Good times, good food and great speakers

You can see on their faces that NCCBI members like getting together for the fall membership meetings. Twenty have been held so far, with two more stops on the tour Nov. 6 in Fayetteville and Wilmington. The audiences have listened attentively as university chancellors and community college presidents explained how money from the $3.1 billion in bonds will be spent to improve their campuses. Many speakers have told stories of shockingly bad facilities on their campuses, particularly in science labs and basic infrastructure. The educators knew down to the penny how much they will have available to spend, if the bond issue passes, and obviously had given a lot of thought to identifying priorities.

See pictures from the three Triad meetings
See pictures from Asheville, Asheboro and Hickory

UNC-Greensboro Chancellor Pat Sullivan, a member of the NCCBI Executive Committee, pointed out that the seats in Aycock Auditorium on her campus, which recently hosted a tribute to John Phillips Sousa, are the same ones the audience sat in when Sousa himself played there.

Attendance so far has been a little more than usual at most stops on the 22-city tour, in part because of all the office-seekers attending, and because many members – as they were asked to do – have brought prospective members as their guests.

Chairman Mac Everett of First Union in Charlotte has proven to be an effective and enthusiastic speaker at the regional membership meetings. He seems genuinely pleased to report that NCCBI is in great shape and is rapidly growing in numbers. Everett bragged on the hard work of Second Vice Chairman Jim Hyler of Raleigh, the First Union Bank executive, in this year’s annual membership campaign, which to date has brought in 383 new members, raising membership to more than 2,200. See the list of new members. That’s the best campaign ever, with nearly half the year to go, Everett stressed in his remarks, evidence that NCCBI “is a very dynamic organization.”

NCCBI has never before been as strong, in numbers and clout, Everett has said in noting that President Phil Kirk and Vice President of Governmental Affairs Leslie Bevacqua now rank in the top eight of more than 800 lobbyists in Raleigh.

Everett also has been a gracious host in welcoming the many candidates for statewide office who have attended the meetings as guests. He explained that NCCBI doesn’t endorse candidates but does encourage business people to get to know the candidates so we can make intelligent choices in the voting booth.

President Phil Kirk is using his remarks to update members on political events in Raleigh. The association’s seven policy committees are meeting regularly this fall and winter to develop positions on emerging legislation that may come up when the General Assembly reconvenes, Kirk said. Talking about the education bonds, Kirk said NCCBI members had contributed $3.7 million toward the cost of the campaign so far, with more pledged toward the goal set by the NCCBI-led North Carolinians for Educational Opportunity (NCFEO). Radio and television ads sponsored by NCFEO have begun airing, Kirk said. This is the fourth statewide bond campaign NCCBI has worked to pass in the past 10 years.

Kirk said polling data suggest that most voters look favorably on the bonds and planned to for vote for them, but he said NCCBI isn’t taking any chances and is running the campaign as if we’re 20 points behind.

Pictures from the remaining meetings will be in next month's online newsletter.

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