Surry Business

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

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Surry Partnership’s Rhyne seeking new business

October 29th, 2007 · No Comments

Robin Rhyne, president of the Surry County Economic Development Partnership, is one of four representatives from the Piedmont Triad Partnership who are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this week to promote the region and attend a conference.

The group will meet with real estate and site selection consultants as well as attend the 7×24 Exchange Conference for companies who design, build, use and maintain mission-critical enterprise information infrastructures.

The Piedmont Triad Partnership’s other representatives are Heather Sauls, PTP vice president of client development; Bonnie Renfro, president of the Randolph County Economic Development Council; and Kathi Dubel, vice president of new business development and expansion services at the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance.

“Data centers are a recruitment target for the Piedmont Triad,” PTP President and CEO Don Kirkman told The Business Journal of the Greater Triad. “The Piedmont Triad is well-positioned to locate these kinds of operations with a low-cost utility structure, ready-to-go sites and a genuinely business-friendly environment.”

→ No CommentsTags: Economic development

New consortium of counties promotes regional tourism

October 29th, 2007 · No Comments

A new regional consortium is promoting tourism in Surry County and six neighboring counties in northwest North Carolina and southwest Virginia.

The first result of this collaboration is a portal web site, BlueRidgeHeartland.com, commissioned by the North Carolina & Virginia Regional Tourism Board on behalf of the Northwest North Carolina/Southwest Virginia Regional Tourism Initiative. The initiative’s seven counties in Virginia and North Carolina, as well as the city of Galax, are cooperating to promote regional tourism as a means of economic improvement for the counties and the region. Professional Networks Inc. of Galax created and maintains the web site.

The regional tourism initiative’s goals are:

  1. To provide the region’s citizens with new and improved employment opportunities in the tourism industry and in the many businesses that provide goods and services to this sector of the economy.
  2. To assist tourist-oriented businesses in advertising to national and international tourist markets.
  3. To increase the tourism cash flows into the regional economy and the local economies.
  4. To increase the tax revenues of the member local governments in order to lower the overall tax burden for the citizens of the member governments.
  5. To build regional, national and international awareness of the natural beauty of the area and its opportunities for wholesome, family-oriented tourism.

The group soon will launch a marketing campaign to promote the region’s attractions including its scenic beauty, musical heritage and wineries.

“It’s a very homogenous region. There’s the same history, the same people and the same common geography,” said Dr. Jim Harrell Jr., chairman of the initiative. “The more you get into this, the more promise you see that it has. If we get this going and push the wine region, the music, outdoors, crafts, scenic beauty and laid-back relaxing lifestyle, we can get a whole lot of people to stay here for a week.”

Harrell, a Surry County commissioner from Elkin, leads a steering committee made up of representatives from Galax and the seven participating counties: Surry, Wilkes, Yadkin, Alleghany, Stokes, Grayson and Carroll. Each county contributed $7,500 to the effort.

The organization also will apply for a U.S. Economic Development Administration grant and for funds from other sources.

The regional tourism initiative’s members and tourism partners include:

Alleghany County, NC
http://www.alleghanycounty-nc.gov/ – Alleghany County Government
http://www.sparta-nc.com/ – Alleghany County Chamber of Commerce

Carroll County, VA
http://www.carrollcountyva.org/ – Carroll County Government
www.visitvirginiablueridgemountains.com – Carroll County and Historic Hillsville

City of Galax, VA
http://www.ingalax.net/ – Galax City Government
http://www.visitgalax.com/ – Tourism Department, City of Galax

Grayson County, VA
http://www.graysoncountyva.com/ – Grayson Area Information Network

Patrick County, VA
http://www.co.patrick.va.us/ – Patrick County Government
http://www.visitpatrickcounty.org/ – Tourism Department, Patrick County

Stokes County, NC
http://www.co.stokes.nc.us/ – Stokes County Government
http://www.visitstokesnc.com/ – Stokes County Economic Development

Surry County, NC
www.visitsurrync.com – Surry County, another a new portal site, with links to the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce; the Mount Airy Visitors Center’s site, VisitMayberry.com; the Elkin-based Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce; and a new site for the town of Elkin, ElkinNC.org.

Wilkes County, NC
http://www.wilkescounty.net/ – Wilkes County Government
http://www.wilkesnc.org/ – Wilkes County Chamber of Commerce

Yadkin County, NC
http://www.yadkincounty.gov/ – Yadkin County Government
http://www.yadkinchamber.org/ – Yadkin County Chamber of Commerce
http://www.yadkinvalley.org/ – Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce

Regional Partner
http://www.blueridgehost.com/ – Blue Ridge Host (A Tourism Host Organization)

The North Carolina & Virginia Regional Tourism Board has its offices in the Surry County Government Center, 118 Hamby Road, Suite 329, Dobson, NC 27017.

→ No CommentsTags: Businesses · Economic development · Tourism

Bank of America is No. 1 national SBA lender

October 29th, 2007 · No Comments

Bank of America today announced that it has been named the top Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the nation for the tenth consecutive year. Bank of America made 10,878 SBA 7(a) loans with an average amount of $30,863 and totaling $335,728,500 to entrepreneurs during the 2007 SBA fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2006, to Sept. 30, 2007.

“Bank of America’s #1 SBA status is just one example of our leadership position within the small business arena, highlighting the bank’s commitment to help support the success of our small business customers,” said Mark Hogan, president, Small Business Banking, Bank of America. “With our scale and depth of resources, Bank of America offers small business owners unparalleled access to solutions to help run their businesses smoother, more profitably and with greater access to a wider business network.”

Representing 99.7 percent of all employer firms, small businesses play a critical role in fueling U.S. economic growth. According to the SBA, small businesses employ nearly half of all private sector employees, pay more than 45 percent of total private payroll and create more than 50 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Bank of America has relationships with nearly one in every four small businesses in its footprint — a number totaling more than 4.5 million, over 1.8 million of whom are active online customers, making Bank of America the largest small business bank in the country.

Last year, Bank of America introduced the Business 24/7(TM) portfolio of products that makes it easier for small businesses to manage their day-to-day business needs. Through the Business 24/7 portfolio, small business owners can obtain the credit they need to manage their cash flow, process their payroll, pay their employees using direct deposit, pay and file taxes electronically, manage invoices, pay vendors online, and improve their money management processes.

Early this month, Bank of America unveiled the Small Business Online Community, a free and open forum available to all small business owners where users can network, share, learn and exchange business ideas with their peers and industry experts.

Based in Charlotte, N.C., Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is one of the world’s largest financial institutions. It has more than 5,700 retail banking offices, including one in Surry County at 704 Independence Boulevard in Mount Airy

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Surrey Bank is SBA’s top community bank in two states

October 29th, 2007 · No Comments

Surrey Bank & Trust has been named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s “North Carolina Community Bank Lender of the Year” for the fourth time in the past five years.

During the fiscal year from Oct. 1, 2006, through Sept. 30, 2007, the Mount Airy, N.C.-based bank was also the most active community bank lender in the state of Virginia.

The North Carolina Community Bank of the Year award goes to the most active SBA lender among North Carolina’s community banks (those with less than $1 billion in assets). In the past fiscal year, Surrey Bank made 45 loans totaling $5.7 million in North Carolina. Of those, 42 loans totaling $3.9 million were made to small businesses in Surry and surrounding counties, making Surrey Bank the most active lender in the Piedmont Triad area for the fifth consecutive year.

Surrey Bank also led Virginia’s community banks in loan activity with 28 SBA loans totaling almost $2.7 million to small businesses in Patrick and surrounding counties.

“We are proud to honor Surrey Bank as the 2007 North Carolina Community Bank of the Year,” said SBA North Carolina District Director Lee Cornelison. “Surrey Bank is a great example of how a lender can use SBA loan programs effectively to help more small business customers.”

Ron Bew, Richmond SBA District Director, said, “Improving access to capital in Southside Virginia has been a long-term goal of our office. Surrey Bank’s strong commitment to SBA lending programs will facilitate much-needed economic growth and create jobs. We are pleased that Surrey Bank & Trust is committed to serving the small business community in Southside Virginia, which is clearly demonstrated by the 28 loans approved in Virginia this year.”

Surrey Bank & Trust’s senior vice president and chief lending officer, Peter Pequeno, said, “As a community bank, our success is directly tied to that of our communities. SBA loans are one of the tools Surrey Bank uses to promote economic development in the counties where we do business. Our local government and economic development officials want to foster entrepreneurship to offset recent job losses. By providing access to capital, Surrey Bank & Trust helps support area entrepreneurs.”

Pequeno noted that securing adequate capitalization is one of the biggest obstacles facing small business owners.

“Using SBA and other government-guaranteed loan programs — in addition to conventional commercial loan products — gives us greater flexibility to help business owners obtain the capital they need,” he continued. “That financing makes it possible for those employers to start, retain or expand employment, thus contributing to the area’s economic vitality.”

Surrey Bank & Trust is the only locally-owned bank doing business in Mount Airy and Pilot Mountain in North Carolina. The bank also serves Patrick and neighboring counties in Virginia and recently began construction of a new, larger branch building in Stuart, Va.

The bank is one of the few community banks with SBA Preferred Lender status. That status streamlines the lending process by allowing the bank to authorize eligible SBA loans on behalf of the SBA.

Surrey Bank & Trust is consistently looking for ways to improve its services to the business community, said John R. Canosa Jr., assistant vice president and manager of the U.S. Government Lending Division.

In recent years, the bank has expanded its participation in SBA loan programs to include the Export Express loan program and the Export Working Capital Program, both designed to help businesses involved in exporting goods or services, and the Patriot Express program designed to help those who have served or are serving in the military.

Surrey Bank & Trust has Mount Airy offices at 145 N. Renfro St., 1280 W. Pine St. and 2050 Rockford St. It operates branches at 653 S. Key St. in Pilot Mountain and 303 S. Main St. in Stuart, Va.

Surrey Bank is a subsidiary of Surrey Bancorp, which is traded on the OTC Bulletin Board® under the symbol SRYB.OB.

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Countrywide Financial, other lenders may renegotiate loans

October 29th, 2007 · No Comments

Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation’s largest mortgage lender, announced it will begin calling borrowers to offer refinancing or modifications on $16 billion in loans with interest rates set to adjust by the end of 2008.

Other financial institutions also may help financially strapped borrowers hang on to their homes, The Associated Press reported Sunday.

Moody’s Investors Service surveyed 16 mortgage servicers who account for 80 percent of the market for subprime loans. According to The Associated Press, Moody’s found that most of those companies had modified about 1 percent of loans with interest rates that reset in the first half of this year.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its members also are helping borrowers with temporary reductions of monthly payments or by spreading delinquent amounts over future payments.

Countrywide Financial said more than 500,000 of its loans were behind in payments in September and about 82,000 were in foreclosure proceedings. Countrywide said it has completed about 20,000 loan modifications, intends to refinance about $10 billion in loans and will modify an additional $4 billion, and will help at least 40,000 borrowers. Countrywide Financial holds about 8.9 million loans valued at $1.45 trillion.

Wells Fargo & Co., with a mortgage-servicing portfolio of $1.41 trillion at the end of June, told The Associated Press less than 4.5 percent of its loans were delinquent at the end of June and 0.56 percent had entered foreclosure.

Bank of America Corp., the nation’s second-largest bank, said it modified 3,200 home loans representing $240 million during the eight months ended Aug. 30 and had 192 homes in foreclosure as of Sept. 30.

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Piedmont Triad unemployment rate falls

October 29th, 2007 · No Comments

The 12-county Piedmont Triad area’s unemployment rate dropped from 4.9 percent in August to 4.7 percent in September.

“Numbers since January and over the past year continue to remain positive,” said Harry Payne Jr., chairman of the N.C. Employment Security Commission.

In the total labor force of 822,313, about 38,500 people filed unemployment claims in September.

Joblessness rates fell in eight Piedmont Triad counties. Caswell and Montgomery counties continued to indicate unemployment rates higher than 6 percent. Stokes County had the lowest unemployment rate: 4.0 percent.
The statewide unemployment rate in September was 4.9 percent, up 0.1 percent from August.County-by-county September and August unemployment rates for the Piedmont Triad region are:

  • Alamance: 4.8 percent, down from 5.1 percent
  • Caswell: 6.1 percent, down from 6.8 percent
  • Davidson: 5.3 percent, down from 5.5 percent
  • Davie: 4.7 percent, down from 4.9 percent
  • Forsyth: 4.3 percent, down from 4.5 percent
  • Guilford: 4.5 percent, down from 4.8 percent
  • Montgomery: 6.3 percent, up from 6.2 percent
  • Randolph: 4.3 percent, down from 4.6 percent
  • Rockingham: 5.4 percent, down from 5.7 percent
  • Stokes: 4 percent, up from 3.9 percent
  • Surry: 5.8 percent, up from 5.6 percent
  • Yadkin: 4.2 percent, up from 4.1 percent

→ No CommentsTags: Economic development · Workforce

Elkin district added to National Register of Historic Places

October 29th, 2007 · No Comments

The Gwyn Avenue neighborhood in Elkin, including parts of Millview Road and Spring, North Bridge and Church streets, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The long-sought recognition — work on the application began three years ago — may make tax credits available for renovation and restoration work. Being on the National Historic Register can enhance property values and stimulate tourism, too.

Elkin Main Street Manager Teresa Howell said the Gwyn Avenue district was one of the city’s first residential neighborhoods.

Gwyn Avenue resident Jeanna Snider told the Elkin Tribune that getting the area placed on the National Register helped generate a sense of a pride among home owners.

“It was really a way to clean up Gwyn Avenue in a sense,” Snider told the newspaper. “The town was worried about Gwyn Avenue’s future, and this was a way to do that and bring residents together.”

The town hired Laura Phillips to do the necessary research for the National Register. She studied 154 separate properties along Gwyn Avenue from North Bridge Street to East Market Street; on Spring Street west to the Church Street intersection; on Church Street from Market to North Bridge streets; and on North Bridge Street from Spring Street to just past Ridge Street.

Howell said being in a National Historic Register district means homeowners may qualify for a 30 percent tax credit on investments that protect their property’s historic value. She said homeowners must spend more than $25,000 on qualified renovations in a 24-month period and satisfy other legal requirements including preapproval of the renovation plans.

The Downtown Elkin Historic District, the former Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital building at 230 Hawthorne Road and the Richard Gwyn House at 350 W. Main St. already are listed on the National Register.

Nearly 20 buildings and districts throughout Surry County are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

→ No CommentsTags: Construction · Economic development · Tourism

Earnings up 7.8% at Yadkin Valley Financial

October 26th, 2007 · No Comments

Yadkin Valley Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: YAVY) in Elkin, the holding company for Yadkin Valley Bank and Trust Co., has reported earnings of $3.92 million for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, 2007, an increase of 7.8 percent compared with earnings of $3.64 million for the same quarter of 2006.

Diluted earnings per share were $0.37 and $0.34 for the quarters ended Sept. 30, 2007, and 2006, respectively, an increase of 8.8 percent.

Net income for 2007’s first nine months was $11.6 million, a 16.4 percent increase over the prior year. Year-to-date diluted earnings per share were $1.08 and $0.93, respectively, through Sept. 30 in 2007 and 2006, respectively.

The increase in quarterly net income over the prior year was attributed primarily to an increase in net interest income, a decrease in the provision for loan losses and a decrease in noninterest expenses. These items more than offset a 9.4 percent decline in noninterest income attributed to a decrease of $348,000, or 20.6 percent, in net gains on sales of mortgage loans while mortgage volume declined and margins tightened. Also, losses on sales of assets obtained from foreclosures totaled $64,000 during the quarter compared with no gains or losses in the prior year.

Loan growth accelerated during the third quarter, the company reported. Loan growth for the third quarter was concentrated in construction and land development, commercial real estate fixed rate, and commercial lines of credit. Yadkin Valley’s mortgage lending subsidiary, Sidus Financial LLC, is not originating subprime loans since closing its alternative lending office in September.

Bill Long, President and CEO, noted, “…We were also able to reduce non-interest expenses in salaries and employment benefits, occupancy and equipment expenses, printing and supplies, and amortization costs. This performance is a direct result of our employees’ efforts to control expenses as planned according to branch and departmental budgets and as emphasized by management throughout the year….

“We believe our asset quality is outstanding, and my sincere thanks go to Jim Pearce, John Crysel and all of the employees, lenders and collectors for their hard work in producing and maintaining our high quality loan portfolio.

“The pending merger with Cardinal State Bank is the most important project we have going and I feel great about where we are. John Mallard and his group have hit the ground running and I feel sure this merger will become one of the most significant events in the 39-year history of our bank.”

Long continued, “The last quarter of ’07 will be a challenge. Our goal this year has been to finish ’07 with a double-digit percentage increase in earnings. Our year-to-date net income at Sept. 30, 2007, has increased approximately 16 percent over net income for the same period last year. While we continue to see pressure on margins for the remainder of 2007, we feel good about where we are and our ability to meet the challenges ahead.”

Yadkin Valley Bank and Trust Company is a full-service community bank providing services in 24 branches throughout its three regions (Yadkin Valley Bank, Piedmont Bank and High Country Bank) in North Carolina. The Yadkin Valley Bank region includes Surry County.

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John S. Clarks ranks 5th among Triad builders

October 26th, 2007 · No Comments

Mount Airy-based John S. Clark Co. Inc. is the fifth-most-active general contracting company in northwest North Carolina, based on 2006 billings in the 12-county Triad region, the Business Journal of the Greater Triad reports in its Oct. 26 edition.

The weekly newspaper says John S. Clark Co. Inc. had industrial, commercial, retail and multi-family projects totaling $73.36 million last year. Ninety-six percent of the billings were for commercial projects, the Business Journal noted.

The Triad’s most active general contractors, based on last year’s billings in the region, are the Thompson Arthur Division of Apac Atlantic in Greensboro, New Atlantic Contracting Inc. in Winston-Salem, Samet Corp. in Greensboro and Shelco Inc. (founded by Surry County natives Ed and Charlie Shelton) in Winston-Salem.

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Fond remembrance of Mount Airy music store

October 26th, 2007 · No Comments

Surry County native Ralph Berrier, now a reporter for The Roanoke Times, writes fondly about buying 45-rpm records in Marty’s Record Shop at Mount Airy’s Mayberry Mall.

You can read his column here.

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