4
THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2005
Economy lauded for growth
N.C. earns ‘state of the year’ award
BY KATHERINE HOLLANDER
STAFF WRITER
After a long drought, North
Carolina’s economy received
national recognition for its 2004
growth.
Southern Business &
Development magazine released
its annual Top 100 issue this past
month and named North Carolina
state of the year.
Mike Randle, editor and publish
er of the Alabama-based magazine,
said North Carolina made key busi
ness decisions that deem the state
worthy of its top ranking.
“There’s nothing arbitrary
about it,” Randle said. “You make
deals and you turn points. North
Carolina made the right deals.”
The per capita point system has
not always been easy for North
Carolina to overcome. In the past,
the state hardly stood out on the
list and garnered a low score of
160 in 2003.
The most recent ranking reflects
a 300 point jump from the previ
ous year.
“North Carolina’s point jump in
2004 is the largest in the 13-year
history of running this feature,”
Randle said.
Randle said several large busi
ness investments led to North
Carolina’s success. Some of these
PRESIDENT
FROM PAGE 1
needed, and not a day longer,” he
said.
Bush also said sending more
troops —a strategy some critics
have suggested to speed up the
Iraqi rebuilding process isn’t an
option unless the commanders in
Iraq say it’s necessary.
“If our commanders on the
ground say we need more troops,
I will send them,” he said. “But our
commanders tell me they have the
number of troops they need to do
their job.”
Though Bush said he is opposed
to setting a deadline and employing
more troops, he named a few new
tactics the United States is using
to expedite the process of building
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investments include anew $29
million call center for Verizon
Wireless in Wilmington, Credit
Suisse First Boston’s SIOO mil
lion global financial center in the
Research Triangle Park and Merck
& Cos. Inc.’s S3OO million vaccine
plant in Durham.
But the most influential invest
ment for North Carolina is anew
Dell Inc. manufacturing facility in
Winston-Salem, Randle said.
Dell spokeswoman Michele
Blood said the company was
impressed by the opportunities
North Carolina offers.
“The quality and heritage of
the workforce in the Triad area is
impressive,” Blood said.
Blood said Dell hopes to employ
700 people within the first year and
1,500 within the first five years.
Blood also said she believes
North Carolina will benefit from the
job opportunities at the factory and
could see an increase in suppliers.
“It is never a guarantee, but sup
pliers tend to follow the manufac
turing facilities,” she said.
Randle said he believes this
is only the beginning for North
Carolina’s success.
However, he expressed some
concern. Even though the state
brought in $2.8 billion in invest
ments in 2004, Randle said there
democracy in Iraq.
The United States is partnering
coalition units with Iraqi units,
embedding coalition transition
teams inside Iraqi units and work
ing with Iraqi ministries of interior
and defense.
The President also said that
organizations like NATO are get
ting involved in the effort to help
rebuild Iraq, and that 17 countries,
including Italy, Germany and the
Ukraine, have sent troops through
the NATO mission.
“Whatever our differences in the
past, the world understands that
success in Iraq is critical to the secu
rity of our nations,” Bush said.
Bush’s second visit to North
Carolina since his re-election
comes at a time when support
for the war and Bush’s decision to
News
is room for improvement.
Due to skepticism and lack of
information, Randle said North
Carolina has missed out on key
business opportunities in the
past.
In 1993 N.C. legislators passed
on an investment opportunity with
Mercedes-Benz that later grossed
$6 billion for Alabama.
“North Carolina cannot afford
to miss opportunities like that
again,” he said.
With the new recognition, state
officials remain positive about
North Carolina’s progress.
Gov. Mike Easley said in a press
release that he attributes the high
ranking to the state’s low cost of
business, quality workforce and
positive business environment.
“We will continue to make the
necessary investments in educa
tion, worker training and infra
structure to bring quality jobs and
businesses to our state,” he said in
the release.
Randle also has some advice for
continued success.
“In order to continue this eco
nomic run, North Carolina must
educate its people,” Randle said.
“The success of the state is up
to its people and the state should
take advantage of this critical
jump-start year.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
keep U.S. forces abroad is low in
the state.
The (Raleigh) News & Observer
and WRAL conducted a statewide
survey that found 49 percent of
N.C. residents polled don’t believe
the war has been worthwhile, while
only 42 percent say it has.
Bush spent the afternoon before
the speech meeting with 33 families
of soldiers who died in the war.
All told, 89 troops from Fort
Bragg have died since the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks. Currently, 9,300
troops from the base are employed
in Iraq.
The patriotic-themed event,
which featured the 82nd Airborne
Division All-American Chorus
singing “God Bless the USA” before
the speech, seemed to build morale
for the troops who attended.
“I think (Bush) just wanted to
let the military know he appre
ciates us,” said Capt. Richard
Hobart. “We appreciate everything
he’s done.”
Bush’s dogged determination
makes him a forceful leader in a
defining period, said Fort Bragg
acting commander, Maj. Gen.
Virgil L. Packet.
“We’ve got a tenacious bulldog
that is leading the charge here.”
Troops and the president agreed
they must fight until what was
started in Iraq is finished.
“Our strategy can be summed up
this way,” Bush said. “As the Iraqis
stand up, we will stand down.”
Contact the State Es? National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
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NBA DRAFT
FROM PAGE 1
same thing to the table. We know
how to run a team. We can shoot.
We can penetrate. We can pass.
We do all those things.”
With two Tar Heels still on the
board and the Bobcats with a sec
ond first-round pick, one reporter
asked Felton who he’d like to see
his new team select. One name—
May was predictable. The other
Hakim Warrick of Syracuse
might not have been.
And both May and Warrick were
available when the Bobcats’ second
pick rolled around at 13.
In a move perhaps aimed as
much at ticket sales as at win
ning basketball games, Charlotte
selected May —and reunited the
reigning Most Outstanding Player
of the NCAA Tournament with
Felton.
“The way we play together, you
don’t really see that among a point
guard and another big man,” May
said. “For me to get the opportu
nity to do that again, to get some
of those passes from Ray, to get me
going and help start my career off,
is going to be tremendous.”
The combination of May and
Felton in Charlotte certainly can’t
hurt the second-year Bobcats
on the court, but it’s at the ticket
office where the team might feel
the most immediate impact.
“It will help bring some more
faces to the franchise that the
people in North Carolina, the
people who support that fran
chise, can go out and see,” May
said. “They know the face and
they’ll know the people that they
are going to see.”
One suddenly fervent Charlotte
fan will be Roy Williams, who
attended several games dur
ing the Bobcats’ inaugural sea
son, even taking his wife to the
Charlotte Coliseum on New
CARRBORO
FROM PAGE 1
he said, will be maintaining all the
initiatives already in place, includ
ing the town’s fiscal state.
“We’ve taken some much-need
ed steps to get the town’s financial
house in order,” he said.
Nelson is not the only official who
won’t be joining the board again
next year. Mayor Pro Tern Diana
McDuffee also said she will prob
ably not seek another term.
“We’ve set a good course,” she
said. “I think it’s time to let some
others carry it forward.”
But McDuffee said that even if
she is not serving as an elected offi
cial, she still has every intention of
staying involved with the town.
Alderman Jackie Gist will be
one of two running for re-election
CHAPEL HILL
FROM PAGE 1
this Friday in Hillsborough while
Harrison said he expects to make
an announcement after July 4.
Resident Robin Cutson and
transportation board member
Laurin Easthorn also have said they
will run.
Year’s Eve.
Williams said Tuesday that he
won’t demand free season tickets
from May or Felton he’ll buy
his own. “But they’d better be
good seats,” he added.
Many onlookers may have been
surprised that McCants’ name was
called so quickly after May’s, but
the 6-foot-4 shooting guard wasn’t
among them.
“I knew there was a great
chance (the Timberwolves
would make the pick),” McCants
said. “I had a good workout and
a great talk with (general man
ager) Kevin McHale and Coach
(Dwayne) Casey, and I thought it
went really well.”
After exchanging hugs with his
family and friends in attendance,
McCants approached Stem on the
Madison Square Garden stage.
But the commissioner, gazing
absently at something in the dis
tance, didn’t even notice the draft
ee’s approach. With a wry grin on
his face, McCants tapped Stem on
the shoulder and shook his hand
theatrically.
Watching the replay on the
ESPN monitors minutes later,
McCants couldn’t help but laugh.
The only disappointment of the
evening for the North Carolina
faithful came at the conclusion of
the draft, when the final pick came
and went without a team calling
the name of Jawad Williams or
Jackie Manuel.
Williams started 36 games for
the Tar Heels during his senior
year, averaging 13.1 points per
game. Manuel, a two-time mem
ber of the ACC’s All-Defensive
team, broke his foot during the
Chicago pre-draft camp and was
not expected to be drafted.
Despite the fact that none
of the seniors who endured the
catastrophic 8-20 season three
years ago were selected by an
NBA team, the evening had to be
despite some initial debate.
Gist said that after seeing how
many aldermen would be leaving
and die big projects that will face the
new board of aldermen, she started
to considering running again.
“I really felt that my 16 years of
experience would be good for the
town,” she said. “I just want to make
sure the town wifi be OK”
Gist said Alderman John Herrera
also has announced his intention to
run for re-election, but he could not
be reached for comment Thesday.
Incumbents won’t be the only
ones seeking a spot on the board.
Catherine DeVine, a founding
organizer of the Carrboro Music
Festival, said that she is “99 percent”
sure she will run and that she will
make her official announcement
before July 9,
Another resident who has indi
Joining them in pursuit of the
vacant seats this November will
be UNC sophomore Jason Baker,
a 20-year-old political science
major.
Baker said he is strongly con
sidering filing July 18 his 21st
birthday. He said students, who
comprise 32 percent of the town’s
population according to the 2004
Data Book, deserve to have a say in
community affairs.
“I feel that if you look at the
council, it is not nearly as diverse
as the Chapel Hill population on a
whole,” Baker said.
His campaign will depend heav
ily on the student vote, which for
mer student body president candi
date Tom Jensen said is historically
about 1.5 percent.
But Jensen said he hopes to
have a turnout approaching 20
percent this year. The ability to
get out the vote and utilize exist
ing student political networks
will add legitimacy to Baker’s
campaign, Jensen said.
“We came up with some really
sophisticated techniques for get
ting people to vote last year, and
we’ll put those to use for Jason this
year,” Jensen said.
Baker, whom Jensen referred
to as a “voter registration fanatic,”
solely registered 3,000 new stu
dent voters last fall as a part of
the UNC Young Democrats voter
drive.
Mark Chilton was the last stu
dent to be elected to the council
in 1991.
Congratulations Tar Heels!
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FORMER
UNC BASKETBALL
PLAYERS
At No. 2,
Marvin
Williams
is UNC's
highest draft
pick since
1986.
Raymond
Felton
His No. 5 pick
marks the
4th time two
Heels have
gone top five.
Sean May,
picked 13th
by the
Charlotte
Bobcats, will
stay in state
with Felton.
Rashad
McCants
is the first
Tar Heel ever
picked by the
Minnesota
Timberwolves.
considered a success for North
Carolina.
Said Roy Williams, “This is a
night where these four young men
have realized their dreams, and
that’s a thrill.”
Contact the Sports Editor
at sports@unc.edu.
cated interest in running said he is
still considering.
James Carnahan, chairman of the
Village Project and the town’s plan
ning board, said he will decide later
in July but added that he is inter
ested in Carrboro’s progress.
“I’m very interested in how the
town continues its progress in
becoming a sustainable commu
nity,” he said.
A group of residents recently
annexed into Carrboro earlier this
year also might have candidates
come forward for the fall elections.
Katrina Ryan said there has been
discussion among some of those
residents but could not comment
on who might run.
Elections will be November 8.
Contact the City Editor'
at citydesk@unc.edu.
Thus far no one has emerged
as a contender against Foy in the
mayoral race, prompting some
speculation he might run unop
posed.
Council member Bill Strom was
seen by many as a potential may
oral candidate, but he told The
Daily Tar Heel in April he would
endorse Foy if he chose to run for
re-election.
While Cutson says she is still
undecided about whether she will
run for the mayor’s office or a seat
on the council, she lamented the
idea of an election without oppo
sition.
“It’s a sad thing for democracy.”
During budget discussions this
year, Cutson was critical of the
town’s decision to fund nonprofits
and to increase the public art bud
get in a year when a tax increase
was needed to fund rising debt
payments.
She has also been an outspoken
critic of smart-growth and new
urbanism, claiming that high
density developments can be more
damaging to the environment than
low-density developments. In her
blog and Web site articles she has
called for halting high-density
residential development.
“Common sense would dictate
that any area is limited by water
and land supplies,” Cutson said.
“Once we are built out, we are
built out.”
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.