2 The Perquimans Weekly, October 12, 2005
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Business
Continued from page 1
ness,” Higgins said.
In the beginning, the
focus was on bringing light
industry to the county. But
that focus had to be
changed when more retail
than industry inquiries
were coming in, Higgins
said.
Five years since the
incubator opened, there are
six businesses renting
spaces. Another business,
Gallaway Auto Transport,
has flown the coop and
expanded space and opera
tions within the county.
Instead of hauling cars for
other dealerships, owner
T.G. Weeks runs GaUoway
Auto Auction on U.S.
Highway 17.
“(Gallaway) has the
potential to be a good
employer in the county,”
Higgins said.
Weeks bought a building
on for his business and
leases the property. He
learned about the used car
business at the incubator
as he networked with deal
ers across the country. For
at least three years, he’s
been buying cars, repairing
them and selling them on
his lot.
It’s not been a quick
financial success. Weeks’
first setback came while he
still operated in the incuba
tor. He found an investor
who owned a building at
302 Dobbs Street. Money
was invested to fix it up, but
the property was not zoned
for a car dealership, so that
plan did not come to
fruition.
Then his 18-wheeler, that
he used to haul cars, need
ed major repair work.
Without an investor or a
truck to continue business.
Weeks felt the pressure to
move out and begin selling
autos, but he was on his
own, financially. Now,
Weeks struggles in a turbu
lent economy.
“It’s been tough to try to
get inventory,” he said.
“I’ve probably sold three
cars in the last two
months.” His goal was to
seU a car and buy two more,
but slow auto sales have
equated to barely making
ends meet in a business
that is his only livelihood.
Weeks is hopeful that
sales wiU turn around, and
he looks forward to tax sea
son when vehicle sales are
usually up.
The benefits of begin
ning his business at the
incubator offered Weeks a
clean space with low rent
and utilities included, as
well as utilization of
shared resources, such as
Internet connection, fax
machine and phone use. It
also allowed him to move
his business out of his
home and give him a place
to park his nine-car carrier.
While Weeks continues
to make his business suc
ceed, the incubator has
experienced some failures.
Two businesses failed
financially and three oth
ers closed for other rea
sons. The goal of 2020 is to
see each business fly the
coop by the end of three
years, with a one-year
extension allowed.
Additional years would
need to be approved by the
county board, Higgins said.
Two established busi
nesses, The Lovin’ Oven
and Attorney Janice Cole,
changed their focus and,
because of that, were able
to take advantage of the
benefits of the incubator.
Carol Hammer, owner of
The Lovin’ Oven, — previ
ously a retail coffee and
baked goods shop in down
town Edenton — said she
decided to switch primarily
to wholesale shipping.
“In this area,” Hammer
said, “it’s very hard to get
the growth. I have to go way
outside.” Most of her busi
ness is done on a Web site
on the Internet. She
employs three part-time
workers and additional
help during the holidays.
Hammer said she could
n’t find any industry space
in Edenton. She’s been
located in the business
incubator for about two and
a half years. But, she does
n’t see leaving anytime
soon as an option, especial
ly with her gingerbread
business being traditional
ly seasonal.
“The economy is just not
cooperating,” Hammer
said. And in addition, “...I
have to try to convince peo
ple that you can eat cookies
in the summertime.”
In addition to ginger
bread, Hammer makes
cakes for aU occasions. She
will offer items retail
beginning in November.
Another business.
Country Corner Antiques
& Used Furniture, is utiliz
ing 2,500 square feet of
undeveloped space in the
building. That space might
have been more profitable
if some of it were divided
up as office space and rent
ed separately, Higgins said.
But, there’s no waiting list
for in-coming businesses
and there is stiU one unoc
cupied office available, he
said.
Joe HarreU, owner of the
antique shop, is grateful to
have a large space to store
and seU used furniture. But
he and his wife, Joan
HarreU, stiU maintain fuU-
time jobs elsewhere as they
wait for a break in a stormy
economy.
“I feel like we’re aU mak
ing progress toward our
goal,” Joe HarreU said.
“Whether we make it or not
depends on the economy.”
People are spending
their money on higher gas
prices and groceries and
their priority isn’t on furni
ture right now, he said.
The HarreUs began their
business by setting up
antique furniture on U.S.
Highway 17 on weekends
and working the antique
show circuit. Loading and
unloading large, heavy
items became a weekly
chore. The incubator pro
vided a place to open shop
without having to continu-
aUy haul items around, Joe
HarreU said.
The outlet has been oper
ating in the incubator for
two and a half years with
no clear options for moving
out and up. HarreU hopes to
begin holding auctions in
the future.
“I feel like Perquimans
County has a need for (an
auction house),” he said,
“and the people of
Perquimans County will
support me in that.”
Prior to the antique
store setting up, potential
owners of a beauty shop
and sausage industry were
interested in renting the
large space. But expensive
health requirements made
those offers unfeasible,
Higgins said.
There is no longer feder
al funding for the NCTDA
which supported some 22
business incubators in the
state, Higgins said.
“We have to be self-sup
porting,” he said. “Right
now, we’re self-support
ing.”
Merchants
Continued from page 1
Harmon also recom
mended that merchants
advertise and promote
themselves together.
“No one is going to come
if one store is having a
sale,” she said, “but they
win come if five stores are
having a sale.”
She also talked about
sharing advertising costs
by promoting themselves
as a group and HHI match
ing the dollars. Advertising
could also promote the idea
of a marketplace. She sug
gested that merchants pur
chase plastic bags in bulk
together using the name
Historic Hertford on the
bags.
Harmon recommended
that merchants improve
customer service skills,
seek out items that cus
tomers really want and
maintain consistent hours.
Merchants could also
take advantage of events
that are already promoted
in Hertford, such as the
Tour of Homes and Pig Out
on the Green. Merchants
and others who attended
the meeting rallied around
specific ideas.
“They may not buy that
day,” Eley said, “but they
may come back.” One cou
ple from London saw a
house in one day and
bought it, he said.
Harmon suggested that
merchants strive for a cohe
sive look, such as they’ve
already done with the
planters that are found in
front of a number of shops.
Jewett said that when
Susan Suggs of the
Division of Community
Assistance was working
with the town on
Streetscape, she noticed the
unifying effect of the land
scaping.
“Because of what we
have done,” Jewett said,
“(Suggs) uses us as an
example of how towns can
make a town more attrac
tive.”
Eley said that the
Chamber of Commerce is
looking for grant money to
continue work on updating
the building facades.
Previous monies have run
out, he said.
By April, $65,000 milling
and re-paving work is
expected to be completed on
Church Street. Work will
not begin until the town
completes the installation
lights, according to RPC
Contracting. The town
doesn’t expect the lights to
be installed for at least 10
weeks and paving cannot
be done in the winter, said
Town Manager John
Christensen.
A discussion of signage
on U.S. Highway 17 followed
with much input and the
subject needing further
investigation.
The eight merchants
who attended the meeting
agreed to kick-start their
promotional efforts on
Friday, Oct. 14 when Dotty’s
Cafe will begin selling
prime rib dinners on
Friday nights.
“I didn’t want to start
another association
because there’s too many of
those,” said Steve Lane,
owner of Inteliport. But
something needs to be done
to get business in now, he
said.
Lane is a new member of
the Historic Hertford, Inc.
Board. HHI is a non-profit
organization responsible
for the town’s Main Street
Program.
Relief
Continued from page 1
Perry approached her
principal with an idea and
other schools in the dis
trict, as well as others,
called in to see how they
could help.
One of the school dis
tricts that called PCHS to
contribute was directly
affected by Hurricane
Katrina, said
Superintendent Kenneth
WeUs.
“Perquimans County
students benefited from the
generosity of others follow
ing Hurricane Isabel,”
Wells said. “This was a
wonderful opportunity for
our students to give back to
those that had generously
helped us in the past.”
American Red Cross
Executive Director John B.
Gillis received the check
from the school system to
use for relief efforts in the
areas of shelter, fbod, cloth
ing and medical assistance.
Ben Hobbs, county com
missioner and owner of
1812 Bed & Breakfast Inn,
and his fellow church mem
ber, Mark Futrell, formed a
small group to help resi
dents in Mississippi. They
and Hobbs’ sons, Ernie
Hobbs of Huntsville, Ala.,
and Calvin Hobbs of
Springfield, Miss., met in
Biloxi in mid-September
for a week to clear yard
debris around hurricane-
hit neighborhoods.
Ben Hobbs loaded a
small tractor onto a flatbed
trailer and extra fuel and
drove with Futrell some 16
hours southwestward.
Hobbs and Futrell had
heard about particular
neighborhoods that needed
help from Ernie Hobbs’
Presbyterian church.
“We didn’t want to go
down and not have some
thing to do,” Ben Hobbs
said. “A lot of the devasta
tion was so severe that
there reaUy was not a lot
you can do.”
They began with a list of
places — which they fin
ished — and found other
people who needed help, as
weU, he said.
“We’re glad we went,”
Ben Hobbs said. “It really
was a mess.”
Gas prices turned out to
be lower in Biloxi than in
Hertford, Ben Hobbs said.
Winslow earns scholarship
Austin Winslow, a senior
at North Carolina State
University, recently
received the Richard L.
Jensen Foundation for
Environmental
Agriculture Education
Scholarship. The $1,000
scholarship is awarded
annually to college stu
dents entering their third
or fourth year of study in
crop production or an
allied field. Winslow, a
agronomy major with
emphasis on turf and orna
mental study, is involved
with numerous clubs and
has recieved two additional
scholarships. He is the son
of Stan and Lou Ann
Winslow of Belvidere.
News deadline Friday, 5 p.m.
Prime Rib Dinner!!!
Friday October 14 - 5:30 -7:30
includes: \ ( (
Prime Rib, Baked Potato,  ) {
Salad, Roll & Drink
Only $13.»
Oottyi Bed & Breakfast/Cafe
103 Church St. Hertford • 426-3688
“That was a big surprise to
us.”
In another volunteer
effort, T.G. Weeks, owner of
Gallaway Auto Auction, left
Friday for Gulfport, Miss.,
with a tractor-trailer rig
filled with donated vehicles
and food.
Tidewater Auto Auction
in Virginia donated a van,
purchased non-perishable
food to put in the vehicles
and asked Weeks to drive
the rig to Grace Memorial
Baptist Church in Gulf
Port, Miss., Weeks said.
The other vehicles were
donated by Hall Auto
World, Charlie Falk Auto,
Heritage Motor C9mpany
and Victory Auto Sales, aU
in Hampton Roads, Va., and
Auto Truck South in
Moyock.
“We wanted to do some
thing down there,” said
Mike Hockett, owner of
Tidewater Auto Auction.
“We weren’t sure who to'
contact.”
The dealership contact
ed other dealerships and
financial institutions to
find a contact. Finally, they
heard that the church of
the owner of Long Beach
Auto Auction needed vehi
cles for church members
and others who had lost
their vehicles in the flood
and didn’t have auto insur
ance, said Pastor Jerry
Nance.
“We put out an opportu
nity to church members,”
Nance said, “and they
knew some folks in the
community who had needs
also.”
Tidewater Auto Auction
decided to fiU the vehicles
with food, which will be
given to volunteers who
came to Grace Memorial to
assist with relief efforts.
Some will also be given to
community members who
come to the church for food,
Nance said.
Three additional vehi
cles were donated, but were
not mechanically suited for
the church’s use. They wiU
be sold and the money will
be used to buy more food,
Hockett said.
“We want to make sure
that they know that they
have not been forgotten,”
Hockett said of the people
in Gulfport.
Weeks presented the
vehicles and their titles and
food to one of the church’s
members late Saturday
night.
HELPINGlfOUh’toH^dok
FARM
INSURANCE
426-5636
705 Church St.
Hertford, N.C.
David H. Parker,
Agency Mgr.
Edgar Roberson Jr., Agent
Henry Norman, Agent
Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co.
Farm Bureau Insurance of N.C. Inc.
Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co.
Make your backyard
an autumn showplace.
Pansies • Pansies •Pansies!
(20 assorted colors)
Mums • Camellias
Encore Azaleas
Crepe Myrtles
Hours: Mon-Fii 8:00 - 5:00 Sat. 8:00 -12:00
FARMERS FEED & SEED
Lawn & Garden Center
206 Grubb St. Hertford
426-5505
ifUBLIC HEARINGi
The Perquimans County Board of Adjustment vwill
hold a public hearing on Thursday, October 27, 2005
at 7:00 p.m. In the fury Room of the Perquimans
County Courthouse Building located at 128 N. Church
Street, Hertford, NC to consider the following:
1. A Zoning Variance app^coHon suBmitted 6g Fhgd and Stisan
b Ford to tomplete the construdion of g storage sited appmt^matdg,
T $" from the property line. Current cos^ stdhteks require a
10' setyachM^me. The property is located at 107 WeM
Hertford, NC (ParcdtHumber 4-D077-I002-DC). s'
2. A Zoning Variance oqfpUcatioH submitted by feffrey and
Heather Winslow to complete the construction of a room oddHien^
approximatdy IV feet from the property line. Current county sei»
backs require a 15' foot setback distance, the ^operty is located
at 296 Up Hirer Road, Belvidere, NC 27919,
IPartel Number 1-0011-0004),
The proposed applications may be viewed at the
Perquimans County Manager's Office at
128 N. Church St., Hertford, N.C.
’‘’^HUiam^thridgePianning^DirKtorj^erquimans^County^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Wednesday,
November 9,2005
\ The Perquimans Weekly
wlQ publish a special section
devoted to those who
served our country.
To honor your loved one
send photo and information along with
$10.00 by 5:00 pm November 2,2005.
Send To:
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Hertford, NC 27944
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486-5728
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