Up & Coming Weekly

May 15, 2018

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.

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26 UCW MAY 16-22, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Hope Mills News & Views Hope Mills eager to connect with local builders by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Hope Mills has a lot of projects to bring to the table when the town takes part in the upcoming Building Business Rally at Fayetteville Technical Community College on May 22 in the Horace Sisk Gymnasium. e event, which runs from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. that day, offers local builders and contractors the chance to connect with representatives from local munici- palities and schools to learn about various projects they've got in the works and, hopefully, increase the chances of the two working together. Registration is available online at faybids.com or at the door the day of the event, said Chancer McLaughlin, the development and planning admin- istrator for the town of Hope Mills. "It's an event intended to bring area purchasing offices together, to be able to provide opportunities for local businesses to bid on municipal projects,'' he said. "It's almost like a one-stop shop in terms of businesses being able to come and find out about these opportunities.'' While, in most cases, municipalities are required to take the low bid in a competitive search for the best deal, McLaughlin said what the rally does most of all is make smaller local contractors aware of the projects that are available. "Basically, you have 10 purchasing offices, 12 business support programs, everybody from the town of Hope Mills, PWC, city of Fayetteville, Cumberland County Schools, Hoke County, city of Spring Lake – all of us will be there to provide infor- mation to any local business that would like to do business with these municipalities. "We're definitely trying to push for an increase in local participation so they can be prepared for these opportunities as well,'' McLaughlin said. "It's not about being able to get a lower bid. It's really just to know about the bid opportunity. I don't think there's anything we're going to provide that will al- low someone's light bulb to go on and say, 'is will teach me how to become a lower bidder.''' McLaughlin said the gather- ing could be a real plus to small builders and contractors who might encounter a larger con- tractor they could connect with. "Local contractors will know who the big contractors are, so they can link up that way,'' he said. "ere may be bid packages for those smaller businesses, things they can do directly. It's definitely an opportunity for these smaller businesses to grow.'' McLaughlin said Hope Mills has a five-year list of projects that it will be sharing at the meeting. "Our total from fiscal year 2017 to 2022 is $34 million, so that's what we'll have in terms of avail- able expenditures we're project- ing,'' he said. Some of the bigger projects on the Hope Mills list are a joint services building for the fire and police departments, the future construc- tion being discussed on the old Hope Mills Golf Course property, the planned Heritage Park and the proposed town museum. "It's really a projection of upcoming opportunities and trying to find the best way to get this informa- tion out there so it increases their opportunity to bid on these projects,'' McLaughlin said. "e town of Hope Mills is definitely committed to supporting local businesses. We are eager to be a part of this program.'' For further information on the Building Business Rally, visit faybids.com or call Lexi Hasapis at PWC at 910-223-4607. Meetings For details about all meetings and activities, including location where not listed, call Town Clerk Debbie Holland at 910-426-4113. Most meetings take place at Town Hall. • Citizens Academy every Tuesday through June, 6-8 p.m. • Lake Celebration Committee Monday, May 21, 5 p.m. • Board of Adjustment Monday, May 21, 6 p.m. • Mayor's Youth Committee Monday, May 21, 6:30 p.m. • Board of Commissioners Monday, May 21, 7 p.m. • Appearance Committee Tuesday, May 22, 6:30 p.m. • Veterans Affairs Commissioner ursday, May 24, 7 p.m. Activities • Hope Mills Area Kiwanis Club at Sammio's, second Tuesdays at noon at and fourth Tuesdays at 6 p.m. For more information, call 910-237-1240. • Town offices closed for Memorial Day Monday, May 28. • Fall sports registration June 1-July 28. $30 per child; $15 late fee after registration deadline. Season begins Sept. 8. Call 910-426-4109 for more information. • Daddy/Daughter Dinner & Dance Saturday, June 9, 6 p.m. $50 per couple plus $20 for each additional ticket purchased. Call 910-426-4107 to RSVP by June 1. • First Annual 4th of July Pageant Friday-Saturday, June 22-23. To be held at Hope Mills Parks & Recreation Center Gymnasium. Friday is for ages 3-9 and Saturday is for ages 10- 22. Pageant registration deadline is June 1. For more informa- tion, call 910-426-4107. Promote yourself: To include your business's event, email hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com. EVENTS EARL VAUGHAN JR., Senior Staff Writer. COMMENTS? EarlUCWS- ports@gmail.com. 910-364-6638. NEWS Chancer McLaughlin, Hope Mills development and planning administrator McLaughlin said what the rally does most of all is make local contractors aware of the projects that are available.

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