathan Robert Hankin Hankin Law PLLC, Charlotte Brett T. Hanna Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Raleigh

Robert Charles Lawson Williams Mullen, Raleigh William N. Harris McGuire Woods LLP, Charlotte Mark Spence Hartman Davis Hartman Wright Attorneys LLP, New Bern James Bryant Haynes Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro Michael Philip Hebert Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte David Layne Hillman Ellis & Winters LLP, Raleigh Thomas Patrick Hockman Schell Bray PLLC, Greensboro Janeen Miller Hogue The Miller-Hogue Law Firm PC, Charlotte Scott Thomas Horn Allman Spry Davis Leggett & Crumpler PA, Winston-Salem Susan K. Irvin Irvin Law Group, Cornelius Kent D. Jones Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Charlotte Tonu Thomas Kangur Jr. Kangur Porter LLP, Winston-Salem Peter U. Kanipe McGuire Wood Bissette PA, Asheville Jeffrey P. Keeter Block Crouch Keeter Behm & Sayed LLP, Wilmington

Michael F. King K L Gates LLP, Raleigh John W. King Jr. John W King PLLC, New Bern William B. Kirk Jr. Kirk Palmer & Thigpen PA, Charlotte Meredith Jo Kittrell Getter Law Office PA, Raleigh Benjamin R. Kuhn Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Amy C. Lanning Blanco Tackabery & Matamoros PA, Winston-Salem Sarah Beth Lauterbach Robinson and Lauterbach PLLC, Gastonia Robert George Lindauer Jr. Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Patrick Shuler Lineberry Tuggle Duggins PA, Greensboro John Charles Livingston Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Raleigh Nicole Sabourin Loeffler Weatherspoon And Voltz LLP, Raleigh David G. Martin Murchison Taylor Gibson PLLC, Wilmington Andrew Martin McCullough Venn Law Group, Charlotte Gary Thomas McDermott, McDermott Law PLLC, Waxhaw

J A N U A R Y

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YOUNG GUNS KEITH BOYETTE North Carolina Healthcare Association, Raleigh

PRACTICED LAW: 3 years FAMILY: Father, John; mother, Volinda; brother, Kevin; fiancé, Taylor Ruff HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: Athletes ONE MEAL TO EAT FOREVER: Chick-fil-A sandwich combo with french fries and Coke Zero.

BUCKET LIST ITEM: Play golf at each location of PGA Major Tournaments.

RANDOM IMPULSE BUY: I’m a sucker for suits, ties and golf equipment.

MOVIE YOU COULD QUOTE BY HEART: “Wedding Crashers” DEFINITION OF SUCCESS: One of my favorite quotes regarding success is from Colin Powell, who said, “Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty and persistence.” Oftentimes, success is viewed as something that is determined by results but I believe it is better defined by preparation, determination and how one handles adversity.

HOMETOWN: GARNER | UNDERGRADUATE: CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY | LAW: CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

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Heather Dawn McDowell Ellinger & Carr PLLC, Raleigh Daniel Adam Merlin Alexander Ricks PLLC, Charlotte Peter F. Morgan Peter F Morgan PLLC, Charlotte Erin Cowan Mosley Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Greensboro David William Murray The Odom Firm PLLC, Charlotte David J. Neill Fox Rothschild LLP, Raleigh Thomas Lawson Newton Craige Brawley Liipfert & Walker LLP, Winston-Salem Robbie Brice Parker Lee Kaess PLLC, Wilmington Clifford P. Parson Ward and Smith PA, New Bern Jeffrey W. Porter Law Office of Jeffrey W Porter PC, Wilmington Tonya B. Powell Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Raleigh Samuel S. Price StephensonLaw LLP, Cary David T. Pryzwansky The Pryzwansky Law Firm PA, Raleigh Robert J. Ramseur Jr. Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Ashley H. Ray Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh

Holden Reaves Reaves Law PLLC, Fayetteville John F. Renger III Renger Reynolds PLLC, Charlotte Julian P. Robb Craige Brawley Liipfert & Walker LLP, Winston-Salem John R. Rose Goosmann Rose Colvard Cramer PA, Asheville Harvey Lee Rouse Lancaster Trotter & Poe PLLC, Charlotte Brian J. Schoeck Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Lawrence Joseph Shaheen Jr. The McIntosh Law Firm, Davidson Douglas John Short Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh Robert C. Sink Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Kyle Abraham Smalling Capital City Law, Wake Forest Eric R. Spence Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Gary W. Swindell Swindell & Visalli PLLC, Charlotte Anna Hartzog Tison Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Raleigh John M. Tyson Judge John M Tyson, Fayetteville Nikhil Pankaj Vyas Vyas Realty Law, Raleigh

William Thomas Wallace McMillan Psaroudis Markey PA, Charlotte William B. Wallace The Law Offices of Jason E Taylor PC, Charlotte Cameron Todd Ware Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Walter Samuel Weathers W. Samuel Weathers Attorney PLLC, Raleigh HALL OF FAME: Alfred Adams, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC, Winston-Salem (2004); Barry D. Mann, Manning, Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh (2005); Brent A. Torstrick, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte (2006); Samuel T. Oliver Jr., Manning, Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh (2007); Charles Gordon Brown, Brown & Bunch PLLC, Chapel Hill (2008); C. Steven Mason, Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh (2009); Timothy G. Sellers, Sellers, Hinshaw, Ayers, Dortch & Lyons PA, Charlotte (2010); Frank M. Bell Jr., Bell, Davis & Pitt PA, Winston-Salem (2011); George W. Sistrunk III, Hamilton Stephens Steele & Martin PLLC Charlotte (2012); Robert Charles Lawson, Williams Mullen, Raleigh (2013); Michael G. Winters, Ellis & Winters LLP, Raleigh (2014); Holly H. Alderman, Schell Bray PLLC, Chapel Hill (2015); Brian

W. Byrd, Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP, Greensboro (2016); Anna P. McLamb, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh (2017); Beth Voltz, Weatherspoon & Voltz LLP, Raleigh (2018); Annika M. Brock, The Brock Law Firm PLLC, Asheville (2019); Allen York, Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh (2020); Diana R. Palecek, Fox Rothschild LLP, Charlotte (2021); Philip Hackley, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh (2022)

TAX & ESTATE PLANNING MICHAEL CORY HOWES

Strauss Attorneys PLLC, Raleigh Abby Lund Adams Kohut Adams PA, Wilmington S. Kyle Agee Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte David Eric Anderson David E Anderson PLLC, Wilmington Andrew D. Atherton McGuire Wood Bissette PA, Asheville Erin Vocke Bailey Tuggle Duggins PA, Greensboro

J A N U A R Y

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Jackie W. Bedard Bedard Law PLLC, Cary Everett McMillan Bolton Howard McCoy & Bolton LLP, Raleigh Elizabeth W. Bowen Bowen Law Firm PC, Cary Julie Marion Bradlow Darrow Everett LLP, Charlotte R. Daniel Brady Brady Cobin Law Group PLLC, Raleigh Gwendolyn C. Brooks Kennon Craver PLLC, Durham Andrew Miles Brower Law Firm Carolinas, Greensboro Stephen Aaron Brown Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh John R. Cella Jr. Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Ansley Chapman Cella Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh Lynn F. Chandler Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP, Charlotte Christian P. Cherry Crisp Cherry McCraw PLLC, Charlotte Eugene William Chianelli Jr. Howard Stallings, Raleigh Andrea Christina Chomakos McGuireWoods LLP, Charlotte Sandra M. Clark Manning Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh Charles M. Crisp Crisp Cherry McCraw PLLC, Charlotte Stephanie Camp Daniel Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP, Charlotte Roy W. Davis III R. Walton Davis III, Black Mountain Charlie Davis Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh Cristine Rose Dixon Craige Brawley Liipfert & Walker LLP, Winston-Salem Megan W. Dunham Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Charlotte Robert Andrew Fisher Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Kara O’Conner Gansmann Cranfill Sumner LLP, Wilmington Stanton Paul Geller Culp Elliott & Carpenter PLLC, Charlotte Kimberly A. Gossage Garrity & Gossage, Matthews Edward Weede Griggs Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, Winston-Salem Susan Heather Haberberger Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh Hailey Erin Hawkins Stott Hollowell Windham & Stancil PLLC, Mount Holly John Randolph Hemphill Hemphill Gelder PC, Raleigh Reed J. Hollander Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Raleigh Mark R.A. Horn Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Timothy William Jones Jones Branz Whitaker LLP, Raleigh 76

B U S I N E S S

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Christopher JC Jones Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Jill Lynn Peters Kaess Lee Kaess PLLC, Wilmington Matthew Robert Kain Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Gregory Michael Katzman Davis Hartman Wright Attorneys LLP, Wilmington John G. Kelso The Van Winkle Law Firm, Asheville Amy Hulsey Kincaid Schell Bray PLLC, Greensboro Meghan Naomi Knight Lynch & Eatman LLP, Raleigh Jennifer L J Koenig Schell Bray PLLC, Greensboro Helayne Barrie Levy Payne Elder Law & Life Care Planning Center, Shallotte David Tyler Lewis Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Harris M. Livingstain McGuire Wood Bissette PA, Asheville Paul H. Livingston Jr. Schell Bray PLLC, Greensboro Steven B. Long Ward and Smith PA, Raleigh Robert D. Lyerly Jr. Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Charlotte Linda Marie Baugher Malone Howard Stallings, New Bern Lauren Campbell Maxie NC Planning, Cary William Thomas McCuiston Jr. McCuiston Law Offices PLLC, Cary Chadwick Ian McCullen Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh Charles H. Mercer Jr. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Raleigh William Lee Mills IV Culp Elliott & Carpenter PLLC, Charlotte Jared Daniel Mobley K L Gates LLP, Charlotte Robert E. Monroe Monroe Wallace Morden & Sherrill PA, Raleigh Christopher Scott Morden Monroe Wallace Morden & Sherrill PA, Raleigh Brian Gene Morrison Murchison Taylor & Gibson PLLC, Wilmington Mitchell Kemp Mosley Narron Wenzel PA, Raleigh Marcus L. Moxley Edwards Craver Veach PLLC, Winston-Salem Lawrence Moye IV Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, Raleigh Caroline Corry Munroe Blanco Tackabery & Matamoros PA, Winston-Salem Michael Christian Murray Murray Moyer PLLC, Raleigh Andrew Lamberson Nesbitt Nesbitt Law PLLC, Charlotte

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Anthony D. Nicholson McPherson Rocamora Nicholson Wilson & Hinkle PLLC, Durham Jennifer Carney Noble Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Holly Berry Harris Norvell Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Jason R. Page Ason R Page PLLC, Wilson Erin Bray Patterson Erin Patterson Law PLLC, Charlotte Gregory T. Peacock Ward and Smith PA, New Bern Christian L. Perrin Perrin Legal, Charlotte Galina Petrova Petrova Petrova Law PLLC, Greensboro Virginia Scales Pleasants Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Winston-Salem Susan Taylor Rash Patla Straus Robinson Moore PA, Asheville Thomas J. Rhodes Jr. Narron Holdford PA, Wilson Larry H. Rocamora McPherson Rocamora Nicholson Wilson & Hinkle PLLC, Durham Jennifer Marshall Roden Craige & Fox PLLC, Wilmington Lisa Michele Rothman McGuire Wood Bissette PA, Asheville Heidi Elizabeth Royal Heidi E. Royal Law PLLC, Charlotte Maria Magdalena Satterfield Satterfield Legal PLLC, Charlotte Rebecca Lane Smitherman Craige Brawley Liipfert & Walker LLP, Winston-Salem Herman Spence III Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Kimberly H. Stogner Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, Winston-Salem Kimberly Q. Swintosky Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh Adam Patrick McInnis Tarleton Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro Matthew W. Thompson Ward and Smith PA, Wilmington Bradley T. Van Hoy Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte David R. Vines Offit Kurman Attorneys at Law, Rock Hill Robert Hammock Wall Akerman LLP, Winston-Salem Carter Bentley Webb Strauss Attorneys PLLC, Asheville Eric Clifton Williams Allen Stahl + Kilbourne, Asheville Catherine Loden Wilson McPherson Rocamora Nicholson Wilson & Hinkle PLLC, Durham James Michael Wilson Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Charlotte

Louis E. Wooten III Nichols and Crampton, Raleigh Paul Anthony Yokabitus Cary Estate Planning, Cary HALL OF FAME: Robert C. Vaughn Jr., Vaughn Perkinson Ehlinger Moxley & Stogner, Winston-Salem (2002; 2003); W. Curtis Elliott Jr., Culp Elliott & Carpenter PLLC, Charlotte (2004); Ray S. Farris, Johnston, Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte (2005); Elizabeth L. Quick, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC, Winston-Salem (2006); James W. Narron, Narron, O’Hale & Whittington PA, Smithfield (2007); E. William Kratt, Herring Mills & Kratt PLLC, Raleigh (2008); Christy Eve Reid (died May 8, 2014), Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte (2009); Michael H. Godwin, Schell Bray Aycock Abel & Livingston PLLC, Greensboro (2010); Maria M. Lynch, Lynch & Eatman LLP, Raleigh (2011); Graham D. Holding Jr., Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte (2012); Andrew H. Veach, Edwards Craver Veach PLLC, Winston-Salem (2013); Robert H. Haggard, The Van Winkle Law Firm, Asheville (2014); Michael A. Colombo, Colombo, Kitchin, Dunn, Ball & Porter LLP, Greenville (2015); Jason Walls, The Walls Law Firm PLLC, Apex (2016); Debra L. Foster, Foster Royal PA, Charlotte (2017); Elizabeth “Liz” K. Arias, Womble Bond Dickinson, Raleigh (2018); Jean Gordon Carter, McGuireWoods LLP, Raleigh (2019); Rudy Ogburn, Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh (2020); Jessica Mering Hardin, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte (2021); Brooks Jaffa, Cranford, Buckley Schultze, Tomchin, Allen & Buie PA, Charlotte (2022)

YOUNG GUNS KEITH BOYETTE

Director of State Government Relations, North Carolina Healthcare Association, Raleigh Elliot Sol Abrams Cheshire Parker Schneider PLLC, Raleigh Lisa Williford Arthur Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Lillie Seifart Ashworth Marshall & Taylor PLLC, Raleigh Helen Somerville Baddour Johnson & Groninger PLLC, Charlotte Demi Lorant Bostian Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Chapel Hill John Gray Brotherton Knox Law Center, Charlotte Katie Burchette Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte

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Caitlin B. Birckhead Tharrington Smith LLP, Raleigh Louis Penn Clarke Longleaf Law Partners, Raleigh Kevin Cline Kevin Cline Law, PLLC, Raleigh Carter B. Cole Envisage Law, Raleigh Chamberlain Elizabeth Collier McAngus Goudelock & Courie LLC, Raleigh Payton Rose Collier Ward and Smith PA, Raleigh Brittany Nichole Conner DeVore Acton & Stafford PA, Charlotte Kellie Marie Corbett Carolina Family Estate Planning, Cary Christy Cochran Dunn Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh Joseph Porter Durham III McGuireWoods LLP, Charlotte John Michael Durnovich Poyner Spruill LLP, Charlotte Mollie Schrull Ellis Godley Glazer & Funk PLLC, Charlotte Alan Buford Felts Tuggle Duggins PA, Greensboro Murphy Horne Fletcher McGuire Wood Bissette PA, Asheville Vanessa Nicole Garrido Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, Raleigh Jonah Aaron Garson Parry Law PLLC, Chapel Hill Ashleigh Monique Greene Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Greensboro Stephen Arnott Guardipee Hatcher Law Group PC, Charlotte Brian Donald Gulden The Van Winkle Law Firm, Asheville

Ross Tanner Hardeman Sumrell Sugg PA, New Bern Kathryn Joy Hesman Holland & Knight LLP, Charlotte Travis Styres Hinman Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte Anna-Bryce Hobson Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Charlotte Corri Ann Hopkins Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Raleigh Caitlin Nobles Horne Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Michael James Hutcherson Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh Max Edward Isaacson Longleaf Law Partners, Raleigh Brooks Foste Jaffa Cranford Buckley Schultze, Charlotte Emily Catherine Jeske Bosquez Porter Family Law PLLC, Raleigh Hillary Margaret Kies Turning Point Litigation, Greensboro Katherine Anne King Everett Gaskins Hancock LLP, Raleigh Kristen Marie Kirby McGuireWoods LLP, Raleigh Lesley Attkisson Lewis Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Kyle Joseph Luebke McGuireWoods LLP, Charlotte Courtney Elizabeth Mann The Law Office Of W Daniel Grist PLLC, Charlotte Andria Dayna Marquez Marcellino & Tyson PLLC, Charlotte Kevin Anthony Marshall Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Emily Kate Mather KL Gates LLP, Raleigh

Joseph Walton Milam III Rosenwood Rose & Litwak PLLC, Charlotte Kelly Nash Dozier Miller Law Group, Charlotte John David Noor Roberts & Stevens PA, Asheville Nishma Patel McGuire Wood Bissette PA, Asheville Madeleine Michelle Pfefferle Ellis & Winters LLP, Raleigh Nader Saeed Raja Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Preetha Suresh Rini Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Raleigh Kathleen Rose Rodberg McGuire Wood Bissette PA, Asheville Sarah Mokhtar Rozek Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro Sarah Margaret Saint Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro Joseph Robert Shealy Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Charlotte Nickolas Blake Sherrill Monroe Wallace Morden & Sherrill PA, Raleigh Olivia Smith Wallace & Graham, Salisbury Audrey Zopp Snyder Ward Black Law, Greensboro Kendra Nicole Stark Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP, Raleigh Andrew David Steffensen Schell Bray PLLC, Greensboro Sheldon McCurry Stokes Johnston Allison & Hord PA, Charlotte Tory Ian Summey Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Charlotte

Isla N. Tabrizi Collins Family Law Group, Monroe Philip Ryan Thomas North Carolina Republican Party, Raleigh Samuel Wesley Tripp III Roberts & Stevens PA, Asheville Patrick Taylor Vander Jeugdt Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh Kathryn Gillespie Wellman Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Edward Benton Woodall Venn Law Group, Charlotte HALL OF FAME: J. Christian Stevenson, Kirk Palmer & Thigpen PA, Charlotte (2012); George Mason Oliver, Oliver Friesen Cheek PLLC, New Bern (2013); Michael F. Easley Jr., McGuireWoods LLP, Raleigh (2014); Alvaro R. De La Calle, Calle Law PLLC, Greensboro (2015); Aaron Lay, Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin PLLC, Charlotte (2016); Elie Foy, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh (2017); Matthew T. Marcellino, Marcellino & Tyson PLLC, Charlotte (2018); Nancy S. Litwak, Rosenwood, Rose & Litwak PLLC, Charlotte (2019); Antonia A. “Toni” Peck, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Raleigh (2020); Holden B. Clark, Holden B. Clark, Attorney at Law PLLC, Gastonia (2021); Carl Burchette, Rosenwood, Rose & Litwak PLLC, Charlotte (2022) ■

BEHIND THE SCENES Thank you to our photographer, Bryan Regan, for his willingness to set up wherever necessary to get the best picture.

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2023 LEGAL ELITE LAWYER PROFILES

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FORSYTH COUNTY

CULTURE OF INNOVATION Forsyth County, Winston-Salem are hub for medical marvels, high-tech, research and entrepreneurs.

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hen Dr. Anthony Atala moved from Boston to Forsyth County 17 years ago, downtown Winston-Salem’s main landmark was two tall smokestacks marked “R.J.R. TOB. Co.” overlooking vacant historic buildings and warehouses.

That downtown plot has since transformed to the Innovation Quarter, 330-plus acres of mixeduse space filled with 90 companies pursuing biomedical science, information technology, clinical services and businesses that impact the regenerative medicine field. The community also includes residential development and retail. Education that aids business and research is also a major component with the presence of Wake Forest University’s School of Arts and Science’s biomedical graduate programs and a branch of Forsyth Technical Community College.

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And more is coming. The Innovation Quarter’s Phase Two with 2.4 million square feet is in the works.

“It was abandoned, old factories, and that is what really attracted us as we were moving here to start the institutes. We saw the way this park had been laid out, and we knew this was an area that could focus on technology,” says Atala, founder and director of the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine [WFIRM].

“There was this very strong medical school, and the hospital, and the cancer center all in one central space. To have everything together is really essential. The state and the city and the institution, they’re all aligned, and that’s what makes it special.”

“We’re in this bubble,” says Nick Gonzalez, a partner and broker in the commercial real estate firm Linville Team Partners, which serves Winston-Salem, Greensboro C A R O L I N A

and High Point. “And it’s a good bubble. … The medical community of Winston-Salem is somewhat famous.” Since 2014, his company has done more than $150 million in transactions in downtown WinstonSalem. He went on to discuss how the varied features of the community must be assembled the right way.

“A lot of our clients are developers that have invested heavily in downtown. When you’re doing something downtown, it’s almost like you have a curated vision of how it’s all going to fit together with the other puzzle pieces,” Gonzalez says. “It’s like there’s an ecosystem that’s working, and you’re disrupting the ecosystem for the better. Adding something to that vibrancy, like an apartment complex, or retail, or renovating an existing property, there has to be a sensitivity to that, that doesn’t apply to other areas.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF INNOVATION QUARTER AND WHITAKER PARK

You’re fitting into the ecosystem that’s already there.”

Along with a variety of purposes, the variety of employees in WinstonSalem and the Innovation Quarter make them distinctive.

“The town has an amazing environment, because you have the combination of academia and graduate schools, undergraduate students, and the Innovation Quarter has been totally revitalized with a lot of young scientists and engineers,” says Atala, who also is a multipleaward-recipient professor and the Chair of the Department of Urology at Wake Forest. “You have … entrepreneurs and start-ups who are building the next generation of products in technology, ” he adds.

“The entire innovation ecosystem that exists within the city of WinstonSalem and Forsyth County have rallied to place a specific emphasis on fulfilling our mission of being the City of Arts and Innovation,” says James Patterson, Innovation Quarter director of marketing and communications. “That means investment in initiatives and infrastructure that create an inviting atmosphere for research and innovation.”

The city’s population of 250,320 has grown by 16,500 people in the last decade and by almost 50,000 since 2000. Its hub of research, technology and education overflows beyond city limits.

Allegacy Federal Credit Union is an example of a Forsyth County institution with deep roots in WinstonSalem that’s continually evolving as the county grows. It started in 1967 as Reynolds Carolina Credit Union for employees of the tobacco company in a makeshift office in the RJR building downtown. In 2001 the credit union changed its name to combine “allegiance” and “legacy” and become Allegacy. It now has 200 employees, 170,000 members or account holders and 18 branches

in six counties. It’s opened two in Charlotte since June. Yet, Allegacy stays close to those early RJR roots with a location in the Biotech Place at the Innovation Quarter.

“All kinds of people are moving to Winston to work there. …. They are coming from all over the world,” said Lindsay Coppley, Allegacy communications specialist. “We want to introduce ourselves and pay homage to our roots in the Reynolds building. It’s amazing what’s happening (in the iQ) and we want to be an integral part of that.”

Forsyth County is definitely a melting pot for longtime residents and businesses as well as newcomers and innovation.

“Forsyth County has a robust pipeline of project interest both through local expansion and external relocation,”

says Mark Owens, president and CEO of Greater Winston-Salem, Inc. “Our region is in play for a third of projects currently under consideration through the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. Since the start of 2021, Greater WinstonSalem, Inc. has facilitated projects generating 600 new jobs with $301 million in investment, and there is more on the way.”

The new Winston-Salem Partners Roundtable or WSPR Fund is made up of more than 70 investors that provide investment capital and business support. It has invested $1.5 million in six startup companies and helps lure entrepreneurs and startups.

“Within the past year, we have worked with the city and county to identify more than 750 developable acres to bring to our commercial

A view of Innovation Quarter (top) and Whitaker Park (bottom) in Winston-Salem.

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INNOVATION QUARTER

“The Innovation Quarter, while managed under the auspices of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, exists as a driver within the Winston-Salem and Forsyth County innovation ecosystem,” Patterson says. “We regularly work with partners from across our region and even the state and globe to make sure we are providing the right kind of environment to help collaboration thrive. For example, our participation as one of the founding members of the Global Institute on Innovation Districts, is a signal that we are open

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to and benefit from collaboration with partners from all over.”

Groundbreaking of infrastructure for the second phase of the Innovation Quarter should begin in early 2023.

“The Innovation Quarter is the largest technical medical park in the southeast,” Gonzalez says, “The master plan is around 10 million square feet. …

We’re really lucky that we have a lot of private and public investment in small business incubators.” He cites the following examples.

• Winston Starts which provides mentors, coaching and resources to entrepreneurs.

• Flywheel Coworking rents work space, private offices to desks, on a weekly and daily basis in its downtown location.

• Sparkq in the iQ’s Bailey Power Plant, offers membership packages for co-working space and conference rooms.

“That power plant was repurposed and has a brewery, a restaurant and a gym. A lot of people live in the apartment next door,” Gonzalez says. “You probably wouldn’t have a development like the power plant if it were in the suburbs.”

Five academic institutions with 3,600 workers and 1,800 students have a place in the iQ. These folks as well as the quarter’s other employees and clients dine at more than 115 restaurants within a mile of the quarter, according to its website.

It encompasses eight apartment complexes, including Piedmont Leaf Lofts, repurposed from two 1890s historic buildings, and Winston Factory Lofts, created from a 1920s industrial building.

Retail includes Bailey South, a 33,000-square-foot building next to Bailey’s Power Plant and Biotech Place.

A 1.7-mile greenway, Long Beach Trail, runs the length of Innovation Quarter and connects to downtown Winston-Salem, creating a 20-mile loop for pedestrians and cyclists.

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REGENMED HUB AND LIFE SCIENCES

North Carolina has 790 life sciences companies and 2,500 companies supporting those primary life science companies that account for 70,000 jobs, according to the 2022 NCBiotech Company Directory.

TEConomy Partners, a research and strategy firm for economic development, reports that life sciences account for $84 billion in total annual economic activity and branch out to include 224,000 total jobs. With an average salary of $97,000 [in 2020], life sciences’ payroll statewide totaled $7.7 billion.

Wake Forest, which has one of five medical schools in North Carolina and one of three comprehensive cancer centers in the state, accounts for many of these life science jobs.

“The RegenMed Hub, located within the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, is opening up access to the field of regenerative medicine for which Winston-Salem has become a national leader with over 25 related companies located in the Innovation Accelerator,” Owens says. The recently launched

WFIRM lab techs work on a 3DHistech Pannoramic 1000 slide digitalization system.

PHOTO COURTSEY OF WFIRM.

real estate market,” Owens says.

“Investments by developers have resulted in build-to-suit projects in 220-acre Whitaker Park, ( two miles north of downtown) and Union Cross (in the southeastern section of the county.) Other industrial centers are ready for tenants.

“While Whitaker Park has had great success with investors, there is still great opportunity for tenants and companies to locate there with roughly 240,000 square feet still available,” Owens adds.

In November, Ziehl-Abegg, a German manufacturer of ventilation systems and generators, announced it will invest more than $100 million to establish its North American headquarters in Union Cross. The facility will be in a 500,000-squarefoot build-to-suit property. The company says it will move its Guilford County operations to the new site and offer relocation to Guilford’s 200 employees along with creating 300 new jobs.

“We are excited to welcome a global leader in advanced manufacturing to Forsyth County,” Owens said. “This location decision underscores the advantages that manufacturers have in this area – from infrastructure and logistics, to availability of talent to a supportive business climate.”

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PHOTO COURTSEY OF WFIRM.

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FORSYTH COUNTY Innovation Accelerator is an ecosystem for regenerative medicine focused entities and draws on the resources and talent within the Innovation Quarter.

“Regenerative medicine,” Atala says, “has the potential to change health care. We are working on technologies that can affect patients.

We can take a small piece of tissue in the patients and grow new cells and replace deceased organs. It’s a lot of work, and it took a lot of years to make it happen.”

Some of the areas of research include 3D bioprinting of reproducible human tissue and whole organs, devices that accelerate healing and tissue restoration, protein-based therapeutics administered through an IV and donated organs.

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REAL ESTATE GROWTH

“Our downtown, specifically with Wake Forest and their medical school, is developing so you have this new ecosystem of gyms and bars and restaurants, where you can walk to work and socialize with people in your network,” Gonzalez says.

“With our downtown, we’ve seen an explosion in growth with hotels and apartments and employers.”

A key ingredient, he says, is employee attraction and retention.

“Our recent migration numbers show that about 110,000 people have moved to North Carolina in the last 12 months,” Gonzalez says.

“So we’re competing for those good employees and competing with other cities in the South that have great downtowns and cultural stimulus.

A lot of our growth has been in

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employee attraction and retention, and Winston-Salem has turned into a really cool place to start a career and a family.

“If people go away to college, they come back because the quality of life is so great. Small and mediumsized businesses are trying to emulate the cool, engaging, flexible modern workplace, and that’s hard to do if you’re not surrounded by a lot of restaurants, bars and breweries.”

Regions outside of Winston-Salem throughout Forsyth County have their own draws for new residents and employees.

“Job growth has been incredibly healthy, so we’ve seen a lot of growth in housing and investments in the schools and infrastructure,” Gonzalez continues. “There’s a lot of uncertainty as to what the economy will have

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Bailey Park in Innovation Quarter.

PHOTO CREDIT: JAY CUTT

in the next year, but we’re kind of insulated here from the national headlines because we’re seeing interest from people who know we have an affordable cost of living, and excellent quality of life. You see that in Clemmons, you see it in Kernersville.

They’re really booming.”

Frank L. Blum Construction Co., which has built many of the key buildings in Winston-Salem, is part of the city’s latest activity in the Innovation Quarter and downtown.

It’s currently upfitting an old Reynolds Tobacco building for Wake Forest that will include classrooms, teaching labs and research labs. Blum also renovated the 500 West Fifth building that houses Winston Starts.

The company turns 100 in 2023.

With a contractor’s license number of “18,” it’s one of earliest and

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FORSYTH COUNTY continuously active builders across the state. Blum has constructed more than 100 buildings for Wake Forest, starting with a women’s dormitory in 1955. Other new and renovation projects include Wake Forest’s Deacon Tower, Graylyn, Reynolda House, Atrium Health’s Birth Center and the Forsyth County Central Library.

As part of its 100th anniversary next year, Blum is dedicating 100 hours a week to community service in 2023. “This is a challenge to our company as a whole and to the individuals that make up the Blum Family to find important ways to make an impact in the communities in which we live and work,” said Sidney Hunter, marketing director.

HIGHER EDUCATION SPOTLIGHT

Forsyth Technical Community College is just one of the seven colleges and universities in the county.

Its Innovation Quarter location across town from the main college campus, houses the Small Business Center, National Center for the Biotechnology

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Workforce and the school’s Business & Industry Services.

“I think we at Forsyth Tech are kind of in the heart of the entrepreneurial ecosystem here, and it’s a great location to serve our local clients, especially with the Small Business Center,” says Jennifer Coulombe, assistant vice president of Business Partnerships & Process Improvement.

Health care is FTCC’s most popular subject area, followed by advanced manufacturing and IT. “Healthcare is a huge piece of what we do in that we’re contributing to the local workforce so we work closely with our major employers in the area,” she says. “Students expand into greater workforce exposures like internship training and apprenticeships, and that’s where our bigger opportunities lie, in connecting employers to the student pipeline early in their education,” she says.

FTCC’s business and industry leadership team engages with the local workforce and designs and refines curricula so students learn what potential employers need.

The college’s Learn and Earn

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Apprenticeship Program [LEAP] is an adult apprenticeship route that lets people earn a degree while working in their chosen industry. “Our students graduate debt-free with impactful wages that can change the lives of their families,” Coulombe says.

With eight locations in Forsyth County and one in Stokes County, FTCC offers 69 associates degrees and has 21 online programs.

VISIONS

“I see continued growth,” Gonzalez says, of his outlook for the next several years. “I think we’re in a really well-positioned market that’s going to be insulated from a lot of headwinds, and I don’t see anything slowing us down. I don’t see the enthusiasm surrounding the Carolinas waning at all. I’m very optimistic.”

At FTCC, Coulombe says, “I think in the past we’ve been known as a two-year transfer opportunity, but we’re helping people know now that they can immediately go into the workforce and, more importantly, that financial barriers need not stop someone from pursuing

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Quarter will play a major role in that coming to pass.

“Winston-Salem is quickly refining its identity as a city where truly groundbreaking research and technology development is happening.”

“We set aside space for the regeneration accelerators, and within three months it was gone,” Atala says, “so we added more space, and it was gone. All around us, technology will keep growing, and the good news is that we have land for further development. We aren’t limited like other cities. We can put a lot more buildings in this area.” ■ — Kathy Blake is a writer from eastern North Carolina.

WAKE DOWNTOWN PHOTO CREDIT: AUDREY KNAACK

their education or their training in whatever they want to do.

“We are not training students to be competitors with their next-door neighbors. We’re training students to be global competitors,” she says.

And the ecosystem will continue to accommodate many players and purposes.

“In 10 years we believe WinstonSalem, the Innovation Quarter and RegenMed Hub will be seen as the premiere destination for research and technology development in the field of regenerative medicine, with companies either locating here or directly partnering with the companies and institutions to take their ideas to the next level,” Patterson says. “We believe Winston-Salem and the Innovation

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GREENSHOOTS

Revitalizing rural N.C.

ROBESON REBOOT A $3 million civic center expansion could rejuvenate downtown Lumberton.

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he story of the Carolina Civic Center in downtown Lumberton has had several chapters over the past century, from silent-film house to vacant building to born-again theater space.

Its latest chapter will begin this spring with construction of a planned $3 million annex that can host business conferences, weddings, dinner theater and more. The project is at the forefront of the Robeson County city’s efforts to revitalize its downtown district.

“Every time somebody goes to the civic center that’s not from Lumberton and they’ve never seen it, they’re like, ‘We had no idea that Lumberton had anything like this,’” says Sarah Beth Ward, the downtown development coordinator for the city of 19,000.

The Carolina Civic Center, which opened in 1928 and is on the National Register of Historic Places, draws between 12,000 and 13,000 visitors a year to concerts, theatrical productions and other events, says Executive Director Richard Sceiford. He hopes to triple that number in the next few years.

Ward and Sceiford hope investors and property owners will take note and help breathe new life into historic downtown Lumberton, which spans several city blocks. With promises of property tax breaks, the goal is to attract retail stores, coffee shops and restaurants.

Downtown has two big assets: its proximity to Interstate 95 and the Lumber River.

Fast-food restaurants and gas stations along I-95 are already popular pit stops for travelers on the major East Coast thoroughfare that runs from Canada to Miami. Downtown Lumberton is only about a mile off the highway.

The Lumber River, designated by Congress as one of five “wild and scenic” rivers in North Carolina, meanders along the west side of downtown and presents opportunities for recreation in a more urban setting. Ward envisions kayakers and canoers paddling south from the 88

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James L. Stephens Memorial Park to downtown, where they could get ice cream or drink a beer.

“We’re sitting on a gold mine,” says Ward.

Like many towns across North Carolina hoping to capitalize on renewed interest in downtown living and shopping, Lumberton faces challenges. Many businesses left downtown decades ago for Biggs Park Mall, about a mile away. Many buildings are in disrepair, and about 40% of downtown spaces are vacant, Ward says.

A few new businesses have opened downtown recently, including the popular bakery Sugar Savage, which sells custom cakes and other treats. Owner Ernest Strickland has appeared on three nationally televised baking competitions on the Food Network, including Holiday Gingerbread Showdown.

The city paid a local artist to paint a mural, and UNC Pembroke created a public art class to paint another.

A third mural, which says “Lumberton,” appears at the site of a building that burned years ago. The owner donated the property to the city. That mural, along with a newly completed small “pocket park” with a tent, concrete and grass, will be next to the civic center annex on North Chestnut Street.

With the civic center as a cultural hub, Ward says the city wants to focus on art downtown. The Lumbee Native American tribe, which has its headquarters in Robeson County, takes great pride in its artisans and craftsmen.

“We have so much culture and diversity,” she says. “We want to be all-inclusive in downtown Lumberton.” ■ This article first appeared in the Border Belt Independent. Read more of the nonprofit newsroom’s coverage of Robeson, Bladen, Columbus and Scotland counties at borderbelt.org.

PHOTO COURTESY: MAIN STREET LUMBERTON

BY SARAH NAGEM

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