Surry Business

Workers go where they can best use their skills and enjoy life. That often means a “brain drain” from rural areas. Dr. Mark Drabenstott, a vice-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and the director of the Center for the Study of Rural America (now the bank’s Regional, Public and Community Affairs Division), […]

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Insteel Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: IIIN) in Mount Airy today announced that shipments for the fourth quarter, which ends Sept. 29, are expected to be down 7 to 13 percent from the prior year due to weaker than anticipated market conditions. Insteel had not previously provided numerical guidance for its fourth-quarter shipments, but had indicated in […]

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Triad-area real-estate brokers sold fewer homes in August that in the same month a year ago, but for a higher average price, according to the Triad MLS (Multiple Listing Service). There were 1,648 units sold last month, down 3.8 from 2006, but the average price was more than $183,400, a 1.8 percent increase. More than […]

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Ron Crouch, a 28-year veteran in the furniture industry, is the new president of Andrew Pearson Global in Mount Airy. Former President Hal Brownfield has moved up to chairman of the newly restructured and renamed contemporary furniture manufacturer (formerly Andrew Pearson Design) that is expanding its product categories. Also new to the company is John […]

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Nearly 90 percent of Surry County households and businesses have access to high-speed Internet connections, according to a new study by the e-NC Authority. The N.C. General Assembly formed e-NC in 2000 to help expand broadband access across the state. Although dial-up Internet access was reported in all 100 counties in 2001, 20 counties reported […]

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Fans of “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Mayberry RFD” now can keep up with news from Mount Airy, North Carolina — Griffith’s hometown and the real-life model for his long-running show — by visiting The Mount Airy News’ web site at www.mtairynews.com. Up until this week, the daily newspaper’s site was accessible only to print-edition […]

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Jonathan Keener left behind a sales job with a six-figure income when he and his wife, Sharon, and their six children sought a safer environment than a suburb outside New York City. They moved to Surry County, bought a five-bedroom house on 21 acres of green pastures and opened the Livin’ Lattes Cafe on Main […]

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Gov. Mike Easley announced today the U.S. Department of Agriculture has granted his request to have 85 North Carolina counties, including Surry, designated as disaster areas due to the ongoing drought in North Carolina. Under USDA rules, 11 contiguous counties were also included in the disaster declaration. The declaration makes low-interest Emergency Disaster Loans available […]

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Surry County gained 1,120 housing units from July 1, 2000, to July 1, 2006, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates announced Sept. 12. In the 2000 census, the county had slightly more than 31,000 housing units. By midsummer 2006, the bureau estimates, the total had grown 3.6 percent to nearly 32,240. Among North Carolina’s 100 […]

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Pilot Mountain State Park in Surry County is among 104 approved Piedmont birdwatching sites on the North Carolina Birding Trail. The organization recently announced the second of its three links from the mountains to the sea. More than just lines on a map, the N.C. Birding Trail physically ties great bird-watching sites and “birders” with […]

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