BUSINESS FOCUS
Briefs
Black Voices names editor
America Online lnc . has named Nicholas Charles edi
tor in chief of AOL Black Voices.
In this new role, Charles will be responsible for
spearheading the day-to-day editorial activities across all
content areas, including news, sports, lifestyle, entertain
ment, finance, education and community. He will report
to the newly named vice president and general manager,
Janet Rolle.
"We are excited to have Nicholas join AOL Black
Voices and are confident that through his far-reaching edi
torial experience - having covered news, culture, lifestyle,
business, sports, politics and entertainment for diverse
publications - he will significantly contribute to the
growth of the AOL Black Voices brand," Roll? said.
Most recently, Charles was the founding editor in chief
of the Toyota and Jungle Media Group culture/lifestyle
magazine. Forward, responsible for the conceptualization
and design of the 60-page title. Before that, he was a staff
writer for the New York Daily News, writing feature arti
cles and cultural criticism, plus a weekly column on pop
culture. In addition, he served as a human interest and fea
tures writer for People magazine
Charles holds a B A. degree in journalism from New
York University.
Head of NASA center named
president of Alabama A&M
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. ( AP) - Julian Earls, the director
of NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, was
named president of Alabama A&M University on Friday.
Trustees unanimously selected Earls over two other
candidates to head the historically black school.
Earls was the first member of his family to attend col
lege. In his interview last Thursday, he compared A&M
with his undergraduate experience
in the early 1960s at Norfolk State
University in Virginia, also a his
torically black school.
"Had there been no Norfolk
State. I would not have gone to
college," Earls said.
Earls, who will be the 10th
president of the 130-year-old
school, replaces John Gibson,
who resigned under pressure in
February.
Earls was appointed director
Carls
of the Glenn Research Center two years ago. He managed
a yearly budget of about $773 million and oversaw a work
force of about 3,200 government employees and contrac
tors.
Robert Jennings, executive vice president and chief
operating officer of Future Focus 2020, an academic cen
ter at the Babcock Graduate School of Management at
Wake Forest University, had been one of three finalists for
the job.
Durham company selected
to develop downtown site
The Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership
announced Tuesday that Niemann Capital, LLC of
Durham has been named the preferred developer for
Civic Plaza, a 3.2-acre site in downtown Winston-Salem.
The company was selected after a solicitation of inter
est was issued in June to more than 160 potential devel
opers nationwide. Niemann will now enter into the first of
two roughly 60-day periods during which it will meet with
key property owners, elected officials and community
stakeholders and begin to develop its master plan for the
site.
The project consists of three sites: a large block of
properties owned by the Downtown Winston-Salem Part
> nership Foundation, Piedmont Federal Savings & Loan
* Association and the city of Winston-Salem; a smaller
< block containing the former Forsyth County Courthouse,
? which is still owned by Forsyth County; and an adjacent
I open space also owned by the city called Liberty Plaza,
J which is in front of the Liberty Plaza Building at liberty
' and Third streets.
The development opportunity is based on the recom
| mendations in the Civic Plaza Urban Design Guidelines
prepared by Sasaki Associates Inc. in 2003. The study
called for a mix of retail, office, residential, parking, and
1 public green space. The entire project has been estimated
> to have a value between $100 million 'and $150 million.
> The Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership antici
pates that this predominantly residential development will
become the centerpiece of a completely revitalized down
town that has been evolving aggressively over the past
several years.
Niemann will spend the next two months collecting
information as to what the community t>elieves will best
serve the needs of Winston-Salem. ?
Sara Lee acquires company
Sara Lee Branded Apparel announced this week
that it has acquired National Textiles, L.L.C., a yarn
and textile production company based in Winston
Salem. The company also said that it recently acquired
DFK Trading Corporation Ltd., an Asian sourcing com
pany.
Both transactions are part of the company's long
term strategies to ensure a highly effective global sup
ply chain. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
With vertical yarn-to-textile operations, National
Textiles is a major supplier of open-end and ring-spun
cotton as well as blended yarns and finished tabular
fabrics. National Textiles has plants in Rabun Gap, Ga.;
Mountain City.Tenn.; Galax. Va.; and Forest City. Gas
tonia. China Grove. Sanford and Eden, N.C. Distribu
tion and warehousing are located in Advance, N.C. The
company employs approximately 2.900 people.
Separately, newly acquired DFK Trading Corpora
tion Ltd. will operate as DFK International Limited, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Sara Lee Branded Appar
el. Based in Hong Kong. DFK will source raw materi
als in the emerging Asian market.
AP Photo by Bill Haber
Kathleen Rhodes Astorga, one of the owners of Rhodes Funeral Home, stands in front of one of their funeral homes in Baton Rouge.
Funeral home fears its own demise
BY BRAD FOSS
AP BUSINESS WRITER
BATON ROUGE, La. - For
116 years, it has been the job of
Kathleen Rhodes Astorga's fami
ly to provide comfort and studied
composure. But in the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina, that steadi
ness is being shaken.
"This is not an easy time,"
said Rhodes Astorga, whose fam
ily runs one of New Orleans' old
est black-owned funeral homes,
wiping away tears. "Families are
going through a lot of grief, a lot
of uncertainty."
Not least the Rhodes Family
of Businesses. Even as it
arranges memorials for the vic
tims of Hurricane Katrina. the
business is struggling to sustain
itself.
Family-owned business has been in
Louisiana since late 1800s
Many of their employees are
missing. Five of the family's six
funeral parlors were shuttered by
the deluge and several limou
sines are missing.
On top of that, the Rhodeses
worry that many of the working
class and poor families they
serve may never return.
"We could lose our funeral
home business if that happens,"
said Rhodes Astorga, 48, who
runs the company founded by her
grandfather, together with her
three older sisters, younger
brother and a niece.
The family has retreated to its
Baton Rouge parlor, an expan
sive white-columned building
that has seen better days, turning
it into a temporary shelter for
relatives and friends while also
serving the families of other
New Orleanians.
On Friday, more than 50 peo
ple filed into the chapel to bid
farewell to 72-year-old Sister
Alma "Honey" James Davis,
who died after being evacuated
to Mississippi.
Before the service, Davis'
nephew, Kevin Blakes, turned to
the person behind him and mar
veled that the Rhodes family was
"still doing funeral arrangements
in the midst of all the things
going on."
The Rhodes siblings offered
no hint to the mourners of their
own troubles. Instead they stood
respectfully, handing tissues to
weeping mourners and making
sure that the generous bouquet of
red roses atop the coffin was
placed just right.
"They are as professional as
you can get, for any class of peo
ple," Blakes said.
Asked if he thought poor and
working-class blacks that were
evacuated from New Orleans
would eventually repopulate the
city, Blakes replied: "It's a 50-50
toss-up. Some people don't want
to come back. But some people
will find that when the FEMA
(Federal Emergency Manage
ment Agency) money runs dry.
See Business on A9
UNCG fuses
business,
gerontology
Officials call new program
the first of its kind
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The University of North Carolina at
Greensboro hopes to meet the needs of the
retiring baby boomers and other older adults
with a new dual degree master's program.
The Gerontology Program and the
Bryan School of Business and Economics
have launched a new M.S. in Gerontol
ogy/MBA.
"This new, 57-hour dual degree is the
first program of its kind in North Carolina,"
said Dr. Sheldon Bal
birer, MBA program
director. "The pro
gram pools the tal
ents and the
resources of two
well-established pro
grams at UNCG that
arc collaborating to
produce a graduate
degree to meet the
needs of the rapidly
aging population ill
North Carolina and
the U.S."
Balbirer
The baby boomers, who are now retir
ing, will be the largest and most affluent
group of retirees in American history.
According to the U.S. Census Department,
the number of those aged 65 or older in
North Carolina increased 21 percent from
1990 to 2000. From 2000 to 2030, that pop
ulation is projected to increase from
969,000 to 2.2 million.
This population increase means an
increased demand for those who can care
for this population. According to a study by
the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, nearly 6.5 million long-term care
workers will be required nationally by 2050
to serve the needs of an aging population.
See UNCO on A9
Dell to the Rescue
paby
Care
Baby
Wipes '
Baby
Formula
Denise Jones, one of the local people who have landed jobs at the new Dell production
facility, was among the Dell employees who volunteered last week at the Second Harvest
Food Bank's Hurricane Response Center. Here , Jones sorts various items .
Bank releases latest in Spanish tape series
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
BB&T has released the
eighth installment in a ground
breaking series of Spanish
language education^ audio
tapes.
The tape offers advice on
how to start a small business
in America. It is sponsored by
BB&T, the N.C. Office of His
panic/Latino Affairs and El
Pueblo Inc.
"This tape is a great
resource guide for Hispanics
wishing to be entrepreneurs,"
said Axel Lluch, director of
Hispanic and Latino affairs for
the N.C. governor's office.
"It's a self-guide with a wealth
of information that is easy to
follow and understand."
The 60-minute "BiBi"
(pronounced Bee-Bee) tapes -
named for its main character -
Hispanic/Latino
Community
Outreach
Hispanic/Latino
Community
Outraach
BB&T
are available at no charge
throughout BB&T's 1,400
branch network across 1 1
states and Washington, D.C.
The educational tapes are part
of BB&T's ongoing Hispanic
Initiative aimed at the 2.3 mil
lion Hispanics in its footprint,
a segment with an estimated
$40 billion in buying power.
The two-sided "BiBi" cas
Sec Tapes on A9