Surry Business

Surry County’s unemployment rate fell 0.1 percent in November while employment remained near its high for the year. The North Carolina Employment Security Commission said 33,077 people in the resident workforce had jobs — only 64 fewer than in June when seasonal employment swelled the labor market. There were 2,077 people seeking work and receiving […]

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Claudia Stowers, owner of Surrey Emporium in Mount Airy, is the Downtown Business Association’s new president. She succeeds Twyla Sickmiller, co-owner of the Maxwell House Bed & Breakfast, who steps down to vice president. Brandon Billings was re-elected treasurer. Amy Slate, owner of Scarlet Begonias, and Sickmiller were reelected to the executive board. Joining them […]

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Richard Vaughn of Mount Airy, chairman and CEO of John. S. Clark Company Inc., has received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Old Hickory Council of Boy Scouts of America. The council gives the annual award to an individual from northwest North Carolina who best exemplifies the ideals of Scouting through contributions to the community, […]

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Linda Crawford has been promoted to general manager of ProHealth Fitness Center in Mount Airy. She has been a physical education and health and wellness instructor at Gentry Middle School for 31 years. Crawford will be responsible for marketing and advertising, program development, working with corporate clients, the afterschool and summer programs and the center’s […]

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If your New Year’s resolutions include starting a small business, you might want to check out “Small Business 101: How to Get Started” in The New York Times. It recommends tapping the resources of the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Small Business Development Center and the Library of Congress’ “Entrepreneur’s Guide to Small Business Information.” […]

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Twenty-three new corporations, limited-liability partnerships and non-profit organizations in Surry County registered their enterprises with the N.C. Secretary of State’s office in December. The corporations are: Carolina Steel Inc., 187 Cardinal Trail Ridge, Dobson, registered by Javier Herrera, president of Carolina Carports Inc. Country Bumpkins Inc., 119 Pine St., Mount Airy, registered by Angie Montgomery. […]

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Sunday’s (Dec. 30) Atlanta Journal-Constitution features Pilot Mountain — both the mountain and the nearby town — in an article titled “N.C. retreat promises outdoor fun (and shopping, too).” Reporter Bill Cissna writes, “In north-central North Carolina, an age-old geological protrusion and a small community that share the same name provide a nice mix of […]

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Carolyn Quesinberry taught schoolchildren for 27 years. Her husband, Freddie, owned a floor-covering business. They both were looking for something new. They found it in a place they’d left 20 years earlier — Mount Airy. And thanks to the Quisinberrys, you can find the sweetest place in Surry County on Main Street across from the […]

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Friends of the historic Reeves Theater in Elkin have started an Internet blog to promote the theater’s restoration. The web site, ReevesTheater.blogspot.com, includes information about the 389-seat theater, which was opened in 1941, and recent articles about the restoration program. The restoration of the Reeves Theater is an effort spearheaded by the Tri-County Citizens Foundation, […]

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If your New Year’s resolution is to move into a new line of work, check out the annual U.S. News & World Report on “Best Careers 2008.” Most of professions with the best combination of opportunities and job satisfactions require at least a two-year or four-year college degree, but the list also includes four careers […]

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