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The Kings Mountain Herald
November 2, 2006
Johnny Harris’ newly remodeled office at former Rexall Drug Store.
BANK
From 1A
reinvest in this community,” said
Ayscue, who grew up in Kings
Mountain, the son of Bobby
Ayscue and Jean Ayscue Adcock
and recalled walking from West
School as a boy to First National
Bank where his mother was a
teller and where he got interest-
ed in a banking career. A 1983
graduate of Kings Mountain
High School and a 1989 graduate
of Appalachian State University,
he began his banking career
after college graduation.. He is
married to Gina Holmes Ayscue
and they have three children,
Devin, Emma and Reese. His
stepmother is Helen Owens
~ Ayscue.
Ayscue said the new bank
building will be a scaled down
version of the Shelby DeKalb
facilities. Work stations, cus-
tomer service representative,
loan offices and teller lines will
be featured in the new facility as
well as the leased office down-
town. “We wanted to have an
immediate presence in Kings
Mountain and after seeing what
Johnny Harris is doing to revital-
ize downtown we picked the
perfect spot because this space,
2650 square feet, lends itself well
to our needs,” said Ayscue.
Ayscue said Alliance Bank
Branch & Trust has assets of $100
million.
This week workmen were put-
ting the finishing touches on the
first floor of the Harris building
which will house the bank. The
walls were being painted in a
taupe color with black ceiling
and track lighting. Awnings
were up at the two big front win-
dows and planters of fall flowers
will go up later in the week.
drug store housed a medical
practice some years ago but
Harris said the area had been
unused for many years and
workmen are still refinishing,
staining the original floors, and
readying the 1150 square feet of
floor space for Harris’ offices
where he will focus on property
development. The layout will
include a conference room,
reception area with occasional
sofas, desks and TV, plenty of
storage space and rest rooms.
Window boxes of seasonal flow-
ers will also be featured from
windows on the second level.
Harris said he wanted to keep
the character of the building in
the restoration.
Harris, president of J. O.
Harris Interests, is investing
$250,000 in refurbishing the old
Rexall Drug. A “loft look” is how
he describes the second floor
restoration which he says he can
Street bank, 2600 square feet The second floor of the old hardly wait to finish.
with drive-through and ATM
COMPANY sion deserve a paton theback for we are excited to make
From 1A
new jobs will be $565 plus bene-
fits, which is higher than the
Cleveland County average
weekly wage of $552 not includ-
ing benefits," said Chamber offi-
cial Adrian Camp in a’ press
release. : Hatin
“We want to welcome Kitchen
Ventilation Systems and we will
work with them to expedite the
start-up of their company,”
Murphrey said. Kitchen
Ventilation Systems is working
with the city to obtain the neces-
sary permits and to get their util-
ities set up, so that the company
may begin production right
away. Interested applicants for
the possible 86 new jobs should
call the North Carolina
Employment Security office at
704-480-5414 or drop by 404 E.
Marion Street in Shelby.
“1 am pleased that our efforts
in the legislature to recruit new
and higher paying jobs are
resulting in new opportunities
for Cleveland County,” said Rep.
Tim Moore (R-Cleveland
County). “The Cleveland
Chamber and county commis-
putting together the details to
bring this company here and I
am grateful the state was in a
position to offer the economic
development assistance to help
seal the deal."
"Kitchen Ventilation Systems,
decision to locate in Cleveland
County is a testament to our No.
1 ranked business climate,” said
Gov. Mike Easley in a press
release. "We will continue to
make the necessary investments
in work-force development and
education so that we remain the
top choice for companies want-
ing to relocate or expand.”
The move to Kings Mountain
is an expansion for the family-
owned kitchen ventilation busi-
ness. Due to the company’s
exponential growth, it will con-
tinue to expand to fill the needs
of its many customers.
"During the past several
months we have had a team
working to identify and recom-
mend a site for our regional
manufacturing operation in the
Southeastern United States," said
Brian Ranney, president of
Kitchen Ventilation Systems.
"After completing an extensive
search and evaluation process
Cleveland County our new man-
ufacturing home. Key factors in
our decision process were the
ability to ship products within
the region in two days or less,
access to a skilled work-force,
training and education opportu-
nities, an expandable high quali-
ty facility, and aggressive eco-
nomic development teams at the
state, regional, county, and local
level."
A possibility of a $25,000/ year
incentive for the new factory that
carried the code name of "Project
Lombardi" on the last Cleveland
County Commission’s agenda
will be discussed at a public
hearing on November 7.
According to Camp, "The One
North Carolina Fund assists the
state in industry recruitment and
expansion by providing financial
assistance through local govern-
ments to attract business projects
that will stimulate economic
activity and create new jobs in
the state. One North Carolina
Fund grants require and are con-
tingent upon a local match.
Through the use of this Fund,
more than 20,000 jobs and $3 bil-
lion in investment have been cre-
ated since 2001."
ELECTION
From 1A
Moore is opposed by Betsy
Fonvielle, a former member of
working in and calling on most of the
Shelby City Council. In the
Senate race, Wes Westmoreland
of Shelby, former Chairman of
the Cleveland County
Republican Party, is opposing
longtime Senator Walter Dalton
manufacturing plants in
Tom will listen and hear
Tom will respond .
Tom will make decisions based
of Rutherford County.
On the national level, U.S.
Representative Patrick McHenry
of Cherryville faces a challenge
from Democrat Richard Carsner.
» Hard Working
* Dependable
* Progressive
* Accessible
How many elected
folks do you know
at publish their cell
phone numbers in the
| newspapers?
h Only One
Tom Keigher
704-718-8747
Elect a public servant
not another elected
Kristi Anthony hard at work at Summit Place.
Nursing was always in
EMILY WEAVER
eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
Kristi Anthony knew she wanted to go into
Nursing by her 10th grade year in high school, but
what she didn’t know then, was that one day she
would be the executive director of a nursing facili-
She graduated from Western Carolina University
as a Registered Nurse in 1984 and worked for two
years as an RN in a nearby hospital. In 1986, she
became the director of nursing services in a long-
term care facility and 11 years later, moved into
nursing home administration. In September of
2000, she joined the staff at Summit Place, an assist-
ed living facility in Kings Mountain, as the execu-
tive director.
But throughout this whirlwind of promotions
and advancements, she has not forgotten why she
got into the business in the first place. “I knew that
I liked helping people, so I went into the healthcare
field,” Anthony said. “Then somehow or another, I
just kind of migrated away from the actual hands-
on nursing and got into the business part of run-
ning a business that takes care of senior citizens.”
She now says that she would not want to work in
any other field. “I'm just so thankful that I chose
something that I really like doing. I like caring for
other people and even though I'm more on the
business side, I still get to use my skills as a nurse
here. We're still caring for people,” she said. “I'm
not completely far-removed from what I went to
school to do.”
Even though it only took her a few years to move
into management after college, climbing the career
ladder was not always an easy task. For some
years, she found herself struggling to balance the
priorities of motherhood, marriage, and career.
Coming
November 2006
Kristi Anthony’s dreams
“When my children were little, it was very chal-
lenging to try to be in this position (at work) and
have this much responsibility and have two little
boys at home,” Anthony said. Now that her two
sons, Zeke, 16, and Evan, 14, are older, life is
becoming a little easier. She admits that even
though she loves her job, her sons have always
been her first priority.
In her life, Anthony wears a lot of hats. She is a
mother to her sons, a caregiver to her residents, an
executive director to her staff, a president to the
Kings Mountain Business & Professionals
Association and a friend to many in the communi-
ty. But being an economically active, working
mom, is not for the faint of heart. She said that
being a business mother and especially, an advanc-
ing one, takes a lot of hard work and enthusiasm.
For all of the young women out there deciding
which career path to pursue, Anthony said,
“Choose something that you have passion for and
that you enjoy. Work life and business life is chal-
lenging. If you don’t like what you're doing, you
sure have to spend a whole lot of hours a week
doing it.” She said that every one who can, should
choose a job they like doing and one that they
would consider doing even if they were not being
paid to do it. “You can spend a long time in a career
that you're very unhappy in, but you do it because
itis-a way to make money and to make a living, yet
you're not really happy,” she said.
‘Her next career goal will probably be to hold a
regional position, perhaps as area manager for the
Western North Carolina division of assisted living
facilities. But that time will come after her sons are
in college. Anthony was born and raised in
Gastonia and now lives with her two sons in
Cherryville.