BUSINESS FOCUS
Briefs
Asante joins Kate B. * ^
Reynolds Charitable TVust
Abena Asante has joined the Kate B . Reynolds
Charitable Trusl as a program officer in the Health
Care Division. She will be working primarily with
health care nonprofits in western North Carolina.
Asa^e brings both foundation experience and
a background in health care to her position. Prior
to joining the Trust, Abena was a program officer
at the Moses Cone-Wesley Long Community
Health Foundation in Greensboro. She also
worked with HealthServe, a free clinic in Guilford
County, and as a community health educator with
the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention sec
tion of the Guilford County Health Department.
Asante grew up in Ghana, West Africa, but
came to the United States as a teenager. She has a
bachelor of science degree in Community Health
Education from the University of Florida and a
master's degree in Healthcare Administration from
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dobie named head of
Transportation Institute
Dr. Kathryn Dobie has been appointed director
of the Transportation Institute at North Carolina
Agricultural and Technical State University. Prior
to her appointment she served as professor of trans
portation and logistics and UPS Chair in the depart
ment of business
Administration.
Dobie received her doc
torate from the University of
Memphis in 1992. She
joined the faculty of N.C.
A&T in 1999. Prior to com
ing to A&T, she taught at the
University of Arkansas and
the University of Wisconsin
Eau Claire.
Dobie continues to be Dobie
-actively engaged as a profes- '
sor of transportation and supply chain manage
ment. She was recently appointed executive direc
tor of the Small Business Transportation Resource
Center for the South Atlantic Region. Dobie is a
past AST&L examiner responsible for the general
business module for the CTL certification. She was
chair for the Current Research and Surveys Track
at the 2007 Council of Supply Chain Management
Professionals (CSCMP) Annual Conference and is
currently a member of the Research Strategies
Committee for CSCMP. Dobie is an experienced
ITV instructor and is actively engaged in introduc
ing high school students to the World of Logistics,
connecting their content studies with meaningful
applications.
Dobie 's research interests include supply chain
security, service quality, and the impact of internal
and external relationships on logistics operations
and financial performance.
Well known Winston-Salem
real estate agency expands
Leonard Ryden Burr has completed a renovation
of its West End headquarters to create space for up
to 15 more sales associates. As part of the renova
tion, Leonard Ryden Burr also reoriented the
entrance of its building closer to the northeast cor
ner facing historic Grace Court.
"We hear time and time again from agents who
have joined us that Leonard Ryden Burr has the pro
fessional atmosphere they've been seeking," Curtis
Leonard, a partner at Leonard Ryden Burr said.
"We're thrilled with the continuing success of our
company and decided to make room for more sales
associates."
Leonard Ryden Burr was a rare exception in the
real estate industry last year. The company enjoyed
a 9.1 percent increase in sales over 2006 while the
Triad average for real estate firms showed an 8 per
cent decline in sales. Corresponding to the percent
sales increase, Leonard Ryden Burr also sold more
houses in 2007 than 2006, with houses ranging from
$22,000 in price to more than $2 million.
NewBridge 's Lowe
will step down as CEO
Robert Lowe has announced his retirement as
Chief Executive Officer of NewBridge Bancorp
(the "Company") effective June 30, and will con
tinue to' serve as Chairman of the Company and
NewBridge Bank.
Colleagues and employees describe Lowe, the
former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
LSB Bancshares, Inc., as a well-respected, fair
minded and modest leader, one of those people who
Is instantly likable. ?
Lowe grew up in Chadbourn, NC, and received
a bachelor's degree in economics from the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In 1965, Lowe entered the management training
program of State Planters Bank in Richmond, Va.
In 1969, he accepted a position with Industrial
Bank of Lexington and joined Lexington State
Bank in 1970, when the Bank's assets were less
than $30 million. Lowe was elected Vice President
in 1973. He was elected Senior Vice President of
the Bank in 1980 and Executive Vice President of
the Corporation in 1982. On January 1, 1984, he
was elected President and Chief Executive Officer
of the Corporation and the Bank, and on January 1 ,
1990, Lowe was elected Chairman of both the
Corporation and the Bank.
Lee receives ECU
o 1
honorary doctorate
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Golden LEAF Foundation President Valeria Lee received an honorary doctorate of letters from
East Carolina University during the school's commencement ceremony Saturday.
The honorary degree is in recognition of Lee's public service to North Carolina during her tenure
at Golden LEAF as , ,
well as the many other
public service roles she
has held over the course
of her distinguished
career.
Serving as Golden
LEAF's president since
2000, Lee has overseen
the foundation's work
in tobacco-dependent,
economically dis
tressed. and/or rural
communities through
out North Carolina.
During her presidency.
Golden LEAF has
awarded 667 grants
totaling more than $246
million to support
diverse projects in agri
culture, economic
development, work
force preparedness,
education and other
areas. ^
"TU L , ECU News Services Photo
Throughout her Dr Mariiyn Sheerer gives Valeria Lee her hood.
successful tenure as
Golden LEAF'S presi- i*
dent, Valeria has been an exemplary leader and champion for the Rural Communities of North
Carolina," said Tommy Bunn, chairman of Golden LEAF'S board of directors. "We're thankful for all
that she continues to do for North Carolina and congratulate her on this wellrdeserved honor."
Lee's career spans more than 35 years in nonprofit and foundation work, including two of North
Carolina's largest grantsmaking organizations: the Golden LEAF Foundation and the Wiriston-Salem
based Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
Prior to taking the reins at Golden LEAF, Lee served as a program officer for the Z. Smith
Reynolds Foundation. She is also the former general manager of WVSP-FM, a public radio station
that was located in Warrenton, N.C.
"I am honoresj to receive this award and would like to express deep appreciation to all who have
supported "me throughout my career," Lee said. "It has been a privilege to serve this great state, and I
plan to continue to work alongside the many hometown heroes who commit themselves to the
advancement and prosperity of North Carolina."
Lee announced in October 2007 that she will retire from the foundation later this year.
"Pregnant" dad wins Diaper Challenge
PRNcwiFokVBJ1!
Dad-to-be Kenneth Ryan looks pretty in pink racing to
win the Dad's Diaper Dash.
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
VALLEY STREAM, N.Y. -
Dad-to-be Kenneth Ryan and a very
expectant coach Nicole Avin of
Queens Village, New York, delivered
an exciting win that earned them a
year's supply of Pampers diapers
along with a cart full of baby essen
tials. BJ's Wholesale Club hosted its
first-ever "BJ's Dad's Diaper Dash",
a pregnancy challenge event
designed to show dads-to-be just
what expecting moms go through
when pregnant and also to showcase
how new parents can save money
while stocking up on all of the baby
products they need.
In honor of Mother's Day, five
dads-to-be were given five minutes
to complete a series of tasks that
included shopping for baby-related
products while enduring the rigors of
daily pregnancy - including getting
up from a bed and making it, bending
down to pick up toys and painting
their toenails. The course was com
pleted while daddy dashers wore 37
pound empathy bellies simulating the
major symptoms of pregnancy
including weight gain, bladder pres
sure, increased pulse and body tem
perature and lower backaches.
See Challenge on All
WFU Photo
Merrill Lynch Professor Jon Duchac.
Business
school's
Duchac
earns honor -
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Jon Duchac, Merrill Lynch Professor of
Accounting and director of the Enterprise Risk
Management Program at Wake Forest
University's Calloway School of Business and
Accountancy, has won a Fulbright
Distinguished Chair in Economics and
Business from the Fulbright Scholar Program.
He is the first member of the Wake Forest
faculty to be awarded a Fulbright
Distinguished Chair.
The Distinguished Chairs Program is con
sidered one of the Fulbright Program's most
prestigious and selective programs. Of the 40
scholars chosen as chairs to serve as visiting
lecturers or researchers at leading higher edu
cation institutions, only two or three are cho
sen from the field of business.
This fall, Duchac will conduct research
and teach two courses and a doctoral seminar
at the famed Vienna University of Economics
and Business Administration in Austria. It is
considered the largest university focusing on
business and economics in Europe and is
known for producing the developers of the
basic theories of capitalism.
He will also travel to universities through
out the region on behalf of the Fulbright
Commission. On his way to Vienna, he will
spend two weeks at the University of Iceland,
giving a lecture series for graduate students on
international accounting and risk management.
Duchac has taught in Wake Forest's
accountancy and risk management programs
for 15 years. He has served as a consultant for
a number of companies on such issues as
accounting for derivatives, structured financial
transactions and risk management strategies.
During the fellowship, Duchac hopes to
find ways to connect the Fulbright Program to
Flow House, Wake Forest's residential study
house in Vienna, and explore possible partner
ships with the two universities. "At the end of
the semester, I'm hoping to be able to conduct
an international conference that brings togeth
er Wake Forest, the Vienna University of
Economics and Business and the Fulbright
Commission," Duchac said.
The Fulbright Scholar Program was estab
lished in 1946 under legislation introduced by
the late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas
to build mutual understanding between the
people of the United States and other coun
tries. The program is funded by the U.S.
Department of State, Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs.
Thrivent Financial invests money, time with Habitat
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Thrivent Financial for
Lutherans and Habitat for
Humanity International have
entered a four-year, $125 million
alliance that will result in several
new homes for Triad families.
In the Triad, Habitat for
Humanity of Forsyth County,
Habitat for Humanity of the
Lexington Area and Habitat for
Humanity of Greater Greensboro
have been awarded $175,000 - or
65 percent of the funds necessary
to build three homes in 2008.
These homes will be built by area
volunteers, of whom at least on?
half will be Lutheran and one
fourth will be Thrivent Financial
members.
Habitat for Humanity Forsyth
County started its very first
Thrivent Build house with^ four
day blitz build on March z6-29.
Homeowner Janet Brown and her
10 year old son, Ahmad, have been
working alongside the Yadkin
?
Ha)>it*t Fouyth Photo
Volunteers work on the Thriven t Habitat house.
Valley Thrivent Chapter with well
over 200 Lutheran and Thrivent
members participating.
The Greensboro build started
in February and when completed
* i .
this month, more than 20G
Lutheran and Thrivent volunteers
will have worked on the house.
More than 100 volunteers from
the community and from the
Davidson-Randolph County
Chapter of Thrivent Financial are .
expected to participate in the
Habitat for Humanity of the
Lexington Area build, which start
ed last month.
Based in Minneapolis. Minn.,
and Appleton, Wis., Thrivent
Financial for Lutherans is a not
for-profit membership organiza
tion that helps nearly three million
members achieve their financial
goals and give back to their com
munities. As a not-for-profit frater
nal benefit society, Thrivent spon
sors national outreach programs
and activities that support congre
gations, schools, charitably, organi-.
zations and individuals in need.
"The Triad builds are leading
the way for the 11 Thrivent Builds
with Habitat homes to be built in
North Carolina in 2008," said
Mike Wendt, Southeast and Mid
Atlantic Regional Coordinator for
the Thrivent Financial Builds with
Habitat Program.