Your Chamber Membership Is An Investment In Tomorrow BY BILL DEARMAN, EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT South Brunswick Islands Chamber Of Commerce After mailing out statements to our membership for their 1993-1994 chamber dues, wc received several calls. Many of these calls were gener ated by the word "investment" that appeared on the statement next to the amount due. I understand why there was some concern and I appreciate the interest of those members who called. The word "investment" is not what our members arc used to seeing on their annual statement, and at first glance it appears strange. Let us take a minute to look at the word and what it means. In my thesaurus, words that mean the same thing include: a. Contribution, that is true. The money you pay to the chamber is a contribution. b. Share. You as a member arc a part of the chamber. Your share entitles to vote, to serve on committees, and to serve as an officer or director. DEARMAN c. Stake. We all have a stake in this community. If it grows and pros pers, we all benefit. Your chamber investment is used to encourage the growth and development of business in South Brunswick County. d. Venture, or undertaking a journey. Your investment in the chamber enables us to undertake projects and implement programs that make South Brunswick County a better place to live, work and raise a family. When the chambcr sponsors Career Day in local schools, wc are in vesting in our children and their future. Through our advertising wc arc investing to attract visitors to visit the area. These visitors spend money that helps create jobs and supports the local economy. Our Hometown Holidays is an investment to encourage people to shop at home. The list goes on and on. Your investment is viewed by the Internal Revenue Service not as a charitable contribution, but as a cost of doing business. As a member of the South Brunswick Islands Chambcr of Commerce you arc truly mak ing an investment of your time, your talent and your funds to make a dif ference in South Brunswick County. ESC Lists June Jobless Rate At 1 3.7 Percent Unemployment in Brunswick County rose to 13.7 percent during June, the third highest rate in North Carolina, according to statistics from the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina. The county's rate for May was 12.9 and for April, 13.7, according to earlier ESC statistics. Individual county unemployment rates for June rose in 86 North Carolina counties, declined in 7 and remained unchanged in 7. The statewide seasonally adjusted rate was 5.4 percent. ESC analysts re gard 5 percent as virtually full em ployment. The national rate for Jync was 7 percent. Brunswick was among eight counties whose jobless rate cxcccd cd 10 percent The others are Gra ham, 19.7; Tyrrell, 14.4; Wilson, 12.7; Hertford, 11.7; Swain, 10.7; Vancc, 10.7; and Cherokee, 10.5. The ESC lists these rates for North Carolina's other ocean front countics: Pender, 7.4; Onslow, 5.8; Carteret, 6.3; Hyde, 6.0; Dare, 3.8; and Currituck, 4.0. Randolph County had the stale's lowest rate at 3.1 percent. BUSINESS BRIEFS Small Business Tax WorkshoD Planned A free small business lax work shop for currcnt or prospective busi ness owners and operators will be conducted by the IRS Thursday, Aug. 5, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Brunswick Community College near Supply. The session will be held in the teaching auditorium of the ALS Building on BCC's main campus. Subjects to be covered include recordkeeping, types of business or ganizations, Schedules C (profit/loss from business or profession), em ployment taxes, Form 941 (employ er's quarterly federal tax return) and Form 940 (employer's annual feder al unemployment tax return). Partnership and corporation in come tax forms will not be covered. The IRS recommends that partici pants bring a pocket calculator. Pre-registration is not required. For more information call the IRS Volunteer and Education Coord inator in Greensboro, 919-378-2193. Marine Expo Coming Marine Expo 1993, North Caro lina's ownly marine trade show and conference, will be held Oct. 1-3 at Coastline Line Convention Center in downtown Wilmington. The exposition will feature ex hibits, seminars and workshops of interest to the marine industry and businesses that provide services or products to the marine industry. Sponsored by the N.C. Marine Trade Association, the conference is organized by the Marine Trades Pro gram of the Small Business & Tech nology Development Center, the UNC Wilmington Division for Pub lic Service and Extended Education and Cape Fear Community Col lege's marine programs. ? Mike Bradley, N.C. Marine Trades Program director, said the trade show/conference will focus on "real time" business issues common with small marine firms. These will in clude marketing, regulatory compli ance, workplace safety, insurance management and other issues of eco nomic and management importance. More than 4,400 visitors attended last year's show, including more than 800 marine trade professionals. For information, write Marine EX PO, Public Service and Extended Education, UNC Wilmington, 601 South College Road, Wilm., N.C. 28403-3297 or call 919-395-3195. Construction Slated Construction will begin in Octo ber at Grand Strand General Hosp ital in Myrtle Beach, S.C., to add a permanent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit and to double the size of the hospital's emergency room, according to spokesman Terri Jo Ruediger. The diagnostic imaging unit will be available for scanning 24 hours a day, seven days a week, unlike the current mobile unit. The permanent unit should be completed by late spring 1994 at a cost of S2.8 million. Also, renovation and expansion of the emergency department will be completed by late spring at a cost of S3.9 million. The project will provide 10,228 additional square feet of space, in creasing the number of beds from 13 to 28, adding sealing space for fami ly members, and a second triage sta tion among other improvements. Joins Rampage Staff Newly-licensed broker Michael L. McDonald has joined the sales force of Rampage Real ty McDonald transferred to Shallotte as a medical equip ment repair technician and Mcdonald haS lived here one year. He recently completed the advanced brokerage courses of Brunswick Community College. Hill Recognized Michael Hill has been chosen as The Brunswick Hospital's August employee of the month. He is a maintenance mechanic in the hospital's engineering depart ment and has been employed by the hospital for 10 years. A co-worker nominated Hill, stal ing, "Mike is always happy and friendly. He is very energetic and willing to help out in any situation. He sets a fine example for other members of our staff with his posi tive attitude." Hill received a rosebud bouton niere, a complimentary meal and a cash prize. MARCIA'S BUSINESS SERVICES DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH PAPER WORK. LET US DO IT FOR YOU! COMPUTERIZED BOOKKEEPING Small Business Set-Up Welcome Payroll services-monthly, quar terly and year end taxes, general ledger, accounts receivable and payable, check writing and balancing, secretarial services. 8 years local exp. Reasonable rates. 579-9474 after 3 P.M. CP&L Will BY SUSAN USIIKR Carolina Power & Lighi Co. has agreed noi to pass along to cus tomers extra fuel costs the electric utility incurred while both units of its Brunswick Nuclear Plant were shut down for a year. In a stipulation announced last week, the utility also agreed it will either operate the Brunswick Plant at better than 57 percent of its ca pacity over the next three years or refund up to SI 5.7 million to its cus tomers. CP&L also has stated it has no plans to seek recovery of the S80 million increase in operations and maintenance costs incurred at the Brunswick Plant this past year. The agreement, negotiated with the Public Staff of the North Car olina Utilities Commission, will be considered by the Commission itself when it meets Aug. 27 in Raleigh. The Public Staff announced the joint agreement at the same time it filed an 800-page report of a lengthy in vestigation of the Brunswick Plant shutdown it began in August 1992. CP&L spokesman Wade Pridgen said the agreement, and not debating the Public Staff's findings, reflects an effort by CP&L "to put the issue behind us and move on." "This will allow us to focus on the results we need to attain. We can't change the past, but we can get on with what we need to do." CP&L spent nearly S3 1.2 million more on fuel last year than was cov ered by its rates, a difference caused mainly because the Brunswick Plant was out of service for 95 percent of the 12-month period that ended March 31. CP&L had to buy more power from other sources and rely more heavily on its more cosdy coal-fired plants. Typically if a utility has spent less than it has collected, the utility can file for a fuel component rate in NO ENERGY COST HIKE SOUGHT Absorb Higher Electric Costs "We want the units to perform well, to hold down costs and avoid having to go in for a rate increase for a long, long time.1' ? Wade Pridgen, CP&L Spokesman crcasc to rccovcr the diffcrcncc from rale payers. Instead CP&L will absorb S25.5 million of the extra expense, writing it off as a loss of earnings during the third quarter, said CP&L spokesman Wade Pridgcn. The result will be a 10-ccnt drop in earnings per share. "That doesn't mean we will cut divi dends." With improved performance an ticipated from the one unit of the Brunswick Plant back in service and the second due to return 10 service this fall, the utility expects to recoup the remaining $5.7 million of the higher fuel expenses without raising rates. In fact, if the agreement is ap proved, CP&L customers will sec a very slight decrease in their electric bills, 2 cents per 1,000 kilowatt hours, or a typical customer's monthly usage, starting Sept. 1 5. CP&L won't get to use the S5.7 million collected from rate payers, at least not immediately. The money will go into an escrow account for three years. CP&L will keep all of the money if, on the average over the three years, the plant's perfor mance has exceeded 64 percent of its capacity. If the factor is at the na tional average (57 percent) or less, then it will have to refund the full amount, with interest For percent ages between those extremes, a pro rated portion of the money would be refunded. Also, if the plant achieves an av erage three-year capacity factor less than 57 percent, CP&L will also Pioneer Announces 'Break-Even' Earnings As Merger Time Nears Pioneer Bancorp reports net in come of S778.550 for the quarter ended June 30, compared to a net loss of more than S2.4 for the same quarter last year. Total assets of the corporation were $309 million at the end of June, compared to S398 million for the same date in 1992. "Earnings for the quarter were bolstered by a gain of almost SI mil lion recorded on the sale of loan-ser vicing rights," Pioneer President Ed Roughton said. "This gain was off set somewhat by nonrecurring pro fessional fees associated with our re capitalization/merger efforts and higher-than-expected examination fees, resulting in approximate break even core earnings for the quarter." The bank also continued its pro gress in reducing classified assets during the period. At the end of June, net classified assets were S35.2 million, compared to S54.2 million in June 1992 ? a reduction of 35 percent. The company has entered into an agreement for all its outstanding shares of common stock to be ac quired by First Citizens Bancsharcs. If regulators and stockholders ap prove, the merger is expected to be complete in September. Five Pioneer mortgage loan pro duction offices are to be acquired by First of America Bank Corporation, according to a letter of intent recent ly entered into. Pioneer Savings Bank currently operates 19 retail banking offices ? including one on U.S. 17 Business in Shallotte ? and 8 mortgage loan production offices throughout east ern North Carolina. """" ""'""""""""fffffsfsssssssssss//ss///////////zyzzy/////y%MWWyMWW%6 n ^