ASHEBORO — Randolph County’s Habitat for Humanity chapter received a boost recently thanks to an $800 donation as part of the Lowes Foods/Sprite Tabs for Habitat promotion.

Lowes Foods and Sprite joined together to promote Habitat for Humanity throughout North Carolina and portions of South Carolina and Virginia.

For each specially marked package of Sprite and Sprite Zero bought during April, Coca-Cola North America made a donation to support local Habitat for Humanity chapters.

The local promotion was part of the National Sprite Tabs for Habitat campaign which guaranteed a $250,000 donation to Habitat International to support water conservation in Habitat homes.



REMC annual meeting

ASHEBORO – More than 1,200 people attended Randolph EMC’s 72nd annual meeting June 18, enjoying free homemade ice cream, a weatherization demonstration by Regional Consolidated Services, live gospel music by The Swordsmen, a children’s program by the N.C. Zoo and the chance to win more than 100 door prizes.

During the business meeting, three incumbent directors were re-elected: James Andrews to District 1; Larry Routh to District 3; and Sue Spencer to District 6. Board President Steve Harris said the cooperative is returning $1.5 million in a general capital credit retirement, and an estimated $295,000 to members’ estates.

“Capital credits are a core benefit to cooperative members, as it represents their ownership in the company,” Harris said.

Dale Lambert, executive vice president and general manager of Randolph EMC, reported that the cooperative brought in revenues of $59.6 million and had expenses of $56.7 million.

The largest expense was electricity generation, accounting for over 57 percent of all of the co-op’s expenses for 2009. The cooperative has total assets and liabilities of $136.4 million.

Lambert also addressed the cooperative’s plans to deliver more value-added services to members. In October 2010, Randolph EMC will begin installing “smart meters” as part of its Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI).

Smart meters allow two-way communication between the member and the cooperative and bring such benefits as remote meter readings, prepaid metering opportunities, more detailed outage information and enhanced monitoring of the electrical system.

The cooperative continues its commitment to energy efficiency and conservation with two new rebate programs for non-residential members.

Agricultural members who operate confined livestock facilities, such as poultry houses, will receive rebate of 25 percent of the cost of replacing incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient CFLs.

Likewise, commercial and industrial members can recoup costs associated with upgrading to energy-efficient lighting by receiving a rebate of 30 cents for each reduced Watt.

Randolph EMC’s other efficiency projects involve LED security lights and fuel cell technology.

A new breaker station, transmission line and substation in the New Hope area is nearly complete and will serve more than 1,800 members when energized. Several other projects are planned for the next year that will upgrade and improve the electrical system.

Lambert closed his report with a reminder that members have a voice in the energy debate taking place in Congress.

“As it stands, the Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with climate change regulations, absent of Congress,” Lambert said. “We must make our voices heard in Washington, D.C., and urge our elected officials to strike a balance that meets environmental policy objectives while keeping energy and electric bills affordable,” he added.

Members then filled out a postcard that will be delivered to legislators asking them to restrict the EPA’s efforts.  

Upon leaving, each registered member received an energy-efficient water heater blanket, low-flow showerhead and faucet aerators, and a package of 18 CFLs as a gift for attending the annual meeting.



SCORE adds new members

ASHEBORO – Six new members were added to the roll of the Asheboro chapter of SCORE in recent months, further enlarging the scope of backgrounds of counseling available to persons in need of the organization’s services.

SCORE  chairman Phil Brown announced the addition of Jack Marcus, Curt Lorimer, Ed McGrath, James Fetner, Roberta H. (Chee  Chee) Brown and Ann E. Covington to the organization, bringing in authorities in dehydrated food processing and plant management, education, construction and property management, and business systems.

Marcus recently retired from Knorr Foods in Asheboro, the company’s only plant in the United States. He has a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from City College of NY and an MBA in marketing/finance from Rutgers.

He was plant manager with duties covering product development, strategic operations planning and general management of related phases of food processing.

Lorimer was employed with Asheboro City Schools for 24 years, five as principal of South Asheboro Middle School, and recently retired after serving the city system as director of Career and Technical Education.

A graduate of Dana College in Blair, Neb., with a bachelor of science degree in history and education, he holds as graduate degree from Long Island University and in administration from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Ga.

McGrath is a licensed building contractor in North Carolina and South Carolina and has worked with the Randolph County Health Department since 1984.

He has extensive experience in construction of residential homes and development of townhome communities, as well as rental and management responsibilities.

He consulted on a 72-unit condominium project in Little River, S.C., and is currently involved with lot sales and construction in the Asheboro area.

Fetner, a lifelong resident of Asheboro, was founder and president of Fetner Associates Inc. dealing  in computer systems until selling to his partner in 2007. He worked with Sperry Univac from 1970 to 1977.

He was a cum laude graduate with a bachelor of science-bachelor of arts degrees in marketing from Appalachian State University and a Marine veteran of Vietnam. He still does consulting with computer systems.

The Fetner organization principally worked with furniture manufacturers in installing and maintaining computer software.

Brown and Covington come from extensive backgrounds in classroom teaching, organization of reference materials, service on leadership committees and other related duties in the field of education.

Visit the SCORE Web site at www.scoreasheboro.org for more information.



First Bancorp a top performer

TROY – In a recent study published by the American Bankers Association, First Bancorp ranked fifth among the nation’s top performing public banks and thrifts with total assets of more than $3 billion.

The study, published in the ABA Banking Journal’s May 2010 issue, ranked the performance of domestic depository institutions based on return on average total equity (ROAE) for 2009. The study found that First Bancorp’s ROAE was 19.24 percent, as compared to the national average of -5.74 percent.

The study found that top ranking banks differentiated themselves from lesser performing institutions in terms of asset quality, holding a low number of nonperforming loans.

At the end of 2009, a mere 3.14 percent of First Bancorp’s total loans were nonperforming, as compared to the 4.56 percent national average.

Sandhills Center awarded accreditations

WEST END – Sandhills Center has been awarded national accreditation for Health Network, Health Utilization Management and Health Call Center from URAC, a Washington, D.C.-based health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry.

Sandhills Center is a “Local Management Entity” of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services in matters related to mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse.

Based in West End, it serves Anson, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph and Richmond counties.

Within its service area, Sandhills Center is charged with assuring the availability of appropriate community-based, publicly-funded services for mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse.

It contracts with numerous providers of services and employs licensed clinical staff to conduct behavioral health screening assessments, triage and referral via telephone in a manner that is timely and confidential.



Same-day banking at First Bank

TROY – First Bank announced that as of June 2 all of its branches will offer Same Day Banking, allowing weekday transactions completed prior to the close of business to be credited that same day.

Made possible by new technology in processing, Same Day Banking eliminates the standard typical mid-day cut-off time that many banks have for deposit, transfer and payment processing.

With Same Day Banking, First Bank customers can now take their time and avoid the traditional rush to the bank to beat the mid-day cutoff time.

Same Day Banking transactions include in-branch deposits, transfers and payments.



Therapeutic Alternatives obtains CABHA status

RANDLEMAN – Therapeutic Alternatives Inc. has met the state standards to be designated as a Critical Access Behavioral Health Agency.

The agency was recently notified of the designation by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services.

CABHA status aligns Therapeutic Alternatives in an elite group of providers of MH/DD/SA services in the state. Critical Access Behavioral Health Agencies must meet several requirements, one of which is to be nationally accredited for at least three years.

Therapeutic Alternatives was nationally accredited by the Council on Quality and Leadership for four years beginning June 20, 2008.

CABHA also requires agencies to have a medical director who is a board certified psychiatrist or a physician who has ASAM/ABAM certification and have a clinical director, training director and quality improvement director in place to manage clinical, training and quality improvement processes.

The state designed CABHA status to ensure that critical services are delivered by clinically competent organizations with appropriate medical oversight and that consumer care is based upon a comprehensive clinical assessment and an appropriate array of services.  

Therapeutic Alternatives submitted intention to achieve CABHA status and completed the CABHA process which included submission of various materials for a desk review by the state, followed by a site review and interview with state representatives in Raleigh.

The agency’s policies, procedures, training processes, clinical and medical oversight, quality improvement and community involvement were reviewed during the CABHA process.

Therapeutic Alternatives is a provider of a variety of services to people with developmental disabilities, mental illness and substance addictive diseases.

The agency has offices in Randleman, Asheboro, Siler City, Pittsboro, Archdale, Raleigh and Southern Pines.