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| For Release: IMMEDIATE | Contact: Public Affairs |
| Date: January 19, 2001 |
State Board of Community Colleges recognizes four Small Business Centers for Excellence
RALEIGH:
The first annual Excellent Small Business Center Awards were presented at the State Board of Community Colleges meeting today, January 19. Four Small Business Centers located at four community colleges were honored for their exemplary contributions to the small business community and for the innovative ways they serve special populations. State Board Chair Dr. G. Herman Porter praised the Small Business Centers for their contribution to the local economy.Small Business Center Advisory Committee Chair Scott Bauer was on hand to congratulate the winners. Bauer is also President of Southern Community Bank and Trust. His bank, along with the North Carolina Bankers Association, contributed funds for cash awards. Thad Woodard, president of the North Carolina Bankers Association came to congratulate the winners as well.
The Small Business Center at Lenoir Community College received the Outstanding Service Award for addressing the critical needs of local businesses in Lenoir, Greene and Jones Counties after the floodwaters of Hurricane Floyd devastated the area. SBC Director Alice Tingle, in accepting the award, thanked the SBC directors from other colleges who helped her during that trying time.
The Small Business Center at Haywood Community College received the western Regional Award, a plaque and $500. The center was a lifeline for Sandra Wright, a former Orlando, Florida resident who now owns the Timberwolf Creek Bed and Breakfast in Maggie Valley. Wright credits the assistance from Sharron Bleyl, SBC Director, for getting her off to the right start and answering all her questions along her way to opening a now thriving business.
The Small Business Center at Central Piedmont Community College won the central Regional Award, a plaque and $500. SBC Director Maggie Braun is particularly proud of the growth experienced by McKellar Newsome. The former school language teacher now owns and operates CulturLink, Inc., which provides cultural and language training for corporate clients. Company revenue has more than doubled since 1997, due largely in part to the counseling and training McKellar received during a ten-month Business and Entrepreneurial Skills Training (BEST) program. A model graduate, she is now a contributor to the BEST program.
The top Excellence Award, a plaque and $1000, went to the SBC at Brunswick Community College. BCC was also the regional winner in the east. SBC Director John Horton gives the example of Medlock’s Old and Rare Books as the ultimate success story. Since opening their e-commerce bookstore in 1999, Karen and Randall Medlock have sold to customers in every state, to countries on five continents and in Canada and Mexico. Their office has grown from 220 sq. ft in 1999 to its present 1100 sq. ft. Now operating in the local business incubator, they will soon move to a larger facility. Horton says the incubator serves as a "living laboratory" for small business.
In other action the State Board:
- Appointed State Board Finance Chairman James Woody, Finance Vice Chair Herb Watkins and Legislative Chair Tom King to serve on a committee that will devise a plan to distribute the $600 million from the Higher Education Bonds to the colleges. The committee is directed to report back to the State Board at its February 28 meeting. The North Carolina Association of Community College Presidents and the North Carolina Association of Community College Trustees will each have three members serving on the committee. The respective association presidents will appoint their committee members.
The committee will have several possibilities to consider for the allocation of resources:
- Make funds available by bond-year on a percentage basis:
- Prioritize and develop a flow of funds for over 400 projects
- Develop a combination method that includes planning funds, renovation
and repair funds and a remainder of prioritized new construction funds
- Approved a resolution stating concern over the Robeson
Community College SACS probation. The resolution directs the RCC Board of Trustees to submit a
plan of action responding to the SACS recommendations to the State Board in
February and to make subsequent monthly progress reports.
- Approved resolutions of gratitude to Lt. Governor Dennis Wicker and State Treasurer Harlan Boyles for their exemplary service as members of the State Board.
Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore joined the State Board as ex officio members.
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