Greater Charlotte Biz 2008.01

Taryn Rose

Charter Member 2,459 of 10,000 Taryn Rose Boutique Las Vegas, NV

If payment in full of the New Balance on your billing statement is credited to your Account within 10 days after your statement Closing Date, you will receive a discount of 2% if your Eligible Purchases made during the billing previously deferred amounts) by the Please Pay By date on your billing statement, you may defer payment of the remainder of that New Balance until the Please Pay By date shown on your next billing statement. Your Account

period covered by that statement exceed $5,000. If your Eligible Purchases are less than or equal to $5,000, you will receive a Discount of 1%. If you pay at least 10% of your New Balance (plus the entire amount of any must be in good standing in the month in which you exercise the Defer Pay Option. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply. For full details, visit PlumCard.com. Š 2007 American Express Bank, FSB. All rights reserved.

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cover story

Lance

After building an enviable record of success through eight decades, Lance found itself in economic doldrums by 2003. Its prior business model had worked so well for so long that it was doubly hard for the company to adapt to new business realities. In May 2005, David Singer came on board and set about revamping the corporate culture under the One Lance mantra.

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Carolina Premier Bank John Kreighbaum’s goal for his bank is to be identified as the local community bank in south Charlotte with an initial focus on small business. It plans to offer a professional and innovative approach to banking based upon oldfashioned values.

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Jesse Brown’s Outdoors Opened as a backpacking store 37 years ago, Jesse Brown’s has morphed into a sportsman’s paradise where novices and experienced mountaineers of all ages come to plan and prepare for their next adventure.

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W.T. Nichols Mechanical Bob Dunlap runs a thriving HVAC construction and service business but he also has a desire to help mission critical clients. Specifically, his mission is to build his company into an expert service and construction company that can compete with any in the country.

january 2008

departments publisher’spost

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bizXperts Smart Salvos, Select Strategies and Succinct Solutions

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employersbiz Legislative and Regulatory Highlights for Area Employers

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workforcebiz Work Force Training and Development

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bizlife Pursuing a Balance of Business and Life

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biznetwork

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ontop

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executive homes Luxury Homes above $400,000 on the cover:

There was a time when communications firms did nothing but install telephones—but fast forward to 2008 and a telecommunications company might perform dozens of services. The changes are more than an evolution; they could almost be called a revolution.

C a ro l i n a P re m i e r B a n k • Je s s e B row n ’s O u t d o o r s • W. T. N i c h o l s M e c h a n i c a l • Te l Wa re C o r p o r a t i o n

january 2008

David Singer President and CEO Lance, Inc.

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TelWare Corporation

IBC

One Lance

Venerable Snack Maker Pulls Itself Together

Photography by Wayne Morris.

David V. Singer President and CEO Lance, Inc.

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[publisher’spost] Pursuing a Balance of Business and Life We are so pleased and proud to contribute to business success in the greater Charlotte region. The mission of Greater Charlotte Biz and all of our publications from the very beginning has been to help business people learn about each other and the abundant resources in this community supporting business success. Each month, we introduce you to area enterprises and their owners, managers and executives so that you can get to know them and discover opportunities for business interaction. We also want John Paul Galles you to learn from each other so that you can be even more successful in your business.

This 16-county region is rich with an incredibly diverse business base that is rapidly growing and changing. It has also become an attractive destination and location for national and international businesses seeking a new headquarters or operational center or even a distribution center in the Southeast or on the East Coast. At a time when many other cities are suffering a decline in business activity, Charlotte is still experiencing growth.

Business executives are choosing the Charlotte region over many other business centers for some important reasons.

First, Charlotte is accessible. With our airport, our highways, our access to railroads and ports, Charlotte is at the center of the east coast. It is 645 miles to New York City, 721 miles to Boston, 329 miles to Washington, D.C., 215 miles to Atlanta, 512 miles to Tampa and 735 miles to Miami.

Second, Charlotte’s cost of living is among the lowest of all comparably sized cities in the United States. Our cost of living is lower than Memphis, Kansas City, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Austin, Denver, Baltimore or Boston.

Third, Charlotte is a “cool” city. We are attracting more young people with college degrees to this region than any other city in the country except Las Vegas. We attract people to this region because of our schools, colleges and universities, our health care and our wage rates.

But the Charlotte region also attracts companies, business executives and workers because of our very high quality of life. Not only is Charlotte a great place to live, work, raise a family and enjoy life, but it also provides proximity to lakes, rivers and the ocean as well as to green spaces from the sand dunes to the Blue Ridge mountain tops. No matter which direction you travel, there are remarkable opportunities for everything from disc golfing to Olympic-standard whitewater rafting.

Recognizing that Charlotte provides a great business location with a great quality of life, Greater Charlotte Biz is sporting a new tagline for 2008. We want to continue our great tradition of helping business people learn about each other and the business resources in this region, but we also want to help business people celebrate the quality of life that can be found in and around Charlotte.

We will be adding at least one profile each month that is intended to help you enjoy your life alongside your business. We want to point out those access points that invite your participation in high quality of life experiences. From food, resorts, getaways, travel, golf, fun-in-the-sun, sports, events, arts and culture, we will present you with new ways to enjoy your lives in this outstanding region. Our new tagline is, “Pursuing a balance of business and life.”

We want to introduce you to more fun, more happiness, more joy and more pleasure in your life in a healthy balance with business opportunities. We will entice you and encourage you and show you places, activities, events and opportunities from which you can enrich your own lives. We encourage you to strive for the healthiest balance of business and life possible! biz

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January 2008 Volume 9 • Issue 1 Publisher John Paul Galles jgalles@greatercharlottebiz.com

Associate Publisher/Editor Maryl A. Lane maryl.a.lane@greatercharlottebiz.com

Creative Director Joanna L. Davis jdavis@greatercharlottebiz.com

Editorial & Sales Assistant Janet Kropinak jkropinak@greatercharlottebiz.com

Business Development Sandy Rosenfeld srosenfeld@greatercharlottebiz.com

Account Executive Locke Burnette lburnette@greatercharlottebiz.com

Contributing Writers Ellison Clary Carol Gifford Casey Jacobus Janet Kropinak Contributing Photographers Wayne Morris Janet Kropinak 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, please fax to the attention of “Editor” or e-mail: editor@greatercharlottebiz.com.

• Editorial or advertising inquiries, please call or fax at the numbers above or e-mail: info@greatercharlottebiz.com.

• Subscription inquiries or change of address, please call or fax at the numbers above or visit our Web site: www.greatercharlottebiz.com. © Copyright 2008 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.

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[bizXperts] Smart Salvos, Select Strategies and Succinct Solutions

owners “at risk” – part III The last two articles have focused on the basic Transitions a business owner faces during the life cycle of his business. These Transitions present significant risks to the long-term success of the business due to the constantly changing legal, tax, accounting and risk management environment facing the business owner. These Transitions also require the owner to adapt his leadership role with each transition in the growth of his business. We will continue along the lines of Katherine Catlin and Jana Matthews’, Leading at the Speed of Growth: Journey from Entrepreneur to CEO. Assuming the owner has successfully passed through these initial Transitions and begins to experience rapid growth, what are some of the new and different issues he will face?

Third Transition: From Initial Growth to Rapid Growth. As the owner’s business begins to experience rapid growth, his role must change from that of a delegator and direction setter to a team builder, coach, planner, and communicator.

During the rapid growth phase, things can quickly spin out of control unless the owner carefully plans and carefully manages his growth. He must hire the right people and properly train them to serve in the right roles based upon their strengths. The owner must create appropriate systems for sales and marketing, operations, and finance and accounting. He must also create systems for accountability which consistently and accurately track the right information (critical success factors) so that he always knows how well the business is performing and what issues need to be addressed.

What are some of the legal, tax, accounting and risk management issues which the owner faces as the business transitions into rapid growth?

First, many issues arise depending on whether the business grows “organically” or through acquisitions of other businesses. Depending primarily on asset protection objectives, organic growth can be pursued through establishing new entities (either a subsidiary of the current entity or a brother/sister entity) or simply creating a division of the existing entity.

Normally, an acquisition will be executed through a new entity and will most likely be structured as an asset purchase rather than through a purchase of stock or other ownership interests due to the substantial difference in liabilities assumed by the acquiring company. An owner should always seek the advice of qualified professionals when expanding into new markets “organically” or through purchasing other businesses due to the numerous legal, tax, accounting and risk management issues which arise in these situations.

Second, the owner needs to make sure any growth strategy adopted can be adequately financed without unduly risking his existing core business by over-leveraging. For the last couple of years owners have been able to borrow more from lenders to pursue acquisitions than was necessarily prudent (though that trend seems now to be reversing itself as credit has begun to tighten recently). Owners should make certain they have financial advisors who assist them in

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(a) determining the extent of the financial risk they are willing to take to grow rapidly, and (b) insuring that the rapid growth is truly profitable growth.

Third, as a company grows in number of employees, it becomes subject to an increasing number of new and different federal and state employment laws and regulaRobert Norris tions which require each owner to fully understand the steps which must be followed for compliance. Growth will absolutely require each owner to know how to properly hire and how to properly terminate employees without undue risk of liability.

Fourth, as companies grow they draw attention to themselves from competitors who now see them as a threat. These competitors often attempt to hire key people of the rapidly growing company—especially key sales and marketing people who control significant customer accounts. Failure by the owner of the rapidly growing company to ensure that his business’ greatest assets—his key people—are protected by both carrots (key employee incentive plans, stock options, phantom stock plans, etc.) and sticks (confidentiality agreements, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, etc.) can cause his company to be raided and even destroyed by his competition.

Key employees need to be appropriately incentivized and emotionally tied to the business.

Fourth Transition: From Rapid Growth to Continuous Growth. As an owner passes through the rapid growth to the continuous growth stage, his role must change to that of a change catalyst, organizational builder, strategic innovator, and chief of culture.

In today’s global economy, many owners are finding that their business model (which used to change only every 10 to 20 years) must be reinvented every two to three years in order to continuously grow by meeting the continuously changing needs of their customers. As business models require change, owners who seek advice from qualified professionals as to the legal, tax, accounting, and risk management ramifications of such change are much less likely to encounter unexpected and unwelcome consequences from their efforts.

Next month we will discuss the Transition from Continuous Growth to Eventual Exit of the owner from the business.

Robert Norris is managing partner of Wishart, Norris, Henninger & Pittman, P.A., a law firm which focuses on helping business owners define and achieve their business and personal objectives. Contact him at 704-364-0010 or visit www.wnhplaw.com.

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Smart Salvos, Select Strategies and Succinct Solutions

[bizXperts]

don’t mistake profits for cash In business there are some fundamentals that are common to each and every organization regardless of size or type of structure. One of the most important of these is the management of profitability and cash flow.

It is vital to understand the difference between them and the fact that profitability and good cash flow do not necessarily go together.

Profit is the difference between sales and costs within a specified period, say a month or a year. But while a sale may have been secured and goods delivered, the related payment for the sale may be deferred, for instance as a result of giving credit to the customer. While you wait for receipt of your money however, you must continue making payments to suppliers for inventory, to employees for wages, for repayments on equipment and so on.

Sales, costs and, therefore profits, do not necessarily coincide with their associated cash inflows and outflows. The net result is that cash receipts often lag cash payments and, though profits are being reported, the business may still be experiencing cash shortfalls.

That can have two very serious consequences — at best a slowing in the rate of growth of your business; at worst, complete business failure.

Rapid growth by profitable businesses may well lead to shortages of cash, because extra money is needed to finance expansion. In extreme circumstances this can lead to failure. Knowing you’ll have enough cash to pay a bill next month isn’t enough if your creditors are pushing for payment today and you can’t come up with it.

Good financial organization and having a strategy to manage cash flow will reduce the likelihood of disruption to your business. The strategy revolves around implementing effective business practices for improving cash flow and using a cash flow forecast mechanism to predict and manage slow periods.

Deborah Daniel Some good practices for ensuring cash flow continuity include developing policies and procedures to manage the credit you give, keeping your books up to date, having contingency plans in place for unexpected crises, managing your bill payment schedule, funding your business properly and keeping inventory to the minimum necessary.

Profit and cash flow are two factors that do not necessarily go hand-in-hand. More businesses fail for lack of cash flow than for want of profit. For this reason it is essential to manage the procedures that determine cash flow and to forecast the cash flow situation to be aware of where there may be problems looming.

All rights to the content in this publication are reserved by RAN ONE Inc. Any use of the content outside of this format must acknowledge RAN ONE Inc. as the original source.

Deborah Daniel, C.P.A., is principal with Daniel, Ratliff & Company, a full service accounting and business development firm. Contact her at 704-3715000 or visit www.danielratliff.com.

crisis = opportunity It might be hard for you to get excited when stock prices get hit like they have been in recent months. But for any of you with cash languishing in CDs and money markets (it’s a fact that there are record amounts of the green stuff sloshing around in both individual and corporate coffers), opportunity is beckoning. We are in a full-blown financial crisis, and crises are the breeding ground for substantial profits. All it takes is some fortitude and patience like Warren Buffett and other great investors exhibit.

Studies of investor behavior prove that when stocks get really cheap (like now), most people won’t buy them. If anything, they’ll be selling.

They won’t touch a Pfizer, for example (at a 10-year low), with to our knowledge the highest dividend yield in history, a yield one percentage point higher than from a 10-year Treasury note, stemming from a dividend growing at a double-digit rate. They won’t buy a Citigroup because they keep reading that the bank is in trouble even though Abu Dhabi bought 4.9 percent of the company recently.

Meanwhile, corporate insiders remain on a buying rampage. When insiders are buying even as share prices are dropping, that’s a very bullish sign. It generally means that stock prices don’t accurately reflect what’s really going on in the underlying businesses. We all need to keep in mind that poor performance has its advantages because often the best place for new money is in stocks that have gone nowhere, or even worse, down.

pursuing a balance of business and life

There’s plenty of quality merchandise around that qualifies.

There can be little if any question that the United States is amidst a full-blown financial crisis that is already having negative impact across the globe. We’ve had them before, and we’ll have them again. And this Bill Staton nation will continue to survive and prosper. Housing isn’t going into a freefall. The dollar isn’t going to collapse. The economy isn’t going into a depression. But numerous stocks, especially financial and housing, give quite a different—and misleading—impression. Let us quote the DailyWealth newsletter: “While the recession of 1990 was the only time we’ve seen individual investors more bearish than they are right now, there was one instance where individual investors were equally bearish as they are now, and that was the end of February in 2003. If you’re buying stocks right now, chances are very good that a few months from now you’ll be glad you did.”

For those who don’t remember their stock-market history, 2003 was the best year for stocks in the past thirty. 2008 just might be a repeat!!

Bill Staton, M.B.A., CFA, is chairman of Staton Financial Advisors LLC, a money management firm. Contact him at 704-365-2122 or visit www.statonfinancial.com.

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[bizXperts] Smart Salvos, Select Strategies and Succinct Solutions

the importance of failure To most people, “fail” is a four-letter word. In school, we try to keep from getting Fs. In business, we work hard to avoid being labeled a failure.

I understand this concept. In fact, much of my life, I would choose not to participate in something if I thought I might fail.

How sad. Think of all the great experiences I may have missed because I wouldn’t try, lest I fail.

Failure is a necessary step in learning. Think about a baby who is learning to walk. How many times does he fall down before he finally learns to stay up? We don’t consider him a failure because he falls down; we encourage him to keep trying. Somewhere along the way, we stop thinking of failure that way.

You’ve heard many stories that remind us of the importance of failure. Thomas Edison failed thousands of times when trying to create the light bulb. Milton Hershey failed in several business ventures and was nearly bankrupt by the time he was 30 years old. He went on, of course, to build a candy empire.

I wonder how many good ideas we never have because we’re afraid to fail? How often do we look for the “right” answer or stop with the first decent idea because it’s safe? If we were willing to

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fail, what kind of success could we achieve?

I hear business owners complain sometimes about the lack of creative thinking and problem solving in the workplace. Yet, when you look at the work processes they use, there is little room or time for creative thinking and problem solvDenise Altman ing. When you look at the training provided, little to none is devoted to productive and creative thinking. It seems to me that we’re getting exactly what we ask for.

How is failure viewed in your organization? Do you congratulate team members for their willingness to think big, or chastise them for time wasted? Do you encourage brainstorming for new solutions, or stress efficiency and stick to the tried and true?

Obviously, we can’t allow ourselves to fail all the time, but we have to be willing to fail—sometimes. Only then do we learn what the real possibilities are.

Denise Altman is president of Altman Initiative Group, Inc. Providing training in many areas including creativity and productive thinking. She can be reached at 704-315-9090 or visit w w w.altmaninitiative.com.

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Legislative and Regulatory Highlights for Area Employers

Are Employees’ Communications with Their Lawyers on Company Computers Privileged?

When faced with legal claims from employees or former employees, more and more employers conduct a search of the employee’s computer used at work.

Occasionally, the employer will find e-mail or other correspondence between the employee and an attorney retained to evaluate legal claims against the company. Several courts are looking for the first time at whether such communications can be used by the employer to defend legal claims, or whether they should be excluded from evidence due to the attorney-client privilege.

Last month, the Supreme Court of Virginia concluded in Banks v. Mario Indus. of Virginia, Inc., that the attorney-client privilege does not extend to such communications. In this case, the employee had prepared a “pre-resignation” memorandum on his company computer.When later introduced into evidence by the company, the plaintiff claimed that this was a communication prepared at the instructions of his attorney.

The Virginia Supreme Court refused to apply the privilege to this document.The court started with the basic presumption that the computer system belonged to the employer.Even though employees were permitted to use the computers for personal business,there was no expectation of privacy for any documents created using the employer’s system.The employee had in effect,waived the privilege by creating the memorandum on his employer’s system.

North and South Carolina courts have applied similar principles to expectations of employee privacy over use of company computer systems.

Employers should adopt clear electronic communications policies that explicitly advise employees that the computer systems and any of their contents are company property and that there is no expectation of privacy for any documents or communication that use the system.These policies can help preserve a potentially powerful tool for employers involved in litigation with former employees.

(Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP)

[employersbiz]

BASE PAY INCREASES – A COMPARISON OF NATIONAL AND LOCAL FINDINGS Every year The Employers Association (TEA) prepares a Wage & Salary Budget Adjustment Survey—a valuable snapshot of local salary practices in North and South Carolina. But how do local 2007 TEA Adjustment Survey findings compare to the national findings reported by Watson Wyatt (2007/2008 Strategic Rewards Report), Mercer Human Resource Consulting (2007/2008 US Compensation Planning Survey Report), and Culpepper & Associates (Culpepper eBulletin, September, 2007)?

Across the board, national surveys reported little change from 2006 to 2007. Pay increases are also projected to remain flat in 2008. TEA’s survey results are in line with this pattern, although the local average is slightly lower.

What factors might influence employers to keep base pay increases even? Organizations may consider inflation, Consumer Price Index (CPI), unemployment rate, and market comparisons when making base pay decisions. Many employers are also focusing on incentive/variable pay plans to competitively reward top performers.

Base Pay Increases: All Employees (US)

Project 2008 Base Pay Increases: Employee Category (US)

IRS 2008 MILEAGE RATES The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued the 2008 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating a vehicle for business, charitable, medical, or moving purposes.

Beginning January 1, 2008 the rates will be as follows; • 50.5 cents per mile for business miles driven (2007: 48.5 cents) • 19 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes (2007: 20 cents) • 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations (2007: same) The standard mileage rates for business, medical and moving purposes are based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. The mileage rate for charitable miles is set by law. Runzheimer International, an independent contractor, conducted the study for the IRS. (IRS)

SAMPLE INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY EMERGENCY CLOSINGS/INCLEMENT WEATHER Every employee is expected to make every reasonable effort to report to work whenever the office is open for business unless specifically informed otherwise.

The Company policy regarding lost work time due to emergency closings / inclement weather is the following: • Office is closed—Employees are not charged for any leave time as a result of this closure.

• Office opens late—Employees will be paid for the regularly scheduled work hours.

• Office is open—Employees who do not report to work on the day that an office is open or report to work late must take personal time or vacation time.

• Office closes early—Those employees at work will be paid for their regularly scheduled work hours. Employees who do not report to work and the office subsequently closes, must take a personal day or vacation day, regardless of the number of hours the office is open that day.

Employees may not work from home in lieu of a vacation day or personal day, unless they have the department head’s prior approval to work at home the day the office closed.

The Employers Association is a nonprofit Charlotte organization providing comprehensive human resources and training services. Founded in 1958, the Association maintains a broad-based membership of over 800 companies from all industries in the greater Charlotte region.

The above excerpts were taken from The Management Report, the Association’s monthly newsletter. For more information, please call Laura Hampton at 704-522-8011 or visit their Web site at www.employersassoc.com.

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11

HOOD HARGETT BREAKFAST CLUB

You and Your Company Are Invited to become an exclusive sponsor of the Hood Hargett Breakfast Club in 2008

H

ood Hargett Breakfast Club: The Premier Business Development Organization for Success-Minded Charlotte Business Owners.

The Hood Hargett Breakfast Club is a ‘category exclusive’ business development organization that develops and hosts some 36 events throughout the year for its members and guests. The goal of these events: to provide success-minded business owners with first-class venues to entertain their clients and prospects.

HHBC takes great pride in creating a pro-active, professional-yet-casual environment that gives members and guests the chance to meet and learn more about each other and their respective companies. These opportunities to develop new business relationships and enhance existing ones are key to the on-going success of HHBC. Call Jennifer Snyder at 704-602-9529.

January 11, 2008 Kirk Herbstreit ESPN Sports Analyst and Former Star Quarterback

2008

SPEAKER LINE-UP

September 12, 2008

Lee Woodruff Public Relations Executive and Freelance Writer

April 18, 2008

October 10, 2008

Press Secretary

Chief Richard Picciotto Highest-Ranking Firefighter to Survive WTC Collapse

Doug Lipp Former Head of Training at Walt Disney University

March 14, 2008

May 2, 2008

November 14, 2008

February 7, 2008 Ari Fleischer Former Whitehouse

Pat Croce Entepreneur and Motivational Speaker

HOOD HARGETT

Jim Nantz Broadcaster CBS Sports

Dick Hoyt Team Hoyt Motivational Speaker

To attend or learn more or to find out about membership,call JenniferSnyder at 704-602-9529 • jenn@hoodhargett.com

www.hoodhargettbreakfastclub.com ©2007 Galles Communications Group, Inc.

Work Force Training and Development

[workforcebiz]

SIMULATION AND GAME DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION For young people with a love of games and interactive media, the future might not be in the “real world” after all. Central Piedmont Community College is a leader in education for Simulation and Game Development (SGD), a career path that has grown in popularity in the past couple of years.

The Simulation and Game Development Program at CPCC was three years in the making and approved by the North Carolina Community College System in October of 2005. The program’s advisory board, comprised of industry leaders, and faculty, in collaboration with other colleges and universities, constantly strive to improve the curriculum. So far, the program has received a great deal of positive feedback from students and the community, as well as considerable publicity from media outlets including television, magazines, and online.

The SGD curriculum provides a broad background in simulation and game development with practical applications in creative arts, visual arts, audio/video technology, creative writing, modeling, design, programming and management. Students receive hands-on training in design, 3D modeling, software engineering, database administration and programming for the purpose of creating simulations and games. Students create electronic, board and tabletop games, develop simulations, create 3D models, and develop special effects and animations.

CPCC not only trains graduates to enter the game design profession, but to learn the fundamentals of programming and

other IT basics so they have many options available to them. Graduates may qualify for employment as designers, artists, animators, programmers, testers, quality assurance analysts, administrators in the entertainment industry, the health care industry, engineering, forensics, education, NASA and other agencies and companies.

All SGD courses meet rigorous national standards for online delivery and are offered for fully online delivery in local and international markets. The program maintains contact with local game development companies including Red Storm, Epic Games and Virtual Heroes, as well as one of the most active IGDA chapters in the nation, the Triangle Chapter. The program also offers 13 certificates.

The SGD program is part of CPCC’s Simulation, Modeling and Visualization Center. The mission of the SMV Center is to advance the sciences of simulation, modeling and visualization through promotion, education, training, provision of services, collaboration and product creation, and to use these sciences as alternative learning technologies for the advancement of learning outcomes. Students are given the opportunity to work on real world projects with corporate partners.

There are a few aspects of CPCC’s SGD program that make it rather unique: One Full Motion Capture Studio There is now a full motion capture studio for the program: SGD students can now capture full body motion, hand and foot motion and face motion. Faculty and staff have begun training in motion capture technologies. The Center is also exploring several programs including Motion Builder, SoftImage XSI and Natural Motion Endorphin.

Two Virtual 3D EON Labs CPCC has created labs for 3D visualization and simulation using EON Studios

pursuing a balance of business and life

software. In these labs, the audience can experience astonishing 3D environments via 3D glasses. The goal is to participate with other disciplines, such as medicine, architecture, engineering, psychology, etc., to help visualize and simulate their needs in a tangible and fully interactive 3D environment.

Three Podcasting Stations Students are now able to create audio reports and commentaries in new podcasting stations. The stations afford opportunities for students to create their own radio programs, to analyze and review video games, and to interview industry leaders.

A new podcast has been started called Lichens on a Leash, which serves to review video games in an effort to help parents understand the impact of games on their children’s development. The program includes information regarding ratings and recommendations for parents.

One Video Filming Studio The Center is equipped with blue/green screens to create video podcasts as well as effects in Machinema.

A Community Environment The Center encourages students to “hang out.” By opening up the labs for students to play games, work on homework, record personal podcasts, and just socialize, it is unique for a community college where most of the students go home or back to work after class.

For more information on the SGD Program in CPCC’s Information Technology Division, visit www.cpcc.edu/sgd. biz This section is intended to highlight work force training and development programs and initiatives delivered by community colleges within the Charlotte region. Community colleges are invited to submit substantive content ideas to editor@greatercharlottebiz.com.

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W

hen you first enter, you can’t help notice that it doesn’t quite look like the usual bank. Instead of the gleaming metal surfaces and cold marble flooring one finds in the typical bank headquarters, there is something different about the new Carolina Premier Bank on Blakeney Park Drive in south Charlotte.

Perhaps it’s the fireplace with its welcome warmth or the coffee bar with its fresh baked goods or the children’s play area with its bright toys and books.

Maybe it’s the community room, designed as a place for community groups and professional organizations to coalesce, as well as for bank-sponsored seminars open to the general public. Or, maybe it’s the Think Tank, a resource library for small business owners. Or again, it might be the bank officer who greets you (often by name) with a warm handshake.

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The design for the 5,000-square-foot facility, created by local architectural firm Lusk and Harken and built by Tyler 2 Construction, is intended to reflect the differences in culture between Carolina Premier Bank and its more traditional rivals. The employees, stockholders and board of directors of the new bank share a vision which harkens back to the values of the past: a time when familiarity, respect and reliability were part of the culture of banking.

“We’re not just another Charlotte bank,” says President John S. Kreighbaum. “We’re a new bank that embraces the old-fashioned values of an era gone by in banking. Rather than following the leader and replicating what banks are already doing here, we’ve created a different business model that marries the personal relationship of the past with today’s most sophisticated banking technology.”

Kreighbaum calls it “hometown” banking. Carolina Premier Bank’s hometown is a geographic area that centers on the growing

Blakeney, Ballantyne and Piper Glen areas of Charlotte and stretches down the highway into South Carolina. Their goal is to be identified as the local community bank in south Charlotte with an initial focus on small business. They plan to offer the people in the community a professional and innovative approach to banking based upon traditional values.

Building Credit Kreighbaum brings over 25 years of banking experience to his post of president and CEO of Carolina Premier Bank. He was a bank president by the time he was 29 years old; yet, surprisingly, banking was not his first choice for a profession.

Kreighbaum’s banking career began in the Midwest with a highly respected major bank. He went to college in Kansas on an athletic scholarship and hoped to combine a career in teaching with coaching. However, two weeks before the start of his senior year, he lost his student loan due to changes in !

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by casey jacobus

[bizprofile]

Banking on Old-Fashioned Values Carolina Premier Bank is Community-Minded and Business-Oriented

(l to r) O.W. Gabriel III, Senior Vice President and Senior Loan Officer; Kendall Stewart, CFO; John S. Kreighbaum, President and CEO; Robert C.M.Thomas, Executive Vice President and COO; Carolina Premier Bank

pursuing a balance of business and life

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his bank’s policies. He walked down the street and into another bank where he happened upon a bank president who listened sympathetically to his story.

Before he knew it, he was back in school taking some new courses in finance and economics. When he graduated, he entered an executive bank training program. Through his years of success in the banking world, he has never lost sight of the importance of building personal relationships with customers. Now, he has the chance to build a new bank based on the old-fashioned value of customer service.

“Our vision and passion is to establish the type of financial institution that has all but disappeared with today’s mega-sized banks,” says Kreighbaum. “We plan to redefine the role of a community bank by renewing old-fashioned, no appointment needed, customer service.”

Joining the executive ranks in the operation of the new bank is Rob Thomas, executive vice president and COO. Thomas has over 26 years of banking experience in the Charlotte area. As a Charlotte native, he shares the passion and vision of the new bank. He has worked in the community bank environment for the majority of his career and played a major role in the architecture of products and services.

“Carolina Premier Bank defines its customer service as ‘Premier Service.’ It incorporates key values of person-to-person relationships, respect and mutual understanding, timely local independent decisionmaking, passion for creating real value for customers, and recognition that every customer is different and so are their personal goals and financial needs”, says Thomas.

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Premier Service includes concierge banking for business customers, plus free courier and notary services, as well as nofee ATM access anywhere in the United States. However, the most important form of communication is personal contact, and the entire staff of Carolina Premier Bank is focused on responding to customers in person, via telephone or by e-mail.

“We have an awesome responsibility as bankers to help our customers,” says Tripp Gabriel, senior vice president and senior loan officer. “We can have an impact beyond the numbers on peoples’ lives.”

Gabriel is a Charlotte native with 23 years of banking experience. He knows the community as well as the local banking industry.

Gabriel says Carolina Premier Bank will look at all aspects of any loan request

with an eye to building a long-term business relationship. Gabriel says bankers won’t be concerned with making arbitrary goals, as much as with finding solutions that match the customer’s needs.

“Our last resort is to turn down a loan,” he says. “We’ll work hard to come up with an alternative.”

Customer service at Carolina Premier Bank means the tellers are free to move out from behind the counter to interact with customers. It means telephone callers don’t have to go through an alphabetical maze to reach someone to talk with. It means simplifying the loan process and eliminating pages of “add on fees” to every interaction. It means one community checking account, instead of sixteen separate brochures. It means customizing the banking operation to fit the customer.

“You will never hear ‘It’s against our policy,’” says Kreighbaum. “We won’t hide behind general policy statements. We have zero tolerance for anything less than superior customer service.”

“Our vision and passion is to establish the type of financial institution that has all but disappeared with today’s mega-sized banks. We plan to redefine the role of a community bank by renewing old fashioned, no appointment needed, customer service.” ~ John Kreighbaum, President and CEO

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Creating Value Carolina Premier Bank held its grand opening in December. Prior to that, the board of directors was busy compiling a team of employees, designing and building a facility and creating the products and policies of the new bank. A major task was to raise the necessary capital. From the first subscription of $2,500, 475 shareholders have subscribed over $18 million.

The board of directors includes business owners and leaders in the Charlotte area who possess the highest level of integrity and share a commitment to the success of Carolina Premier Bank.

“Our board members are entrepreneurs sensitive to how businesses operate today,” says Krieghbaum. “Most of them live or work in south Charlotte. They have accepted the moral and fiduciary responsibility to make the community a better place to call home.” Kreighbaum maintains that they did not open the bank’s doors with a vision of success based on major growth. They have accepted that growth is not the only measure of success.

“We’re not looking for aggressive growth or many loans,” says Kreighbaum.

“We’re taking a balanced approach. The board will make sure we are well managed with a sound foundation and a technologically advanced operating system. We will provide a solid platform to grow from.

Then we hope the community will support us and we will grow competitively.”

Investing in the Future Kreighbaum knows that the bank’s success is not dependent solely upon him or even the board of directors.

Rather, it depends on the staff members who interact every day with the bank’s customers. Consequently he has assembled an outstanding team of seasoned, experienced bankers and loan officers, people like Caryn Johnson, senior vice president of operations. Johnson began her banking career over 28 years ago and has extensive experience in various bank operations, including deposit operations and compliance as well as bank administration, which she overseas at Carolina Premier Bank.

“Caryn brings empathy, sensitivity and creativity to the team,” says Kreighbaum.

Kreighbaum has looked for people with aptitude, values and integrity to add to his team. He chose Amy Macari, a personable young mother, to supervise key elements of operating infrastructure, investor relations and communications.

Although Amy has no prior banking experience, Krieghbaum says she is “extremely intelligent, talented and focused on the values of relationship dynamics and customer sensitivity.”

Speaking of his employees, Kreighbaum says, “Success is not in my hands.

All I can do is set the vision, monitor and coach; they’ll take it from there.”

Staff members appear to find pleasure working in the culture of Carolina Premier Bank. Macarri says it’s fun to be in on the beginning of something new.

“You help nurture it, like a child,” she says. “I’ve focused on the customer piece and probably interacted with every one of the 475 shareholders.”

Johnson, too, emphasizes the pleasure of working with small business owners where “the personal connection is so incredibly important.” And, she likes working at a small bank where “if you have an idea, you can make it a reality.”

In fact, Johnson was responsible for one idea that has already grown into a product at the new bank. The Tree Frog Club is a program that engages children up to age 12, teaching them to save money by offering a reward system for saving and lots of fun activities.

“At a young age, children need to understand how to save and how to spend prudently,” says Johnson.

The Tree Frog Club feeds into a program for teens, which offers a checking account with access to an ATM card, as well as financial seminars and a local teen board for the bank. These programs for youngsters are part of the bank’s outreach to the broader community, which includes special attention for senior citizens and free workshops and seminars open to the general public.

For the first fifteen months, these public seminars will focus on the small business owner and cover topics like Web site design, marketing and “What makes a business stronger?”

“We often go beyond our role as

pursuing a balance of business and life

bankers,” says Kreighbaum. “We understand that part of our mandate is to know the community and make it a better place to live and work.”

Looking Ahead It’s a brand new bank with old- fashioned values. How can one measure its success? Kreighbaum says it isn’t necessary to wait one year or five years to judge whether or not Carolina Premier Bank is successful.

“At the end of every day, you ask what happened that day,” says Kreighbaum.

‘What didn’t we do that we could have done? We’ve set in place all the warning device elements that tell you how you’re doing. We aren’t going to wake up a year from now and realize we have a pot full of problem loans.”

By hiring experienced people with integrity, installing the most up-to-date technology, and creating a strong infrastructure, Kreighbaum is certain the bank will fulfill its mission to become the community bank for the South Charlotte area.

Meanwhile, “It’s a journey; it’s a pleasure and an honor to come into this bank every day,” says Kreighbaum. biz Casey Jacobus is a Charlotte-based freelance writer.

Carolina Premier Bank 6225 Blakeney Park Drive Charlotte, N.C. 28277 Phone: 704-752-9292 Principals: John S. Kreighbaum, President and CEO; Robert C.M.Thomas, Executive Vice President and COO; O.W. Gabriel III, Senior Vice President and Senior Loan Officer; Kendall Stewart, CFO Founded: 2007 Employees: 15 Business: South Charlotte bank committed to the work of helping customers achieve financial goals and realize the collective dreams for their businesses, families and community; business-oriented, yet community-minded. www.carolinapremierbank.com

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17

Bill Bartee Owner and President Jesse Brown’s Outdoors

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by janet kropinak

[bizlife]

ESCAPE the Cubicle

Jesse Brown’s Outfits a Healthier Lifestyle For many Charlotte area outdoor enthusiasts, their trip begins when they walk into Jesse Brown’s Outdoors. Whether they are in need of a new backpack, hiking boots or fly fishing rod, they are likely to find what they are seeking and much more, including some savvy advice from the friendly and knowledgeable staff at Jesse Brown’s.

Opened as a backpacking store 37 years ago, Jesse Brown’s has morphed into a sportsman’s paradise where novices and experienced mountaineers of all ages come to plan and prepare for their next adventure.

Opportunity and Necessity Named after its founder, Jesse Brown’s Outdoors first opened in Greer, South Carolina, in 1970. Brown, an airline pilot and an avid backpacker and mountaineer, saw a need for such a store in this region after visiting similar specialty shops during his travels.

The Greer location was only open one year when Brown decided to move to Charlotte.

In Charlotte, Brown found a robust city with more business opportunity. He remained an active partner in the business until 1980, when his wife Elizabeth took over leadership. During the late ’80s a young man named Bill Bartee worked at the shop under then-owner Joe Hedrick, folding t-shirts and stocking shelves. Although this wasn’t the most exciting work, it did give Bartee an

pursuing a balance of business and life

appreciation for what this specialty store was offering its customers as well as a glimpse inside the retail industry.

Bartee worked his way up the ranks in the company and in 1993, when the opportunity presented itself, made the decision to buy the store. That same year, Jesse Brown’s settled into their third Charlotte location and current home in the Sharon Corners Shopping Center in SouthPark.

“My decision to buy the store came from both opportunity and necessity. I decided if this is what I was going to do with my life, I wanted to make that kind of commitment,” he recalls. “My dad was also invested in the company, which made it easier for me, since I already had blood in the game.”

Bartee is quick to admit that he didn’t always see himself in the retail industry: “I didn’t grow up thinking I wanted to be a retailer, but I can honestly say that there isn’t a job I’d rather have than this one. Every day I get to do something different and every day offers new challenges; that is exciting.”

Another influencing factor in Bartee’s career choice was his passion for the outdoors, evident in his youth growing up on his family’s farm in Clover, S.C. He also credits the Boy Scouts for setting him up with an introduction and foundation into outdoor survival skills.

As Bartee was taking over leadership of the store, the world of outdoor recreation was also seeing vast changes. Many of the sporting activities that Jesse Brown’s was serving were becoming mainstream: rock climbing and backpacking were no longer seen as extreme !

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sports, so the demand and popularity of them exploded, as did word of Jesse Brown’s Outdoors.

Being part of the Charlotte marketplace for nearly four decades, Jesse Brown’s has evolved alongside the city. “This is a great place for us because there is a very active group of people of all ages with the willingness and the ability to participate in outdoor recreation,” comments Bartee.

Something for Everyone As you enter Jesse Brown’s second story 7,200-square-foot store you are likely to see enthusiasts of all ages planning their next excursion into the wilderness, and Bartee and his staff take this responsibility seriously. “Our goal is to help make their trip as memorable and safe as possible,” he affirms. “Whether they are planning a day hike or the trip of a lifetime, we are happy to be a part of it.”

In addition to experienced sportsmen, you are also likely to see local businesspeople looking for an escape from their cubicle. “People spend five days a week in an office, and by the end of the week they are ready for a break from that life, and that is where we can help them,” says Bartee. “We can introduce them to equipment and ways to escape.”

And this assistance need not involve an expensive new fishing rod or fancy apparel, but may merely involve some simple direction on how to live a more active lifestyle.

“A lot of people are intimidated by the outdoors. They think it means they have to trek into the woods and sleep in a tent, which doesn’t appeal to everyone,” Bartee explains. “Sure, camping isn’t for everyone, but there are few people out there who

would say they don’t enjoy going on a walk or watching a sunset—and what they don’t realize is that they too are outdoor enthusiasts.”

Bartee notes that commitment to the outdoors depends on where a person is in their life, which varies greatly. What makes Jesse Brown’s stand out is that they are able to fit the demands of the novice looking to improve their health and well-being, or the seasoned mountaineer planning to climb Mount Everest.

Bartee himself has had to adjust to being both a business owner and a father of three young children. “You just have to find out what works for you given where you are and go with it,” he says.

The diversity of Jesse Brown’s customers is only matched by the wide assortment of equipment available in the store. “We appeal to the young and trendy with stylish and popular brands, as well as a wide variety of environmental friendly products,” says Bartee, “and we do a lot of business with the baby boomers who are still mobile and active and looking to rekindle old passions as well as entertain new interests.”

From Backpacking to Fly Fishing In the early ’80s, Jesse Brown’s business expanded yet again, this time to encompass fly fishing, making it one of the earliest retailers in the region to cater to the sport. Bartee acknowledges that it was a potentially risky decision, seeing as this was years before the sport would become mainstream with the help of the movie A River Runs Through It. The decision turned out to be a good one for business, and Jesse Brown’s has since become one of the largest fly fishing outfit-

ters in the Carolinas, known as “the place to go” for anglers of all skill levels.

Though Bartee is quick to admit fly fishing isn’t always the easiest sell. “Fly fishing can be an intimidating sport to a lot of people, but we try hard to take the mystery out of it and make it an attainable goal.” And it would seem they are succeeding in selling the sport as it has become a bookend of the company’s business, alongside hiking equipment and apparel.

Leading the effort to help customers achieve their goals is long-time employee Don Yager, who founded Angler Services, a fly fishing outfitter that specializes in teaching first-timers the sport.

“The trips we arrange are made to remove the intimidation through simplified explanations and illustrations,” says Yager.

“Fly fishing has a vast appeal to the young and old alike because of its active role with nature. We focus on basic education and creating a solid foundation that participants can build upon to whatever extent the feel compelled in the future.”

“Don’s trips have really been great for business and promoting the sport of fly fishing,” comments Bartee. “We see young kids wanting to learn as well as a strong resurgence of women and baby boomers who are looking for ways to stay active.”

“I think the appeal of fly fishing is that it is not limited by physical abilities, age or gender.

It is enhanced by imagination and a willingness to be a part of nature,” says Yager.

The Business of Retail Having the clientele who are looking to live active lifestyles is an important factor in the success of Jesse Brown’s and Bartee credits

“The real beauty of the sports we cater to is that they can be played by any gender and any generation.

They are fun to enjoy alone or in the company of friends and most important, they are human-powered sports and they are good for your mind, spirit and body.” ~ Bill Bartee, Owner and President 20

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the city of Charlotte and its location for helping with this.

“Part of our success is tied to just being in this city, and having access to all sorts of activities right in our own backyard. Being part of a large and economically strong urban center with access to both the mountains and the ocean has been huge for us,” Bartee comments. Though he quickly notes that being in Charlotte also has its downside.

“One of the hardest parts of this business is inventory control. Combine that with the unpredictable seasonal changes we experience, and it makes that job even harder.”

Bartee explains that the warmer winter we had in 2006 left them with extra winter apparel, while the cooler spring we had in 2007 made the buying more challenging.

Bartee admits, “The weather plays a big role in the buying trends of our customers.”

Another challenge Bartee and his staff face is staying on top of trends, and he says they do this by staying in touch with the peripheral needs. “We try to look at what is going on in all industries to see how that is going to impact outdoor recreation.”

This is how Bartee knew to jump on trends such as the popular shoes Crocs, and the ‘Life is Good’ brand, both of which have exploded in the marketplace. But Bartee is realistic about the fact that you are bound to miss the boat from time to time. He admits he hasn’t quite mastered timing yet, “We carried Ugg boots for a long time and when sales slowed down, we stopped carrying them; that was right before they were seen in all the magazines and we were left out in the cold.”

Luckily, Jesse Brown’s has managed to stay on top of most trends over the years, earning them the respect of outdoor enthusiasts around the region, and recently national recognition as well. Bartee proudly acknowledges their recent ranking

as one of the Top 25 Independent Outdoor Specialty Retailers in the country by Outdoor Business magazine.

Walking the Walk Though there are many factors in Jesse Brown’s success, it becomes apparent walking through their door that one of the largest is the quality of its staff. “We are in the people business and we look for people with the skills to communicate information and share in our customers’ enthusiasm.”

In fact, it is their staff that sets them apart from the large sporting good chains, though Bartee is quick to point out that these chains are not their major competition.

“We aren’t competing with other retailers as much as we are competing with televisions, computers, video games, and essentially the couch,” he says matter of factly.

“One of our goals and biggest challenges is simply to encourage people to get off the couch and get outside.”

Spreading the motivation to “just get outside” is one that Bartee and his staff work hard at. And the addition of their store in Ballantyne Village in 2006 has broadened their reach enabling them to serve more customers than ever before.

“We continue to seek out new, innovative brands and sports that revolve around escape, active lifestyle and comfort,” says Bartee. The Ballantyne store also helped Bartee attain his goal of having two healthy stores in the Charlotte marketplace.

At Jesse Brown’s, they do more than sell the active lifestyle; they live it themselves.

One medium Bartee uses to spread the message is the airwaves, where he and Don Yager share their passion for the outdoors every Saturday morning at 5:00 a.m. hosting Carolina Outdoors on WBT 1110AM. Their show is intended to educate listeners about

pursuing a balance of business and life

the abundance of outdoor recreational opportunities in the region.

Bartee is a firm believer in the advantages of an active lifestyle. He states: “The real beauty of the sports we cater to is that they can be played by any gender and any generation. They are fun to enjoy alone or in the company of friends and most important, they are human-powered sports and they are good for your mind, spirit and body.”

Whether you are a skier, a fisherman, a backpacker, a kayaker, a hiker, or simply someone who wants to live a healthier lifestyle, there is no doubt that Jesse Brown’s can outfit your needs. biz Janet Kropinak is a Charlotte-based freelance writer.

Jesse Brown’s, Inc. dba Jesse Brown’s Outdoors 4732 Sharon Road, Suite 2M Charlotte, N.C. 28210 Phone: 704-556-0020 Principal: Bill Bartee, Owner and President Established: 1970 Employees: 20 total 2006 Sales: $4 million Locations: SouthPark, Ballantyne Awards: Ranked as one of the Top 25 Independent Outdoor Specialty Retailers in the country by Outdoor Business magazine, November 2007 Business: Premier outfitter providing the finest lines in outdoor equipment and clothing, specializing in backpacking, hiking, fly fishing, mountaineering, adventure travel, and the “countryside” lifestyle. www.jessebrown.com

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David V. Singer President and CEO Lance, Inc.

A

Charlotte company that built an enviable record of success through eight decades, Lance, Inc. found itself in economic doldrums by 2003.

Earnings had shrunk from $1.50 a share to about 60 cents and board members were restless.

The dwindling profit weighed heavy, despite the fact that the snack food firm that traces its roots to 1913 was debt-free and still churning out sandwich crackers, cookies, peanuts and potato chips.

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So the board switched leadership, installing board member David Singer as president and chief executive.

Taking the reins in May 2005, Singer set about revamping a culture he found to be paternalistic and set in its ways into one that values teamwork and inclusion and welcomes change.

He focused his vision for Lance on increasing market share, becoming more profitable and growing bigger.

He summarized that image in the slogan “One Lance.� w w w. g r e a t e r c h a r l o t t e b i z . c o m

by ellison clary

[bizprofile]

One Lance Venerable Snack Maker Pulls Itself Together

photo: Wayne Morris

“We have one company and we have three different things we do,” explains the 52year-old Singer, who joined the Lance board in 2003 while he was chief financial officer of Charlotte’s Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated. “We do contract sales, private label sales and branded sales.

We don’t have separate companies.”

Separate companies is what it felt like to Singer when he took over and found what he called “silos” everywhere he turned.

He stops to explain the Lance businesses. There’s the myriad snack foods it produces for the Lance brand, but there’s also a Cape Cod Potato Chips brand of kettle chips the company acquired in the 1990s. Then there are the cookies and crackers it produces for other labels, done largely in its Vista Bakery acquisition in Burlington, Iowa. And there’s contract manufacturing, such as the Oreo cookies Lance turns out for Nabisco and the various products it makes for Kraft Foods and others.

“When I got here, all these businesses were run separately,”

pursuing a balance of business and life

Singer says. “None of them were very big. These companies didn’t even buy corrugated boxes together. It’s hard to be attractive to a supplier if you’re buying smaller quantities.”

That wasn’t the only source of malaise. Core markets were declining because people were buying more snacks at the grocery store rather than the gas station or the corner restaurant, traditional Lance mainstays. Distribution was growing more difficult because of cities and towns with clogged streets. Chain restaurants were buying crackers from conglomerates who also sold them mayonnaise and pickles.

To be sure, three former Lance chairmen—Bill Disher, Pete Sloan and Philip Lance Van Every, son of Lance Packaging Company co-founder Salem Van Every—are enshrined in the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame. Further, Singer vows they richly deserve the honor.

“The company had been very successful because of the business model it had,” Singer says. Lance used sales people with geographic routes who operated much like independent contractors. “Lance was good at making a really good product, doing it cost-effectively and getting it to people with entrepreneurial ability and letting them be successful.”

Adapting to New Realities The prior model had worked so well for so long that it was doubly hard for the company to adapt to new business realities, Singer points out. “We had a lot of things that just weren’t competitive with other snack food companies.”

The well-defined Lance culture featured some extremely attractive elements. “There was a real family atmosphere,” he says, which led to longevity. “In our Charlotte plant, you’ll find people who have worked here for 35, even 45 years.”

The down side was that the paternalism under which managers told employees what to do and praised them for doing it well didn’t encourage finding better ways to operate. !

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Then there were the silos. People in manufacturing didn’t interact with or try to help those in distribution or sales. Folks who ran the Vista bakery in Iowa didn’t interact with those at the Lance bakery in Charlotte, even though their processes were similar. There was no cooperation on a concept as simple as how to load more product on a tractor-trailer truck.

So Singer, who helped Coca-Cola Consolidated grow into the country’s second largest Coke bottler, instituted his One Lance concept to encourage everyone to cooperate and work for common goals: more profitability and growth.

Promoting that effort is Singer’s quarterly video that he arranges for everyone in the company to view. In his communications, Singer outlines progress toward becoming One Lance and lists objectives for even more improvements.

Singer brought in some key executives to help him. He found a chief financial officer in Rick Puckett, recruited from United Natural Foods, Inc., an organic grocery wholesaler. He added Blake Thompson to run the supply chain and preside over purchasing, manufacturing and logistics.

Thompson came from Tasty Baking of Philadelphia, makers of Tastee Cakes; he’d formerly been with snack giant Frito-Lay. From ConAgra, Singer enticed Glenn Patcha to head up Lance sales and marketing.

Glenn Patcha recruited Christine Hade from the frozen foods division of Kellogg’s to be vice president of innovation. Hade is building a cross-functional team to design new products that not only appeal to consumers but fit in the Lance manufacturing

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and distribution system.

“We want to create an adaptive culture,” Singer says. “We want to get comfortable with making changes.”

At least one long-term Lance board member likes what he sees. “Dave has assembled a wonderful team,” says Charlotte’s Bob Sisk, who has served on the Lance board since 1989. “That is absolutely necessary to bring a company fully into the modern world of the 21st century,” says the man who retired from the firm he built, Piedmont Engineering, in 2002.

“What they’ve been able to do already is substantial,” Sisk adds.

Lance Size a Dichotomy Lance’s size is something of a dichotomy.

Lance crackers own the top share of the sandwich snack market in its sales area, which consists of 35 states in the east and southeast. Those various cracker concoctions !

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sell twice as much as nearest competitor Keebler. Further, Cape Cod Potato Chips own the top share of kettle chips, a product that offers a firmer bite than a regular chip.

Lance employs about 1,300 in Charlotte, most in its one-millionsquare-foot plant off South Boulevard near Pineville. Companywide, employment is about 4,400.

Lance has grown from $600 million in sales in 2004 to $730 million in 2006 and projects $760 million for 2007.

But Singer is quick to explain why those numbers are deceiving. “FritoLay grows more in a year than Lance is big,” he smiles. He clicks off other giants in snack foods, names such as Kraft, Kellogg’s and General Mills. “If you look at size numbers one through 10, we would rank pretty high,” he adds. “The problem is the difference between the guy ahead of us and us— it’s four-fold or six-fold.”

And yet, when Singer took over, there was a capacity problem. The company was struggling to keep output steady with demand and was too often resorting to overtime at the Charlotte facility. So Singer leaped at the opportunity to buy Tom’s Snack Company out of bankruptcy in 2005.

Besides its hometown of Columbus, Ga., that company had manufacturing plants in Perry, Fla., and Corsicana, Texas, that Lance could use to ease the product-producing crunch, particularly for Cape Cod Potato Chips that were being made in Hyannis, Mass., a long haul from the Florida potatoes Lance was buying.

The Tom’s acquisition took Lance from $600 million in sales to almost $700 million. “When you add that big a percentage, you create opportunities for people that are here,” Singer points out. If you’re Frito-Lay, you can’t grow by 30 percent. For us, we have opportunities to improve and grow in much bigger chunks.

That’s the story I used to get management folks to come here.”

Before Singer signed on, Lance had eliminated trans fats from its products,

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even though that means more expensive production. Singer wants to build on that and make major inroads in what he calls “the better for you market.” Already, Cape Cod Potato Chips are cooked with canola oil and can be made with 40 percent less fat. Singer has just formed a partnership, including an ownership position, with “Late July”, an organic sandwich cracker maker.

Company-Wide Computer Will Help “This is not very exciting,” Singer apologizes as he moves on, “but one big change we’re implementing is a new computer system for the whole company. When you look at how much it will affect us; that will be huge.”

Instead of people with yellow pads and spreadsheets, Singer says, the computer system will turn forecasting sales into a scientific and efficient process. It can also facilitate research into changing dietary preferences.

Singer says his favorite Lance product is a cheese on wheat sandwich cracker, “although there are very few of them I don’t like.”

A Pennsylvania native, he shows no remorse that Lance eliminated its version of

“With the team we’ve assembled, and with everyone working together, this business has the capacity to really grow in terms of both sales and profitability.” ~David Singer, President and CEO a Southern favorite—the “moon pie”— some years ago. Lance was buying the product, which features a crème filling between two circular graham crackers covered with chocolate, from another producer and stopped that practice for simplicity’s sake.

Lance also has discontinued its vending machines that were ubiquitous in the South. They were no longer profitable.

Perhaps the biggest Lance challenge currently is dealing with skyrocketing prices on flour and cooking oil. In the case of flour, U.S. farmers are responding to the demand for ethanol by planting more corn, at the expense of wheat. Coupled with weather woes in other parts of the world, this means

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“Dave has assembled a wonderful team. That is absolutely necessary to bring a company fully into the modern world of the 21st century…What they’ve been able to do already is substantial.” ~Bob Sisk, Board Member, Lance

jumped from about a quarter a pound to 46 cents. “That’s another $20 million,” he says.

Lance told Wall Street that commodity costs in the fourth quarter have forced it to revise earnings per share to 76 to 80 cents; its earlier estimate was 86 to 92 cents per share.

That effect on performance is frustrating, Singer says, for himself and Lance employees.

Still, he sees his One Lance innovations working, both as he travels to the various plants and as he looks at financial performance.

That bodes well for Lance’s future, he believes. “We’re building a team that can

run a business that’s much larger,” Singer says. “We’ve proven with Tom’s that we can make an acquisition effectively. We’re fixing those fundamental elements. As we weather through this commodity thing, our margins will start to improve and we can start to make some acquisitions.

“With the team we’ve assembled, and with everyone working together, this business has the capacity to really grow in terms of both sales and profitability,” he says. biz Ellison Clary is a Charlotte-based freelance writer.

wheat prices, which had been around $4 a bushel, have sometimes skyrocketed as high as $9.5 a bushel.

“The difference between $4 a bushel and $9 for our company is $40 million a year,” Singer says with a head shake. “That’s about how much the company made in 2004.”

At the same time, vegetable oil has

Lance, Inc. 8600 South Boulevard Charlotte, N.C. 28273 Phone: 704-554-1421; 800-438-1880 Principal: David V. Singer, President and CEO; Richard D. (Rick) Puckett, Executive Vice President, CFO Sales: $730 million (2006); $760 million (2007 projected) Employees: 4,400 companywide; 1,300 in Charlotte Nasdaq: LNCE Production Facilities: Charlotte, N.C;Toronto area (3); Hyannis, Mass.; Burlington, Iowa; Columbus, Ga.; Perry, Fla.; Corsicana,Texas Business: Manufactures and markets snack foods throughout much of the United States and other parts of North America. Products include sandwich crackers and cookies, restaurant-style crackers, potato chips, tortilla chips, cookies, sugar wafers, nuts, candy and other snacks. Products are distributed through a direct-store-delivery system of about 1,500 sales routes, a network of independent distributors, and direct shipments to customer locations. www.lance.com

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(l to r) Bob Dunlap, President and CEO; Larry Riggsby, Vice President of Service; Mark Pack, Sales Manager; W.T. Nichols Mechanical

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by carol gifford

[bizprofile]

MISSION:L A C I T I CR

WT Nichols Sees Strength in Servicing HVAC-related Problems Bob Dunlap runs a thriving HVAC construction and service business but he also has a burning desire to help mission critical clients around the country. Specifically, his mission is to build his company, W.T. Nichols Mechanical, into a well-rounded, expert service and construction company to compete with any in the country.

“I am an entrepreneur at heart,” says Dunlap, president and CEO of the Matthews-based mechanical services company. “It’s a different breed but I thrive on it. The more complicated it is, the more I like it. I want to learn about it and master it. Success is the only option for me.”

Bob Dunlap runs a thriving HVAC construction and service business but he also has a burning desire to help mission critical clients around the country. Specifically, his mission is to build his company, W.T. Nichols Mechanical, into a well-rounded, expert service and construction company to compete with any in the country.

“I am an entrepreneur at heart,” says Dunlap, president and CEO of the Matthews-based mechanical services company. “It’s a different breed but I thrive on it. The more complicated it is, the more I like it. I want to learn about it and master it. Success is the only option for me.”

After starting and selling a successful flooring business in Florida and working for a national financial services company, Dunlap returned to Charlotte in 2000 and vows to never move again.

“I was born in Charlotte. I grew up outside of Manhattan, but returned to Charlotte to attend UNC, where I got a degree in economics,” says Dunlap, 41, who lives with his wife and two children in North Charlotte. “I’m a North Carolinian by choice. I love the Charlotte area. I like being in the South where there are no hidden agendas and the people are upfront and open.”

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Dunlap acquired W.T. Nichols Mechanical in June 2005 and has grown it impressively over the past two and a half years.

“I bought a company with three employees and one $150,000 job,” Dunlap says. “By the end of 2005, revenue was $650,000. By 2006, it had climbed to $6.5 million. In 2007, we project we will have reached $10 million, and by the end of 2008, I hope we will reach $15 to $20 million.”

The company’s growth, according to Dunlap, comes from both construction and service work billings. The company’s main market is a 60-mile radius of Charlotte, including South Carolina, and Dunlap says commercial construction in that radius is still strong. He has 72 employees in the Matthews office and an additional six employees work in a sister company, Fort Mill Duct Fab in South Carolina, producing duct work and metal fabrication.

“Charlotte is one of the top markets in the country, it’s a booming commercial area,” says Dunlap. “Any projected business slowdown is mainly in the residential market. Commercial building is still very strong here.”

Even if an economic slowdown occurs, Dunlap thinks the Charlotte !

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“Our employees now even have laptops in their trucks. We also have a lot more equipment. We have 43 vehicles, 50 to 60 cell phones and network connection cards for laptop computers—along with a lot of new bills to pay each

commercial economy is likely to lag a year or so behind national statistics.

“There is almost always a few years’ lag time because of the time it takes to get a commercial project up and running due to zoning and other construction requirements,” Dunlap says. “Our peak time in construction is always after the peak economic time, so we’re still working on the projects from the boom time of 2003-04.

“We expect 2008 will be fine,” continues Dunlap. “I don’t foresee a commercial construction slowdown here until 2010 or 2011, and that is when our service department should pick up.”

Growing Up a Business Dunlap says his young business is learning how to compete aggressively with competitors in its field and he plans for it to become a market leader in mission critical service and construction.

“On a scale of A to E, we now compete on the A level in our service department and C level in our construction division with other competitors. In another three to five years, we’ll be moving up to the A level for our construction business, expanding our service business nationwide, and be on track to compete with all the top companies,” he says proudly.

Dunlap says the first few years of running a new company are like starting from scratch. As the company grows its work force, it becomes more professional.

“You begin as a small, family business and over time become more professional. As we added more employees, we had to develop policies, handbooks and processes.”

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month,” he smiles wryly.

Developing a core competency in service is essential to growing his company, according to Dunlap.

“I didn’t even know about service when I bought the company in 2005,” says Dunlap, who has since learned much about this critical component. “Service is the key—we really want to expand this part of the business.”

“Right now, we do about $800,000 of business each month and service accounts for about 20 to 25 percent of that amount, but I’d like to grow it to 60 to 70 percent of our business in the next 24 months,” explains Dunlap. “It’s crucial to have construction work to build the service department, but the service end of the business is where we want to go.”

“W.T. Nichols has handled each and every problem effectively and efficiently, making it a priority to get our equipment back online. To have a company with immediate response time and paying attention to detail like they do is so refreshing.”

-Steve McMillian, Facilities Manager Joe Gibbs Racing

“The company’s success, now and in the future, is dependent on its employees,” he says, but finding good employees is not easy and staffing his new service department has been even tougher. “Construction employees

are easier to find than service technicians,” he says, “because installing equipment is easier than servicing thousands of different models.”

“Building a work force has been painful.

For every 10 employees you hire, you may get one that sticks around,” says Dunlap.

“Success is never a straight line to the end; you may have to zigzag, and a couple of times, at that.”

“Good service employees need a minimum of 10 years of experience to be able to diagnose a problem and fix it,” according to Dunlap. “Guys who work in service are very different than construction workers.

They are very technical individuals with a bent toward engineering. Some of them have a four-year degree in HVAC.” Service work, states Dunlap, is like “a tree with many different limbs.” Service technicians need to know about hundreds of models of heating and cooling systems and many components of system operations such as controls, parts, and computers.

Dunlap encourages employees in his company to advance and consider entering the service field. He offers them the opportunity to take HVAC classes at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC).

“If they receive an A or B in a CPCC course, we’ll pay for it,” says Dunlap enthusiastically. “I love to promote employees within our organization.”

About half of W.T. Nichols’ competitors do not have service departments or they offer them at a separate location, Dunlap states. He sees the growing number of commercial businesses around Charlotte as service business opportunities for his company.

“We set up preventative service agreements with existing businesses and this is a very important part of our business model. All these newly-constructed buildings in Charlotte have to be maintained. It’s like car maintenance work that you fix before it breaks down. We go out two to four times a year and change filters, look at connections and see if something is wearing out,” says Dunlap.

Companies like Joe Gibbs Racing in Huntersville and Cardinal Health, State Farm

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Insurance, Dole and Western Union in Charlotte are just a few of the local businesses that have service contracts with W.T. Nichols Mechanical and the number of service contracts, Dunlap says, continues to grow.

“Building our service contract customer base is extremely important to making our company stronger,” says Dunlap. “Service should do better during a recession when customers often want to fix what they have instead of making major changes.”

Service is Critical Mission Critical Solutions is a service offered by W.T. Nichols Mechanical’s service department and the most important growth area for the company according to Dunlap.

In February 2006, Dunlap recruited Larry Riggsby, a nationally-known expert in the field, to head the Mission Critical Solutions service, or critical site services for computer service areas of companies.

“It’s almost like a firehouse where the firemen slide down the pole and rush to the scene. It doesn’t matter if it’s a holiday or 3 a.m. If we get a call from a computer center, we have certified technicians who are able to respond immediately. For example, we’ve done some work for Sprint and if its servers go down, the company could lose $1million an hour.”

-Bob Dunlap, President

Developing Mission Critical Solutions was a strategic move that took a year and a half to accomplish, says Dunlap, because of the huge entry barriers to the field and the time needed to acquire the necessary background and expertise. Finding technicians who were prepared to work around the clock, training them and obtaining certification took some time as well. Scheduling service jobs is also very different from that done for the construction end of the company.

Dunlap says his young business is learning how to compete aggressively with competitors in its field and he plans for it to become a market leader.

“In critical site servicing, spending a week at a job site is a long time. In construction, the typical job lasts three to four months,” Dunlap notes.

After Dunlap recruited Riggsby to head the team, the company joined national, regional and local associations supporting the data center industry, and began participating in activities. Company employees go to trade shows to meet computer hardware and rack sellers and Riggsby is contributing articles to magazines and offering training courses.

“Large computer server areas in companies need to be kept at the proper temperature to maintain the equipment,” says Dunlap, pointing out how even laptops give off a tremendous amount of heat.

“Racks of computer servers have to be kept in a cooled room and attended to around the clock. We offer service and other solutions to computer centers such as hot spot problem solving, design coordination, and ongoing maintenance.

“With Larry’s expertise, we developed a 24-hour on-call service center for computer and data centers,” says Dunlap. “Within two hours of receiving a phone call for help, we’ll be there.

“It’s almost like a firehouse where the firemen slide down the pole and rush to the scene. It doesn’t matter if it’s a holiday or 3:00 a.m. If we get a call from a computer center, we have certified technicians who are able to respond immediately. For example, we have some clients that could lose $1 million an hour if their computers go down.”

Most of the company’s mission critical solutions work is concentrated in the Southeast, but the company is ready to take on jobs nationwide and has serviced businesses in Manhattan, N.Y., and Wayne, N.J., as well as locations closer to home in Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh and Charleston, S.C. One large customer is Sprint’s 12 locations in the Southeast.

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“Right now we drive or take a commercial flight, if time permits,” says Dunlap. “I have a vision that our company will purchase a twin-prop plane just so we could get out to distressed clients right away.”

“I attribute our success to the people in the organization,” Dunlap says. “I’m not an expert in the heating and air conditioning field but I’ve learned from listening to people like Larry Riggsby, going out to jobs with employees, and from trial and error. I look for the best people in the industry and try to hire them.”

“In the next 24 months, our mission critical solutions service department should be 60 to 70 percent of our work.

Our ideal client is one where, if the heating or cooling were to malfunction, their business would be negatively affected by the minute.”

Dunlap is glowing: “With construction going strong and the service department exploding, Charlotte is the perfect place to grow our business.” biz Carol Gifford is a Charlotte-based freelance writer.

Tavernay Services, LLC dba W.T. Nichols Mechanical 111 Cupped Oak Lane, Suite D Matthews, N.C. 28104 Phone: 704-893-2776; 803-548-2943 Principals: Robert R. (Bob) Dunlap, CEO and President; Larry Riggsby,Vice President of Service; Lee Sheets,Vice President of Construction; Mark Pack, Sales Manager Employees: 72 Founded: In 1988 by William Thomas Nichols Certifications: Aeon,Aerco Boiler, APC, Carrier, IPAC, Liebert, McQuay, Steam equipment and Trane Representative Clients: Joe Gibbs Racing in Huntersville; Cardinal Health, State Farm Insurance, Dole and Western Union in Charlotte Business: HVAC construction and services; preconstruction, construction, new installation, maintenance, and repair/replacement services. www.wtnichols.com

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(l to r) C. Scott Clontz, Vice President, Operations; Brian G. Clontz, President; TelWare Corporation

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by ellison clary

[bizprofile]

ONE COMPANY, ONE CALL

TelWare Rides Wave of Technology Revolution

T

ime was, communications companies dealt with telephones—and not much else. Fast forward to 2007 and a telecommunications company that puts in phones might perform dozens of other services.

One such company is TelWare Corporation, based in the University area. The firm handles all phases of planning, design, installation and maintenance of communications systems for various types of businesses.

Flip the business card of company president Brian Clontz and a list of two dozen functions pop out under five areas: business telephone systems, office/warehouse paging systems, data networking systems, structured cabling systems, and fiber optic cabling systems.

“Technology has definitely changed a lot and it’s going to continue to change,” Clontz emphasizes. It’s more than an evolution he’s seen during his 23 years in the industry; it could almost be called a revolution.

“When I got started, it was just basic phones,” he says. “Now it’s phones and voice mail and unified messaging, call accounting, dialing from the desktop—it’s basically a big computer system.” !

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More Than Monikers Acronyms such as VoIP and SIP name technologies that are changing the way people transact business.

Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, places voice, video and data on a single platform as people talk with each other through the Internet or data network. It’s been around since the late ’90s but started gaining wide use in 2004. SIP, or Session Initiation Protocol, the latest version of VoIP, tells others on the same communications system whether the user of an individual phone is available for a call.

As prices for both continue to fall, Clontz believes SIP will soon experience the same growth spurt that digital systems enjoyed in the ’90s.

He sees many more innovations coming, but he’s happy to outline TelWare’s business profile of today. It operates from 7,000 square feet of space at its Charlotte headquarters with 32 employees. It also maintains offices in Greensboro and Raleigh.

TelWare has about 3,500 customers and their number of locations varies widely.

Some have 100; others have 10. TelWare serves about 4,000 total facilities.

Many of the company’s customers are in the Carolinas, but they also are spread from Delaware to Florida and as far west as Oklahoma.

TelWare prides itself in working with customers such as Allen Tate Realtors and the Harris Teeter grocery chain.

“Our niche,” Clontz says, “has become multi-site locations. Our motto is ‘one company, one call.’ When somebody calls on us to do a job, we can do everything they need, from cabling of the building, phone system installation, networking data systems, overhead paging, etc.”

The typical customer of TelWare has anywhere from 10 to 100 phones. But TelWare also serves what Clontz calls “extreme” clients with up to 1,000 phones spread over multiple locations. His firm handles the communications for all the federal offices in the city of Asheville, including entities such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Air Force

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segment,” Clontz says, “in the phones, in the cabling, and they’re different competitors.”

That brings him to why TelWare is unique. “We can do it all,” he says unassumingly. “We’ve kept pace with massaging our existing base and taking care of our existing customers without always having to look for new ones. Companies are attracted to us because we can do it all.”

To be effective at so many functions, TelWare emphasizes training. Clontz, 41, and his younger brother Scott, 36, who presides over sales, set an example for the firm.

“In this business, you go through tons of classes,” says Clontz, who is certified as both a design engineer and a sales specialist for Nortel “We are Networks. He’s also strong on flexible his Vertical Network prodenough to ucts. The Clontz brothers have completed more than change our 150 certification classes. “And model quickly. we have to keep those certifiWe’re small enough, cations up to date,” adds if we need to adjust to Clontz, who also is a licensed real estate agent and a North the market, we can. That’s Carolina licensed electrician. one advantage TelWare “It’s important to me to have has. We can change proceour techs and installers certified by dures and move forward the manufacturer and trained propwithout missing a beat.” erly,” Clontz says. “I strive to make people understand that we are a professional company. These days, a tele~ Brian Clontz, President phone is a very complex piece of equipment and it does require professionals to 200 phones, I’m looking to build a valuable work on it.” relationship that will grow my customer’s TelWare’s customers agree. Ellen Zeman, business and, in turn, help us grow.” telecommunications manager for the Allen Tate Company, says this kind of professionThinking Outside Phones alism has kept the real estate giant associEven though Clontz categorizes cusated with TelWare for more than a decade. tomers by number of phones, TelWare also “It’s critical to have a dependable, experidoes work that isn’t related to phones at enced and service-oriented vendor like Telall. Some customers want their buildings Ware to best serve our customers, Realtors connected with fiber optic cabling and Teland employees,” Zeman says.

Ware’s cabling division does just that, by Dave Bratcher, director of technology designing, installing and repairing cabling for Harris Teeter, praises TelWare’s quality systems for small offices, multi-story buildof work and its work ethic, calling both ings and campus environments. “second to none.” Bratcher, who has been TelWare’s school division handles phone with Harris Teeter a year, worked with systems as well as cabling and other comTelWare when he was network and munications needs for the Charlotte-Mecktelecommunications manager at Gaston lenburg Schools and Union County Public Memorial Hospital. “I brought them to Schools along with many others.

Harris Teeter,” he says proudly.

“We’ve got a lot of competition in every Combat Climatology Center.

An important new customer for 2007 was the Harris Teeter grocery chain, which ranges throughout the Carolinas as well as Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida.

But no customer is too small, Clontz is quick to say. He remembers too well when his firm was new and a prospective client spurned his overtures because of his startup size.

“I don’t treat my customers like that,” he says affirmatively. “Whether my customer has two phones or 20 phones or

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Learning from the Ground Up Perhaps Clontz’ appreciation for dedicated employees comes from his experiences in learning the business from the ground up. He grew up in the eastern Mecklenburg County town of Mint Hill, and was attending Central Piedmont Community College preparing for a degree in computer science, when a neighbor recruited him to work for a company providing contract workers for BellSouth and other telecommunication firms across North Carolina.

After brief stints there and at another telecommunications company, Clontz hung his own shingle in 1987, providing installation services for companies like Jarvis, Executone and Catskill Communications.

Then, in 1989, the company was purchased by Catskill Communications. The Clontz brothers continued with Catskill Communications until leaving in 1994 to form ComSouth. Being two very successful companies, ComSouth and Catskill joined forces to form TelWare in 1997. The Clontz’s now own TelWare along with Robert Stirton who is one of the original owners of Catskill.

TelWare has turned in five years of annual growth at 10 to 12 percent. Clontz calls that “controlled growth” and professes that it’s fast enough but still allows for quality service.

“We’re a service-based company,” he says. “Really taking care of a customer,

that’s what sells systems. We don’t take the high pressure sales approach. We get most of our customers through word of mouth.”

Yet TelWare was installing VoIP systems as early as 1999, when Clontz admits that was bleeding edge technology.

“I like the bleeding edge as long as it works for the customer,” he says. “We are very, very cautious to test products over and over and over, because we take a lot of pride in our reputation. So we make sure when we say we can do something, that we can pull it off.”

TelWare will even work with a potential customer to help find a way to afford enhanced services, such as facilitating a switch to a new carrier to save on monthly service charges. The resulting freed up revenue stream can go toward a new system.

Clontz doesn’t hesitate to predict the near future for the telecommunications industry. A big trend, he believes, will be supporting customer systems from a remote location. Technology now allows TelWare to join a customer on a Web site and work on the customer’s system there. !

SUCCESS NEEDS A PARTNER

“I’m an Angela fan.

She’ll always have my business. Plus, it is rewarding to walk through the door and everyone knows you.”

– I’m Sarah McAulay, community leader, and my banker is Angela Lovelace.

Member FDIC

Clontz is proud to say that TelWare offers its employees the same comprehensive benefits they would find at a much larger company. That includes medical and dental insurance coverage, paid vacations and sick days, plus a 401(k) investment plan with matching company contributions.

“A lot of my competitors don’t do that,” Clontz says, “and they can chop their hourly rate way down. But I think I’m doing the right thing.”

Longevity in the work force seems to bear this out. TelWare has an employee who’s been with the firm since 1986 and most others have been on board at least a decade.

“We have very little turnover,” Clontz says. “Turnover is not good. I’m out for quality. I want quality work.”

Cornelius/Lake Norman 704.987.9990 Matthews 704.814.1200 SouthPark 704.442.5900 Uptown Charlotte 704.945.6565

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No longer does TelWare necessarily need to drive one of its 32 trucks to a customer location to perform service, saving the customer time and money.

TelWare Corporation 1824 Industrial Center Circle Charlotte, N.C. 28213 Phone: 704-598-4700; 800-637-3148 Principals: Brian G. Clontz, President; C. Scott Clontz,Vice President, Operations; Robert Stirton, Senior Vice President Established: 1984, as Catskill Communications; 1997 as TelWare Employees: 36 total; 32 in Charlott Offices: Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh Business: Sells and services digital and IP business telephone systems, warehouse and office paging systems, data networking systems, structured cabling systems, and fiber optic cabling systems. www.telware.com

This direct connection is helping spark another change in the telecommunications market. “It used to be, if you weren’t a hometown company, you were looked on as an outsider,” Clontz says. “Nowadays, everybody’s an outsider. We do a lot of business with companies around the country. They’re just looking for a company to take care of their communications needs and for people who do what they say they can do. They want excellent service.”

Manufacturers are increasingly offering subscribed services, an arrangement under which a customer pays a small fee to the selling company in exchange for ongoing support and software upgrades. These plans allow customers to keep their systems running smoothly and up to date with the latest features.

Clontz sees more competition ahead.

Information technology companies are increasingly offering VoIP services, breaking out of the old mold in which data companies handled computers networks and phone firms handled voice networks, making these lines to be permanently blurred, Clontz believes.

“Technology has definitely changed a lot and it’s going to continue to change…When I started, it was just basic phones.

Now its phones and voice mail and unified messaging, call accounting, dialing from a desktop—it’s basically a big computer system.” ~ Brian Clontz, President “More companies will be offering comprehensive services and more will be doing remote support,” Clontz says.

He believes TelWare has adapted well to the new realities. “We are flexible enough to change our model quickly,” he says. “We’re small enough, if we need to adjust to the market, we can. That’s one advantage TelWare has. We can change procedures and move forward without missing a beat.” biz Ellison Clary is a Charlotte-based freelance writer.

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CPCC cpcc.edu

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Diamonds Direct diamondsdirect.com

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Employers Association employersassoc.com

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FieldStone Networking Services fieldstonenetworking.com

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Group Insurance Solutions groupinsurancesolutions.com

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Hickory Printing hickoryprinting.com

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Hood Hargett Breakfast Club charlottebca.com

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Knauff Insurance knauffins.com

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Larner’s Office Furniture Outlet larnersoffice.com

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MaxMpact maxmpact.com

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Money Counts moneycounts.biz

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Scott Jaguar scottjag.com

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TelWare Corporation telware.com

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Time Warner Cable - Business Class carolinas.twcbc.com

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UNC Charlotte Belk College mba.uncc.edu

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UNC Charlotte Continuing Education continuinged.uncc.edu

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Wayne Morris Photography wmphoto.biz

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Windstream Communications windstream.com

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[ontop] Awards & Achievements Allen Tate Jr., chairman and founder of the Allen Tate Company, has been selected to receive the 2007 Excellence in Leadership Award sponsored by the Allen Tate Rotary Club of Charlotte and the Charlotte Business Journal, and has been named a Carolinas finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2007 award. Allen Tate Company is ranked #1 in the Carolinas and #5 among America’s top 500 largest, independently owned real estate firms in America.

Advertising & Media Moonlight Creative Group has been awarded a Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award and a Gold Davey Award from the International Academy of the Visual Arts and two Gold MarCom Creative Awards.

Wray Ward, one of the Southeast’s largest independently-owned marketing communications agencies, has been named the Outstanding Philanthropic Wray WardAward Small Business by the Charlotte Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals; the company has also hired Allison Evans as account director.

Philip Tate, APR, vice president/management supervisor with local advertising and public relations firm Luquire George Andrews, has been elected Ken Gepfert to the national board of directors for the Public Relations Society of America; the firm has also hired Ken Gepfert as vice president of public relations.

Apple Rock Displays has promoted Diane Rowell to president and COO, Leslie Murray to vice president of event planning, and Melissa Reavis to vice president of marketing and customer service.

Walker Marketing has promoted Karen Whichard to senior account manager,

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[ontop] Kristen Swift to assistant account manager, and DeAnna Jones to account coordinator; the firm has also hired Douglas Brown as interactive designer and Steve Kelly as associate art director.

Eric Mower and Associates has hired Laurie Nesbitt as senior art director, Jilian Huggins as marketing communications specialist, Melinda Houge as online strategist, and Libby Portis as associate art director.

Cox Marketing Group has hired Lauren Zuber as its graphic designer.

Lauren Zuber Business & Professional Kennedy Covington has been awarded the Outstanding Philanthropic Organization Award from the Charlotte Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Dr. Deborah S. Bosley, principal of The Bosley Group, was recently awarded the 2007 Excellence in Writing for Clients Award.

Womble Carlyle attorney Ted Claypoole has been named to the board of directors of the Carolinas Minority Supplier Development Councils.

Beth A. Stanfield has joined Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo, L.L.P. as an associate attorney.

Helms Mulliss & Beth Stanfield Wicker, PLLC has added Jayne C. Hunter to its Charlotte office.

Moore LLP has added Jeff MacHarg to its litigation practice group in Charlotte.

Philip Ciccarello has joined the Charlotte Regional Partnership as Jeff MacHarg systems administrator in information technology.

Ash Bowers has been hired as information technology manager in the Charlotte office of Fluent Language Solutions, Inc. Ash Bowers Business Success Institute, an affiliate of Altman Initiative Group, Inc.,

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[ontop] has selected sponsors for its 2008 speaker series: Daniel Ratliff & Company, Kaleidoscope Business Options, Derby & Associates, Wishart Norris Henninger & Pittman, SunTrust Bank, and Greater Charlotte Biz.

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january 2008

Construction & Design Gail Brinn Wilkins, Inc. has been awarded the Honors Award for the 2007 ASID Carolinas Chapter Design Specialty Awards Competitions.

John Burgess, principal with the Preston Partnership, PLLC, has been honored with a Housing North Carolina Award for design excellence.

Lindsay Daniel Architecture, a residential design firm specializing in couture architecture, has expanded its services to include interior design with Sarah Richardson Andrews leading the initiative.

Clark Nexsen has hired Dwayne A. Carr, EIT as a mechanical James Duller Dwayne Carr designer and James C. Duller, AIA as a project architect.

Dana Yarbrough has joined Tyler 2 Construction as project coordinator.

Gantt Huberman Architects has hired Mia Sensabaugh, Terry Connarn, and Matt Butler as intern architects, Ian Patrick as an intern, and Corelutta Reid as business manager; Mia Sensabaugh has earned her LEED certification.

Education & Staffing Davidson College President Thomas W. Ross has been honored with the President’s Award for distinguished contributions to justice from the American Criminology Society.

Phil Kirk, vice president of external relations for Catawba College and chairman emeritus of the State Board of Education, has been elected chair-elect of the Public School Forum of North Carolina.

Edward D. Gagnon, president of Customer Service Edward Gagnon

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[ontop] Solutions, Inc., has been nominated for Inc. Magazine’s 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year.

Dr. Lisa E, Gueldenzoph, an associate professor in the School of Business and Economics at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, has been Lisa Gueldenzoph awarded the 2007 Southern Business Education Association Collegiate Teacher of the Year Award.

Shaw Group Inc. has presented a $50,000 check to the UNC Charlotte Foundation as an investment in education.

Owen Davis, managing director of U.S. operations for TrainingFolks, has been elected to the board of directors of the Charlotte chapter Owen Davis of the American Society of Training and Development.

Finance & Insurance Hinrichs Flanagan Financial has been ranked No. 6 out of the Top 25 2007 Best Places to Work in Charlotte in the midsized business category by the Charlotte Business Journal.

Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, L.L.P. has promoted Benjamin P. “Trey” Albright III to audit partner.

William Holston has Trey Albright been promoted to commercial banker at First Citizens Bill Holston Bank in Charlotte.

VR Mergers and Acquisitions Charlotte has ranked in the Top 5 for the 3rd quarter of 2007; Brad Offerdahl, Phil Hagey and Jay Offerdahl each ranked in the Top 25 out of hundreds of associates worldwide.

Government & Non-Profit United Way of Central Carolinas has promoted Clifford W. Grimes to senior vice president of community building and Victor Lisciani to senior director of operations in the resource development division.

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[ontop] Health Care Angela Gallo, president and founder of Total Nutrition Technology, has been nominated for Inc.com’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

Manufacturing SouthWood Corporation, a commercial signage solutions manufacturer, has hired Holly Holly Glasscock Charity Kimmel Glasscock and Charity Kimmel as account executives.

Real Estate Commercial/Residential Allen Tate Company has hired Robert Flythe as online marketing manager for the marketing Robert Flythe Randy Yates and public relations department and Randy Yates as a real estate agent in its Concord office.

Precious Halili-Felse of WEICHERT, REALTORS Rebhan & Associates has earned e-Pro designation.

CENTURY 21 Hecht Realty has hired Nancy Shoemaker, Andrew Grassi and William L. Bowser as sales associates.

Anne Carter Hughes has joined Carlson Real Estate Company as a real estate associate.

Karen Edmondson, Kate Shrum, Ann Cole Anne Carter Hughes and Amber Garchar have joined Lake Norman Realty as sales associates. The firm has also been named Ann Cole Amber Garchar on the Charlotte Business Journal’s list of Best Places to Kate Shrum Karen Edmondson Work.

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[ontop] Retail & Sports & Entertainment The Blumenthal Performing Arts Center has elected Walter D. Fisher Jr., a partner at Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman, LLP, to board chairman and Dorlisa Flur, Walter Fisher Sunny Harris Hutchinson and Hunter Widener as board members.

Capel, Incorporated has promoted Bruce Hric to president and chief executive officer.

Case Handyman and Remodeling of Charlotte has appointed Craig Martinez as a Bruce Hric remodeling consultant.

Technology CC Communications, Inc., an online marketing firm in Charlotte, has ranked No. 2 on the Charlotte Business Journal’s list of Top 25 Web Design Companies.

Jeff Pyden, founder and managing director of OmniVue Business Solutions, has been nominated by Inc. Magazine for the 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year Jeff Pyden award.

Eric Dudley, president of Internet marketing agency WebsiteBiz, has been elected to serve as chairman of the Charlotte Chamber Center City Eric Dudley Board of Directors.

Seth Delconte has joined Pinstripe Incorporated’s development team.

Bill Toth

Travel & Touris Bill Toth has been appointed spa director of the Spa at Ballantyne Resort. 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 704-676-5853, or post them to our business address—at least 30 days prior to our publication date.

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