Greater Charlotte Biz 2009.12

The Hunstad Center

•

Regions Bank

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Dr y-Pro Basement Systems

•

Michael Gallis & Associates

december 2009

Painting a Brighter Future United Way's McIntyre is Bringing Positive Change

Jane McIntyre Executive Director United Way of Central Carolinas, Inc.

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cover story

United Way of Central Carolinas

Jane McIntyre knew life would be hectic when she signed on to the seriously wounded United Way, leaving the YWCA where she’d been chief executive and thought she’d retire.

“I’ve been addressing the situation one group at a time,” says McIntyre. “I’m letting people know it’s a different kind of place now. It’s about change,” she emphasizes. “I actually really like change when it’s positive change.”

12

The Hunstad Center

Dr. Joseph Hunstad has risen to the pinnacle of his profession since he began practicing in Charlotte 22 years ago, and has done so with unabashed confidence and élan. His reputation is synonymous with medical and academic rigor, as well as unparalleled technical skill. “I am about maximum results,” he says purposefully.

16

Regions Bank

“The Regions Bank name might be new to people in this marketplace, but my bankers are not new,” says Ed Hawes, a Charlotte native who has worked in area banking nearly his entire career. “People know them.

When we sit down with a prospect, we probably have as much or more experience as any bank in town.”

!"

Dry-Pro Basement Systems

Ron Weatherly’s plan is to be the only company in the Charlotte area to handle all of the problems related to foundations that a homeowner might have. He envisions Dry-Pro as a one-stop shop, without the need to subcontract any work. “We do what we say when we say we will do it,” Weatherly asserts.

december 2009

departments publisher’spost

4

legalbiz

5

Transforming the Business of Law to Meet the Needs of Business

bizhealth

7

Making Healthy Work and Lifestyle Choices

bizxperts

8

Smart Salvos, Select Strategies and Succinct Solutions

employersbiz Legislative and Regulatory Highlights for Area Employers

biznetwork

37

ontop

40

on the cover:

The Hunstad Center

•

Regions Bank

•

Dr y-Pro Basement Systems

•

Michael Gallis & Associates

december 2009

Jane McIntyre Executive Director United Way of Central Carolinas, Inc.

30

Painting a Brighter Future United Way's McIntyre is Bringing Positive Change

Michael Gallis & Associates

Widely considered one of the country’s leading experts in large-scale metropolitan regional development strategies, he's pioneered a specialty in building frameworks through which public, private and institutional leaders have been mobilized to respond to the challenges and opportunities of states and regions in the 21st century.

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Photography by Wayne Morris

Jane McIntyre Executive Director United Way of Central Carolinas, Inc.

YEARS

2000 - 2010

w w w. g re a t e rc h a r l o t t e b i z . c o m

www.carolinasmedicalcenter.org

You’ve named us the region’s preferred hospital.

12 times.

For the twelfth time, a survey of people who live in the Charlotte area named

Carolinas Medical Center the preferred hospital in the region.

By bringing together people, technology and compassion, we’re forming lifelong relationships through convenient, seamlessly coordinated healthcare. This honor by the National Research Corporation demonstrates the trust and respect earned by the thousands of physicians, clinical staff and other professionals who deliver the finest healthcare available to you and your family.

As a premier medical center, we value the trust you place in us. It helps us provide you with unrivaled convenience and care, no matter where you live, work or play in our region.

[publisher’spost] 704-676-5850

Special Thanks for 10 Years and More Having now published Greater Charlotte Biz magazine for 10 years, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all in the greater Charlotte business community who have so warmly greeted and appreciated each issue. Our very first issue was January 2000.

Over the years, we have suffered, celebrated and survived much the same as the businesses we’ve profiled. We’ve operated through the end of dotcoms and telecoms, 9/11, the War in Iraq, Enron and John Paul Galles corporate scandals, the great banking debacle, and now the “Great Recession.”

That is the nature of our business experience and yours. That is why there are so many good stories to tell. Our readers look forward to reading each issue to learn about how others have survived and prospered, and maybe even to learn what they can do to make their businesses just a little bit better.

The mission of Greater Charlotte Biz has remained the same. We help business people learn about each other and about the abundance of business resources in this regional marketplace. Our goal with each issue is to make the next one better than the last one.

We have changed and improved and we will continue to get smarter and do an even better job, just like you are doing in your business. We are here to help you be more successful.

We have enjoyed the opportunity to become part of this business community. We have been so impressed with each and every business and owner that we have profiled.

We have published biz profiles on over 600 businesses in the Charlotte region–Charlottespecific original content, produced by Charlotte area writers, photographers, editors, and designers. The only place you get our content is from our publication and our Web site.

One of the great things about Greater Charlotte Biz is that it is feature-based, not news-based. In that sense, it is timeless, providing “snapshots” of businesses but in more depth and perspective than a news story, creating a business history of Charlotte.

As a niche magazine specific to the Charlotte region, we don’t accept “canned” content or “how-to” pieces that are less relevant and meaningful.

We hope that we have contributed in some small way to the economic growth and development in this transforming region. We count amongst our other publications six annual editions of Choose Charlotte USA, an economic development guide to attract new and expanding businesses to this region. We especially enjoyed working with the Bissell Companies to publish a 10-year anniversary book about the history and growth of Ballantyne Business Park.

We have many people to thank for these 10 years. We are so grateful to those who have invited us to tell their stories in our pages. We are immensely proud and respectful of all our advertisers over the years who have promoted their companies, their products and services through our vehicle to our readers.

We also want to thank our writers, our photographers, our printers, our staff, our sales people and our friends who have encouraged and worked with us to keep on even when the going got tough. We especially want to thank our families for their support and thoughtfulness in building this business.

The first 10 years were an incredible challenge, but I’m sure no more than any other business faces. We promise to continue to tell good stories that you want to read as well as deliver great advertising for businesses who want to do business with you. We subscribe to the mantra, “Do what you say you will do…and do it even better whenever possible.”

We look forward to the next 10 years and to continuing to grow this energetic marketplace. We wish you the very best in 2010 and the next decade of business activity. Please let me know if we can be helpful to you! biz

Let me know what you think - jgalles@greatercharlottebiz.com

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december 2009

December 2009 Volume 10 • Issue 12 Publisher John Paul Galles x102 jgalles@greatercharlottebiz.com

Associate Publisher/Editor Maryl A. Lane x104 mlane@greatercharlottebiz.com

Creative Director Trevor Adams x103 tadams@greatercharlottebiz.com

Account Executives sales@greatercharlottebiz.com Marsha Bradford x106 Dave Cartwright x107 Bradley Jackson x107 Sandra Ledbetter x106

Contributing Writers Ellison Clary Susanne Deitzel Casey Jacobus

Contributing Photographers Wayne Morris Trevor Adams Galles Communications Group, Inc. 5601 77 Center Drive • Suite 250 Charlotte, NC 28217-0737 704-676-5850 Phone • 704-676-5853 Fax www.greatercharlottebiz.com • Press releases and other news-related information: editor@greatercharlottebiz.com.

• Editorial: maryl.a.lane@greatercharlottebiz.com.

• Advertising: jgalles@greatercharlottebiz.com.

• Subscription inquiries or change of address: subscriptions@greatercharlottebiz.com.

• Other inquiries: please call or fax at the numbers above or visit our Web site www.greatercharlottebiz.com. © Copyright 2009 by Galles Communications Group, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, Galles Communications Group, Inc. makes no warranty to the accuracy or reliability of this information. Products named in these pages are trade names or trademarks of their respective companies. Views expressed herein are not necessarily those of Greater Charlotte Biz or Galles Communications Group, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher. For reprints call 704-676-5850 x102.

Greater Charlotte Biz (ISSN 1554-6551) is published monthly by Galles Communications Group, Inc., 5601 77 Center Dr., Ste. 250, Charlotte, NC 28217-0737. Telephone: 704-676-5850. Fax: 704-676-5853. Subscription rate is $24 for one year. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Greater Charlotte Biz, 5601 77 Center Dr., Ste. 250, Charlotte, NC 28217-0737.

w w w. g re a t e rc h a r l o t t e b i z . c o m

Wishart Norris Henninger & Pittman

Wishart, Norris, Henninger & Pittman, P.A.

AT T O R N E Y S AT L AW

[legalbiz]

Transforming the Business of Law to Meet the Needs of Business

Social Networking Sites and Employees; A Headache for Employers Approximately 43% of office workers in the United States access social networking sites on the Internet while at work. Social networking is the top activity taking place on the Internet. Networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and various Blogs are being used by more than just kids these days.

Since posts on these sites are often spontaneous and mix personal and professional discussions, employers may be exposed to the following issues for employees’ activities: ! disclosures of confidential information; ! exposure to claims such as defamation, harassment, discrimination and copyright infringement; ! angering or offending customers or the public in general; ! and wasting employee productivity.

Posts on such sites may also inadvertently provide evidence to an opposing party during litigation proceedings.

Other considerations for employers include whether to discipline employees or refuse job

applicants for their statements and activities on these sites. In fact, “Facebook Firing” or “Doocing” have even become accepted slang terms for employees being fired for posting something on a social networking site. Employers are often torn between their liability concerns for employees’ statements and the free speech or other rights of those employees.

So what should an employer do about these sites?

Employers should create a written social networking/blogging policy that generally: ! Provides a clear explanation of prohibited activities; ! Covers all social media; ! Prohibits any posting that could be a conflict of interest for the business or harms the business; and ! Makes it clear that violations may result in discipline, including termination of employment.

See a human resources consultant or attorney for sample policies. As with other employment policies, employers should publicize any such policy, train the employees on its application and take steps to ensure compliance.

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"No Texting Here!

Beginning December 1, 2009, text messaging while driving is illegal in North Carolina. Be certain that you communicate to your employees that your company’s policies have been updated to reflect that “texting” while driving is prohibited as well. Also, it is a good idea to prohibit using e-mail or talking on a cell phone generally as an overall policy. Many companies in states which do not prohibit the use of cell phones while driving have still paid large settlements in cases where an employee was involved in an accident while using the phone.

Should your business be on Facebook has over 250 million users worldwide. With a market that large, many businesses are joining the Facebook bandwagon. While it may be a very useful tool, you should be careful about how you proceed on Facebook. A few issues you should consider before starting are: • Facebook wasn’t really designed for businesses, so be prepared for some difficulties integrating your business into Facebook and marketing on the site.

• Be careful about which of your employees may be given access to or the duty to create your business’ Facebook Page. In some cases, you may not be able to remove or transfer his or her access and control even if they leave your employment. You may need a written agreement with the employee or employees that administer your Page.

• Think carefully about creating a Page, a Group

"To Compete or Non-Compete Two cases decided by the North Carolina Court of Appeals have supported the idea that provisions in an agreement not to compete must be limited to areas directly related to what the employee does.

One of these cases dealt with a restriction on solicitation of customers. The court found that the provision was not enforceable because it dealt with customers whom the employee had no contact with as well as potential customers of the business.

The second case dealt with a restriction against competition with affiliates, subsidiaries or divisions of the employer company. The court found this restriction was unreasonable and unenforceable as it prohibited conduct against a variety of businesses in which the employee was not engaged.

What’s the bottom line? You should make sure your non-competition agreements cover only the areas where an employee could harm your business. Do not make the agreements go beyond the employment, duties and true impact the employee can have on your business.

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or a Profile. A “Page” seems most appropriate for businesses because Pages can communicate with an unlimited number of “fans”, Page administrator identities are shielded, comments from the administrator appear to come from the company instead of an individual, and many other reasons.

• If you plan to allow comments from others on your Page, consider copyright issues that may arise from public posts and monitor the Page regularly for any posts that may need to be deleted. Your Page must have its own copyright policies posted separate from those of Facebook.

• Do not forget that material posted on your Page can likely be taken and re-used by others.

This includes company posts, comments, photos and graphics. Your Page should have Terms of Use that include licensing provisions for the material on the Page.

p u r s u i n g a b a l a n c e o f b u s i n e s s a n d l i fe

~Gary Smith

• Be careful about promotions or contests.

Facebook has guidelines concerning any promotions or contests run from your Page. If you plan to run a contest, plan on significant research and time to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations.

• Your Page may need a privacy policy, in particular if your business markets products to children.

• Regularly monitor the Facebook Statement of Rights and Responsibilities page and become a fan of the Facebook Site Governance Page to keep up with Facebook’s changing requirements.

Wishart, Norris, Henninger & Pittman, P.A. partners with owners of closely-held businesses to provide comprehensive legal services in all areas of business, tax, estate planning, succession planning, purchases and sales of businesses, real estate, family law, and litigation. For more information, please call Robert Norris at 704-364-0010 or visit www.wnhplaw.com.

december 2009

5

[bizhealth]

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This time of year is particularly hectic, and along with all the hustle and bustle of getting ready for the holiday season, comes tension and stress. For this reason, December is nationally recognized as Stress Relief Month. There are several things we can do to minimize stress so that we can enjoy the holidays and our families: ! Make a list of all the things you and your family like—and dislike—about the holidays. Build your own traditions around the highest-scoring “likes.” ! Take care of your body. ! Get at least 30 minutes of brisk exercise every day—even brisk walking is great. ! Stop eating when you are full—but don’t skip meals, either. ! Allow yourself a few holiday treats, but don’t overdo. ! Get plenty of sleep. ! Limit alcoholic drinks to one or two a day. ! Take care of your spirit; plan activities around what you want to do. ! Realize that you are not solely responsible for making the holidays special for everyone else. ! Don’t accept every invitation; it’s okay to send your regrets. ! Along with honoring traditions, give yourself new memories by doing something you’ve never done before. ! Give time and friendship rather than presents; share yourself with family, friends and the community. ! Above all, keep your sense of humor count your blessings.

STRESS

"Sweet! Hot Cocoa May Prevent Heart Disease Cocoa Has More Antioxidants than Red Wine, Tea Sweet news, as winter approaches: Hot cocoa has more disease-fighting antioxidants than tea or red wine. And the heat may help propel them into the bloodstream.

Extensive studies have shown that between black tea, green tea, red wine, and cocoa—all “major” sources of antioxidants called phenols and flavonoids (antioxidant chemicals found naturally in foods that can help prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer)—cocoa had the highest levels of antioxidants, twice as high as red wine, and nearly three times stronger than green tea. ! Cocoa had 611 mg of phenols and 564 mg of flavonoids. ! Red wine had 340 mg of phenols and 163 mg of flavonoids. ! Green tea had 165 mg of phenols and 47 mg of flavonoids. ! Black tea had 124 mg of phenols and 34 mg of flavonoids.

These results suggest that cocoa is more beneficial to health than teas and red wine in terms of its higher antioxidant capacity and ability to fight damage leading to heart disease and cancer. Heat may may even help trigger release of more antioxidants.

These findings make hot cocoa a compelling addition to our kitchen arsenal of cancer and heart-disease fighting foods.

~Ki Won Lee, Ph.D. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry Cont. on p.38

Time for a New Lease – on Life If your office lease is nearing renewal, imagine working in an environment that inspires innovation and creative thinking. At the Design Center, we find energy in the vintage vibe of our buildings, in the unique architectural details of our offices, and in the vibrant sense of community that pulses through it all. It’s not just the buildings that make our space so special–the Design Center’s ideal location, diverse mix of tenants, and exceptional focus around events make us Charlotte’s hub for forward thinking businesses. Contact Meredith Dickerson at 704-971-6517 to see for yourself what makes us truly unique.

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www.designcentercarolinas.com

p u r s u i n g a b a l a n c e o f b u s i n e s s a n d l i fe

december 2009

7

[bizXperts]

Smart Salvos, Select Strategies and Succinct Solutions

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some business insights from those at the top… !

Selected CEO comments shared each month at recent The Alternative Board meetings across greater Charlotte and the U.S. Have Your Employees Understand Sales Incentives Incentives are an important part of our sales compensation and they are somewhat complex since we pay commissions based on sales, profit margins and financing parameters. Faced with employees who claimed they Jeff Raynor “couldn’t understand” their compensation, I shifted the burden to them. Now, each salesman hands in a worksheet showing what he thinks he earned in the pay period. If he’s correct, we know he understands what makes him money. If he’s wrong, we have a chance to go over the plan with him again. ~Michael C., San Antonio, Texas A Productive “Bailout” Many of us have either frozen wages or actually reduced compensation in the current recession. As time goes on and as our cash position improves, we have the option of providing a “bailout” (rather than a pay increase) to some or all employees. We can offer cash payment in recognition for their efforts under trying conditions. We avoid locking into a higher wage, while providing immediate cash that will be greatly appreciated. ~Charles C., Wilmington, Del. Set Aside Time to “Sharpen” Focus We were discussing the need to step back and relax from the continual

./

daily grind. The analogy surfaced of the logger who was using an axe to cut down trees but refused to take the time to stop and sharpen their blade because it would mean they would have to stop working for awhile during daylight hours. Failure to realize that they could cut much faster during the available time if they just stopped to sharpen the blade prevented them from optimizing revenue in optimum time. By stepping back and taking time away from the daily grind, the business owner is able “to sharpen the blade” and regain the ability to think clearly about their strategic plans and analyze necessary changes. ~Mark R., St. Louis, Mo. Marketplace Renewal Introduce a new or additional URL for your Web site to allow tracking future responses and your return on investment. It allows your company a new image in your marketplace and elevates the awareness of your company. Also, using a new toll-free number can give you separate call records so you can see how your marketing is performing. You can use either of these changes for both online marketing (such as Google AdWords) as well as offline (such as newspapers, direct mail, print and radio ads). ~Jeff R., Charlotte, N.C. Jeff Raynor, Certified TAB Facilitator and Strategic Business Leadership Coach, heads TAB Charlotte, part of The Alternative Board—a global CEO-peer group and coaching firm. Contact him at 704-554-6200 or visit www.TABCharlotte.com.

social media networking and your brand !

The world has jumped on the social media networking craze and, at times, it appears that individuals and organizations have done so without much thought. Social networking is typically an Internet-based group of individuals, organizations or associations that have a common belief, interest or cause that have come together to share their interests or ideas.

A recent University of Phoenix-Career Builder.com Build Bill Crigger Your Career Event identified the Top 10 Business Networking Sites as: ryze.com; plaxo.com; linkedin.com; yahoogroups.com; biznik.com; cmypitch.com; cofoundrer.com;efactor.com; econnect.com; and networkingforprofessionals.com. To how many of these sites do you belong or have you accessed?

A study by global PR-communications firm Burston-Marsteller noted that 54% of Fortune 100 companies are using Twitter; 32% use a blog; and 29% actively use a Facebook fan page.

Consider the following if you participate in Internet-based social networks: What message are you sending? Did you realize that these sites are defining your business and personal brand? Does it accurately represent your brand image?

Does your online brand matter? CareerBuilder.com indicates that one-infive employers use social networking sites to research candidates; 59% of hiring managers are influenced by an online brand; and 53% of adult Americans use search engines to find information about each other.

Google yourself and see what your online brand says. You may be surprised.

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december 2009

And do not forget that even though you may delete comments or pictures from a specific Internet-based network, those deletions remain out on the “Internet” virtually forever for anyone to find.

Seven Social Networking Tips 1. Create a personalized social network strategy. What do you want your online brand to say about you; what are your unique selling points; why should someone rely on you or do business with you.

2. Develop your social networking goals, direction and an action plan for implementation. Write it down.

3. Build it before you need it. Work on your brand and strategy now. Begin to develop your online “tone and voice.”

4. As you join sites, choose quality over quantity. You cannot be everything to everyone and joining many sites and not keeping your postings current, may dilute your brand.

5. Be professional in your profiles, postings, and responses. Never post anything you wouldn’t want to see in the paper or have your mother read.

6. Be patient. It does take a while for your consistent brand to take hold. Do not add fluff or blue-sky.

7. One size does not fit all. Let your online, social networking brand fit you.

Bill Crigger is president of Compass Career Management Solutions, a career transition and human resource consulting firm. Contact him at bcrigger@compasscareer.com or visit www.compasscareer.com to learn more about social media networking and your brand.

w w w. g re a t e rc h a r l o t t e b i z . c o m

Smart Salvos, Select Strategies and Succinct Solutions

0%%+&1'(12

[bizXperts]

no time to go wobbly !

Obscure, deliberate and problematic research begun decades earlier continues today to develop a strain of wheat that will sustain humans, can be established without tilling the soil and be perennially maintained without using chemicals.

Aware that developing such a strain during his lifetime was remote, the prominent scientist who initiated this research, and conducted it during his entire professional life, did so because he believed that wheat production methods currently being used were unsustainable.

To operate a business is to be undaunted.

As Margaret Thatcher might say, there is no time to go wobbly; you must not let the faint hearts grow in strength.

When asked why he decided to take on such a difficult effort, he replied that if solutions to problems can be found during your lifetime, you’re not thinking deep enough.

Really!

An unflattering interpretation of this notion is that most of your problems are superficial. But while many of the problems you confront in your business require prompt solutions, given the unprecedented financial challenges of 2009, it is undeniable that “deep thinking” is also germane to the future success of your business.

First, accept these unassailable facts: operating a thriving business involves continuously overcoming challenges, constantly contending with competition, and frequently suffering with varying levels of anxiety.

To operate a business is to be undaunted. As Margaret Thatcher might say, there is no time to go wobbly; you must not let the faint hearts grow in strength.

Second, dedicate sufficient time to determine what actually happened in your organization this year and how it compares to what was expected. In other words, look internally.

Precisely what this will entail depends on your business activities and size. However, it’s not necessary for your organization to have the capability of, say, measuring the difference between sales volume on a Wednesday when it does or does not rain.

Conversely, simply comparing gross sales, gross profit, operating net income and total debt over several years can only highlight whether in general your business is prospering. Doing so will not identify a process that requires improvement or a product or services which are being sold at a loss.

Specifically examine the correlation between your business’s inputs to assess whether they are consistent with your expectations.

p u r s u i n g a b a l a n c e o f b u s i n e s s a n d l i fe

If they are not, determine whether your expectations were correct or whether there is problem that you need to address.

Third, remember that your customers do not buy your product or service because you want to sell it, but because it provides benefits to them for the cost.

All other things remaining equal, the lower the sales John Blair price or the better the quality of your product or service, the greater the benefit your customer reaps.

To stay competitive, look externally by obtaining key measures and relationships, called benchmarks, calculated for your industry and for organizations in your industry of equivalent in size and compare them to those for your organization. This effort will provide you with an objective means of measuring performance.

Dr. Carla O’Dell, president of American Productivity & Quality Center asserts, “Benchmarking is the practice of being humble enough to admit that someone else is better at something, and being wise enough to learn how to match and even surpass them at it.”

Walter Chrysler was said to have disassembled the different Ford models as they were introduced to understand what components they contained, what it cost to make it and how it was manufactured.

Use benchmarking data to identify a process, product or service that is underperforming. Then formulate and implement appropriate actions to improve, eliminate or replace it.

Two sources from which you can obtain benchmarking data are trade associations or BizStats (www.bizstats.com), a private organization that sells benchmarks for numerous industries.

Keep in mind that interpreting variances between benchmark data and the results of your organization is not an exact science. Benchmarks are based on organizations that vary in size, years in existence and obviously location from your organization.

So, consider factors unique to your business when interpreting variances. Moreover, study trends. If over several years, for instance, your business is increasingly underperforming relative to the benchmark, it indicates there is a problem.

Finally, keep in mind that analyzing historical data tells you what has happened. Next year presumably will be different; this year should be evidence enough that the past does not predict the future and that in a week’s time what was certain to occur can suddenly become improbable.

Furthermore, it is important to never let creativity be stifled by analytics. Except for those that are regulated or deemed too big to fail, innovation and risk-taking are requirements for all businesses.

John D. Blair Sr. is a managing partner at Blair, Bohlé & Whitsitt, PLLC., a CPA firm that provides accounting, assurance, tax compliance and planning services in addition strategic planning and tax minimization strategies to privately held businesses. Contact him at 704-841-9800 or visit www.bbwpllc.com.

december 2009

9

[bizXperts]

Smart Salvos, Select Strategies and Succinct Solutions

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traditional media + internet media = results !

As we shift into the new decade, more businesses are blending the reach, frequency and emotional appeal of traditional offline advertising with the immediacy, targeting, and measurable interaction that is found online.

It has never been more feasible (and more vital) for businesses to leverage the strengths of integrating traditional and online media formats. With a comprehensive, coordinated strategy, you will generate results with greater impact than by using these tools separately. Think “Media Synergy.”

Television Advertising + Internet Media… Despite television’s numerous advantages, the length of a traditional TV message is limited to only a few seconds. Further, timing the delivery of the television message to match the immediate need of a given customer can be haphazard and presents only passive, indirect options for a response. Adding supplemental online content to a television campaign increases the effectiveness. Campaign-related Web pages provide unlimited detail about the product, remain available whenever the information is needed, and encourage immediate gratification with a convenient e-commerce transaction.

Radio Advertising + Internet Media… Like television, radio advertising offers effective reach and quickly grabs the audience’s initial attention. But, when a radio message is first received, most consumers are not in a position to immediately respond because they are involved in other activities. With concentrated exposure to numerous commercials, customers often cannot later recall key

information. Internet media can help bridge this gap between advertiser and listener by posting detailed commercial content within an easy-to-retrieve, centralized online directory.

Outdoor/Display Advertising + Internet Media…

Centralized online directories can also increase customer response to traditional outdoor and display advertising by offering a consistent, easy-to-remember reference tool Kip Cozart where customers may easily recall and immediately act on the sales proposition.

Print Advertising + Internet Media… Internet media increases the use and portability of traditional print content. Advertising offers may be redistributed to a wider audience, by including a built-in “send to a friend” link placed within the message. “Keyword search” capability, when added to online versions of print content, extends shelf-life and helps customers locate and reuse the information over time. Print coupon distribution will be increased by supplemental “click ’n print” Web pages, broadcast e-mail campaigns, Twitter or Facebook announcements, or delivered “on-demand” by mobile smart phones with scanner-compatible display screens.

Kip Cozart is CEO of CC Communications, a Web design, programming and Internet media company. Contact him at 704-543-1171 or visit www.cccommunications.com/ bizXperts for more strategic e-mail marketing suggestions.

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THE EMPLOYERS ASSOCIATION

Legislative and Regulatory Highlights for Area Employers

Trusted HR Advice, Tools & Training

President: A Message from the 1N 1?

Are you ready for H

GINA GOES INTO EFFECT; MANDATORY POSTING UPDATE

THE EMPLOYERS ASSOCIATION Trusted HR Advice, Tools

& Training

to ine flu virus. According ried about the H1N1/sw widespread a ng I am beginning to get wor orti rep are es stat 37 trol (CDC), at least the Centers for Disease Con 000 people have been hos Carolina are included), 13, th Sou and rth (No outbreak people have died.

U.S. pitalized and over 1,000 half the population in the are saying that as many as rces sou able reli , I really did ing Many spr last N1 H1 ut abo When I first heard we could contract the virus.

I thought it was something n to it. Like many of you, ntio atte ch mu t ential impact. pot its not pay tha ng rati gge exa e the news reports wer needed to be aware of, but just elevated to pandemic may be true. The virus was s ion dict pre se the Turns out r. just status earlier this summe s are taking this issue. We seriously local employer how der won ly and 64% said I real ies, pan com er mb me h 186 participating completed a survey wit planning and H1N1. icy to address pandemic pol al form a e if e hav not they do employees to stay at hom they were not requiring said 88% y, atel tun Approximately 90% said For s. the viru to, but not yet contracted said they they have been exposed came to work sick, and 84% y the if e hom s yee plo b site.

We our on are they were sending em vey sur ers. Complete results of the a classic “baby am I had provided hand sanitiz es. issu se the of e wrestle with som I am sure I will personally of weather or sickness being at work regardless and rs hou g lon in a feelting Put boomer.” ink that now, and I have ion. I am beginning to reth e.” her tta “ou is just part of my generat be y ma ws up with the sniffles, he you should ing that if an employee sho yers should address, and plo em t tha es issu icy pol e point in som There are many At .

HA OS and dge of FLSA, ADA, FMLA, work (can you of ut brush up on your knowle in/o are o wh s yee e exempt emplo time, you will probably hav want to send home/not let employees who you will be will re the ?), pay ir dock the are mulling the prospect you of ny ma t legal?), and I bet them come to work (is tha And at some point, I t?). a flu shot (can you do tha e hav to ne ryo that a eve ng of requiri employee tries to claim sonnel issues when one log?).

300 HA OS r am sure you will have per you on t go with H1N1 (and does tha r /he him cted it. infe ut ker co-wor l? Think abo es? Are your actions lega Are you ready for these issu

[employersbiz]

The Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA) went into effect on November 21, 2009.

Basically, this law prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of genetic information. It requires employers to refrain from using genetic information in employment and intentionally acquiring genetic information about applicants and employees. This act applies to all companies, private and public sector, with 15 or more employees.

Additionally, GINA requires that companies post a notice to inform employees of their rights. The EEOC has updated its Equal Employment Opportunity Is The Law poster. You can print the updated EEOC poster from the following link: www.eeoc.gov/self_print_poster.pdf. or purchase one from The Employers Association.

ent Kenny L. Colbert, Presid tion ocia Ass s yer plo The Em

NORTH CAROLINA BANS TEXTING WHILE DRIVING Effective December 1, 2009, it is unlawful for any motor vehicle operator to text message while driving. Violations of the new law will constitute an “infraction” punishable by a $100 fine. However, no points or insurance surcharges can be assessed for a violation, and the statute expressly states that a violation “shall not constitute negligence per se or contributory negligence” in a civil lawsuit arising from an accident caused by texting. Nonetheless, employers should alert their employees who drive of this change in the law.

(Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.)

Cont. on p.42

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december 2009

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“Dr. Hunstad is the most friendly, empathetic physician…

Perfection is his #1 goal and complete happiness is his only standard.” ~S.M. (Patient), N.C.

Dr. Joseph P. Hunstad Founder The Hunstad Center for Cosmetic Plastic Surgery, P.A.

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by susanne deitzel

[bizprofile]

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The Hunstad Center Defines Cutting Edge

W

hen we think about a professional with a gift or a talent—the person we typically associate with it is usually someone who does things differently. Sometimes this means more boldly or more colorfully, and always at a higher level of expertise.

Dr. Joseph Hunstad, founder of The Hunstad Center for Cosmetic Plastic Surgery, fits both of these distinctions.

Hunstad has risen to the pinnacle of his profession since he began practicing in Charlotte 22 years ago, and has done so with unabashed confidence and élan. His reputation is synonymous with medical and academic rigor, as well as unparalleled technical skill.

With the superfluity of celebrity procedures and pop culture television shows, one could presume that cosmetic surgeries are fairly straightforward and “standard.” But one conversation with Joseph Hunstad shifts that paradigm pretty quickly.

Hunstad feels he was “destined” for his work. While he originally thought he would specialize in burn repair surgery, when he attended a cosmetic surgery in medical school, the delicacy and detail sparked his intellectual curiosity.

And when Hunstad’s curiosity gets sparked, plan on a wildfire!

Today, the surgeon is ranked among the prestigious Castle Connolly’s America’s Top Doctors, America’s Top Physicians, Strathmore’s Who’s Who, Kiplinger’s Who’s Who and Charlotte Magazine’s Top Doctors. He has spoken in 22 countries, recently published a text book on Abdominoplasty, designed an eponymous series of surgical instruments, and developed a procedure that also bears his name. Filming of his innovative procedures has been captured on DVDs and used at teaching hospitals around the globe.

Hunstad obtained his M.D. at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and received a coveted fellowship in Reconstructive Microsurgery at Baylor University in Houston. He has served as an assistant consulting professor for plastic surgery at Duke University Medical Center as well as an assistant clinical professor for plastic surgery at UNC Chapel Hill.

Hunstad’s curriculum vitae overflows with accreditations and membership in numerous professional boards and medical societies including the American Board of Plastic Surgery, Fellow of the #

p u r s u i n g a b a l a n c e o f b u s i n e s s a n d l i fe

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“I am about maximum results.

This means refusing to settle and figuring out new ways to do things that will benefit our clients in terms of results, safety and service.” ~Dr. Joseph Hunstad MD, FACS

American College of Surgeons, American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, International Consortium of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, International Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Southeastern Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, North Carolina Society of Plastic Surgeons, North Carolina Medical Society, Mecklenburg County Medical Society; he lectures internationally and publishes regularly in academic journals.

But Hunstad is more than intelligent, successful and industrious. He is passionate about what he does.

Old-school principles If you could imagine Virgin Airlines’ Richard Branson as a highly respected surgeon, you would have a start to appreciating Joseph Hunstad.

Hunstad attributes his extraordinary acumen and reputation partially on the fact that he’s pretty fearless. “I am about maximum results. This means refusing to settle and figuring out new ways to do things that will benefit our patients in terms of

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results, safety and service,” he says purposefully.

He adds, “I am hypercritical of myself and have high expectations of what we deliver for our clients.

As a result, we get a lot of referrals from other plastic surgeons—an extraordinarily high compliment in a very competitive arena.”

Hunstad maintains that the best cosmetic surgery goes unnoticed, and if he encounters a potential client whose standards are what he calls misdirected or unrealistic, he will gracefully bow out of the patient relationship. He says patients are also carefully interviewed, and if an aesthetic request overshadows reasonability, he will also decline the relationship.

“I spend a lot of time listening to my patients.

When you come here, you get my undivided attention. I get to know you and your family and what is important to you. We determine not only what solution is most appropriate, but what you need to be comfortable and confident in your decision,” explains Hunstad.

Hunstad, warm and caring in his client relationships, is decidedly old-school when it comes to patient interaction.

“I have a deep respect for my patients. I call them Mr. or Mrs. Smith. If they fly in to CharlotteDouglas, it is not unusual for me to send our limousine. I wear an impeccable suit to meet them and my staff will attend to their every request. This not only demonstrates respect but gives them the confidence they deserve in our process.”

This brings front and center the defining characteristics of Hunstad and the center he operates—constant improvement, rigorous medical practice and fastidiousness for top-tier client care.

Since 1995, Hunstad has practiced in his own fully accredited, state-of-the-art surgical center in northeast Charlotte. A stickler for precision, he went to extraordinary lengths to guarantee the health and care of his patients, from the office design, to the suite of services, hand-selected surgical staff, and meticulously-credentialed anesthesiologists.

This fall, he took another bold leap, opening a brand new, 9,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility in North Lake Business Park. It occupies the top floor of a three-story building that looks more

mountain lodge than medical park. Expansive windows, elegant accents and stone veneer are surrounded by a wooded setting and walking trails.

Hunstad says the new location is carefully designed to offer a premium experience for both surgical and spa clients, and separate entrances are provided for increased convenience and privacy.

In addition to cosmetic surgery, Hunstad’s new center provides many non-invasive offerings like Botox, Juvederm and Restylane, and an expanded medi-spa. The new medi-spa space has expanded from two to five private treatment rooms and offers a suite of services including skin health consultations, laser treatments, oxygen treatments, facials, microdermabrasion, peels, waxing and makeup consultations. The medi-spa also attends to postoperative treatments to provide increased comfort and accelerated healing cycles.

But despite the luxurious atmosphere, painstaking detail to client services, and boutique experience of the new physical space, the clear distinction with Joseph Hunstad is surgical excellence.

Demand for excellence One distinction from other cosmetic surgeons is that Dr. Joseph Hunstad does not do free consultations. People who come to see him often arrive on planes or in private cars, and they know who he is. Among the procedures for which Dr. Hunstad is renowned is expert body contouring and facelifts.

“If you are looking for a natural-looking facelift, have had considerable weight loss and want to look good in a swim suit again, or are looking for abdominoplasty or breast contouring, I’m your guy.” Fifteen percent of Hunstad’s clients are males who see him for high definition body contouring.

His peers often refer these specialties to him, as well as difficult cases and revision surgeries. His technical precision minimizes complications that he says are endemic in all surgeries and includes a level of expertise that Hunstad calls ‘bloodless surgery.’

He explains, “Blood is a precious commodity and it isn’t necessary to lose it. Plus, when you reduce this factor, you accelerate healing.

Patients get walking sooner and this restores the body’s natural ability to heal.”

Hunstad is known for his surgical innovation as well as his skill. His techniques in tumescent liposculpture surgery and circumferential abdominoplasty have been made into

w w w. g re a t e rc h a r l o t t e b i z . c o m

instructional videos by The Lipoplasty Society of North America and The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and he frequently performs live surgeries at teaching hospitals.

He’s developed a set of medical instruments called The Hunstad Line, and in the past two years he has pioneered procedures called the braline back lift and purse-string gluteoplasty. He says they are great advances, but of course, he is not resting on his laurels.

“There is a lot of mediocre cosmetic surgery out there, and most of it is a function of two things. One is that many people are conservative and settle for repeating what they know rather than continuing to learn and thinking of better ways to do things.

The other is that many doctors got into the practice for financial reward as opposed to passion, and it shows. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that money isn’t nice to have, but it isn’t what motivated me into this line of work,” says Hunstad.

What motivates Joseph Hunstad is passion.

He’s the kind of guy that cares more about what it feels like to drive a Ferrari than what it means to be seen in one. He confesses he has a personality that can go from zero to 100 in the blink of an eye, digs Bob Seger, and has been known to take a notebook to the deer stand with him to capture inspiration as it strikes.

He’s also a study in contrasts.

Not surprisingly, he loves art. Surprisingly, he prefers Impressionists. He is outspoken in his assertions, but gentle with his patients. He is aesthetically driven and scientifically erudite. He speaks boldly with sweeping gestures, but is a master of detail. He is a classic perfectionist surrounded by people who wish to correct their imperfections.

Hunstad is his work.

The future takes shape Now in his 22nd year of practice, Joseph Hunstad has risen to national and international esteem, and with the opening of his new facility is looking toward the future. The best year for his practice was 2007, and 2009 has held steady with last year’s

business. He attributes this to national and peer recognition in a market where many in his field are closing their doors.

Hunstad is also paying his expertise and philosophy forward. For the past eight years he has offered a fellowship program for which he currently has a two-and-a-half-year waiting list of students.

Says Hunstad, “Colleagues from all over the world—Columbia, Iceland, Sweden, Italy, Brazil— send their associates to study with us.”

In August of this year, Hunstad invited Dr. William Kortesis, an accomplished plastic surgeon who specializes in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, to become the second surgeon in the practice, a pretty big compliment. He says that it was one of the best decisions he has ever made.

“Bill is one hundred percent committed to the highest levels of technical proficiency and patient care. He is thoughtful, adored by staff, and a great person,” says Hunstad.

Kortesis, North Carolina native, graduated from UNC Chapel Hill, received his medical degree from Wake Forest University and completed his residency at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. He turned down four jobs to work with Hunstad. Most recently Kortesis completed a humanitarian effort to help pediatric burn victims in Bolivia, performing over 5,000 surgical cases. Says Hunstad, “We needed a superstar—and that’s what Bill is.”

Kortesis maintains that it is a privilege to be a plastic surgeon: “The theme of our practice is changing people’s lives. It’s about much more than aesthetics; it is about building a relationship to enhance the overall persona of each and every patient; in essence, to make a difference in their life.”

“The theme of our practice is changing people’s lives. It’s about much more than aesthetics; it is about building a relationship to enhance the overall persona of each and every patient; in essence, to make a difference in their life.”

Hunstad says that although he will continue to add physicians in the future, “It’s not easy finding surgeons of Bill’s caliber professionally and personally—but that is the standard we have set for ourselves.”

In addition to practicing surgery, publishing, speaking and teaching, Hunstad is viscerally involved with the business of The Hunstad Center.

He makes the decisions for the practice—impulsively, intuitively, and on-the-money.

He operates without a practice manager and attributes his success to a competent, committed and loyal staff. Hunstad says he learned early on that relationships with support staff are critical, particularly in surgery, because of the delicate nature of the work.

“I have had people who have been with me for 14 years. I am very liberal in granting authority and empowering my staff. Employee longevity is an absolute indicator of practice health.”

Joseph Hunstad moves just as instinctively though conversation as he appears to in his decision-making or surgical finesse. He moves through words and situations with an undeniable confidence that tends to move things forward and shape things into something distinctive and individual.

This is how Joseph Hunstad attends to his patients. This is also how he continues to shape what will most definitely be a very attractive future for The Hunstad Center. biz Susanne Deitzel is a Charlotte-based freelance writer.

The Hunstad Center for Cosmetic Plastic Surgery, P.A. 11208 North Statesville Rd., Ste. 300 Huntersville, N.C. 28078 Phone: 704-659-9000 Principals: Dr. Joseph Hunstad, M.D., F.A.C.S., Founder and Surgeon, also Past President of North Carolina Society of Plastic Surgeons and Section Head of Plastic Surgery at CMC University Hospital, as well as author of Atlas of Abdominoplasty (Saunders 2008);William Kortesis, M.D., Surgeon Founded: 1995 Employees: 20 Business: Cosmetic plastic surgery, as well as non-invasive and medi-spa services provided in a state-of-the-art, fullyaccredited surgical facility located in the North Lake Business Park. www.hunstadcenter.com

~Dr. Bill Kortesis, MD p u r s u i n g a b a l a n c e o f b u s i n e s s a n d l i fe

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[bizprofile]

by ellison clary

Simple Banking Made

At Regions, It’s Just like Riding a Bike

H

e entered banking fairly casually but, as he leads the Charlotte Market banking operations of Regions Financial Corporation, Ed Hawes is all business—albeit with a personable flair.

Actually, Hawes holds two titles with the Birmingham-based institution’s major subsidiary, Regions Bank. He is Charlotte Market President and Commercial and Industrial Executive in North Carolina and Virginia.

From 30,000 square feet on three floors in SouthPark, Hawes presides over about 70 people in Charlotte and is close to another 30 here who work for Regions’ full-service brokerage and investment banking arm called Morgan Keegan.

With a formula based on solid service from veteran bankers with strong expertise in the Charlotte market, Hawes says his bank’s area operation has enjoyed growth of 25 percent in commercial business in 2008 and is looking at another substantial jump for 2009.

“The Regions Bank name might be new to people in this marketplace, but my bankers are not new,” says Hawes as he sums up his strategy. “People know them.

When we sit down with a prospect, we probably have as much or more experience as any bank in town.”

That’s by design for Hawes, a Charlotte native who has worked in area banking nearly his entire career, even though he decided on that professional path pretty much on the fly.

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” Hawes remembers when he was earning a business degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “But I liked finance. Then in graduate school, I took a banking class and I liked that. I thought I would go into banking for a couple of years until I decided what I really wanted to do. And that was about 30 years ago.”

After earning his Master of Business Administration at the University of Georgia and a short stint in the U.S. Army, Hawes soon determined he’d stay with banking. That’s what he’s done since 1978. #

}

“Remember what your bicycle meant to you as a kid?

Simplicity and more freedom to go your own way. At Regions, we think it’s what banking should give you, too.

Because with the right bank by your side, the road ahead is wide open. Regions. It’s time to expect more.”

~Regions Bank Branding Campaign 16

december 2009

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Ed Hawes Charlotte Market President Commercial Banking Executive North Carolina and Virginia Regions Bank

p u r s u i n g a b a l a n c e o f b u s i n e s s a n d l i fe

december 2009

17

People-Oriented “I really enjoy the variety that you capture in banking,” Hawes declares. “I particularly enjoy working with entrepreneurs—people who are figuring out how to make a business succeed.”

Hawes started with a Georgia predecessor of Wachovia, but after three years he hooked on with Bank of America-ancestor NCNB in Charlotte.

“I interviewed with several companies in Charlotte,” he remembers. “I was impressed by the professionalism and the can-do spirit at NCNB. They were looking to grow and that was attractive.”

He’d mainly been in the Atlanta bank’s training program, first mastering it and then helping run it. He liked the chance to get into sales.

“They wanted someone to cover national accounts in Georgia, so that was my initial job at NCNB,” he says. In the bank’s Southeast Division, he worked with big corporations and smaller companies alike.

In 1986, shortly after he got married to Mary Catherine Akers, whom he knew from his youth at Myers Park High School, NCNB sent the newlyweds to Miami in its correspondent banking group.

“We really enjoyed Miami,” he remembers. “But with extended family here, we thought it would be nice to raise a family in Charlotte. So we moved back here after two years.”

That’s when Hawes started in commercial banking for NCNB and stayed with successors NationsBank and Bank of America until 2006. As a team leader directing from five to 11 people, Hawes worked with companies in and around Charlotte until 2000. Then, in a reorganization, he moved into credit products, interacting with larger firms and also government entities such as the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

So when he decided to make the move to Regions, Hawes had a Rolodex that bulged with contacts.

“One of the most interesting things about working in the commercial marketplace is learning how to get along with a variety of personalities, because people are so different,” he smiles. “I focus on how to effectively communicate and build rapport and trust, so that people know you are on their side.

“And it’s rewarding to be able to work out solutions to meet their needs and to have them trust you enough to share confidential information, even things they might not share with other financial advisors,” he adds.

18

december 2009

Extending Credit Hawes is quick to acknowledge the positive influence of strong mentors. Jim Leavelle, a now-retired former city executive for Bank of America, was a long-time boss.

“He was a great manager and a very supportive individual,” Hawes says of Leavelle.

“He had good insights, good interpersonal skills and strong business acumen.

“Along with him there was Carlos Evans,” Hawes continues. The former Bank of America commercial executive for North and South Carolina. “Carlos was very fair, straightforward

“The Regions Bank name might be new to people in this marketplace, but my bankers are not new. People know them. When we sit down with a prospect, we probably have as much or more experience as any bank in town.”

much lower base in market penetration,” he explains, “so there’s a lot more opportunity in marketing and calling on clients. It’s pretty wide open in terms of prospects we can call on, which has been interesting.”

To help with that growth through one-onone conversations, Hawes has assembled a team of bankers whose local experience often rivals his own.

“We have hired about 10 new managers and relationship managers, most of which were with Bank of America and Wachovia,” he says with justified satisfaction. “Most of them have

!"#$%&'#()#*+,%'

~Ed Hawes Charlotte Market President

-.'#-/"01/#2+3)' and above board, and he was goal-oriented.”

Hawes also benefited greatly from his relationship with Morrison Creech, the Bank of America credit products manager, who supported Evans and shared similar characteristics.

Hawes wasn’t looking for a change when Regions executives approached him. But he’d gone to the same high school as Kevin Kennelly, the founder of Park Meridian Bank, the institution that Regions purchased in 2001 to get into the Charlotte market.

And he was aware that the Regions Charlotte leader, Brian Kennedy, had left to organize Park Sterling Bank.

He weighed the offer and signed on in mid-2006. He likes the potential for dramatic growth.

“We are starting with a

15 to 30 years of banking experience.”

Regions executives Mike McNamee and Bill Dawkins have provided great support in hiring quality bankers.

He clicks off a few names. In the Regions commercial area there is Jon Swift, manager of the North Carolina commercial group, who came from Wachovia; Steve Phillippi, Dick Robberts and David Richardson who worked with Hawes at Bank of America; and Tony Letrent, who also has been at Bank of America and RBC Centura. Richard Pappas, the area executive in Cornelius, has been with several banks, including Wachovia. Ann Hogshead, a 30-year banker from Wachovia, runs the private banking group and veterans

w w w. g re a t e rc h a r l o t t e b i z . c o m

Greg Reynolds and Perry Hedrick manage the real estate and home builder finance groups.

Regions is strong in commercial banking and real estate lending, but it also enjoys success in consumer, mortgage, treasury management, community and private banking, Hawes says. Transportation, restaurant/beverage and syndications are areas that are bulking up and another is health care, with help from

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these parts appreciate the bank’s strengths and its commitment to service from banking veterans.

Backing up his assessment is Rodney Pitts, owner of Southern Elevator Group, Inc. Based in Charlotte, Pitts calls his firm the leading regional elevator company in the Carolinas and Virginia. He has been a Regions customer for three years.

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“We switched to Regions because of the experienced commercial banking team led by Ed Hawes,” says Pitts. “They are first-rate people. All down the line, service has been very good.”

Hawes praises his group’s team approach with its strong Charlotte savvy mixed with a comfortable, casual identity. Hawes himself often works in shirt sleeves with an open collar, but keeps his suit jacket and a selection of ties hanging on the back of his office door.

“We try to foster a relaxed atmosphere, one that’s fairly casual but focused on quick turnaround and quick response,” he says. “We focus on execution.”

Hawes says Regions locally has a strong pipeline of business even though the area economy remains troublesome. He believes the business atmosphere in 2010 will continue to pose serious challenges.

Building Regions’ name recognition with only four branches is what Hawes calls his biggest personal challenge.

True to the assessment of many that he is a people-person, Hawes says the most enjoyable part of his job is two-pronged—helping people achieve financial objectives and personally interacting with people in the office as well as clients.

Community Recognition Hawe’s pride in his Charlotte heritage is evident in his involvement in civic activities. These include the United Way of Central Carolinas, the

w w w. g re a t e rc h a r l o t t e b i z . c o m

Regions’ current branding campaign features a bright, eye-catching piece of Americana—a neon green (Regions calls it “life green”) Cruiser with shiny chrome handles and fenders, generous white-walled tires and a license plate that reads “XPCT MOR.” Regions’ branding campaign, “It’s Time to Expect More,” is aimed at overcoming consumers’ perceptions that life is complicated showing that banking shouldn’t be.

Regions’ uses the bike as a metaphor for “the freedom to take control and choose your own path, while giving you the support you need to meet your financial goals.”

Arts & Science Council, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the Salvation Army.

A project dear to his heart is the Myers Park High School Alumni Association. That’s special for more reasons than that the school is his alma mater.

“The purpose is to try to provide support for the school and primarily for disadvantaged students,” he says. “And we are trying to foster communication among the alumni.”

Retired real estate executive Everett Wohlbruck was encountering bumps in the road trying to establish a functioning Myers Park alumni association until he recruited his neighbor Hawes.

“Ed Hawes came in and it took off,” Wohlbruck says. He points to 1,500 names on the association’s Internet page and about 200 members.

“Ed is a leader,” Wohlbruck says. “He’s a catalyst. He does things in a quiet way but he gets things done and he does it gracefully. He’s a treasure.”

Hawes and his wife, a graphic designer, have two children who are products of the public schools. Son Alex is working on a master’s in Accountancy in Appalachian State University and daughter Mindy is a junior at Myers Park.

“I’m very focused on the public schools,” Hawes says. “I’ve received a lot and feel like I want to give back to public education.”

He encourages his employees to get involved in civic organizations, and they do, pitching in for the Crop Walk and the Multiple Sclerosis Society, among other causes. While that kind of effort helps the community, it also builds awareness for Regions.

“Name recognition, or the lack thereof, is probably what we are most focused on,” Hawes says, “and a lot of that simply has to do with increasing visibility in the marketplace given our limited number of branches.”

He plans to continue to build the commercial and corporate areas and add staff.

“As time moves forward and the economy improves, we would look to add branches,”

he says. “Then we’d be looking at potentially making acquisitions,” he adds, pointing out there are several regional submarkets he’d like to enter.

At 56, Hawes is enjoying his position at the helm of Regions’ banking operations here in Charlotte. He says with enthusiasm, “Each day is another opportunity to extend our footprint in the community and to help facilitate transactions that leverage our experience.” biz

Jo Nowin !

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Suppose a procedure were available that would eliminate the need for your readers and bifocals—a multi-focal lens procedure for those with “over40” vision to see better near, far and everywhere in between. Is this something that would interest you?

If so, you might want to check it out at CharlotteDrs.com.

You may have a question of your own.

See what our Charlotte area health and wellness experts have to say!

Ellison Clary is a Charlotte-based freelance writer.

Regions Bank Charlotte Market 6805 Morrison Blvd., Ste. 100 Charlotte, N.C. 28211 Phone: 704-362-3568 Principals: C. Dowd Ritter, Chairman and CEO; Edmund A. Hawes, Charlotte Market President and Commercial and Industrial Executive in North Carolina and Virginia Parent Company: Regions Financial Corporation Headquarters: Birmingham, Ala. NYSE: RF Established: 1971 Total Assets: $140 billion (Sept. 30, 2009) Employees: More than 30,000; approx. 100 in Charlotte area Locations: 1,900 branches (4 in Charlotte area), 2,300 ATMs Coverage: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Business: Regions Financial Corporation is one of the top 15 bank holding companies by assets in the United States; subsidiary Regions Bank operates in the South, Midwest and Texas; securities brokerage and asset management subsidiary Morgan Keegan & Company provides services in more than 450 offices. www.regions.com

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december 2009

21

“I’ve been addressing the situation one group at a time.

I’m letting people know it’s a different kind of place now.”

Photo:Wayne Morris

~Jane McIntyre Executive Director

Jane McIntyre Executive Director United Way of Central Carolinas, Inc.

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by ellison clary

PAINTING

[bizprofile]

Future

a Brighter

United Way's McIntyre is Bringing Positive Change

S

he started working before her official employment date and Jane McIntyre hasn’t stopped. She hardly has time for a sit-down lunch these days.

But McIntyre knew life would be hectic when she signed on to the seriously wounded United Way of Central Carolinas (United Way), leaving the YWCA where she’d been chief executive and thought she’d retire.

She was prepared; she brought with her a list of priorities for change. These related to the United Way staff, the health and human services agencies United Way supports, and the people and businesses in these parts that had either lost confidence in the fund-raising and allocation organization or harbored serious doubts about it.

The biggest priority was the 2009 campaign. It was underway as she took the job on August 7, 2009, diving in without waiting until her official August 26 starting date.

“I’ve been addressing the situation one group at a time,” says McIntyre. “I’m letting people know it’s a different kind of place now.”

"

Moderate Goals are invested locally and are exclusively Billy Bolton, United Way volunter The campaign has a moderate for the 97 agencies United Way supgoal and, though its official end was ports in Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Anson November 19, it has been continued and Union counties as well as the into 2010, with emphasis only on the Mooresville-Lake Norman area.

Community Care Fund.

Most locals know the recent story “For that fund,” McIntyre says, involving the area United Way. In late “we need to raise $22.7 million,” getsummer 2008, former CEO Gloria Pace ting around to the only numbers that King sparked considerable controversy matter to her. “We actually need to with a $2 million pension package that raise every dime of that because the focused attention on her $290,000 Leon Levine Foundation—Leon and salary and lucrative expense account.

Sandra Levine—have offered this million-dollar challenge grant The board ultimately terminated King. She sued. Mac Everett, that’s a match to every dollar raised over and above $21.7 million. retired leader of Corporate and Community Affairs for Wachovia, So the potential for our community is at least $2 million more ran United Way as interim director until June, working closely with than was raised last year.” board chair Carlos Evans, a leader at Wachovia/Wells Fargo.

Although the 2008 United Way drive raised more than $30 The annual campaign that had amassed more than $45 million million, she explains, only $21.7 million was designated for the in 2007 suffered a huge hit, with many individuals either not giving Community Care Fund. The rest was restricted to specific organi- or designating their donation for non-United Way member agenzations, often outside this area. cies, and with many businesses cutting back or running drives that The Community Care Fund is critical because these funds benefited agencies outside the United Way’s area umbrella. #

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23

" (top left) UWCC Day of Action (bottom left) Our Towns of Lake Norman Habitat for Humanity women's build (top middle) Red Cross serving the Fire Department (bottom middle) Cannon YMCA swimming lessons (top right) YWCA of Central Carolinas Youth Development

“She’s been out there and been visible. She’s been meeting with everyone she can. Not just corporate people; she’s being visible with donors, with citizens and with other non-profit leaders. That’s such a significant change. It’s part of what has endeared her to the community.” ~Jen Algire Executive Director of Community Health Services The difference for the Community Care Fund was minus $11 million, McIntyre says. The average agency loss in United Way funding was 38 percent.

“The agencies have had to reduce staff and services, they’ve had to take pay cuts, they’ve had to freeze salaries, they’ve had to furlough people,” she says.

The United Way has cut back, too. It counts 53 employees today compared to 96 last year. McIntyre says Evans and Everett cut the staff by about 40 percent. They reduced

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operating costs $3.1 million, with the bulk of that coming in salaries.

“The biggest surprise has been a good surprise,” McIntyre says, “which is how solid the staff is. I have been greatly pleased at the quality.”

Still, she’s probing ways to operate more efficiently. She’s finding small ways to save, actions that don’t take long to implement. And she isn’t through.

“I’m going to ask everybody on staff to tell me what they do and how they spend their time independent of their job description,” she continues.

Meanwhile, she reviews every check the United Way writes, usually in the car when her husband DG is driving. “It teaches you a lot about the organization,” she says. “It teaches you where the resources go.”

Further, she’s listening to local consultant Karla Williams, who helped her at the YWCA. Williams is facilitating the reinvention of the United Way. She’s started with the staff in what is likely to be an 18-month effort, but McIntyre says she knows the external process must be heavily community-oriented.

What is the agency reaction? McIntyre says she’s uncertain, but knows the prevailing sentiments of leaders when she headed the YWCA and chaired the council of agency executives.

“The majority of us always felt the focus needed to be on the Community Care Fund and the agencies,” she says.

Good Marks So Far Jen Algire will lead the agencies council starting in January when Community Link chief Floyd Davis finishes his term. The executive director of Community Health Services likes

what she’s seen from McIntyre so far.

“She’s been out there and been visible,” says Algire. “She’s been meeting with everyone she can.

Not just corporate people; she’s being visible with donors, with citizens and with other non-profit leaders. That’s such a significant change. It’s part of what has endeared her to the community.”

Algire cautions that the United Way is a big ship and will take time to turn, then adds: “She’s done a great job of jumping in there and doing what needs to be done.”

The requirements to be a United Way agency are rigorous, McIntyre says, and the agencies have some work to do as well. A catalyst fund created at the Foundation For The Carolinas is allowing that organization’s leader, Michael Marsicano, and others to work with the agencies in finding operating efficiencies.

Some agencies may merge, but McIntyre says that’s not always the answer. When two shelters for the homeless came together this year, she says, it didn’t save money but the quality and quantity of services increased, so the move made sense.

“The United Way volunteers, including those who decide which organizations get funds and how much to award, know best how effective each agency is,” McIntyre says as she praises the job they do. They’ve been instrumental in keeping duplication of services to a minimum, she believes.

Still, many potential donors are skittish.

“I think individuals are very intentional about their gifts,” McIntyre says. “They want their money used wisely.”

Business donors also present a problem. “Over time, we lost a number of businesses, most small to mid-sized companies,” McIntyre says. And some larger firms have opted for various versions of open campaigns in which their employees can earmark contributions for any organization, even those that

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“The most rewarding part for me personally is seeing how we are going to change this for the better and make it leaner and more focused. It’s about change.

I actually really like change when it’s positive change.” ~Jane McIntyre Executive Director might operate thousands of miles away.

Yet overall, she sees improvement in how businesses view United Way. Stalwarts for the Community Care Fund stand out, including Vanguard, SteelFab, Piedmont Natural Gas and Duke Energy.

She cites a recent telephone call from a corporate leader whose message was simple: “I need you to tell me what I need to do.”

A more effective United Way board can work wonders with companies. That board’s membership had swelled to 60 and it had lost touch with the Executive Committee, which made important decisions such as what to pay the executive director. New board membership will number 24.

Instrumental in picking that board is Jeff Kane, retired senior vice president in charge of the Charlotte Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank. He takes over as United Way chair on January 1.

“The Nominating/Governance Committee is getting lots of applications for membership on the board,” Kane says. “They’re saying, ‘I’m here, I’m excited, I want to be a part of this as it comes out of a difficult time.’” He believes much of the interest stems from the credibility of McIntyre.

“Jane helped me affirm my own commitment to the United Way,” he says. “Jane definitely has the passion and the commitment, and it’s great to have that experience factor.”

A Firm Believer A native of Rock Hill, S.C., McIntyre majored in special education at Columbia College and taught children with exceptional needs briefly.

But she always wanted to be a business person, so she worked part-time at the Charlotte Apparel Mart while raising three daughters. Then she moved on to marketing and development for an area bank, and following that joined Carolinas Healthcare System and its Foundation where she held various leadership roles.

“That was a great place for

me because the organization let me work in a lot of different areas,” says McIntyre, who earned an executive MBA from Queens University of Charlotte when she was 50.

She also found time to win election to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board and served there eight years during her time with the bank and the hospital.

She was recruited for the United Way from her position as CEO of the YWCA (a United Way partner agency), where she’d been for nine years, leading a major turnaround of the organization that had been dangerously close to shutting down.

She credits her father and her paternal grandmother for instilling in her the ambition to make a mark.

“My father was a man before his time,” she says. “He raised his two girls to believe they could do anything they wanted to. I had a grandmother who was very influential. She and an AfricanAmerican doctor started the Tuberculosis Society of York County. To say she was independent is an understatement.”

As early as November 2008, people mentioned to McIntyre the possibility of leading the United Way. She deliberated with husband DG before becoming a candidate.

DG McIntyre, who presided over Duke Energy’s coal transportation network before his retirement, was strongly supportive, even though it torpedoed his wife’s plans to retire fairly soon from YWCA and call it a career.

“DG thought it was a good way for me to leave the YW and have the opportunity to have a great impact on the community that I love,” says McIntyre, who at 63 is one year younger than her husband.

Now she thinks she’ll work another three to five years and, if she’s having

p u r s u i n g a b a l a n c e o f b u s i n e s s a n d l i fe

fun, maybe a bit longer.

Much has been written about her salary of $142,000, about half what her predecessor made.

To determine that figure, she listened to people she trusted and charted area non-profit leaders’ compensation. She wanted to make less than the chief of a large organization such as the YMCA. The hardest part of the job, McIntyre says, is managing her time. She’s forced to decline some meeting requests and often scurries for a boxed lunch to bring back to the office.

“I cannot have lunch with my friends,” she says with a head shake. “And I had to give up going to the beach this week with my husband. I told my staff that time management is my weakness and I asked all of them to help me say no.”

But the rewards far outweigh the tussle with time. “The most rewarding part for me personally is seeing how we are going to change this for the better and make it leaner and more focused,” she says.

“It’s about change,” she emphasizes. “I actually really like change when it’s positive change.”

McIntyre feeds off of helping people who get lost in the system, people with disabilities, people who have less. The Charlotte community can only hope to match her “drive” to make a difference through the United Way. biz Ellison Clary is a Charlotte-based freelance writer.

United Way of Central Carolinas, Inc. 301 South Brevard Street Charlotte, N.C. 28202 Phone: 704-372-7170; 866-744-7778; United Way 2-1-1 Principals: Carlos Evans, Chairman; Jane McIntyre, Executive Director Founded: 1931 Employees: 53 Mission: To improve people’s lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities to advance the common good, creating opportunities for a better life for all by focusing on education, income and health, thereby creating long-lasting community change.

Business: Non-profit organization supporting 97 member agencies that address health and human services needs of individuals in Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Union and Anson counties as well as the Mooresville-Lake Norman area; United Way of America is a national non-profit association whose primary objective is to support activities of more than 1,300 United Ways across the country. www.uwcentralcarolinas.org

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25

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We do what we say when we say we will do it. Our system design specialists are on time and keep the customer completely informed.â&#x20AC;? ~Ron Weatherly Jr.

(l to r) Ron Weatherly Jr. Founder and President Holly Weatherly Office Manager Ron Weatherly Sr. Vice President of Operations Dry-Pro Basement Systems Inc.

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by casey jacobus

[bizprofile]

Pros Dry It Out

with the

Foundation Repair and Waterproofing All in the Family

R

on Weatherly always knew he wanted to be in business for himself; he just didn’t know what that business might be. After starting Austin Peay State University in Tennessee with a business major, he tried a number of things, including landscaping, cleaning homes and apartments, carpet cleaning and various sales jobs.

Eventually he moved to the Charlotte area to work for an uncle in the textile industry. As he shifted from plant to plant, shutting them down and laying off their employees, it occurred to him that textiles might not be a lasting career path.

After considering many different options, Weatherly remembered from his experience cleaning carpets that every time it rained he had clients who needed the water in their basements sucked up and their carpets dried out.

He believed there might be an opportunity for a new business in basement waterproofing. For two and a half years, Weatherly worked a third shift at Beal Manufacturing, so he could start up Dry-Pro Basement Systems during the day and on weekends.

“There were only two problems,” laughs Weatherly as he remembers. “There weren’t many homes with basements in this area and, in 1999, we were in the middle of a draught.”

Fortunately for the young business, it soon started raining.

And, despite the limited number of basements, there were a lot of houses with crawl spaces and water problems. Soon,

p u r s u i n g a b a l a n c e o f b u s i n e s s a n d l i fe

business was good enough that Weatherly invited his younger brother Rudy, just out of the Marines, to help. Ron would handle sales, while Rudy oversaw installations.

Although Rudy has since passed away, Ron has looked to other family members for additional help. In 2003, when Ron Weatherly Sr. retired from the military, where he had been a crew leader on a Chinook helicopter, Ron Jr. hired him to run the production department. Ron’s wife, Holly, manages the office, and even his mother, Roberta, has helped out with the bookkeeping, making DryPro a true family affair.

"Before “When I hired my father, he had only one condition,” says Weatherly, “and that was that we would always do the right thing no matter what. If that made us a profit, great; however, the outcome of that thinking was not so much profit as growth. We have grown every year since we’ve been in "After business, except for last year when the economy took a plunge.”

Weatherly soon found an opportunity to link up with Basement Systems & Foundation Support Works International Contractor network, a group of over 300 of the best foundation repair and waterproofing contractors in the world. This gave Dry-Pro access to patented products, comprehensive training and support. Dry-Pro’s staff receives over 1,000 hours of product and installation training each year. #

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!$Crawl Spaces | Floor Joists Moisture Control | Basement Waterproofing While Dry-Pro was the first to bring Basement Systems solutions to dirt floor crawl spaces in the Charlotte area, there are now over 17 companies competing with similar products. Weatherly has decided to diversify his revenue stream to deal with all types of foundation problems, as well as the issue of mold remediation. He has hired the most experienced people he could find to build a first class foundation division. In 2006, he and Derik Newton purchased Advanta Clean, a mold remediation and duct cleaning company that had been in the business for over 15 years.

“We are now focused on being able to handle all foundation problems that a home owner might have,” says Weatherly. “That way we are not so dependent upon nature and whether it rains or not.”

Finding solutions Dry-Pro is accredited by the Better Business Bureau, is a member of NARI (National Association of the Remodeling Industry), and was recently given the Angie’s List Super Service Award. In 2006 and, again in 2007, Weatherly was named Business Person of the Year by NARI. While Weatherly is pleased to have received this recognition, he believes it is the way he runs his company that truly sets him apart from the competition.

“Although there is a lot of competition in the market place, there is also a lot of distrust,” says Weatherly.

“The thing we work hardest at is building trust with our customers.”

When someone calls Dry-Pro, Weatherly says a staff member will sit down with the potential customer and ask questions about what they want to accomplish. Dry-Pro then draws up a solution to the customer’s problem based on the variety of patented products available to permanently solve the problem.

“We do what we say when we say we will do it,” Weatherly asserts. “Our system design specialists are on time and keep the customer completely informed.”

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"Before

“When I hired my father, he had only one condition, and that was that we would always do the right thing no matter what. If that made us a profit, great; however, the outcome of that thinking was not so much profit as growth.” ~Ron Weatherly Founder

"After Dry-Pro has the testimonials to back up Weatherly’s assertions. Paul Lee, a Charlotte customer, says, “Everyone from Dry-Pro was a true professional. These people know what they are doing.”

Another customer, Darrell Mabry, also of Charlotte, says of Dry-Pro, “You did what you said you would do—when you said you would do it—for the amount you quoted, and all with absolutely no inconvenience to me. I am most impressed.”

Basement waterproofing as a business has been around since the 1930s or 40s, but not a lot

of new thinking was applied to the business until about 1990. Today contractors know that the negative effects of a wet or damp crawlspace affect the whole house. Since air flows upwards, it brings the humidity from the crawlspace with it. The effects on the home can include dust mites, mold, swollen doors and windows, smelly damp carpets, buckling hardwood floors, increased heating and cooling bills, and aggravated asthma and allergies.

Where once contractors relied on cleaning the gutters or installing drains to prevent water leaking into basements, there are now sub-floor drainage systems and sump pump systems. New wall coating systems, paneling and vapor barriers can heal damp, ugly basement walls. Wooden subfloors in basements are being replaced with waterproof flooring systems. Mold problems are being fought with superior new dehumidifiers.

In the Carolinas, many homes are built with dirt crawl spaces rather than basements. The building code requires that these spaces be vented, perhaps because it was once believed that moisture would flow out through the vents.

However, in a climate with high humidity, the vents simply let warm humid air into the crawl space where the cool ground cools the air and the relative humidity goes up. Since the warm air flows upward, the relative high humidity goes up in the house causing rot, mold, and energy loss and attracting pests.

Dry-Pro’s solution has been to treat crawl spaces more like basements. After fixing any water leaks, it focuses on sealing the house off from the earth around it, sealing all air

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! Foundation Repair leaks to the outside, and then installing a dehumidifier system to keep the crawl space air dry.

The foundation of success Most customers call Dry-Pro because their basement is flooded or there is a crack in the drywall. Sometimes there is a musty smell in the basement or signs of mold. Or, perhaps a termite exterminator or HVAC repairman has suggested there might be a problem.

Weatherly says few customers know exactly what they need. It is up to Dry-Pro to help them select the most practical and permanent solution for their unique situation.

Todd Davidson, owner of a brick and wood-framed house in the SouthPark area, is a typical customer. When he began noticing cracks in the foundation of his 44-year- old home, he called Dry-Pro. He was particularly concerned with a large separation crack in a front window of the house.

“The damage caused by the settlement at my home was quite alarming and had me concerned about how to fix the problem,” says Davidson.

Dry-Pro utilized the Push Pier System by Foundation Supportworks to solve Davidson’s problem. It installed two rugged steel tube sections, with a capacity of over 33,000 pounds, at a depth of approximately 10 feet.

L-shaped foundation support brackets were positioned below and against the footings and hydraulic cylinders were used to lift the foundation back toward a level position. The Push Piers, which carry a lifetime warranty, effectively stabilized the foundation.

“The Dry-Pro inspector took time to analyze the issues and develop a cost-effective and efficient way to correct the problem once and for all,” reports Davidson. “I am impressed with the results and am confident of their long-term effects.”

Weatherly says that the majority of Dry-Pro’s business comes from referrals, primarily from HVAC contractors, Realtors or pest exterminators. Weatherly works as hard at building relationships with the owners and managers of these companies as he does with his homeowner customers.

With his father running the production end, Weatherly spends much of his own time in sales and marketing.

“Our relationships are not built on a onetime meeting,” he explains. “It takes time to build high trust relationships.”

Unmatched expertise Weatherly also works hard at building an

Weatherly’s plan is to make Dry-Pro the only company in the Charlotte area to handle all of the problems related to foundations that a homeowner might have. He envisions Dry-Pro as a one-stop shop, without the need to subcontract any work. experienced and professional staff. Mentored himself by several employers over the years, he believes strongly in helping his employees grow and succeed. He encourages them to attend yearly conventions and to receive ongoing training and education. The company also holds weekly production and sales meetings.

“Our greatest asset is our employees,” asserts Weatherly. “Our plans for our business are to continue to find talented people and to put them in the right seat on the bus.”

Investing in staff is particularly important as Dry-Pro moves into the future. Weatherly’s plan is to make Dry-Pro the only company in the Charlotte area to handle all of the problems related to foundations that a homeowner

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might have. He envisions Dry-Pro as a onestop shop, without the need to subcontract any work. He also anticipates returning to the pattern of yearly growth by diversifying DryPro’s revenue stream and by expanding the company’s market.

“We want Dry-Pro to be the experts in all foundation problems,” Weatherly explains.

“This is a cyclical business. The challenge has always been how to manage growth and cash flow when there is little or no rain.”

In addition to offering products to solve moisture problems in crawl spaces and waterproofing problems in basements, Dry-Pro can now solve foundation settlement and repair problems, including wood rot. And, with the partnership of Advanta Clean, it is moving into the mold remediation and duct cleaning business. All of which should help to make Dry-Pro less dependent upon rain.

Weatherly also foresees expanding the company’s service area, which traditionally has been mostly in the Charlotte market. He believes Dry-Pro can easily serve a market radius within a two-hour drive from its central location, just off I-85. He particularly sees the potential of expanding to the surrounding areas.

“This is a very exciting time right now,” says Weatherly. “Last year was a little screwy, but the economy is beginning to pick up and these are the times that market share is gained.” biz Casey Jacobus is a Charlotte-based freelance writer.

Dry-Pro Basement Systems, Inc. 2953 Interstate Street Charlotte, N.C. 28208 Phone: 704-523-9111 Principals: Ron Weatherly, Jr., Founder and President; Ronnie Weatherly Sr.,Vice President of Operations Founded: 1999 Employees: 25-30 Awards: Angie’s List Super Service Award Winner 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009; NARI Business Person of the Year, 2006, 2007; NARI Klemons Award, 2008; Number 1 Clean Space Dealer in the Nation, 2007; A+ rating with Better Business Bureau Business: Repairs foundation problems in residential and commercial structures, including water and/or high humidity problems in basements and crawlspaces; interior or exterior structural repairs to foundations and repairs to wood rot. www.drypostystems.com

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Michael Gallis Urban Strategist Michael Gallis & Associates, Inc.

H

e’s a world traveler and art collector, but he’s also shaped Charlotte’s growth and its mass transit design.

He’s an architect who’s stopped practicing in favor of planning and considers himself an urban strategist.

Most recently, he helped develop a groundbreaking study of how the entire global network of human activity impacts every element of the natural system. It includes suggestions from a new perspective on how to improve the relationship of people to their environment.

He’s Michael Gallis, a San Francisco native who came to Charlotte by way of Philadelphia and Miami and wouldn’t live anywhere other than the Queen City.

He is widely considered one of the country’s leading experts in large-scale metropolitan regional development strategies. His firm pioneered a specialty in building frameworks through which public, private and institutional leaders have been mobilized to

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develop new ways of responding to the challenges and opportunities of states and regions in the 21st century.

Operating Michael Gallis & Associates from the historic Boxer Building on West Morehead Street, his firm has completed strategic development and transportation programs for a number of cities and regions including Detroit, Cincinnati, Memphis, Mobile, West Michigan, Orlando, San Diego and Charlotte, as well as for several states, including Connecticut, Rhode Island, Illinois, New York and New Jersey and for nations including Canada and the U.S. His projects range from planning for growth of the San Antonio Airport, to developing a new vision for Detroit, to mapping the human impact on the southeast’s Piedmont Crescent.

In a conference room that doubles as a library, he’s surrounded by African art as he muses about his career. Often he pauses to stroke Lilly, the Chihuahua who keeps a bed in the

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by ellison clary

[bizprofile]

Urban

STRATEGIST Gallis & Associates Builds Frameworks to Guide Urban Futures

“Several things about the methodology of planning began to concern me. I was interested in how you could do planning right and really affect the future of cities.” ~Michael Gallis Urban Strategist

office and whose master is wife Berhan Nebioglu, the love of his life and 30-year companion.

Originally a student of architecture and urban planning, and later an associate professor of architecture and planning at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, he explains his transition from architecture: “Several things about the methodology of planning began to concern me. I was interested in how you could do planning right and really affect the future of cities.”

In the early 1980s, he’d gotten involved with a former student in charting the future for the town of Mount Holly. He and three former students started a company to continue that work and called it Noah Studios, because he was pondering Bible stories such as the ark.

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He proposed to UNC Charlotte that it create an urban research entity. When he got no response, he decided to pursue such research professionally.

In one particular case, an owner of property near Winthrop University had asked Gallis to study potential land uses. Soon, Gallis had impressed Winthrop’s president as well as Rock Hill’s city manager. Rock Hill ultimately hired him to map how that city fit in the greater Charlotte region.

Gallis found that Rock Hill was part of a ring of small cities about 20 miles from Charlotte’s center.

These municipalities included Monroe, ConcordKannapolis, Mooresville and Gastonia.

Further, Gallis and his associates showed how Charlotte was growing toward these smaller #

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“Never before has a study looked at human growth as a system and categorized its impacts on the underlying natural system.” ~Michael Gallis

Urban Strategist

municipalities in a pattern that created five urban spokes jutting from its core. They had developed the hub-and-spoke model for Charlotte’s growth.

“People didn’t realize that the strength of the Charlotte area was dependent to some extent on the cities all around being healthy and vibrant, and effectively working together,” he says. “What benefit was it for Charlotte to have a healthy center if everyone around was falling apart?”

Ambitious Endeavors These and other projects had helped Gallis see a much broader picture of the urban landscape, and in 1988 he formalized his ambitions as Michael Gallis & Associates, Inc. By the early 1990s, he was sharing the huband-spoke idea with then-mayor Richard Vinroot and other leaders such as city councilwoman Lynn Wheeler and developer Johnny Harris. Selected from five alternatives for Charlotte’s growth, the model encouraged high-density growth along corridors and envisioned people navigating between these corridors, and using them to get in and out of center city.

Developing that model led to formation of leadership groups such as the regional Committee of 100 and the Urban Coalition which, with Gallis’ guidance, laid the foundation for Charlotte’s transit system.

Gallis and others including former Charlotte planning director Martin Cramton developed guidelines for growth along the city’s five major spokes, with mass transit a part of each. Today’s light rail to Pineville is one upshot, as are plans for rail transit from center city to UNC Charlotte as well as to Mooresville.

Gallis found national recognition for his vision in a round-about way. Former Chamber President Carroll Gray asked Gallis to speak on regionalism to the Detroit Chamber’s annual retreat in 1997. He did, and caught the attention of the U.S. Chamber and various other urban planning groups. That led to speeches throughout the nation and planning projects for states such as New Jersey and New York and cities including Detroit, Cincinnati and Orlando.

“I don’t do architecture anymore,” Gallis says. “I

32

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like architecture. I would do it. But our main focus is building frameworks to guide urban futures.”

Environmentally Concerned Gallis credits his growing concerns for the environment for leading him to pursue a better understanding of human impacts on nature.

One of his recent efforts involves, for the first time, mapping human activity as a system and overlaying that on a second map of the entire spectrum of nature. He performed this study with the Washington-based Urban Ecosystems Center. From scrutiny of the Piedmont Crescent, which extends from Roanoke, Va., to Birmingham, Ala., Gallis determined that cost-effective growth of the human network must integrate more effectively with natural systems.

“Traditional studies of human influences on nature have focused on impacts of a specific phenomenon, in specific areas such as too much or too little nitrogen, phosphorous or some other chemical near an industrial facility,” Gallis explains. “Never before has a study looked at human growth as a system and categorized its impacts on the underlying natural system.”

Over the years, Gallis has grown close to Jerry Orr, aviation director at CharlotteDouglas International Airport. The association started in 1990.

“People don’t really understand what a big vision Jerry Orr has,” Gallis says. “He understands how the airport connects to the area and how it’s going to be increasingly important going forward.”

Orr returns the praise. “Michael is great at organizing thoughts and displaying them in graphic form that anybody can look at and understand,” Orr says. “He’s a non-political free-thinker and someone I can sit down with and pour out my heart and get an objective response.”

The son of a Swedish mother and a Russian father who emigrated from China, Gallis was raised in San Francisco. He enjoyed visiting the studios of famous architect Erich Mendelsohn, who fled Hitler’s Germany in 1933. The elder Gallis was Mendelsohn’s associate.

“My dad and Mendelsohn shaped my whole life,” Gallis says. “I grew up with this idea of worldchanging figures.”

He attended the University of Southern

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California but finished his bachelor’s in architecture at the University of California. Then he earned dual master’s in architecture and city planning at the University of Pennsylvania. While there, he met renowned architect Louis Kahn, a faculty member.

Gallis never took a Kahn-taught class, but teacher and pupil spoke on occasion and formed a special connection because of Gallis’ father’s association with Mendelsohn.

Also while Gallis was at Penn, Ian McHarg wrote Design With Nature, the book that led to commemoration of Earth Day and the first environmental protection legislation.

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<7

When your eyes were young, your natural lenses were both transparent and flexible.

However, generally in your 40s, the natural lens inside the eye begins to harden and lose its flexibility, reducing the eye’s ability to change its focus and resulting in difficulty seeing things close up. Known as “presbyopia,” this eventually affects everyone—including those who are nearsighted, farsighted, have cataracts, or had perfect vision most of their life—causing a need for bifocal or reading glasses. There are new refractive lens procedures, such as the Multifocal ReSTOR procedure, using lenses implanted in the eye to replace the aging natural lens and give youthful reading vision once again. The lens implants are designed to be folded and inserted through a tiny, self-sealing incision and offer permanent vision correction. The ReSTOR Procedure can even be performed on patients that have previously had LASIK. I have had the ReSTOR Multifocal Procedure myself, and I can read a prescription drug insert! ~Dr. Jonathan Christenbury Christenbury Eye Center

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“His book was about how to design cities in harmony with nature,” Gallis says. “And I think that created a context for my career.”

Another pursuit he started as a student was collecting art. “I didn’t know why I should invest in the stock market when art was much more fun,” he reflects. These days, he owns several hundred African art objects, about 100 Chinese paintings and a smattering of American Indian art and western oil canvasses. #

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Gallis performed an internship with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, under the wing of highly regarded Ed Bacon. He worked on an inner city project and learned ghetto mores.

These days, when he visits a metro area new to him, he insists on touring economically challenged neighborhoods. “Don’t just show me the pretty parts of town,” he admonishes.

His first job was teaching Architecture at the University of Miami, where he soon got involved with inner city planning and helped organize a group called the Martin Luther King Boulevard Development Corporation. After a year, he left the university to go full-time with the MLK group.

“We were the first in the United States to receive general obligation bonds to rebuild inner cities,” he says.

The man who hired Gallis at the University of Miami, Bob Anderson, had taken over the Architecture department at UNC Charlotte. He convinced Gallis to join that faculty.

That was 1974. Gallis stayed until 1997.

Globally Networked Gallis has built Michael Gallis & Associates to 17 people, adding a real estate group in 1996. Today the firm has transformed into a virtual entity, a nationwide network of linked professionals.

“All the projects we’ve done have created a methodology by which we can understand global networking,” he says. “On staff, we have six people,” he adds, counting one associate in Shanghai, China. “But senior associates in other companies network with us. Maybe we have 100.”

An important current project for Gallis is an “infrastructure index” for the U.S. Chamber focused on the nation’s deteriorating bridges, rails and roads. He was an advisor in 2007 to a

presidential panel on the “Big Picture Vision” for U.S. infrastructure that was chaired Mary Peters, then U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

Another career highlight was his 2004 keynote address on the formation and development of the global network to a technology conference at the Royal Academy in London.

Gallis could live anywhere, but prefers Charlotte. He can click off the reasons, which include the emotional attachment of having started his firm here.

“Charlotte was incredibly interesting,” he says.

“Unlike Houston, Atlanta or Los Angeles, cities that had already developed into metropolitan areas, Charlotte was just becoming a metro area.”

“Watching it take shape provided us with a learning lab that was unique in America.”

He calls Charlotte amenable and livable, without big traffic problems.

“And then there’s the airport and the access,” he says. “You can get to New York in an hour and a half and you can get to Miami in the same amount of time.

“I’ve fallen in love with Charlotte,” he admits.

Still, he’s concerned about some of the city’s development plans. The vision of a light rail system

lacking a consolidated center city transportation hub is folly, he believes.

The gangly Gallis enjoys a youthful appearance only partially offset by his full mane of gray hair. At 66, he’s at a point when many consider retirement.

Not him.

“Why are you supposed to retire when you finally reach an age where you feel like you know what you’re doing?” he smiles.

“The world’s such an exciting place,” he adds.

“There’s so much going on. I love to feel like we’re part of it.

“If you really love what you’re doing, it’s like a hobby,” he concludes. biz Ellison Clary is a Charlotte-based freelance writer.

Michael Gallis & Associates, Inc. 1000 West Morehead St., Ste. 150 Charlotte, N.C. 28208 Phone: 704-332-6677 Principal: Michael Gallis, Urban Strategist Established: 1988 Employees: 6, with consulting arrangements worldwide Awards: National Design Award from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and two National Economic Development awards Business: Strategic planning and design firm advising regions, states and national governments in the development of integrated regional, national and global strategies; also specializes in transportation, airport and economic development and environmental strategies. www.mgallis.com

And They Call These “Common” Areas?

At the Design Center, our surroundings are anything but ordinary. That’s why we are known as a home for those who dream big and find inspiration in our unique architectural details and strong vintage vibe. It’s not just the buildings that make our space so special–the Design Center’s ideal location, diverse mix of tenants, and unique focus around events make us Charlotte’s hub for forward thinking businesses. Contact Meredith Dickerson at 704-971-6517 to see for yourself what makes us truly unique.

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2009-10 SPEAKER LINEUP

Join us at Hood Hargett Breakfast Club for Charlotte’s premier networking experience.

TREY WINGO Host of ESPN’s NFL Live Jan. 15, 2010

STEVE HILDEBRAND Deputy Campaign Manager for President Barack Obama Feb. 12, 2010

TIERNEY CAHILL Teacher, Motivational Speaker and Former Congressional Candidate March 12, 2010

DANIEL SHAPIRO Founder and Director of the Harvard International Negotiation Initiative April 9, 2010

JIM NANTZ Emmy Award-Winning Voice of CBS Sports April 30, 2010

HUGH MCCOLL Chairman of The McColl Group, LLC Sept. 10, 2010

CHIP BELL Founder of The Chip Bell Group, Customer Loyalty Expert and Best-Selling Author Oct. 8, 2010

FRANK ABAGNALE World’s Foremost Authority on Fraud and Identity Theft, Author of Best-Selling Book “Catch Me If You Can” Nov. 12, 2010

Hood Hargett Breakfast Club is a “category exclusive” organization that develops and hosts some 36 events throughout the year for its members and guests. Members include men and women from more than 40 local and regional businesses who have built their companies to 704-602-9529 or jenn@hoodhargett.com. Visit www.hoodhargettbreakfastclub.com.

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www.hoodhargettbreakfastclub.com december 2009 35

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“We are in the information age, and people tend to go online for answers, which is what makes CharlotteDrs.com so valuable. It allows people to build relationships with medical professionals without the pressure of commitment, but with the reassurance that they can be helped. Most importantly, CharlotteDrs.com is local, and having a site that caters to the Charlotte area where doctors are willing to make themselves available is a tremendous resource for consumers. To be able to go online, talk to doctors, interact with them, build a relationship and then to go see them is a novel idea.” ~Dr. Christian Yaste, DDS Ballantyne Center for Dentistry

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[bizhealth] Cont. from p.7

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Strategies for Taking Charge:

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"1. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ignore cravings, which can lead to feelings of deprivation. Instead, manage them by enjoying bite-sized indulgences. Eat it, enjoy it, make it an event. Give it 10 or 15 minutes. Give away unnecessary treats. Put your imagination to work on healthier goodies to serve to guestsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;like luscious fresh fruit or a raw vegetable platter.

"2. Have a plan. Eat a nutritious snack before going to a party. Tell yourself youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll eat just half of whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s served, then stick to your vow.

"3. Plan more intense physical activities for days off and vacationsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;hiking, horseback riding, skiingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and wonderful celebratory meals at the end of the day. Compensate for indulgences with physical activity.

"4. Identify your triggers. For example, do underlying feelings evoked at family gatherings make you more likely to eat? If you get overly tired, do you tend to eat too much? Find ways to deal with these issues instead of using food for comfort.

"5. Distinguish between indulging and bingeing. Occasionally allow yourself to indulge without eating out of control. The tendency to engage in black-and-white

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"

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thinking is the hallmark of a problem with food. Overall, it is important to recognize that to overeat or binge is to be human, especially if you haven’t eaten appropriately or are denying yourself foods.

"6. Snack often on nutritious foods to keep from getting overly hungry. Carry an insulated snack pack. Fill it with foods such as dried and fresh fruits, baby carrots, nonfat yogurt, trail mix, whole-grain cereal, nuts, and baked chips.

How Much Excercise Do Women Need?

For years, experts have been debating how much exercise a woman really needs, and finally, there’s an answer: 1,000 enough to burn about calories a week. That’s 143 a day—roughly what you’d melt during a 30-minute power walk or a 20-minute jog.

A study at the University of Pittsburgh compared sedentary women on a healthy diet who worked off 1,000 calories a week with those who burned twice as many. The results?

Surprisingly, the women who did double the workout didn’t reap greater rewards: A treadmill stress test and EKG showed that the cardiovascular fitness of the two groups improved by about the same amount. While the study didn’t measure changes in blood pressure or cholesterol, many experts say it’s clear that moderate exercise is all you need to get heart-health benefits. It’s proof that you don’t have to run a marathon; something as simple as a brisk, halfhour walk is sufficient.

One area in which working out harder pays off: weight loss. In a yearlong study, women who doubled their efforts lost as much as five pounds more.

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Advertising & Media Moonlight Creative Group, a marketing communications firm, has won one platinum and two gold MarCom Awards from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals.

WCNC-TV has hired Corrie A. Harding as executive news director of NewsChannel 36.

Business & Professional NouvEON, a business and technology consulting firm, has promoted Challen Bonar to Charlotte practice leader and Dawn Reitz to financial services practice leader, and has hired Grace Eberle as a consultant in the financial services practice and Rick Milde as senior business development manager.

Matthew S. Turner has been selected as a new partner of Coleman Lew & Associates, Inc., a national executive search firm.

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Awards & Achievements Balfour Beatty Construction has been named the winner of the Charlotte Chamberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2009 Belk Innovation in Diversity Award for its commitment to helping minority- and womenowned firms in the construction industry acquire the skills and experience they need to succeed and grow.

Construction & Design FreemanWhite, an architectural, engineering, interior design and consulting services firm for healthcare organizations worldwide, has been named as one of Charlotteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Best Places to Work by the Charlotte Business Journal.

Education & Staffing Chancellor Philip L. Dubois has signed the American College & University Presidentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Climate Commitment, which designates UNC Charlotte as one of 16 colleges or universities across North Carolina to sign the pledge to address global warming.

CEO Inc., a direct hire placement, temporary staffing, and human capital services firm, has ranked No. 7 on the list of Best Places to Work in Charlotte in the small business category.

Finance & Insurance James Reichard, managing member at Greer & Walker Investment Advisors, LLC,

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Margaret Switzer has joined James Reichard Monaghan Group, a customized interim accounting services firm, as Charlotte client leader.

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Filmmaker John Schwert, who drew attention with his acclaimed first feature “Among Brothers” on the 2005-06 film festival circuit, has won the top awards at the Boston Film Festival and the Charlotte Film Festival with his follow-up feature film “In/Significant Others.”

Technology/Telecommunications Charlotte Web design firm CC Communications, Inc. has earned a Platinum Award in the 2009 international MarCom Awards www.exploreboonearea.com competition for a Web site design project for the Watauga County District U Tourism Development Authority (WCTDA).

Interactive marketing agency WebsiteBiz campaign managers Bekky Zucco and Lee Price have received certification as Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) and Google Adwords Qualified Professional, respectively.

Peak 10, a data center operator and managed services provider, has been selected as a finalist for the 2009 NCTA 21 Awards in the Customer Service Company of the Year category. biz To be considered for inclusion, please send your news releases and announcements in the body of an e-mail (only photos attached) to editor@ greatercharlottebiz.com, or fax them to 704-6765853, or post them to our business address—at least 30 days prior to our publication date.

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[employersbiz] Cont. from p.11

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Time Spent on Electronic Communications Outside of Office Hours May Be Compensable For many businesses, advances in electronic communications mean that employees are always within reach. One unintended consequence of this advance in communications is that employers may inadvertently be working employees â&#x20AC;&#x153;off the clockâ&#x20AC;? in violation of the federal Portal-to Portal and Fair Labor Standards Acts.

Recently, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment for the employer in a class action case seeking compensation for time spent exchanging electronic information outside of normal working hours. Lojack technicians were required to transmit installation data summarizing the dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work once they got home and had access to a modem.

The Ninth Circuit concluded that the time spent sending such data could be considered working time under federal law. The court cited a threefactors for determining whether incidental time spent on work activities outside of normal office hours is compensable working time: (1) the administrative difficulty of recording the additional time; (2) the aggregate amount of compensable time; and (3) the regularity of the additional work.

In this case, the court concluded that the additional duties could qualify as working time. While less than 10 minutes per day spent on these tasks is generally considered de minimus, in this case the transmissions had to be confirmed and often resent, exceeding this threshold.

This case holds obvious implications for a wide range of employers. Employees classified as non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act are frequently given Blackberries or other PDAs, or check their work e-mail at home. Newer technologies such as instant messaging or Twitter are also used to keep touch with employees outside of normal working hours.

An occasional glance at a Blackberry or composition of a quick e-mail response outside of work probably falls within the de minimus exemption recognized by the Ninth Circuit. However, at some point regular and prolonged use of these communication devices will become compensable working time, subjecting the employer to claims for additional wages, including overtime.

Employers can manage these risks by establishing policies that instruct employees to limit use of such devices to working hours and specifically approved additional hours outside of work.

w w w. g re a t e rc h a r l o t t e b i z . c o m

[employersbiz] Alternatively, employers can also instruct employees that more than occasional use of such devices (maybe more than 10 minutes per day) should be recorded as working time. The employer can then review and manage time spent, and structure salaries and duties to meet compensation budgets.

These wage payment laws were never written with modern communications technologies in mind. As their use proliferates, employers can expect increased scrutiny and litigation over paying for time spent using these devices.

(Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP)

GINA: AGENCIES ISSUE REGULATIONS CLARIFYING GENETIC NONDISCRIMINATION The IRS, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have issued temporary, final and proposed regulations implementing the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) effective on December 7, 2009, for group health plan years beginning on or after that date.

Under GINA, and the new interim final regulations, group health plans and issuers in the group market cannot increase premiums for the group based on the results of one enrolleeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s genetic information, deny

enrollment, impose pre-existing condition exclusions, or do other forms of underwriting based on genetic information.

Further, under GINA and the new regulations, group health plans and health insurance issuers in both the group and individual markets cannot request, require or buy genetic information for underwriting purposes or prior to and in connection with enrollment. In addition, plans and issuers are generally prohibited from asking individuals or family members to undergo a genetic test. (CCH)

The Employers Association provides comprehensive human resources and training ser vices to a membership of over 865 companies in the greater Charlotte region. For more information, please call Laura Hampton at 704-522-8011 or visit www.employersassoc.com.

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december 2009

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