Walter Robbs names L. Wesley Curtis president
SPECIAL TO
TOE CHRONICLE
Walter Robbs Callahan & Pierce
Architects, PA (Walter Robbs) has named
L. Wesley Curtis. Jr. president of the firm,
replacing Larry Robbs who had served as
president since 1997. Robbs, who joined
the firm in 1971, has served as chairman of
the firm's board of directors since 1999
and will continue in that role. Curtis will
lead day-to-day operations of the firm as
president effective July 1,2016.
Curtis joined Walter Robbs in 1986,
became an associate in 1990 and later a
partner and member of the firm's manage
ment team. He is a member of the
American Institute of Architects (AIA),
the National Organization of Minority
/Ar?ih(tects (NOMA) and the Council of
Educational Facility Planners International
(CEFPR
In conjunction with the leadership
change, Rence Callahan and Clark Pierce,
both having served as vice presidents since
1980 and members of the firm's board of
directors, have been
named to newly creat
ed roles as vice chair
men. Walter Robbs
also has named three
new vice presidents
of the firm: Steve
Ulp, Matt Messick,
and Ken McDaniel.
Ulp, Messick and
McDaniel are senior
project architects and
partners at Walter
Robbs who also have
served as part of the firm's management
team for some time.
"Wesley is an incredibly talented
designer and has emerged not only as a
Curtis
highly respected architect throughout the
region but also a Vital leader of our local
community," Robbs said. "Rence, Clark
and I couldn't be more thrilled for our
friend and colleague as he assumes duties
as president of our firm. We want to
emphasize that each of us will continue his
architecture work, including client rela
tionships, leading design teams and men
toring other staff members."
"I owe a great debt of gratitude to
Larry, Clark and Rence for shaping me to
become the architect that I am today and
for their confidence in naming me presi
dent of the firm. I am deeply honored,"
Curtis said. "With Steve, Matt and Ken in
elevated leadership roles, we are fully pre
pared - and excited - about the opportuni
ty to cany Walter Robbs forward as one of
the leading architecture firms in the
Southeast."
A 1981 graduate of the University of
Tennessee, where he received a Bachelor
of Architecture degree, Curtis is also
NCARB Certified and LEED Accredited.
An Eagle Scout, he serves on the board of
the Old Hickory Council of the Boy
Scouts Of America, the board of the North
Carolina Educational Facility Planners and
the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Utility
Commission.
Curtis is a Deacon at New Bethel
Baptist Church and also serves as a leader
in other interdenominational groups across
Forsyth County. In addition, he formerly
served on the Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Community Appearance
Commission, the board of Atkins
Community Development Corporation
and the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County
Planning Board. Curtis and his wife
Cynthia have three children.
Caldwell
from page A1
named All ACC Defensive
Back in" . 1977
and Honorable Mention
All-American. Reynolds
offered him a job straight
out of college, but he pur
sued professional football
instead.
He entered the NFL as
a free agent, playing as a
defensive back for the Los
Angeles Rams in 1978 and
for the New York Giants in
1979-80. He left the NFL
after an injury and returned
to Winston-Salem.
"1 was very fortunate to
come back to Winston
Salem and get a slot at
Reynolds in 1981," said
Caldwell.
He started as a first line
manufacturing supervisor
for Reynolds at Plant 64
and worked at several dif
ferent locations and posi
tions throughout the years.
In 2006, he became senior
director of Public
Issues/Corporate Social
Responsibility. In 2009, he
took his current position as
director of Community &
Civic Engagement. He's in
charge of employee
engagement in the commu
nity, acts as a liaison
between city and county
governments and the com
pany, and serves on numer
ous boards including the
Downtown Winston-Salem
Partnership, Winston
Salem Chamber of
Commerce and Crosby
Scholars.
He also became execu
tive director of the
Reynolds American
Foundation in 2012.
Caldwell said the 501c(3)
foundation focuses on edu
cation, economic develop
ment and helping those in
need by giving out $4-7
million a year in grants
annually. Some of the
foundation's work includes
a $1.5 million gift to
Winston-Salem State
University for its Student
Success Center and to help
students affected by Pell
Grant cuts. It also gave $1
million to Reynolds House
for its capital campaign
and was also instrumental
in helping Experiment in
Self Reliance in moving to
its current location.
"It's purely dealing
with items that can have a
tremendous impact on our
community in which we
live and work, and that's
what we aspire to do,"
Caldwell said of the
Foundation.
Caldwell is married to
his wife of 32 years, Lisa,
who is an executive vice
president and chief human
resources officer at
Reynolds American. They
have two children, Lauren
and Tyler, both UNC
Chapel Hill graduates.
Caldwell said after he
retires on May 31, he plans
to spend more time with
his family, including his
many siblings.
Photo provided by Reynolds
American lac.
Alan Caldwell
with his daugh
ter Lauren, wife
Lisa and son
Tyler.
City
from page A1
be," Winston-Salem
Chamber of Commerce
President Gayle Anderson
told the audience.
Tommy Hickman, vice
chair of The Winston
Salem Foundation, made a
presentation on poverty,
showing that 20 percent of
all Forsyth County resi
dents lived in poverty in
2014. Among African
Americans the rate increas
es to 28 percent and is 47
percent among Hispanics
or Latinos.
"Clearly breaking the
cycle of poverty is difficult
and a complex challenge,"
said Hickman.
, He said jobs that pay
livable wages are vital to
Leak
Emory
the wellbeing of the com
munity.
"Households in the top
5 percent made almost nine
times as much as the bot
tom 20 percent," said
Hickman. "Adjusting for
inflation, incomes have
generally decreased in
Forsyth County house
holds, at all percentage lev
els, since before the Great
Depres&idh."
Superintendent Beverly
Emory talked about the
challenges the
school system
faces. Though it's
getting closer to
its goal of 90 per
cent graduation
rate, schools have
trouble with test
scores. Forsyth
County has 11
priority schools.
but she said that
the school system is work
ing to make changes to turn
them around. She said
she's had 124 highly quali
fied teachers apply for 25
positions at the reorganized
Code Elementary school.
"We are going to turn
that school around, and
then we'rs.gQing to show
that we can do^ that with
any other low performing
School" in-this district," she
said.
Emory also said filling
teaching positions has
become a challenge. The
school system currently
has 73 teaching vacancies.
The presentations also
showed areas of promise,
with growth in both popu
lation and workforce size.
Unemployment was down
to only S.3 percent in
March. Chronic homeless
ness is down 40 percent
since 2011, thanks to hous
ing efforts and the Ten Year
Plan to End Chronic
Homelessness.
Bob Leak of Winston
Salem Business, Inc. said
there is a lot of infrastruc
ture investment in the city,
including the renovations
on the Central Library,
improvements to the
Benton Convention Center
and city bond project^ like ?
parks and new district
police stations. He said
transportation projects like
the Winston-Salem belt
way will make the city
more attractive for busi
nesses. There's also sub
stantial private investment,
including new residential
housing, hotels and busi
nesses downtown.
Leak added that the
county's "Achilles heel" is
a lack of available land and
lack of large, modern
buildings that are ready for
businesses to move into.
He said Whitaker Park,
which consists of 120 acres
of land and buildings con
taining 1.7 million square
feet that was donated for
redevelopment by RT
Reynolds Tobacco '
Company, will be part of
> the solution.
Joines concluded by
saying that it's taken
awhile for the city to recov
er from the loss of manu
facturing jobs that often
were replaced with lower
paying jobs. He was. confi
dent Winston-Salem would
continue to grow and
attract businesses. He said
Whitaker Park and the
expansion of the Wake
Forest Innovation Quaker
could potentially bring
18,000-20,000 jobs by
themselves.
Joines' Poverty
Thought Force, a commit
tee of "critical thinkers"
that have been holding
"World Cafe" events to get
poverty reducing ideas
from. the public, will have
actionable proposals to sig
nificantly reduce poverty
this summer.
Correction
The Chronicle apolo
gizes for an error made in
The Chronicle on May 12.
The article, on page B8,
has the headline "May is
Historic Preservation
Month.'The wrong version
of the story was printed.
Below is die correct ver
sion. The Chronicle
regrets any misunderstand
ing that may have resulted
from this error. The Editor
May is Historic
Preservation
Month
SPECIAL TO
THE CHRONICLE
Historic Preservation
Month is being observed in
May.
Events began May 1
with tours of two local his
toric landmark properties,
the 1901 Blair House at
Cherry and High Streets,
and the 1884 Hylehurst
' House, next door at 224 S.
Cherry Street.
Many activities have ^
passed, but some are still
left.
The Forsyth County
Historic Resources
Commission will unveil a
historic marker about the
origins of the East Winston
Library, now the Malloy
Jordan East Winston
Heritage Center, at 3 pjn.
May 21, at 1110 E.
Seventh St.
Also during Historic
Preservation Month, a
"Lunch and leam" lecture
will be presented in the
James A. Gray Auditorium
in the Old Salem Visitors
Center, 900 Old Salem
Roads. On Wednesday, May
25 at noon, David
/Bergstone, the architecture
director at Old Salem, will
speak on "Founders of Old
Salem: Taking a town back
250 years."
Historic Preservation
Month activities are pre
sented and coordinated by
Preservation Month
Partners, a collaboration of
the Forsyth County
Historic Resources
Commission, Old Salem
Museums & Gardens, the
New Winston Museum,
Reynolda House Museum
of American Art and
Preserve Historic Forsyth.
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