Surry Business

For and about business in Surry County, N.C., including Dobson, Elkin, Lowgap, Pilot Mountain and Mount Airy

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Entries Tagged as 'Economic development'

What is a small business?

October 4th, 2007 · No Comments

What is a “small business”? The federal government — as you might expect — has created an official definition of the phrase. And the answer (at the bottom of this post) might surprise you. That answer, and other useful information about small business in America, is contained in a two-page, tightly written, information-packed guide recently […]

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Tags: Businesses · Economic development

Labor Department OKs funds to help displaced N.C. workers

October 4th, 2007 · No Comments

The U.S. Department of Labor has released more than $5.2 million to help North Carolina provide career training, job search and relocation assistance to workers who have lost their jobs for reasons related to trade. The Trade Adjustment Assistance Act program also extends unemployment benefits from 26 weeks up to two years. This latest allocation […]

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Tags: Economic development · Workforce

New Surry County businesses registered in September

October 2nd, 2007 · No Comments

In September, 20 new corporations and limited-liability companies in Surry County registered their businesses with the North Carolina Secretary of State’s office. The business corporations, their registered agents and addresses are  Cave Rock Estates Inc., H. Lee Merritt Jr., 129 Moore Ave., Mount Airy  Interlam Corporation, Alvin Eckenrod, 391 Hickory St., Mount Airy.  Michael S. […]

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Tags: Businesses · Economic development

Take the first step in PTEN’s business-plan competition

September 23rd, 2007 · No Comments

Entrepreneurs interested in the 2008 Growth Accelerator Program, the Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurial Network’s annual business-plan competition, may want to attend the “Executive Summary Course” designed to help potential business owners develop and refine a one- to three-page summary plan for their concept. An executive summary is the qualifying document for entering the competition. The class […]

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Tags: Businesses · Economic development

Cooperation needed to create a climate for entrepreneurs

September 19th, 2007 · No Comments

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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Tags: Economic development · Workforce

High-speed Internet access available in 90% of Surry County

September 17th, 2007 · No Comments

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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Tags: Economic development · Utilities

Census Bureau tallies Surry County’s growth

September 13th, 2007 · No Comments

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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Tags: Economic development

New Employment Security Commission manager at Mount Airy

September 10th, 2007 · No Comments

The N.C. Employment Security Commission’s new Surry County office manager is Bobbi Wessling, a 16-year ESC employee who previously was assistant manager of the office in Forsyth County. Wessling succeeded Wanda Cooper, who retired after more than 30 years with the ESC. A native of the Atlantic City, N.J., area, Wessling received bachelor’s and master’s […]

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Tags: Businesses · Economic development · Workforce

Surry County’s job growth attracts less attention than losses

September 3rd, 2007 · No Comments

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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Tags: Economic development · Workforce

Three represent Surry on Triad development board

September 3rd, 2007 · No Comments

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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Tags: Economic development