Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1286123
4 UCW SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2020 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR April Olsen april@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING ASSOCIATES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, Karl Merritt, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Prudence Mainor, Avery Powers, Crissy Neville ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: 910-484-6200 FAX: 910-484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. © 2020 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN In spite of COVID-19 and Gov. Roy Cooper's expansion to Phase 2.5, Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin and I had an in-depth conver- sation last week about the many opportunities (and challenges) facing our community. We both agreed we had much to be thankful for and even more to look forward to in the near future. Despite COVID-19, Market House debates and Proud Boy infiltrators, there are good things happening in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. Recently, the Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development Corporation, under the leadership of CEO Robert Van Geons, announced that Dansons, a manufacturer of BBQ pellet grills and related equipment selected Fayetteville as their newest location for a distribution and customer service call center. e facility will be located on Technology Drive and will create an estimated 118 full-time jobs for our community as well as a $10 million investment with growth potential two and a half times that. is is great news! Kudo's to Mr. Van Geons, for shepherding this project through by working closely with the North Carolina Depart- ment of Commerce and the Eco- nomic Development Partnership of North Carolina. Other key partners assisted in the recruiting and coordinating efforts by securing $400,000 from North Carolina's "One NC Grant" and, a $175,000 job creation grant from our Cumberland County Commissioners. In addition, the North Carolina Community College System provided a $91,000 training grant which will be managed by Fayetteville Technical Community College. is is a near perfect example that "it takes a village" to develop and secure successful economic development projects. It also takes dedicated leader- ship, keen minds and vision for what we want Fayetteville and Cumberland County to be for future generations. Another recent example of leadership and vision was the action taken by the management team of our hometown utility PWC with its responsive customer service and quick reaction in assisting lo- cal customers dealing with the financial hardships created by the pandemic. In March Gov. Cooper issued an executive order governing billing and utility cutoff procedures statewide. On July 29 these restrictions on billing and disconnects were lifted making nor- mal utility usage payments due. Anticipating the difficulty and hardships some customers would experience in paying their bills, PWC automatically implemented special payment terms on past due balances extending payments over a six month period for all their customers. is was no small task since it affected nearly 30,000 local PWC customers and repre- sented millions of dollars in past due fees. In addition, PWC has made customer service representatives available to counsel and direct those customers who still have difficulty with their pay- ments to local resources and agencies for assistance. By being proactive and coming to the aid of local residents, PWC demonstrates the kind of dedica- tion, commitment, talent, business leadership and vision that builds and maintains prosperous communities. It is doubtful that many utility companies across the country operate or respond to their customers like Fayetteville's hometown utility. I admit these are crazy times for everyone. COVID-19 and this annoying pandemic won't last forever. Neither will the masks! No doubt this community has the resources, people and talent to attract organizations and great industries like Dansons. By working together (city, county, media), communi- cating with one another, sharing ideas, visions, and encouraging dynamic leadership, Fayetteville can be one of North Carolina's greatest cities. Agree? ank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Fayetteville/Cumberland County welcomes new industry, congratulates hometown utility PWC by BILL BOWMAN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COM- MENTS? BILL@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. HIGH 86 LOW 69 HIGH 85 HIGH 86 HIGH 84 HIGH 86 LOW 70 LOW 69 SEP 14 SEP 13 SEP 11 SEP 15 SEP 10 THURSDAY FRIDAY SUNDAY MONDAY HIGH 89 LOW 72 LOW 68 TUESDAY LOW 69 PM Thunderstorms Scattered Thunderstorms SEP 12 SATURDAY Partly Cloudy PM Thunderstorms Isolated Thunderstorms Isolated Thunderstorms