Surry Business

The 11th annual Pumpkin Festival and the second annual Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off are expected to attract as many as 15,000 visitors to Elkin on Saturday, Sept. 29. The festival’s organizers promise they will enjoy live entertainment, shopping, great food and gigantic pumpkins galore.

The festival begins at 8:45 a.m. when Tristan Davis sings the National Anthem on the Main Stage.

Immediately following will be the Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Smith Phillips Building Supply, 257 Standard St. Growers from all over the East Coast will enter their pumpkins, some weighing more than 1,000 pounds, in hopes of placing in the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth top ten.

Elkin’s Main Street will be lined with vendors selling everything from funnel cakes to functional pottery, canned green beans to gourmet coffees, wood furnishings to wine racks, BBQ to baked goods, sand art to sunrooms, and pumpkin butter to polish sausages.

For information about space for vendors, contact the Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce Inc., P.O. Box 496, 116 E. Market St., Elkin, NC 28621. Call (336) 526-1111 and/or fax (336) 526-1879.

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 will be presented from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 2 at PTEN’s office, 7025 Albert Pick Road, Suite 303, Greensboro NC 27409.

Business and civic leaders in Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point formed PTEN in 2004 to offer programs and resources to high-growth, high-impact ventures in the 12-county northwest North Carolina region that includes Surry County. The organization concentrates on education, mentoring, networking and capital formation.

PTEN receives financial support from Action Greensboro, Winston-Salem Alliance, High Point Partners and corporate sponsors.

PTEN’s telephone number is (336) 605-4777.

NC Health Info is an online guide to web sites with quality health and medical information and to local health services. Designed to meet the needs and interests of North Carolinians, links on NC Health Info are selected and maintained by local, regional and state librarians.

A key component of NC Health Info is the NC Go Local database, a collection of web links to local health facilities in all 100 counties. This database was the first resource of its kind to link local health services with corresponding information from MedlinePlus, the consumer health site maintained by the National Library of Medicine, and the National Institutes of Health.

Surry County’s page is here. It contains information on services and providers ranging from adult day care to yoga, as seen in this Table of Contents:

* Adult Day Care
* Alcohol Abuse Programs
* Allergists
* Ambulatory Care Centers
* Anesthesiologists
* Art Therapy
* Assisted Living Facilities
* Audiologists
* Birth Centers
* Blood Banks
* Breastfeeding Consultants
* Cancer Clinics
* Cardiologists
* Child Care Resource/Referral
* Childbirth Educators/Coaches
* Chiropractors
* Clinical Social Workers
* Clinical Trials
* Clinics
* Dentists
* Dermatologists
* Diabetes Educators
* Dietitians/Nutritionists
* Disability Programs
* Drug Abuse Treatment Centers/Programs
* Ear/ Nose/Throat Specialists
* Emergency Medical Services
* Endocrinologists
* Exercise/Fitness Programs
* Faith Based Programs
* Family Physicians
* First Aid Instruction
* Food Programs
* Gastroenterologists
* Genetic Counselors
* Geriatricians
* Group Homes
* Gynecologists
* Health Care Equipment/Supplies
* Health Education
* Health Insurance Programs
* Health Screening Programs
* Health Statistics (NC)
* Hematologists
* Home Health Care Services
* Hospice Care Services
* Hospitals
* Hotlines/Crisis Services
* Immunization Programs
* Infectious Disease Specialists
* Infusion Therapy Services
* Inspection Services
* Internists
* Libraries
* Licensed Professional Counselors
* Marriage/Family Therapists
* Massage/Bodywork Therapists
* Mental Health Clinics/Programs
* Mental Health Professionals
* Music Therapy
* Nephrologists
* Neurological Surgeons
* Neurologists
* Nurse Practitioners
* Nurses
* Nursing Home Facilities
* Obstetricians
* Occupational Therapists
* Oncologists
* Ophthalmologists
* Opticians
* Organ Donation Programs
* Organizations/Associations
* Orthopedists
* Osteopaths
* Pain Clinics
* Pastoral Counselors
* Pathologists
* Pediatric Hospitals
* Pediatricians
* Personal Trainers
* Pet Assisted Therapy
* Pharmacies
* Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation Specialists
* Physical Rehabilitation Programs
* Physical Therapists
* Physician Assistants
* Plastic Surgeons
* Podiatrists
* Prescription Programs
* Psychiatric Hospitals
* Psychiatrists
* Psychologists
* Public Health Services
* Pulmonologists
* Radiologists
* Recreational Therapists
* Referral Services
* Research Centers
* Respiratory Therapists
* Respite Care Services
* Retirement Facilities
* Rheumatologists
* Senior Centers
* Sheltered Workshops
* Shelters
* Smoking Cessation Programs
* Social Services
* Speech Therapists
* Support Groups
* Surgeons
* Therapeutic Camps
* Thoracic Surgeons
* Transportation Services
* Urologists
* Vascular Surgeons
* Veterans Benefits and Services
* Veterans Health Facilities
* Veterans Referral Services
* Waste Management Services
* Weight Management Programs
* Yoga

Surry Community College’s Viticulture and Enology program has improved the quality and quantity of wine its students produce. Now it’s time to increase their wines’ distribution.

The “Surry Cellars” wines were poured at wine festivals for the first time this year. The viticulture program this fall will market seven 2006 wines to retail outlets including local supermarkets. Developing and running the marketing campaign will be part of the students’ course work.

Growing grapes, making wine and selling it are all essential components of the viticulture degree program that has about 70 students taking classes either on campus or online.

Gill Giese, who heads up the viticulture component of the program, told the Surry Messenger that having to put a wine on the market forces students to focus hard on their studies and better prepare for entry into the industry. “There’s a lot more on the line when the public starts buying and consuming your product,” he said. “Students have to commit to making the sale.”

The Small Business Center at Surry Community College in Dobson regularly schedules classes, seminars and workshops for business people.

The Small Business Center provides free or low-cost services to both potential and existing businesses. Consultation with SBC Director Dennis Lowe on business-related issues is available Monday through Friday by phone, (336) 386-3309, or in the Small Business Center office, room 134 in the J Building. Literature is also available regarding business concerns such as business plans, cash flow/record keeping, marketing, and sources of funding. Referrals can be made to cooperating agencies such as the North Carolina Business and Technology Development Center, the Microenterprise Loan Program, and the Surry JobLink Center.

Training and educational opportunities are also arranged by the Small Business Center. Examples include how to start a small business, bookkeeping and tax education classes, workshops on marketing, microcomputer classes, and management seminars. Many of these classes/seminars are listed regularly on a Surry Community College web page. It includes a link for online registration.

Here is the schedule for upcoming programs.

Sobotta Manor in Mount Airy is one of the 10 best-overall bed-and-breakfast operations in the United States, according to BedandBreakfast.com.

A second Mount Airy B&B, Maxwell House Bed & Breakfast, is BedandBreakfast.com’s “Inn of the Month” for September.

The BedandBreakfast.com web site, which describes itself as the leading online bed and breakfast directory and reservation network worldwide, on Sept. 20 announced the winners of its third annual web-based awards program. After studying 10,000 reviews submitted by inn-goers, BedandBreakfast.com selected the award winners based on both the number of reviews and on a qualitative analysis of what was said about each B&B.

Sobotta Manor Bed & Breakfast is owned and operated by Thurman and Robin Hester. It is at 347 W. Pine St. (N.C. Highway 89), a few blocks from Mount Airy’s historic downtown district. The Tudor Revival-style house was built in 1932 by John Sobotta, a prominent local businessman and furniture factory owner. His home has been lovingly restored as an elegant, yet comfortable, bed and breakfast with an eclectic mix of antiques, sumptuous fabrics, fine linens and beautiful gardens.

The grand foyer and parlor have been richly decorated in an elegant, yet warm and inviting manner. Step through the front entry of the mansion and you’ll see the unique Italian marble fireplace, 10-foot-tall ceilings, and a magnificent staircase surrounded by hand-carved, black walnut walls. You can sink into one of the comfortable down chairs and relax in the red gentleman’s parlor stocked with books, a variety of magazines and a game table for chess or cards.

The wide porch overlooks the original terraced gardens that features a columned pergola. The Blue Ridge Mountains can be seen in the distance.

The complete list of “Best of BedandBreakfast.com” award winners is here.

Brothers Charlie and Ed Shelton, owners of The Village at Shelton Vineyards in Dobson, have created a scholarship program that will give about 50 students up to $1,000 in scholarships to attend Surry Community College and Forsyth Technical Community College.

Selection will focus on financially needy students’ work ethic and character, Ed Shelton said.

“We feel like a lot of young folks today, especially the ones who don’t have the best grades but study hard, need help,” Shelton told the Winston-Salem Journal. “They’re the ones that we really want this program to concentrate on.”

The Shelton Foundation Inc. Scholarship Program is intended to get students started in a community-college program and for them to go on to attend a four-year college or university.

Scholarships will be available beginning in fall 2008 for students attending high schools in Surry and Stokes counties.

The Sheltons said they hope the program eventually will provide 500 students with scholarships.

HealthySurry.com is a one-stop source of health and wellness information for Surry County.

Sponsored by the Surry County Health & Nutrition Center in Dobson, the site includes information about fitness centers, personal trainers, activities for children and upcoming events. You’ll find where to go for boating, bowling, bicycling, camping, skating and much more.

Links tie you to sites dedicated to Surry County nature tourism, Yadkin River adventures, Fisher River Park in Dobson, Elkin parks and recreation, Pilot Mountain recreation (including Pilot Mountain State Park and the Armfield Center), Mount Airy recreation (including Reeves Community Center), smoke-free dining and a host of health topics.

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), says that if places such as Surry County want to grow, they must provide a higher quality of life and opportunity for entrepreneurs who create most new jobs in America.

The foundations of economic development today include public safety, quality education, attractive homes and neighborhoods, modern health-care facilities and other services, Drabenstott says, and a cooperative network of community businesses, non-governmental organizations and public agencies to build and strengthen those foundations.

Regional cooperation in rural America is rare, however, he said. In most successful regional collaborations, Drabenstott continued, “there is an organization that brings the community together — a ‘King Arthur’ who creates the regional roundtable. In many cases, the catalyst of regional cooperation is either a non-profit group or a university or community college.”

Click here to listen to Drabenstott’s 50-minute speech.

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 its third-quarter conference call that it expected fourth-quarter shipments to exceed prior year levels. Today’s news sent its stock price down 10 to 12 percent from Tuesday’s closing price of $18.48 per share.

Insteel said its shipments for the fourth quarter have been negatively impacted by weak demand from customers affected by the ongoing downturn in the housing market, high levels of PC strand imports and adverse weather conditions that have delayed projects in certain regions of the country.

“We believed that the inventory corrections by our customers would have been completed by now which would have had a positive impact on shipments during our fourth quarter,” said H.O. Woltz III, Insteel’s president and chief executive officer. “Circumstances clearly have not developed as forecast, however, and we are beginning to have some concerns about customers scaling back purchases in response to the increasing uncertainties regarding the future direction of the economy. In addition, weakening market conditions have caused pricing pressures which have compressed margins in certain product lines.

“During the quarter, we achieved a milestone with the start up of the new engineered structural mesh (ESM) production line at our Texas facility. We expect gradually increasing contributions from this project and the previously completed expansions of our Tennessee PC strand and North Carolina ESM operations as we ramp up production on the new equipment. Looking ahead to fiscal 2008, we anticipate similar benefits from the equipment upgrades that are under way at our Delaware welded-wire reinforcement and Florida PC strand plants.”

The company has not historically provided earnings guidance and Woltz said it is uncertain at this time as to the magnitude of the decrease in fourth-quarter earnings per share that is expected to result from the lower level of shipments.

Insteel Industries is one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of steel wire reinforcing products for concrete construction applications. The company manufactures and markets PC strand and welded wire reinforcement, including concrete pipe reinforcement, ESM and standard welded wire reinforcement. Insteel’s products are sold primarily to manufacturers of concrete products that are used in nonresidential construction.

Including its plant in Mount Airy, Insteel operates six manufacturing facilities in the United States. The company employs approximately 700 people.