Surry Business

The N.C. State Board of Transportation has awarded a $1.6-million contract to Smith-Rowe Inc. of Mount Airy for grading, drainage, paving and structure work at the Community House Road bridge over Ruin Creek in Vance County. Earlier this summer, Smith-Rowe Inc. won a $7.9-million contract to upgrade the I-40/Harper Road (S.R.1101) interchange east of the […]

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Several Mount Airy store owners and managers said they enjoyed lots of business, primarily from tourists, during the three-day Labor Day weekend. Fawn Shaw at the Great Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce’s visitor’s center said the building’s entrance “should’ve had a revolving door” because of the flow of people. She guessed 700 people visited the […]

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Northern Pediatrics, a physician practice affiliated with Northern Hospital of Surry County, has broken ground on a new 10,700-square-foot medical office building in the North Pointe development off N.C. 52 at the intersection of Galax Trail and North Pointe Boulevard in Mount Airy. The facility will include 18 exam rooms, four private treatment rooms, seven […]

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Elkin-based G&B Oil Company Inc. has announced the sale of five GB Express convenience stores, including one in Surry County, to WilcoHess, LLC. The sale will be completed in early October. “It is with mixed emotions that I must announce our decision to sell our GB Express division to WilcoHess,” Jeff Eidson, president of G&B […]

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A new initiative to market North Carolina golf will be introduced at the N.C. Department of Commerce Tourism Division’s Mid-Year Marketing Update on Sept. 11 in Cary. The new VisitNCGolf.com website (see a preview here) will include a course finder/locater, featured destinations, weather, places to stay, mapping, downloadable brochures, and partner golf packages designed to […]

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Rogers Realty in Mount Airy will have a grand opening celebration at its new office, 1310 EMS Drive, on Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m. Rogers Realty outgrew its former office at 2037 Rockford St. (next to the new Walgreens) and on Aug. 31 moved into the building formerly occupied by the Carpet Barn next […]

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It’s well known that North Carolina has lost thousands of jobs in the past 10 years because textile and clothing companies  have moved manufacturing or purchasing overseas. Mount Airy alone has lost nearly 3,300 jobs in textile manufacturing, sock making and other apparel since 2000. What’s less recognized is how retail, construction and service jobs […]

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Sunday’s edition of the Winston-Salem Journal puts a personal face on the plight of unemployed textile workers in Surry County and how they’re preparing themselves for future jobs. The article by Sherry Youngquist and Richard Craver focuses on Nancy Pruitt, 53, whose 37 years in textile mills ended on July 13 (coincidentally, her birthday) and […]

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Surry County had more than 35,000 people in its workforce this summer, according to the North Carolina Employment Security Commission. Seasonal workers — primarily high school and college students — added about 400 people to the workforce. Approximately 1,900 people in the local labor force were out of work and receiving unemployment compensation, according to […]

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Jim Walker, president of John S. Clark Company in Mount Airy, has been elected secretary of the Piedmont Triad Partnership Board of Directors for 2007-08. Other Surry County representatives on the regional economic development group’s 2007-08 board of directors are Craig Hunter, a partner in Granite Development Inc. of Mount Airy and chairman of the […]

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