Surry Business

Jan. 24 is the filing deadline for federal economic injury disaster loans available through the U.S. Small Business  Administration to small businesses in Surry County who suffered financial losses as a direct result of abnormally low temperatures and freezing conditions April 6-9, 2007.

The Small Business Administration’s disaster declaration was issued as a result of a similar action taken by the Secretary of Agriculture to help farmers and ranchers recover from this disaster. The SBA is making its Economic Injury Disaster Loans available to farm-related and nonfarm-related small business concerns and small agricultural cooperatives.

Eligible small businesses in almost all North Carolina counties (the exceptions are Cherokee, Clay, Currituck, Graham, Granville, Pamlico and Vance counties) may qualify for loans up to $1.5 million. These loans are available at a 4 percent interest rate with loan terms up to 30 years. The SBA determines eligibility for the program based on the size and type of business and its financial resources. Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based upon each applicant’s financial condition.

Interested business owners should contact the SBA’s Customer Service Center by calling 1-800-659-2955 (for the hearing-impaired 1-800-877-8339) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. (EST).

Loan applications can be downloaded from SBA.gov. Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

For more information about the SBA’s Disaster Loan Programs, visit the agency’s website at SBA.gov.

Wondering what to do with that GPS (Global Positioning System) unit that Santa left under the tree? Consider “geocaching,” a high-tech scavenger hunt for hidden treasure in “caches” scattered around Surry County.

GPS device sellers reported holiday sales up a whopping 488 percent over last year, according to market research firm NPD Group. With GPS technology available in cell phones, vehicles and hand-held devices, geocaching is growing; more than 490,000 caches have been hidden worldwide, according to Geocaching.com.

Some of this treasure is within your reach in Surry County.

Geocaching is an interactive way for people to explore a county beyond its typical tourist attractions. Geocaching also can attract tourist dollars. This summer the city of Asheville will actively promote The Ultimate AsheCache, a site-seeing expedition in Buncombe County to find hidden treasure valued at more than $1,700.

“Adventure travel,” including geocaching, is a growing niche in the tourism industry. Half of U.S. adults (98 million) have taken an adventure trip in the past five years and they are taking their children and grandchildren with them, according to the Tourism Industry Association.

Hikers have done “letterboxing” — leaving letters or notebooks in caches to be signed by fellow travelers — for more than 150 years, but geocaching did not take off as an activity until 2000 when the U.S. military allowed civilian access to its high-resolution, satellite-based global positioning system.

The oldest geocaches in Surry County date to 2002, if not earlier. The county — already a popular tourist destination for hikers, bicyclists, motorcyclists and other outdoors enthusiasts — became a popular site for geocaches after reporter Bryan Gentry, then with The Mount Airy News, wrote an article about local geocaching in 2003.

Surry County also is an access point for the Blue Ridge Parkway with its many geocaches.

North Carolina is home to more than 9,900 active caches registered on Geocaching.com).

North Carolina tied with Georgia as the fifth fastest–growing state from July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Nevada and Arizona, Utah and Idaho topped the list, based on percentages of increase.

North Carolina added almost 200,000 people in 12 months — a 2.2 percent increase — and crossed the 9 million population mark for the first time, according to the Census Bureau’s new estimate.

The Census Bureau says Surry County’s population has grown to 72,687, up nearly 1,500 (2.0 percent) from 2000, making it North Carolina’s 35th most-populous county.

Samantha Berryman of Elkin will be the interim director of the Surry County Health & Nutrition Center.

Berryman is a registered dietitian with more than 12 years of experience in public health.

She succeeds David Stone who resigned effective Jan. 1 to become director of the N.C. Local Health Department Accreditation Program.

The Surry County health director oversees projects and programs that include preventing or controlling the spread of disease, preventive medicine, environmental health and animal control. The department provides home health services, operates clinics for children’s health and dental care, sponsors primary-care clinics and helps develop employee-wellness programs.

The Surry County Health and Nutrition Center in Dobson was one of the first state-accredited health departments in North Carolina.

Northern Hospital of Surry County will begin its $22-million Surgical Services Relocation Project in January. A 58,000-square-foot addition will go up at the south end of the hospital’s main campus on Rockford Street in Mount Airy. The building will be the future home of Inpatient and Outpatient Surgery, Day Surgery, GI Endoscopy, Pre-Admission Testing, Anesthesia, the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit, Central Sterile Supply, a mobile technology dock, and a new public lobby and waiting space. Associated parking and site improvements will adjoin the building.

Two and one-half years in the making, this project is to be completed by the fall of 2009.

The state-of-the-art digital operating room suites will incorporate the latest in medical advancements and provide the surgeons and staff with tools needed to serve the community and surrounding areas for years to come, according to CEO William B. “Bill” James.

The new Surgical Services building has been designed from the ground up from a patient and family member’s perspective starting with a convenient, level, new parking area. The distances between outpatient registration, pre-admission testing and the surgical waiting area will be shorter, making it easier for patients and family members to navigate through the new area. To ease the stress associated with waiting for a family member having surgery, a much larger waiting area has been designed with additional seating to make the family’s wait more pleasant. Two consultation rooms will be available for the surgeon to privately discuss the patient’s surgical outcome with the family. Volunteers and hospital employees at the waiting room desk will assist families, answer questions, or simply listen and talk with family members to ease their anxiety.

Close to 20 local and regional contractors will be involved in the work, all coordinated by the hospital’s construction manager, John S. Clark Company of Mount Airy. Wilkerson Associates Architects from Charlotte have handled the design work.

Two growing retail businesses in downtown Mount Airy will expand on Main Street after the first of the year.

Cybergear, 437 N. Main, will more than double its space when it takes over an adjacent store formerly occupied by All In A Basket at 439 N. Main. The building’s owner will open the wall dividing the two stores and remodel both interior spaces.

Cybergear sells Apple Macintosh and other computers, as well as a variety of consumer electronics. Co-owner Mark Spencer said the remodeled interior will have many design features similar to Apple retail stores.

He and his partner, Jacob Butner, will work out of their mobile unit while remodeling is under way, starting sometime after Jan. 1. Spencer said he hopes the new store will be open by Jan. 31.

Butner and Spencer have worked together since Spencer founded 802Link, the company that brought free wireless Internet access to downtown Mount Airy.

Just up the block from Cybergear, Brandt Scholz of Pilot Mountain is remodeling a vacant store at 401 N. Main (on the corner of Main and Virginia streets) into the new home for B&L Custom Jewelers. His business currently is in Main-Oak Emporium, 245 City Hall St.

Scholz is a Graduate Gemologist, Certified Insurance Appraiserâ„¢ and goldsmith with more than 30 years’ experience. He is a past president of the North Carolina chapter of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) Alumni Association and a member of the American Gem Trade Association.

Scholz said he looks forward to having a Main Street storefront with a conspicuous location — he’ll probably need a new motto to replace B&L’s current one, “Mount Airy’s best-kept secret” — and more display space. One of his specialties is an extraordinary offering of colored gem stones now crowded into a few display cases at Main-Oak Emporium. He’ll also have more work space. Scholz restyles broken and outdated jewelry, repairs jewelry, resets diamonds and other stones and crafts custom jewelry. Finally, the new store will have more room for additional product lines, such as timepieces.

Scholz said he hopes to open the new store soon after Jan. 1.

The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area is accepting nominations for its annual “40 Leaders Under Forty Awards.”

Candidates from within the 12-county Piedmont Triad, including Surry County, must be successful in their field and also bettering this region through their civic and philanthropic efforts. Nominees must be over the age of 21 and under 40 years of age on Feb. 29, 2008.

Honorees will be recognized at a reception and awards program and featured in a special publication in the Feb. 29th edition of The Business Journal.

The deadline for nominations is Jan. 21. Nominators are encouraged to submit entries online at triad.bizjournals.com/triad/nomination/1116.

A judging panel will evaluate nominees based on the quality of the information provided. Multiple entries will not improve a candidate’s odds of selection. Previous winners may not be re-nominated. There is no fee associated with nominating a candidate or in being honored as a recipient.

For more information, contact Associate Editor Lloyd Whittington at lwhittington@bizjournals.com or (336) 370-2914.

John S. Clark Company, LLC of Mount Airy has formed a new Triad Commercial Division to better serve the changing needs of the Piedmont Triad area’s commercial-construction marketplace. The division will be based at the company’s downtown Greensboro office, 516 W. Friendly Ave.

Company President and CEO Jim Walker said 28 project managers, superintendents and administrative support personnel from John S. Clark’s Winston-Salem and Greensboro offices will staff the office. The company is seeking qualified candidates to fill several new positions at the division, Walker added. The professional builders assembled in the new division have expertise in a broad range of project types such as offices (including medical offices), retail, multi-family, hospitality, education, religious, laboratory and warehouse/flex/industrial construction.

“Commercial construction opportunities in the Triad” — northwest North Carolina’s 12-county region including the cities of Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point — “are growing in number and complexity, and they demand that contractors have the core competencies and dedicated local resources to match,” said Walker.

“With the new division, we can concentrate more of our resources on local projects,” Walker said. “Also, operating from one central location to perform traditional commercial construction services will facilitate communication and lead to more efficient resource allocation and shorter response times. Finally, the division will allow us to deliver greater value to clients by being a high-volume purchaser of goods and services from suppliers and subcontractors, locally, regionally and nationally. In short, dealing with us will be easier for our business partners and customers.”

The division also will be the focal point for Clark’s LEED Accredited Professional education and training.

John S. Clark Company chose the Greensboro office to house the division because of its central location and ample space to accommodate growth.

John S. Clark’s Company’s Winston-Salem office, home to the Retail Division and Special Projects Division, is undergoing a major expansion and $600,000 renovation to make room for more offices and conference space in an effort to keep up with growth in the retail market sector. Even after adding on, Walker explained, there won’t be enough room to house the Special Projects Division that has experienced dramatic growth from zero to more than $7 million in less than two years.

With three offices and more than 250 employees in the Triad, John S. Clark Co. LLC is the largest general contractor in the region and next year will celebrate its 50th anniversary of service to the Triad, the state and the region.

John S. Clark Company is a multi-faceted general contracting company and a leader in the construction industry in the Southeast. Headquartered in Surry County, it also has full-service offices in Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Wilmington, N.C.

For more information, contact Senior Vice President Steve Johnson at (336) 345-1185.

Winston-Salem Regional Association of Realtors wasted little time posting results of sales activity in November, perhaps because there were fewer sales to count than in October. The Piedmont Triad Multiple Listing Service reported 497 houses, condos and townhouses were sold last month, almost 7 percent fewer than November 2006. Almost all of the decline was in single-family homes; the total of condo and townhouse sales dropped by one from 2006.

The average sale among all units was $179,562, 1.1 percent higher than in November 2006. About 30 percent of the 445 houses sold last month had been on the market for four months or more, a percentage unchanged from last year, suggesting that sellers haven’t changed their habits while waiting for the right buyer or price.

The biggest change was in financing. Last month, buyers used conventional financing to acquire 312 houses (70 percent). In November 2006, 386 houses (80 percent) were purchased with conventional loans. This year almost 60 buyers paid cash compared to 40 in 2006. FHA- and VA-financed home loans jumped to 47 last month compared to 36 in 2006.

In the Triad as a whole, including areas served by the Greensboro and High Point Realtors’ associations, there were 1,120 units sold in November 2007, 126 (10 percent) fewer than in November 2006.

The Winston-Salem Regional Association of Realtors serves Forsyth, Stokes, Davie, and northern Davidson counties.

The Surry County Board of Realtors serves Surry County.

Even if you live in Surry County, you may not have heard of Jantec Neon Products — like United Plastics, CK Technologies and others we could name, Jantec has a bigger national reputation than a local one — but you’ve almost surely seen Jantec’s work.

Jantec manufactures and markets the neon signs that light the way to hundreds of small businesses including hair, nail and tanning salons; coffee houses; barber shops; massage and tattoo parlors; beauty spas; restaurants, including ethnic foods, pizza, ice cream, hotwings and sub shops; finance and tax-preparation offices; pawn shops; travel agencies; and specialty stores.

The company’s manufacturing and distribution facility is at 332 Sexton Road. It has a Mount Airy address, but in fact is just north of Dobson off Casstevens Road. Jantec employs about 17 people here.

Jan Legere founded Jantec Neon Products in 1993. During the 13 years before that, he worked in the fluorescent lamp field, including several years as president and chief operating officer of a major manufacturer of specialty fluorescent lamps. He also was an engineering consultant who helped set up lamp plants both domestically and in Mexico, Thailand and mainland China.

Legere established Jantec Neon Products about as far north in Pennsylvania as you can go without being in New York.

Surry County offered the company North Carolina’s milder climate with easy transportation access for shipping.
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