482-4418
50‘
, w —■l^oS^c'002 'A01X4
ISSsss*"*.
106 W WATER ST
EDENTON NC 27932
Hotel project groundbreaking likely in 2017
BT KtUtilt rUNUtn
Editor
With the thorny matter of fi
nancing nearly resolved, the de
veloper of a hotel planned for the
former Hotel Hinton building on
East King Street should be able to
break ground on the m^jor reno
vation project about a year from
now.
That was the message that Bob
Howsare of SAGA Construction
and Development Inc. brought to
Edenton Monday afternoon when
he presented an update on the ho
rei project to tne daemon nreser
vation Commission
SAGA has negotiated a non
binding agreement with a Wilm
ington-based lender that should
pave the way for the renovation
project to move forward, accord
ing to Howsare.
The building, which is located
next to the 1767 Chowan County
Courthouse and backs up to the
Gaslight Square parking lot,, most
recently housed Chowan County
Government offices. It was built
in the early 1990s as the Hotel
Hinton on the site of the previous
Hayview Hotel.
The property has been home to
hotels and inns going back to the
Colonial era.
Howsare told the commission
he was glad to be back in Eden
ton and said the hotel project had
been his number one passion for
more than two years.
For more than a year and a half,
he said, he has been working on
financing for the project.
An especially complex part of
the financing is the role of new
See HOTEL, 3A
STAFF PHOTO BY
REGGIE PONDER
Bob Howsare
of SAGA
Construction
and
Development
addresses
the Edenton
! Preservation
Commission
i Monday.

Iti l M ■ in
STAFF PHOTOS BY MALCOLM SHIELDS
Edenton celebrates the 2A East
Regional Final championship after
defeating South Columbus 50-14,
Friday. (Below) The Edenton entrance
made its way to Tabor City, Friday. The
Aces travel to Winston-Salem Saturday
to face Reidsville for the 2A State
Championship. The team will leave the
high school around 10:45 a.m. Saturday
and the public is Invited to cheer the
squad on from Broad Street and West
Queen Street as the buses leave.
| MORE INSIDE
■ See more stories and pho
tos from the 2A East Regional
Final championship inside on
4A, 6A and 7A.
i
Jordan named school board chairman
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Leadership of the school board
Itas passed into the hands of two
veteran members.
At tire board’s Dec. 6 monthly
meeting Gene Jordan was sworn
in as citairman of the board while
Jean Bunch was named vice-chair.
Both said they considered it an
honor to serve in those roles during
the coming year.
“It’s always an honor when your
colleagues put their confidence in
you,” Jordan, who has once before
chaired the board, said.
Jordan, who has
served for 18 years
on the school
board, said one
goal that is very
important to him Ls
to emphasize to his
fellow board mem
bers that he wants JORDAN
each of them to feel
they have a voice and to encourage
them to speak out concerning is
sues confronting the board. It is by
hearing different opinions, he said,
that the board can experience truly
hearing the voice of the people
through the voices of those who
represent them.
Jordan said he
felt the board was
in a good place
right now in its ef
forts to focus on
providing what it
will take to make
BUNCH each student in
the school system
successful under the leadership of
Superintendent Rob Jackson.
Jordan said that the continued
rise in the number of those gradu
ating from liigh school in the Eden
ton-Chowan Schools now is proof
that Jackson’s pltilosophy works.
“I think that is an achievement
we can be proud of,” Jordan said.
Jordan said that while his young
est child graduated from Holmes
last spring, he had learned from
having children in the school sys
tem the value of taking the time
to listen to students and hear their
concerns firsthand.
“I think it gave me a different
perspective,” Jordan said, adding
that he would like to continue hear
ing from students in the future.
Jordan added that the school
system also needs to make sure that
See BOARD, 3A
Time
short for
SBA loan
apps
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
A spokesman for the fed
eral Small Business Admin
istration told the Chowan
County Board of Commis
sioners last week that coun
ty residents with damage re
lated to Hurricane Matthew
need to apply for assistance
within the next few weeks.
The deadline to apply for
SBA loans for repairs re
lated to Hurricane Matthew
is Jan. 9, according to SBA
spokesman Tamim Choud
| hury.
! Businesses eligible for
! economic iryury loans re
I lated to the hurricane have
| until July to apply for those
loans, Choudhury said.
Economic injury loans
differ from loans for reme
diation of
property
damage be
cause they
focus on
ways other
than prop
erty dam
age that the CHOUDHURY
storrn has
affected a business, such
as damage to the homes or
businesses of customers,
Choudhury explained.
Choudhury told the coun
ty commissioners that if
they know of anyone with
damages from Hurricane
Matthew they should have
them register immediately
with the Federal Emer
gency Management Agency
(FEMA). FEMA makes
grants for those who an1
eligible and the SBA makes
loans, but FEMA registra
tion is a requirement for
SBA disaster assistance
loans.
Those1 who apply for a
FEMA grant should also ap
ply for an SBA loan, Choud
hury said.
The interest rate can be as
See SBA, 2A
Area added to Va. port’s foreign trade zone
BY JON HAWLEY
Daily Advance Staff Writer
Area officials say inclu
sion of northeastern North
Carolina counties in the
6
0
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Port of Virginia’s Foreign
Trade Zone is one more rea
son for manufacturers with
international supply chains
to locate in the region.
The U.S. Department of
Commerce has approved
seven counties in North
Carolina to join the FTZ, the
port announced last week.
The counties include Pas
quotank, Camden, Chowan,
Currituck, Gates, Hertford
and Perquimans.
Among other benefits,
companies participating in
an FTZ save money on du
ties paid to U.S. Customs
and Border Protection,
which helps their goods re
main globally competitive
while using American labor.
State Rep. Bob Steinburg,
R-Chowan, called the FTZ
expansion a victory for the
region - a victory long in the
making. He said some law
makers opposed expanding
the Port of Virginia’s trade
zone. They warded more
commerce to flow to North
Carolina ports, he said, de
spite northeastern North
Carolina's close ties to the
growing port. He noted the
Port of Virginia can handle
larger cargo ships than
North Carolina’s ports can.
“That was a bear getting
through," Steinburg said
of legislation he proposed,
which ultimately had to be
attached to an unrelated ag
ricultural bill to pass.
Asked about Virginia's
delay in expanding the FTC,
Steinburg said he didn’t know
the details of that However,
he noted Virginia changed
governors, from Bob McDon
nell to Terry McAuliffe, sever
al months after the bill passed.
McAuliffe didn’t oppose the
FTZ expansion, Steinburg
said, but the change in admin
istration meant many people
had to be brought up to speed
on the process.
Steinburg said county
managers and economic de
velopers he’s spoken with
are “ecstatic” about the FTZ
expansion. Coupled with
road improvements and state
reforms to taxes and regu
lations, he said the region
should be very attractive
now to new companies. The
See TRADE, 2A
*Com* Join Us As WsCMmUe
Oter herd's Birth*
ST. PAUL’S, 101 W. GALE ST.
The Rev. J. Malone Gilliam, Rector
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
invites you to our
CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES
4:00 PM FAMILY SERVICE
10:30 PM SPECIAL MUSIC
11:00 PM MIDNIGHT SERVICE
10:00 AM CHRISTMAS DAY SERVICE