I love North Carolina. A middle school student in Charlotte who won a spelling bee arrived at school to find a congratulations message on the school sign, but unfortunately his name was misspelled. Of course his dad took a pic and emailed it to the Charlotte Observer. Congratulations Micheal!
If you would like to see a nice sampling of different ways to use a blog you should check out the blogs hosted by the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University. Here's just a couple of examples:
According to this article in TechJournal South the Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurial Network is shutting down because the entities that funded it have decided to go in a different direction.
The foundations invested $2.75 million in the organization, which was founded in 2004.
"They decided we were not a priority," Obermeyer notes. "It had nothing to do with our results."
He admits the early stage companies PTEN backed are slow on job creation. Many are still in proof of concept…
The companies it backed have raised an additional $8.8 million.
PTEN also distributed $635,000 in prizes to 35 companies through
its annual PTEN GAP business plan competition and did it a unique way
intended to train the companies to deal with investors.
"We gave them the money in tranches and they had to meet
milestones," explains Obermeyer. If they won $30,000, we gave them
three tranches of $10,000 each. If someone was working on a patent, we
would want to see a patent filing."
PTEN also launched the first nanotechnology conference in North
Carolina and ran it for three years. It received national press
coverage in the industry publication, "Smalltimes."
It held an investor conference in August. It had companies from
Memphis, Charlottesville, the Research Triangle and elsewhere present
in additon to Triad firms…
"We worked with other organizations such as the NC Council for
Entrepreneurial Development and the Piedmont Angel Networks. We were
doing all the right things," says Obermeyer.
"My question now, is who's going to do this work?"
This is definitely a negative development for the Triad. While groups like PTEN may not create lots of jobs in the short term they tend to foster the development of the kinds of companies that attract dynamic people who in turn accelerate innovation that seeps into the surrounding business community. In other words they create energy that attracts innovators and builders and those are exactly the kind of people we need in the Triad right now. I think we have plenty of bankers and lawyers, but we're hurting for true entrepreneurs.
BTW, anyone else see opportunity to fill the gap here?
Those of us old enough to remember the late '70s will remember the phenomenal success of prime time soap operas like Dallas. I always figured that one reason Dallas did so well is that the economy truly sucked at the time and watching the over the top narcissism of the Ewing brood allowed most of us to escape our own miserable lives. That era was followed by the real-life over the top narcissism of the 80s and exemplified by Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, which was further proof that as a nation we just love to see how the other half, er 1/100th lives. Thus I figured it would be interesting to look at our local big-wigs to see what they make, if not how they live.
Today I'm looking at the folks at one of our biggest local employers: Novant.
My source for the these numbers was Guidestar and the numbers listed come from the most recent 990 they have listed for each organization on their site. So if the most recent is 2006 then I've listed the 2005 pay. Here we go:
For Novant I looked at the executive team listed on the last page of their 2007 annual report. FYI, there are other high paying execs that aren't included but you can find them if you sign up for a free Guidestar account and look at the 990s.
I would also like to note that I might have missed some compensation. There are several related organizations bundled under the Novant umbrella and executives are compensated by different organizations. As you'll see I found that one executive was compensated by two different organizations. Anyway, here's what I found:
Paul Miles, President/CEO of Novant – In 2005 he was paid $1,486,990, had $331,163 in benefits and deferred compensation and $15,344 in expenses. In addition Forsyth Medical Center Foundation also reports three years of unvested deferred awards of $99,960 in 2004, $104,550 in 2005 and $94,606 in 2006. Total without the deferred awards: $1,833,497.
Greg Beier, President/CEO of Triad Region (Novant) Forsyth Medical Center – Was paid $825,767, had $382,251 in benefits and deferred compensation and $16,644 in expenses. In addition Forsyth Medical Center Foundation also reports three years of
unvested deferred awards of $58,800 in 2004, $63,150 in 2005 and
$58,365 in 2006. Total without the deferred awards: $1,224,662.
Jacqueline Gattis, Chief Administrative Officer of Novant – In 2005 she was paid $303,125, had $96,229 in benefits and deferred compensation and $17,000 in expenses. Total: $416,354.
Dean Swindle, CFO of Novant – In 2005 he was paid $682,255, had $114,031 in benefits and deferred compensation, and $13,909 in expenses. Total: $810,195.
Carl Armato, President/CEO of Presbyterian Healthcare – In 2005 he was paid $683,022, had $81,190 in benefits and deferred compensation and $73 in expenses. In addition Presbyterian Medical Care Corporation also reports three years of
unvested deferred awards of $17,581 in 2004, $26,910 in 2005 and
$35,995 in 2006. Total without the deferred awards: $764,285
Stephen Wallenhaupt MD, Chief Medical Officer of Novant – In 2005 he was paid $395,522, had $26,727 in benefits and deferred compensation and $3,692 in expenses by Presbyterian Hospital. In the same year he was also paid by Novant Health Inc.: $88,692 in pay, $35,771 in benefits and deferred compensation and $3,574 in expenses. In addition Presbyterian Medical Care Corporation also reports three years of
unvested deferred awards of $26,950 in 2004, $28,190 in 2005 and
$25,512 in 2006. Total without the deferred awards: $553,978
T. Hayes Woollen MC, President of Novant Medical Group – In 2005 he was paid $101,357, had $47,471 in benefits and deferred compensation, and $3,692 in expenses. Total: $152,520
Ed Cone points to an article at Bloomberg about the Supreme Court's decision to allow smokers to sue tobacco companies over the marketing of "light" cigarettes. Ed also points to a page at Reynolds' website that is dedicated to litigation.
According to the article some analysts were surprised at the decision, having predicted that the tobacco companies would prevail, but they still don't consider the ruling much of a game-changer. On the other hand lots of anti-tobacco folks are thrilled (see excerpt below). I have a feeling that the people most thrilled are the lawyers on both sides; they'll be able to pay for their kids', grandkids' and great-grandkids' Harvard educations with the fees from these lawsuits:
The ruling surprised some industry analysts, including
Morgan Stanley’s David Adelman, who had predicted an industry
victory before the high court heard arguments. Still, Adelman
said cigarette companies retained “very, very valid and
effective defenses” to the suits.
No Turning Point
“I don’t think this is a turning point for the plaintiffs
in either lights litigation or tobacco litigation generally,”
said Adelman.
Anti-tobacco advocates hailed the ruling. “It’s a very
historic day in the field of tobacco litigation,” said Ed Sweda,
an attorney at the Tobacco Products Liability Project at
Northeastern University School of Law in Boston. “There was this
dark cloud hanging over all these cases up until today.”
Cigarette companies face about 40 similar suits, Sweda said.
Smoking foes say Philip Morris and other cigarette makers have
long known that smokers compensate for reduced tar and nicotine
levels by inhaling more deeply and frequently.
An Illinois light-cigarette suit at one point threatened
Philip Morris, the nation’s largest tobacco company, with a $10.1
billion award before it was overturned.
The suit before the justices seeks to recover the money
Maine smokers spent on Philip Morris’s Marlboro Lights and
Cambridge Lights through November 2002, plus punitive damages. A
federal appeals court in Boston had said the suit, which invoked
a Maine unfair trade practices law, could go forward…
Philip Morris also argued that lawsuits would interfere with
the Federal Trade Commission’s oversight of cigarette testing and
its policy of encouraging companies to market low-tar brands.
Stevens rejected that argument, saying the FTC “has no
longstanding policy authorizing collateral representations”
based on the testing method used by cigarette makers. Thomas
didn’t address that question in his dissent.
The FTC last month withdrew its endorsement of the four-
decade-old test that lets cigarette makers claim some brands
contain less tar and nicotine. The test method is “confusing or
misleading to consumers,” the FTC said in a statement then.
“For consumers it’s a major victory,” Jonathan Leibowitz,
a Democratic FTC commissioner said of today’s high court
decision. The ruling reaffirms that “states are full partners”
with the FTC in protecting consumers against deception, he said.
The case is Altria v. Good, 07-562.
Richard Craver did a follow up piece for the Winston-Salem Journal about the goings-on at the Tourism Development Authority and it is interesting to note that while things have been quiet since the stink-up last summer a lot has been going on behind the scenes. One part of the article caught my attention in particular:
Kaplan plans to recommend that the board outsource some of its
marketing efforts as a way to reduce administrative costs. He
acknowledged that full-time jobs likely would be cut in the process.
McCoy vigorously fought Kaplan on this issue.
"I don't share the opinion that the TDA is the most cost-effective
source of bringing tourism to Winston-Salem and Forsyth County," Kaplan
said.
However, Kaplan is not clear of potential conflict in this request.
J.D. Wilson, a co-chairman of an arts-council fundraising campaign,
also served as Kaplan's campaign manager for his race for commissioner.
In February, Wilson urged the authority to provide grant money for a
projected $1 million campaign over three years by Mullen, a marketing
company, to brand Winston-Salem as the "City of the Arts." The
authority provided a smaller amount toward the request, citing as one
reason that the arts venues don't contribute significantly to putting
guests into local hotel rooms.
Kaplan also supported Mike Horn, a partner in the public-relations
company of Horn & Stronach, as a nominee for an authority board
seat. Kaplan paid Horn & Stronach more than $17,000 for campaign
work in his run for the county commissioners.
You don't have to read between the lines to see that Kaplan is going to push for downsizing of the staff which is currently at 15 full time positions. Honestly there are functions in any organization like the TDA that can be effectively outsourced, particularly in marketing, communications, event management and back office support like bookkeeping, accounting, auditing, etc. But if you cut back too far you end up paying an opportunity cost because you don't have enough hands on deck to really make things work.
I spent five years working with a non-profit as a consultant and as time passed I handled more and more on the organizations behalf as they cut payroll in order to survive a rather serious budget crunch. It was a lot easier to pay me a flat fee than it was to hire and fire people. But, when I decided to move in a different direction I walked away with all the relationships with the businesses they were doing deals with (I acted as their Director of Business Development on contract). Sure I left behind my records, but because I wasn't an employee and I didn't have a staffer working with me there was literally no one there with even a semblance of a relationship with the businesses so the person they hired had to start from scratch and it's hard to say how much that has affected their operations.
Now if the TDA's board really thinks they are overstaffed then by all means they need hire a professional executive director (or president or whatever you want to call the position) that can come in, evaluate the situation and then provide the board with a road map for getting the job done. If that person thinks it takes 12 people then so be it, but if that person thinks it will take 20 then the board should try and find a way to help meet that need. Also, if that new person feels the existing staff isn't up to the job then the board should provide support as current staff is replaced with new blood. In other words the board's job is not to involve itself in day-to-day management, but to provide oversight and general direction on behalf of the citizens and their elected leaders.
And as for whether or not the TDA is the most cost-effective way to bring tourists to Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, I have to respectively ask that if it isn't then why the heck do you have the office at all? I think Mr. Kaplan might be implying that it's better to utilize existing organizations like the arts groups, but it seems to me that those groups have a much broader mission than encouraging visitors. Do those groups really care if audience members come from Walkertown or Washington, DC? No, they just care about creating art and putting butts in seats no matter where those butts come from. If travel dollars are going to be granted to those groups then some very tight strings need to be attached that mandate those dollars be spent on developing festivals or other events targeted to broad audiences, and not for general operating funds.
I do believe that a central development operation is key for any city or town, and I think it's a good thing that Kaplan stirred this pot because we're talking more about economic development via tourism as a result. I'm not saying I agree with his methods necessarily, but I do think it's a good discussion to have. Once they finish this part of the process I think there are some very large issues they need to address in order for Winston-Salem to generate more travel revenue. Those include:
Triad Appliance Center made the news last week because it shut its doors and put a sign up saying that they were closing due to an illness in the family. Later a different sign was on the door saying that customers could contact Brad Ellison Appliances to get their appliances, but according to the woman interviewed in the WXII story Brad Ellison Appliances was telling Triad Appliance customers who'd already paid for their appliances that they'd need to pay again.
In a later WXII story it was revealed that the owner of Triad Appliance Center was Thi Alderman, who is the ex-wife of Brad Ellison, he of Brad Ellison Appliances. This got my curiosity up so I decided to do a little hunting and pecking online.
First I searched the North Carolina Secretary of State database of corporations by company name and no active companies named Triad Appliance Center popped up. Next I searched by registered agent and that's when I found Brad Ellison Appliances Inc. of Mocksville which was originally registered in 2000 and filed papers to dissolve the business in September, 2006. I couldn't find a mention of Thi Alderman or Thi Ellison anywhere in the state database.
Next up was a good old fashioned Google search. Most of the results were Yellow Pages-type directory listings but on the second page of results I found a listing on a site called Coltera that listed Ellisons Triad Appliance Center and gave the same address as the address for Triad Appliance Center. It also had this tidbit:
ELLISONS TRIAD APPLIANCE CENTER is in the Electrical Appliances, Television and Radio Sets industry in WINSTON SALEM, NC. This company currently has approximately 100 to 250 employees and annual sales of $10,000,000 to $24,999,999.
If Coltera's data is correct then the store had a significantly larger operation than you'd guess by looking at the store.
Next I decided to look up the property records for the store. The owner of the land is listed as Ellison Brad Properties LLC and it shows the same address as that shown on the dissolved corporation of Brad Ellison Appliances Inc. of Mocksville and a company that is currently listed by North Carolina as Brad Ellison Properties LLC. I'm assuming that the county has the names "brad" and "ellison" backwards on the property database. So, Brad Ellison owns the land and store, but doesn't own the business.
Unfortunately the county doesn't provide it's business name database online so I can't seem to find the ownership information without going down to the registrar's office. Still, it's funny that I can't find any record with the state of a Thi Alderman or a Thi Ellison as an owner of any business, yet I can find her ex-husband as an owner of an apparently defunct appliance business and the land and building that Thi Alderman's business is housed in.
As I mentioned above, in the earlier WXII story a customer named Lisa Johnson was interviewed and she said that Brad Ellison was the salesperson who originally sold her the appliances at Triad, and yet he was also the person who offered to try and make things right when he opens up a new appliance business in a couple of weeks. The reporter, Jermont Terry, also interviewed Ellison and he claimed that although he owned the land he was not the owner of the store and was in fact owed money by the store owner, aka his ex-wife. He also said he had no idea why the store wasn't open or delivering the merchandise that customers had paid for.
In the later WXII story they say that customers went to court and secured an injunction against the business and that Thi Alderman was escorted by county deputies to the building to unlock it and refused to comment at the time. There was supposed to be a hearing this morning (Monday, Dec. 15) so maybe many of the questions I'm about to ask will be answered, but in the meantime here's what I'm wondering:
There’s no simpler way to reach the most influential people in Forsyth County than sponsoring JonLowder.com. You can email me for details or connect with me at any of my online hangouts:
A new magazine geared to those 45 and over is being launched in the Triad. Actually it's an existing magazine, Boom!, that is launching a Triad edition. From the press release:
Eddie
Goldberg will serve as the Triad edition’s publisher. Goldberg, a
20-year North Carolina resident brings a background in radio sales and
journalism to the Boom! team.
“I’m thrilled with the
opportunity to expand the Boom! enterprise and bring Triad residents
the same array of lifestyle resources we provide in the Triangle,” says
Petty. “Eddie’s media expertise makes him an excellent addition to our
organization.”
The Triad edition will maintain the Boom! brand
by using the same format, cover story and core editorial. But it will
be customized for the new market with articles on local "Fifty &
Fabulous" celebrities, stories on businesses, performing and visual
arts groups, non-profit organizations and a monthly Triad calendar of
events. The first print run will be 20,000 and will be distributed at
approximately 250 locations throughout the area. Distribution locations
will be listed on the Boom! Web site by the end of December. Visit
http://www.boomnc.com and click on “Get the Magazine.”
Talk about kismet; just after posting my question about the best cup of joe in Forsyth County and my intention to check them all out and create a guide to local java shops (tough work, I know) I find this item over at Esbees. The WFUBMC Department of Radiology is doing a study on people who drink more than six cups of coffee a day and they say that people who participate will be compensated for their time. My initial thought was, "Only six?" quickly followed by, "SUWEET!" Esbee mentions that when she used to work fulltime, pre-kids, she would have qualified twice and I have to say that I'm amazed that she drinks less coffee post-kids than she did when she was working fulltime. If I didn't have coffee I don't think I'd have made it through year one of kid number one, much less sixteen years (and counting) of multiple kids. As it is I'd probably qualify for this thing three times over.
Befuddled 