Photos by Layla Farmer
Mark and Kimberly Moore have launched an innovative Web site.
Bringing
Backgrounds to
the Foreground
Company allows regular folks, companies to probe
the criminal pasts of. others
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
For the better part of two
decades, Mark Moore has
worked with companies, pro
viding criminal background
checks on potential employ
ees to safeguard his clients
against unnecessary risks.
Now, Moore and his wife, *
Kimberly, are providing the
same brand of protection to
individuals with the launch of
their Web site,
www.ncpublicdata .com .
"Ever since 9-11, a lot of
people are wanting to know
who they're dealing with,"
Mark Moore commented.
The new site is a division
of Public Data Works, Inc.,
which the couple founded in
2006. The two also own
Markim Properties, a real
estate firm.
Mark Moore first got a
piece of the booming back
ground check business in
1991 when he launched his
first company, Total
Information Source, which he
eventually sold to a Fortune
500 conglomerate.
After a tew years or con
centrating on Markim, Moore
says he felt compelled to
return to his business roots.
"It really was somewhat
popular demand that pulled
him back," Kimberly Moore
said, citing various former
clients who had pledged their
business to Mark should he
begin again. "We have a real
ly strong product."
With the help of his wife,
who is a Wake Forest alumna.
Public Data Works was born.
Kimberly Moore serves as the
company's vice president of
marketing.
The company currently0
provides employment and ten
ant screening services and
access to public records
xesources to more than 80 cor
porate clients and a growing
number of individuals.
"Companies have a
responsibility ... to provide a
safe work environment,"
Mark Moore stated. "A lot of
companies are getting sued
for negligence because
they're not doing background
checks on their employees."
With ncpublicdata.com,
individuals can access crimi
nal records files from all 100
of North Carolina's counties
for as little as $ IS, the price a
typical courthouse charges for
records for a single county.
Because criminals have
become savvy at using false
identities when prosecuted for
crimes or traffic violations, it
is important for everyone to
check their criminal records
periodically, just as you
would a credit report, says
Kimberly Moore, who met her
husband at the 2001 National
Black Theatre Festival.
"You may have a criminal
record and not even know it,"
she said.
Many are also using the
sites to check out their close
friends, relatives and those
with whom they have intimate
relationships.
"For your own peace of
mind, you should definitely
do a background check on
people who come into your
life," Kimberly Moore said,
offering potential nannies and
housekeepers as examples of
folks who need to be fully vet
ted. "You never know what
someone has in their back
ground and you don't want to
?' ' r
be a victim."
The small town charm and
personal service of the small
company has lent itself well
to clients in an increasingly
competitive, corporate-driven
marketplace. Mark Moore
says.
"A lot of customers are
getting frustrated with 'big
box' (conglomerate) compa
nies," he pointed out. "We
can customize the service for
each client, we can customize
the service."
He sees Public Data Works
continuing its upward climb
far into the future.
Already, the couple says it
has provided a valuable
resource and a flexible work
environment needed for their
growing family, which con
sists of daughters Olivia, 4,
and five- week-old, Kennedy.
"We are people of faith;
we believe that God has His
hand on us and is blessing
what we are trying to do,"
Mark Moore declared. "In
five years, I see it surpassing
(TIS)."
For more information about
Public Data Works, visit
www.publicdataworks.com or
call (336) 725-4456.
News
Clips
Rural Hal) woman wins
$800,000
Phyllis Caudle of Rural
Hall won $800 /XX) June 18 in
the N.C. Lottery's Rowerball
Caudle says she will use
some of the money for home
improvements. She purchased
her winning ticket at Three
Brothers on Broad Street in
Rural Hall.
A Powerball ticket worth
$800,000 from the June 14
drawing remains " unclaimed.
This ticket was purchased at
Kangaroo Express #3205 on
Hickory Tree Road in Winston
Salem.
The North Carolina
Education Lottery (NCEL) has
paid out more than $5 million
total in instant scratch-off ticket
prizes since Thursday, June 19.
Also since Thursday, "Carolina
Cash 5" players have won more
than $455,000 and "Carolina
Pick 3" players have won more
than.$l .8 jnillion in prizes.
Poussaint, Francis, others
will receive John Hope
FrankUn awards tomorrow
A two-day symposium that
features nationally recognized
scholars discussing education
issues, as well as an awards
gala, will be held next week to
h?nor the contributions of his
torian John Hope Franklin.
Franklin, 93, is the James B.
Duke professor emeritus of his
tory at Duke University and the
namesake of the school's John
Hope Frarfklin Center for
Interdisciplinary and
International Studies.
The symposium will be
held at the Washington Duke
Inn (3001 Cameron Blvd.,
Durham), from 1-7 p.m. today
(June 26) and from 8:30 a.m.
until noon tomorrow, June 27.
The awards gala begins at 6
pjn. Friday.
*
During the reception and
gala, John Hope Franklin
medallions will be awarded to
three individuals who reflect
Franklin's overall standard of
excellence. They are: Norman
Francis, the 40-year president
of Xavier University of
Louisiana; Dr. Alvin Poussaint,
a
Harvard
Medical
School
psychia
try pro
fessor;
and phi
1 a n -
thropist
Mary
Duke
Biddle
Trent Semans, a former Duke
University trustee and chair of
the Duke Endowment.
Tickets are $350 for the
symposium and gala; $125 for
the gala only. Net proceeds
from the event will go to the
Durham Literacy Center, which
provides tuition-free literacy
instruction to adults, out-of
school youth, and speakers of
other languages.
For more information about
the symposium and to purchase
tickets, go to
www.diverseeducation.com or
call 1-800-783-3199, x3024.
o
UNCG's Neo-Black Society
40th Anniversary celebration
meeting
Alumni of UNC
Greensboro who participated in
the Neo-Black Society (NBS)
are invited to take part in the
planning of the organization's
40th anniversary celebration.
Whether you were a member of
the gospel choir, dance troupe
drama troupe, political aware
ness team or any of the other
various committees, you are
encouraged to be part of the
celebration.
The next planning meeting
will be on Tuesday, July 8 at
6:30 p.m. at the Elliott
University Center on the cam
pus of UNCG. A phone line to
call into will be set-up for those
who are not able to meet on the
campus. For more information
about the celebration and/ or
for information about being
part of the planning committee .
call Bruce Michaels, assistant
vice chancellor for student
affairs, at 336-334-5800 or
email him at
Bmce_Michaels@uncg.edu.
Hospital employees earn
certifications
Three Wake Forest
University Baptist Medical
Center employees have earned
the distinction of board certifi
cation in health care manage
ment as an American College
of Healthcare Executives
(ACHE) Fellow.
They are Michael L.
Freeman, vice president of
strategic planning, Steven C.
Schultz, vice chairman-division
of surgical sciences, and Jeffrey
G. Gregory, Six Sigma Black
Belt. They may now use the
FACHE credential, which sig
nifies board certification in
health care management and
ACHE fellow status.
Christman Award goes to
Jones
The Christman Award,
named in honor of Chaplain
Emeritus Ed Christman at
Wake Forest University, was
awarded to Jordan Jones, who
graduated from the school last
month, during the College
Honors and Awards Ceremony
on May 18.
Jones, a business major
from Fayette ville, is the sixth
recipient of the award. H? split
the $500 award evenly with
Samaritan Ministries.
Jones organized a camp-out
protest in downtown Winston
Salem last0 fall when the
Emergency Winter Overflow
Shelter at First Baptist Church
announced that it would not
open due to building 'code
restrictions. The camp-out last
ed longer than a month, and
more than 50 students from
local colleges endured bitter
cold temperatures to join the
protest.
Jones plans to continue his
humanitarian work as a coun
selor with the Good Work
Network in New Orleans, help
ing low-income minority entre
preneurs start business ven
tures.
Franklin
! EXPLORE
the historic 1917 home of
j tobacco baron R.J. Reynolds
DISCOVER
masterpieces of American art
EXPERIENCE
the shops and gardens
of the Reynolda Mile
SUMMER SPECIAL
Bring this ad to receive
one free adult admission
to the Museum with one
paid adult general admission
through August 31, 2008.
children under 18 always free
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