AUGUST 30, 2002 * ISSUE NO. 13 * 2002 SHORT SESSION The Legislative Bulletin is published weekly by NCCBI exclusively for its members Members please note: The NCCBI office in Raleigh will be closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday. We'll be back at work for you bright and early on Tuesday. Index: Incentives legislation moves to the Senate... NC moves ahead of Southeast in SAT scores... State agencies offer help with drought... Jobless rates rise in four metro areas...Federal Issues... Four to be inducted into Business Hall of Fame... Calendar of Events... Special Labor Day Report on the Economy...

Vote on session limits expected next week!
Speaker of the House Jim Black has made a verbal commitment to NCCBI and has indicated to newspaper reporters across the state that we can expect a vote next week on legislation to limit the length of legislative sessions. There are two bills on session limits currently pending in the House Committee on Rules. We expect one of the bills to be reported out early next week. Following approval by the Rules Committee, the legislation should move quickly to the House floor and my be up for a vote  by the full House Wednesday, Sept. 4.

This legislation is the No. 1 priority set my NCCBI’s Executive Committee. With NCCBI’s leadership on this issue, our members and other organizations across the state have turned up the heat on members of the House to pass this legislation in time to be on the ballot in November.

The proposed legislation is a constitutional amendment and will require 72 votes in the House to be placed on the November ballot for the public to approve. Informal polls in recent weeks have indicated that 85 percent of the public supports session limits. The Senate has passed legislation on this issue five times.  The House has never taken a vote on the issue.

The pending bill would allow the legislature to come into session for two days in December following the November elections for an organizational session to elect leadership. They would then have to adjourn for a minimum of 30 days. When they return to Raleigh, they would have 135 days to complete their business during the long session and 60 days during the short session. There is a provision to extend both the long and short sessions by 10 days if necessary.

It is imperative that all House members be contacted one more time before next week’s vote. Please call your House members over the weekend or at their legislative offices on Tuesday and urge them to vote FOR session limits.

As the session drags on, we are finding that House members who have opposed this legislation are reconsidering their positions and those who are undecided or leaning yes, may just need a little encouragement from you to vote for the bill.

The direct telephone number to the legislative building is 919-733-4111. They can connect you with your representative’s office. You can also find direct telephone numbers and e-mail addresses at the General Assembly's web site by clicking on http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/members/house/house_member_list.pl


Incentives legislation moves to the Senate
The Senate has begun debate on the first major overhaul of the state's economic development policies in years, a program that hopes to attract targeted new industries by offering rebates of up to 75 percent of the state income taxes paid by workers in new jobs. The NCCBI-backed legislation, H. 1734 Economic Stimulus and Job Creation Act, received final House approval Wednesday night by a vote of 81-34. The bill sent over to the Senate by the House retains the essential features of the Job Development Investment Grant Program we reported last week (see the Aug. 23 Bulletin), but some last-minute concessions were made to achieve final House approval.

Over the weekend, supporters of the legislation agreed to a cap specifying that the state will approve no more than 25 such tax rebate grants each year. Further, supporters agreed to a ceiling of $15 million in total tax rebates in any one year. Not every new or expanding business will be eligible for the grants. The incentive program is aimed at projects that would not come to North Carolina but for the tax rebate. And while the legislation envisions tax rebate grants lasting up to 12 years, the bill carries a sunset of Jan. 1, 2006.

Among the amendments that passed on the floor Monday night was one offered by Rep. Martin Nesbitt (D-Buncombe) to expand from five to seven the number of officials sitting on the Economic Investment Committee that will review and approve applications by industries for the cash grants. The amendment gives the House Speaker and the Senate President Pro Tem one appointee each. The Speaker's appointee may not be a member of the General Assembly, a state or local government employee, a person engaged in economic development, business recruitment, or related consulting work. The President Pro Tem's appointee must be a local government official.

Those two will join five other members previously specified in the bill:  the secretary of Revenue (Norris Tolson); the secretary of Commerce (Jim Fain); the Labor commissioner (Cherie Berry); the president of the Community College System (Martin Lancaster); and the co-chair, of the N.C. Partnership for Economic Development (David Cline of the Charlotte Regional Partnership). Rep. Nesbitt's amendment also specifies that any action by the committee must receive the support of five out of the seven members. 

While the bill is vague about what types of "but for" business will qualify for the tax rebates, it's explicit about those that will be ineligible, including retail facilities and professional or semiprofessional sports teams. There are a couple of major strings attached to the grants. Eligible companies must provide workers with health insurance and pay at least half the premiums. They must pay wages that are 110 percent of the applicable average weekly wage for the county in which the jobs will be located. 

H. 1734 also amends the Bill Lee Act to make the machinery and equipment tax credit worth far more in poor, rural areas than in affluent counties. A business investing in a Tier One county would get to write off 7 percent of its entire machinery and equipment costs. For a similar investment in a Tier Five county, one of the state's most affluent, the business could write off only 4 percent of any investment over $2 million.

Other changes in the bill would: Require a taxpayer and its related entities to satisfy any outstanding state tax assessments before receiving a Bill Lee Act credit; modify the wage standard for the credit for worker training; to modify the wage  standard for Tier One and Tier Two counties; modify the wage standard for taxpayers with a tax year other than a calendar year; treat parcels of land partially located in a development zone as if the entire parcel were located within the development zone; modify the Industrial Development Fund to allow for expenditures related to telecommunications and broadband lines and equipment and to allow for expenditures from the Utility Account in Tier Three areas.

NCCBI and other groups are pushing to update the state's economic development incentive policies in the wake of much evidence that North Carolina is losing new industries to other states that offer more lucrative inducements. A recent study by the Office of State Policy found, for example, that in 1994-95 North Carolina landed 35.3 percent of all new manufacturing companies locating in the South Atlantic states. In 200-01 that percentage had fallen to 29 percent.

Legislative Actions
Continuing resolution bill gets hung up over per diem money
After two days of political posturing over when legislators would stop accepting their $104 per day expense allowance, the House and Senate on Thursday agreed to terms for a continuing spending resolution that will keep state government running until Sept. 10. The General Assembly was supposed to have adopted a revised budget by July 1, the start of the fiscal year. Each chamber has passed a budget, and conferees are working on resolving differences between the bills, but no resolution seems eminent. The Senate on Tuesday passed  the continuing budget resolution, S. 1113 Modify Appropriations Act of 2001-2, but Republicans managed to attach an amendment cutting off legislators per diem as of Sept. 1. 

That raised some hackles in the House when the bill was taken up there Wednesday. House Democrats amended the bill to specify that the per diem money would continue to Oct. 1 -- in effect putting an extra $3,140 in the pocketbook of each of the 170 legislators. On Thursday the Senate threw in the towel and accepted the House version of the continuing resolution, along with the expense money. 

While the House and Senate were occupied with the continuing resolution, the governor issued an executive order Thursday directing the State Budget Office to release $29.9 million to hire new teachers to account for the extra 26,000 students in the public schools this year. The House and Senate budgets both contain the extra money, but it wasn't included in the continuing resolution.

House and Senate budget negotiators reportedly are deadlocked over how to finalize a swap of $333 million in reimbursements to local governments and revenues that will be generated by an extra half-cent sales tax. Some legislators say they believe a budget agreement won't be reached before October, which is why they extended the per diem money until then.

The House Finance Committee on Wednesday favorably reported H. 1665 Interstate Air Couriers/Bill Lee (Lyons Gray), a bill that extends until 2010 the deadline for Bill Lee Act tax credits for the proposed FedEx cargo hub in Greensboro. FedEx originally planned to open the air cargo hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport in 200, but the recession pushed back the opening date to at least 2007.

The House on Wednesday gave final approval to S. 1037 No Air Permit Required Until Facility Operational (David Hoyle) and returned the NCCBI-backed bill to the Senate for concurrence in amendments. It's expected that the Senate will reject the House amendments, which significantly weaken the measure, and that a conference committee will be appointed to resolve differences.

The Senate gave third-reading approval Thursday to H. 1540 Disapprove CAMA Rule (Bill Culpepper), a House-passed measure that would overturn a Coastal Area Management Act rule prohibiting new swimming pools on the ocean-side of most ocean-front homes. The vote was 26-2. The action returns the bill to the House for concurrence in amendments. CAMA adopted the rule in July 2001 over the opposition of the N.C. Home Builders Association and the N.C. Realtors Association.

The House Finance Committee on Tuesday favorably reported S. 104 Regulate Deferred Deposit (David Hoyle), legislation that would impose new restrictions on payday lenders. The bill, which now goes to the full House, would renew the state's regulatory authority over the industry after previous rules expired last August.

The House Judiciary I Committee on Tuesday favorably reported S. 712 District Judge Eight Year Terms (Tony Rand), the Senate-passed measure that would double the terms of District Court judges. The bill previously made it to the House floor but was sent back to Judiciary I after Republicans complained it will just keep Democrats on the bench longer.

The Senate voted 37-1 on third-reading Wednesday to pass H. 1508 Public Health Bioterror Prepared (Zeno Edwards), a House-passed bill that gives the state health director more authority to respond to chemical and biological terror attacks, including expanding quarantine powers. The measure now goes back to the House for concurrence in amendments. The bill is one of several measures the legislature has considered in light of the the Sept. 11 attacks. Sen. Hugh Webster (R-Caswell) cast the only dissenting vote.

The House on Tuesday concurred with Senate amendments to H. 1649 Charlotte/Douglas Airport Contracts (Drew Saunders) and the measure was enrolled. The measure extends until 2007 a law allowing Charlotte to contract with private developers for work at the airport.

The House on Tuesday gave second- and third-reading approval to H. 1040 Temporary Extended Unemployment Benefits (Ruth Easterling) and sent the measure to the Senate. The ESC-backed bill  would tap a federal program and allow the state to extend an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits to workers who lost jobs early in the recession.

The Senate on Wednesday rejected House amendments to S. 1037 No Air Permit Required Until Facility Operational (David Hoyle), and appointed conferees to work with the House on resolving differences over the legislation. Sen. Hoyle (D-Gaston) was appointed chair of the Senate conferees. Members are Sens. Aaron W. Plyler, John Garwood and Cal Cunningham.

The Senate on Tuesday concurred with House amendments to S. 1195 Seven Devils Occupancy Tax (Virginia Foxx) and the measure was enrolled. The measure authorizes occupancy taxes in the mountain resort town, with the proceeds to be applied to tourism development. On Wednesday the Senate gave final approval to H. 1620 Jonesville Occupancy Tax (George Holmes) and the measure was enrolled. It would allow Jonesville to charge a three percent hotel occupancy tax and use the proceeds for tourism development.

The Senate on Tuesday gave second- and third-reading approval to H 1783  Amber Alert Authorization (Michael Decker) and the House-passed measure was enrolled. It would create a program allowing police to broadcast news of missing children over radio stations, as several other states now do.

The House Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday favorably reported H. 1564 Inactive Hazardous Sites Amendments (Joe Hackney) and H. 1572 Environmental Report Amendments (Pryor Gibson).


Education
SAT scores move up 6 points, state now surpasses Southeast average
Average SAT scores moved up six points last school year to 998, moving North Carolina above the Southeast average for the first time. The increase in SAT scores came entirely on the math portion of the college entrance exam taken by 46,180 graduating seniors, rising from 499 to 505; the verbal score remained unchanged at 493. The national average SAT score was unchanged at 1020.

North Carolina's verbal score is now 11 points away from the nation's verbal score and 11 points away from the nation's math score. At one point (1991), North Carolina's math score was 26 points and verbal score was 21 points away from the national averages. With the gain, North Carolina moves up from 47th in the nation to tie with Pennsylvania for 45th. North Carolina has passed Georgia, Texas, Florida, South Carolina and the District of Columbia.

North Carolina has improved its score each year since 1990, except in 1994 when there was no change. From 1990 to 2002, North Carolina gained more points (50) than any other state with more than 12 percent SAT takers. A dozen years ago, North Carolina's average SAT scores were 25 points below the Southeast average and 53 points below the national average. Thirty years ago, North Carolina's SAT scores were 83 points below the national average. The 50-point gain in average SAT scores in North Carolina between 1990 and 2002 is better than all but six other states.

Phil Kirk, president of NCCBI and chairman of the State Board of Education Chairman, said "these scores show that the focus in our state is paying off in better performance. We need to convince more students that they need to take tougher courses if they are considering going to college and we'll see even better results."

State Superintendent Mike Ward said that he is particularly pleased to see North Carolina's SAT results move above the Southeast average. "The SAT is one of the national indicators that we track to see how our students are performing. Universities tell us that the students we're sending to them are better prepared for college-level work. That's backed up by these results."

In 2002, the average score of North Carolina's African-American students increased four points to 839. The average scores of African-American students nationally fell two points to 857. The gap between scores of black (839) and white (1046) students in North Carolina increased by one point from the previous year. Nationally, the gap increased by two points. North Carolina's Hispanic students scored 961 in 2002, a 14-point decrease over the previous year, but that's still  50 points higher than their counterparts in the nation.

Students from more affluent backgrounds scored significantly better on the test. The average SAT score was 1031 for students whose parents have a college education. The average score was 1108 for students from households with a family income of more than $100,000.

State Government Watch
Interagency team offers help to businesses in dealing with drought
Responding to Gov. Mike Easley’s call for state government agencies to reduce their water consumption by 20 percent by eliminating all non-essential uses, an interagency Water System Protection Team has adopted guidelines to achieve the goal and has created a network of resources to help local communities protect water supplies. The guidelines and other water-saving tips can be found at www.sustainablenc.org/water.htm.

Easley also renewed his call for industries to reduce water use where possible. The governor encouraged any business needing help with reducing water use to contact Gene Byrd at the state Department of Commerce. Byrd's division provides services to existing businesses and can be reached at (919) 715-6134.

Commerce has set up a drought response team that will meet weekly to assess the current state of the response and to modify it as needed. Byrd's office has put together a plan to address major water users and major employers by county. In addition, the Industrial Assistance Section of DENR will coordinate technical visits with Commerce specialists to ensure that timely visits are made to businesses around the state.

The Small Business and Technological Development Center within Commerce will work specifically with smaller businesses and commercial/retail water users. Tammy Lester, senior economist in the Commerce Research division, will chair an Economic Impact Task Force to identify a model to help assess the overall cost of the disaster to North Carolina.

State water supply experts are working with water systems to address drought conditions unique to each community. Staff members have developed a tiered list of water systems to help them identify problem communities. To help speed the approval of emergency measures, they are allowing systems to design expansions as they are built instead of requiring plans up front.

Water supply staff members are also investigating well sites, providing assistance on what types of monitoring are required of new wells, testing streams for emergency intakes to ensure they are treatable for drinking water, negotiating emergency interconnections between towns, coordinating with the Division of Emergency Management to get pumps for new intakes and wells, evaluating farm ponds for potential use, and following up with the many newly-created public water systems that are resulting from the epidemic of wells being drilled as replacement supplies.

The N.C. Utilities Commission issued a letter strongly encouraging its regulated water systems to comply with the governor's request for 20 percent reductions immediately, and stating it would issue mandatory restrictions if voluntary conservation measures are not effective.

Jobless rates rise in four metro areas
Unemployment rates rose in four metro areas in July and declined in four others, according to Employment Security Commission data. The biggest increase was in the Goldsboro MSA, where the jobless rate jumped nine-tenths of a point to 7.3 percent. In most cases, the rise in unemployment in the metro areas of the state were largely attributed to the temporary shutdown of many manufacturing plants as the end of the fiscal year approached, resulting in a higher than average number of attached claims. After one to two weeks, the plants re-open and employees return to their jobs. The metro jobless rates in July were:

Asheville, 4.5 percent, down from 4.6 percent
Charlotte/Gastonia/Rock Hill, 6.5 percent, unchanged
Fayetteville, 6.9 percent, up from 6.8 percent
Goldsboro, 7.3 percent, up from 6.4 percent
Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, 7.1 percent, up from 6.5 percent
Hickory/Morganton/Lenoir, 9.0 percent, up from 8.4 percent
Jacksonville, 5.9 percent, down from 6.3 percent
Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, 5.4 percent, unchanged
Rocky Mount, 10.3 percent, down from 10.4 percent
Wilmington, 6.5 percent, down from 6.6 percent

A Labor Day Report on the Economy
Top forecaster predicts 2.6% growth this year, 3.8% next year 
While not faring so well as it has in recent years, the U.S. economy remains in decent shape and will perform better this year than the economies of Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada, according to UNC-Chapel Hill professor James F. Smith, who predicted the U.S. economy "may grow by 2.6 percent this year and 3.8 percent in 2003." For as long as the next decade, the United States could average 3.5 percent growth in real gross domestic product annually with very low inflation, Smith said.

"Many analysts and pundits seem to like nothing better than to regularly suggest that the current expansion of the U.S. economy is 'fragile,' 'sputtering,' 'headed for a double dip' or some equally inaccurate and unflattering phrase," said Smith, rated by The Wall Street Journal as the nation's most accurate economic forecaster in three of the past five years. "The truth is that nearly every new economic indicator each week gives testimony to the  strength and robust nature of the current expansion in the United States."

Among signs that the U.S. economy is not nearly so shaky as many people seem to think is that business investments in equipment and software have turned up, Smith said. Other signs are that consumer confidence remains high, as measured by the University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment, and that more people are relying successfully on state and federal programs that enable them to buy their first homes. Still others are that both new and existing single-family home sales are robust and both long-term fixed and adjustable-rate mortgages are near all-time lows.

All the gloom and doom about drops in the stock market will pass, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, at least, should set new records within a year if not by 2002's end, Smith said.

"The big profitable companies in the Dow are continuing to increase revenues and profits, even using the most stringent accounting rules possible," he wrote. "Indeed, the fallout from the shenanigans of (such companies as Enron and WorldCom) with very bad actors in very high places is that the quality of corporate earnings in the U.S. today is higher than it ever has been before. This should reassure investors, both domestic and foreign."


NAM survey also predicts 2.6% growth in GDP but no uptick in capital spending
More than three-fourths of manufacturers do not foresee a double-dip recession and expect growth to continue through the second half of the year, according to the annual Labor Day Report on the State of the American Worker issued by the National Association of Manufacturers.

”While our survey shows a lull in economic activity in July and August, manufacturing orders for September and October are picking up, which is a promising sign that the recovery remains on track,” said NAM President Jerry Jasinowski. “(Monday’s) report on durable goods orders reinforces that positive message. We expect to see moderate GDP growth of 2.6 percent for the remainder of this year.

“The good news is that the negative factors driving the economy into recession have worked their way through the system,” Jasinowski added. “Interest rates are at historic lows, energy costs have come down from previous highs, excess inventories have been worked off and the dollar appears to be moving toward market equilibrium with other currencies. Also, the fundamentals of strong consumer economic activity are in place with both productivity and incomes are rising. Thus, we believe a gradual upturn in manufacturing employment will emerge next year."

The NAM survey shows that 80 percent of manufacturers expect their capital spending to remain flat or actually decline through the remainder of this year. Manufacturers also expect industrial production will continue to grow this fall. After expecting orders to decline by -0.8 percent in August, the survey shows orders will grow by 1 percent in September and 1.2 percent in October. Manufacturing output should follow the same growth path as during the first half of the year – in the range of 3.5 to 4 percent growth. The NAM survey suggests that uncertainty, credit constraints and depressed export opportunities are the major causes for the lack of a rebound in capital investment this year.

As a result of sluggish capital and export growth, manufacturers expect employment to decline by 0.6 percent during the next six months and then rise by 0.8 percent the following six months.

Federal Issues
Edwards secures grants for water projects
Five communities in North Carolina will split $9.2 million in grants and $3 million in low-interest loans for water projects, U.S. Sen. John Edwards announced Monday. The funds from the U.S. Agriculture Department's Rural Development program will be used for: $3.9 million for a water district in Edgecombe County to provide water service to 870 homes and businesses; a $2 million grant and a $2.7 million loan for the new Buffalo Water District to provide water service to 757 homes and businesses in Johnston County; a $732,800 grant and $400,000 loan to help the town of Faith pay for a sanitary sewer system; a $1.5 million grant to Washington, N.C., to upgrade its regional wastewater treatment plant; and a $1 million grant to Fayetteville to extend sewer service to DuPont Teijin Films, DAK Americas and Cedar Creek Fibers. The project is expected to spur an estimated $8 million in private investment and help preserve 240 jobs in the area.

Edwards announces crime-fighting funds for seven communities
Seven communities will split $808,245 from the Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, U.S. Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) said recently. The grants will pay 75 percent of the cost of high-tech crime-fighting tools such as car-mounted computers, computer-aided dispatch systems, crime analysis hardware and software, video arraignment systems and automated fingerprint identification systems. The communities that won funding include:

• High Point Police Department, $180,000
• Monroe Department of Public Safety, $112,500
• City of New Bern, $251,884
• Orange County Sheriff's Department, $38,547
• Surry County Sheriff's Department, $81,000
• Town of Troy, $26,478
• Yancey County Sheriff's Department, $117,809

Names in the News
Four to be inducted into Business Hall of Fame
Grandfather Mountain president Hugh M. Morton, Pine Needles Resort owner Peggy Kirk Bell, Ruddick Corp. chairman Alan Dickson and the late James J. Harris will be inducted into the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame during ceremonies in Charlotte on Nov. 14. The event is sponsored by Junior Achievement and NCCBI. The event will be at the Charlotte Hilton & Towers. For information on table reservations for the reception and dinner, call JA at 704-536-9668 or e-mail Shannon Martin at smartin@jacarolinas.org. The North Carolina Business Hall of Fame was established in 1988 to recognize business leaders who significantly contributed to building the state's economy and who provided outstanding community and statewide service. Inductees into the Hall of Fame must be retired from their organization or be at least 70 years old. To date, 60 men and women have been inducted. 

George Richard Murphy was appointed to the District Court bench in Johnston County by Gov. Mike Easley to fill the unexpired term of retired Judge Yates Dobson. Before going into private practice, Murphy worked as an assistant district attorney and police attorney. 

NCCBI News
Are you registered for the NCCBI membership meeting in your area?
Hundreds of NCCBI members have sent in their registration forms to attend one of the 19 area meetings coming up in September and October. We hope you plan to attend one, because this year we've updated the format to make the meetings more informative for you -- including a question and answer session at the end of each meeting. If you haven't already registered, please consult the calendar below to select the event you'd like to attend. Then, send in the registration brochure we previously mailed to all members. It's not a problem if you can't locate the brochure; just send an e-mail to Marsha Lewandowski of the NCCBI staff at mlewandowski@nccbi.org stating your name, company name and the site of the meeting you'd like to attend. See you there!

Kirk tells Rotarians state needs new economic development policies
For North Carolina to remain competitive both nationally and internationally, we must change the way we do business as it relates to economic development, NCCBI President Phil Kirk told more than 200 members of the Downtown Rotary Club in Charlotte on Tuesday. "The Economic Development Board has been working for the past year on a new economic development plan for the state, and it will be finalized within the next couple of months," he said. Kirk is a member of the board, which is chaired by Gordon Myers, immediate past chair of NCCBI.

Among the challenges facing the state, Kirk listed workforce preparedness; a fair, competitive tax structure, economic development incentives; environmental policies based on science rather than politics; uneven growth across the state; transportation; and health care.

He urged the Rotarians to contact their state House members to urge them to vote for a constitutional amendment limiting the length of legislative sessions. "The problem with passing this amendment in the House is that too many would rather be in Raleigh than at home," Kirk said, pointing out that nearly half of the legislators in the House are retired or depend on their legislative pay and per diem money for much of their income.

As chairman of the State Board of Education, Kirk lauded the recent announcement of the improved SAT scores. While the nation's SAT scores did not go up this year, North Carolina seniors saw their math scores increase by six points, one of the largest gains in the nation. North Carolina for the first time is ahead of the Southeast average and trails the national average by only 11 points in the verbal section and 11 in math.

"We are no longer on the bottom," Kirk said. "We have passed Texas, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and the District of Columbia and are tied with Pennsylvania. What is so remarkable about our continuous improvement is that it has come at the same time the numbers of students taking the test has increased.  That percentage jumped by five this year to 67 percent of eligible students taking the SAT compared to single-digits in many states. But we cannot rest until we reach the top!"


Effective leaders focus on creating partnerships, Kirk says
Successful leaders do not have to be loud, do not have to be at the front of the parade, and do not worry about who gets the credit for good deeds, NCCBI President Phil Kirk told those attending the Power Breakfast sponsored by the Capital City Club and Business Digest at its August breakfast at the Capital City Club in Raleigh.

"Effective leaders are able to put together people who can work together as a team," Kirk said. "Precious little is accomplished by any one group in Raleigh. We often have to form coalitions in order for goals to be turned into legislative victories."

Kirk told the group that leaders need vision, patience, a sense of humor, and a certain amount of humility.  "While leadership traits can be inherited and nurtured by families, leadership can also be taught and learned." He discussed the variety of local, regional, and state leadership programs in North Carolina.

"I am afraid that we have too many politicians today -- and to a certain extent, people in other professions -- who are more interested in being popular than in making the tough decisions. Too many candidates rely too much on political polling and what their consultants tell them they must do in order to be re-elected," Kirk said. "However, it is not just the politicians who are to blame. We deserve some of it, too. Do we want our leaders to be candid?  Do we want them to tell us what we want to hear or what we should hear?” he asked.

In closing, Kirk addressed those who prefer to be followers, rather than leaders. "That choice does not mean you are just along for the ride. That does not mean you have no responsibility for what goes on about you. You need to support our leaders, in good times and bad, and you need to give them advice because leaders certainly do not have all the answers or all the wisdom."

Events 
Defense attorneys plan forum with candidates for appellate courts
The North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys will hold a Judicial Candidates’ Forum on Friday, Oct. 25, at the Grandover Resort & Conference Center in Greensboro. The forum, which rill run from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., will feature judicial candidates for seats on the North Carolina Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. The forum, which NCCBI is co-sponsoring, will be held in conjunction with the Defense Attorneys’ annual Fall Seminar, is expected to attract more than 300 attendees.

Twenty-one candidates are seeking election for open appellate level judicial seats - six candidates for the state Supreme Court and 15 candidates for the Court of Appeals. Candidate participation will be confirmed after the Sept. 10 primary elections. Information about each candidate may be found on the NCADA’s website at www.ncada.org.

The forum gives members of the public and the bar a rare opportunity to learn about the candidates who wish to serve the state at the appellate court level. Each candidate will have the opportunity to briefly discuss his or her qualifications for the position and answer brief questions regarding areas of concern for civil defense attorneys and their clients.

The North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys brings together civil trial attorneys to promote the exchange of information, ideas, and litigation techniques, and to strengthen the practice, improve the skills, and enhance the knowledge of lawyers defending individuals and businesses in North Carolina. For more information about the N.C. Association of Defense Attorneys or the Judicial Candidates’ Forum, please contact the Association office at 1-800-233-2858. 

Pinehurst to host Executive Golf Championships
If you’re an upper-level executive with a golf game to match, then the inaugural United States Executive Golf Championships might just fit you to a tee. Scheduled for Nov. 14-17 at Pinehurst Country Club, the 54-hole tournament is for CEOs and other business executives nationwide who boast handicaps of 15 and under. It is being staged by Executive Golf Management, headed by former Duke University and NBA star Jack Marin, along with Pinehurst Championship Management. Gov. Mike Easley has agreed to serve as the tournament’s honorary chairman.

The event will be played as a gross tournament with flights for various handicap brackets as well as an overall championship to determine the 2002 U. S. Executive Golf Champion. There will also be a best-ball consolation. In all, there will be six championships to vie for. With Pinehurst Championship Management assisting in the operation of the event, it is an opportunity for business executives to participate in a championship-caliber event on a U.S. Open golf course. The tournament will be played at Pinehurst No. 2, No. 4 and No. 8.

NCCBI believes that this event can become a showcase for North Carolina and an annual attraction for some of America's finest business leaders to visit our great state. To date, the tournament has commitments from approximately 35 business executives from across the country. In this inaugural year a field of 60 would be ideal, but 120 can be accommodated. For more information, contact Jack Marin (919-981-4058 or jack@USexecutivegolf.com) or Bert Hensley (919-672-2237 or bert@USexecutivegolf.com).

Easley announces memorial ceremony to mark Sept. 11 attacks
Gov. Mike Easley and First Lady Mary Easley invite the public to attend a special ceremony on Wednesday, Sept. 11 on the State Capitol grounds (Hillsborough Street side) at 11 a.m. to honor those who perished in the terrorists' attack. Special guests scheduled to participate include: Gov. and Mrs. Easley, Secretary of Crime Control & Public Safety Bryan Beatty, Adjutant General William E. Ingram Jr., and Raleigh City Mayor Charles Meeker. Guests will hear patriotic music from the Raleigh Concert Band, Carolina Harmony Chorus, Sweet Adelines International, and others.  

The NCCBI master calendar of meetings and events

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