The World Company Puts City of Raleigh Employees to the Test

Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 7:54 pm

Raleigh, NC – Raleigh city employees who work with Spanish speaking citizens have an opportunity to assess their foreign language skill level and get paid for it.

Through a unique language skills-building partnership with The Raleigh-based World Company, the city offers comprehensive Spanish language testing to employees—within all departments—who routinely deal with Spanish speakers.

To date, over 60 eligible workers have participated in this innovative program designed to better connect non-English speaking citizens with the services they need and to improve communications with those who provide them.

The program, now in its fourth year, also gives city workers an opportunity to earn a bonus. Those who pass Level 7 (verbal) or Level 6 (written) on a proficiency scale of 1 through 9 receive a $500 incentive payment. The written and verbal language proficiency test includes speaking, reading, writing, translating and listening comprehension skills.

“I commend the city of Raleigh for implementing this leading edge program to encourage city workers to learn and use Spanish for the greater good,” said Clodagh Lyons-Bastian, director of The World Company. “Good communication between the city and its citizens is vital to the area’s well-being.”

This year’s testing took place on Wednesday, January 23rd.

Raleigh Artist Creates Cool Interior for Glenwood South Boutique

Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 7:48 pm

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Clark Hipolito, the Raleigh artist who originally honed his skills at MTV, has created a hip ambience for Catch 22, a new clothing boutique on Raleigh’s trendy Glenwood South district, through his signature specialty painting effects.

Located at 322 Glenwood Avenue, Catch 22 features a turquoise wall emblazoned with gold script and eggplant walls where Hipolito free-handed scrollwork that pops behind the store’s collection of hand-picked collections from up-and-coming designers around the world.

The boutique is owned and operated by Heather Long who sees Catch 22 as “bridging the gap between Raleighwood and Hollywood.” The store carries some of her favorite styles for men and women as well as her own line of “super glam cocktail dresses.”

“I had some great inspiration working with Heather,” Hipolito said. “She has incredible design sense, so it was easy to bounce ideas back and forth and make things happen on the fly. She was so much fun to work with, and extremely easy going throughout the entire process.”

Catch 22 is also displaying some of Hipolito’s hand-painted woodgrain surfboards from his “Against The Grain” and “Surf du Jour” collections, which he creates through his new company ArtCo Surf

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Raleigh Intern Becomes Registered Architect, AIA Member

Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 7:41 pm

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RALEIGH, NC – Frank Harmon Architect is pleased to announce that ERIN STERLING has successfully completed her registration exams and is a registered architect and a member of the American Institute of Architects.

Sterling, 29, has served as a project architect on many of the firm’s significant projects, including the North Carolina Botanical Garden Visitor Education Center in Chapel Hill, The Walnut Creek Urban Wetland Park in Raleigh, the Smith Residence in Raleigh, and Merchants Millpond Visitor Center in Gatesville, the NC Parks & Recreation Department’s first LEED®-rated facility, located on an historic site that has more biological species than any State Park in North Carolina.

Since joining Frank Harmon Architect in 2002, Sterling has become a LEED® Accredited Professional and has played an integral role in establishing the firm as a national leader in innovative, sustainable, contemporary architecture. Last year Triangle Real Estate Magazine included her in a list of professionals noted “for their continuing achievements and their contributions to the real estate community.”

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Smith Debnam’s Bettie Kelley Sousa Elected Officer of National Board

Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 7:32 pm

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Raleigh, NC – Raleigh attorney Bettie Kelley Sousa, a partner with the firm of Smith Debnam Narron Wyche Saintsing & Myers, L.L.P., was elected Secretary of the American Board of Certification at its recent meeting in Rancho Mirage, California. Accredited by the American Bar Association, ABC administers the only nationwide certification of specialists in the legal fields of creditors’ rights and bankruptcy. Mrs. Sousa, primarily a business litigator, has been a creditors’ rights specialist since the certification was first available in 1993. She has served on ABC’s Board of Directors since 2002, on its Executive Committee since 2004, and was Chair of its Standards Committee in 2005 and 2006. In addition Mr. Jerry T. Myers, the managing partner of Smith Debnam, was newly elected to ABC’s Board of Directors for a three-year term

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Beacon Financial Strategies’ Chip Hymiller, CFP® selected for membership into National Association of Personal Financial Advisors

Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 7:27 pm

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Raleigh, NC – Nathan R. “Chip” Hymiller, III, a principal with the Raleigh-based Beacon Financial Strategies, has been accepted for membership into the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA). Membership in NAPFA is granted only to Fee-Only financial advisors who are paid directly by their clients. NAPFA members receive no commissions or other rewards for selling financial products. Compensation for selling financial products creates potential conflicts of interest that could undermine an advisor’s objective and fiduciary responsibility.

NAPFA has some of the industry’s most rigorous education and training requirements. Additionally, all candidates for membership are required to submit a complete comprehensive financial plan for a full-scale peer review.

“Chip Hymiller, CFP® is a welcome addition to our organization,” says NAPFA Chair Tom Orecchio, a financial advisor in Old Tappan, N.J. “Membership in NAPFA denotes a real accomplishment for any financial advisor. We recently surpassed 1,700 members and are always pleased when we can strengthen our ranks with well-trained, highly committed financial advisors.”

“Our mission for more than 20 years has been to provide comprehensive, client-centered advice to individuals and families. Our services are provided in a fee-only manner, with no sales of any products, and with full disclosure of any financial conflicts. The superior nature of this type of financial planning is widely recognized by the leaders of the financial services industry and the media.”

Erin Campbell, CPA, also a principal with Beacon Financial Strategies, adds, “We are proud that Chip has been accepted for membership into NAPFA. This underscores our firm’s commitment to providing clients with objective, trustworthy financial advice.”

Since 1983, The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) has provided Fee-Only financial planners across the country with some of the strictest guidelines possible for professional competency, comprehensive financial planning and Fee-Only compensation. With more than 1,700 members across the country, NAPFA is the leading professional association in the United States dedicated to the advancement of Fee-Only comprehensive financial planning. For more information on NAPFA, please visit www.NAPFA.org.

For further information on Beacon Financial Strategies, visit www.BeaconFinancialStrategies.com.

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2007 Builder of the Year Joins Anderson Pointe

Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 7:21 pm

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Windjam Development is pleased to announce that Atreus Homes & Communities will participate in Phase III of Anderson Pointe.

Developed by Windjam, Anderson Pointe is a 110 site master planned community centrally located in Raleigh. Its location puts buyers just minutes from many of the area’s most outstanding attractions and affords an exceptional lifestyle. The community features panoramas stretching to Raleigh’s downtown skyline and incorporates some beautiful waterfront home sites. One of Raleigh’s larger park and recreation areas is beside the community and joins the Neuse River adding additional value to the home sites. Only 51 home sites remain in Anderson Pointe as the community’s third and final phase of development commences.

About Atreus Homes & Communities
Formerly HomeLife Communities, Atreus Homes & Communities is dedicated to bringing affordable homes to new families in new markets coast to coast. The company is known for its charitable work and was chosen by ABC TV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” to build two homes for deserving families. Last year the company’s Raleigh division built an Extreme Home for the Riggins family in downtown Raleigh’s Historic Mordecai community.

To learn more about Atreus Homes & Communities, visit www.AtreusHomes.com.

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Gingerbread LittleVersity Receives Five Star Rating

Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 7:14 pm

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Fuquay, NC – The staff at Gingerbread LittleVersity, a childcare and preschool facility, is pleased to announce that they have earned a Five Star rating at their Downtown and North End locations from the North Carolina Division of Child Development. The Five Star licensing system accurately reflects the quality of the childcare facility and there is a significant relationship between the star rating level of a facility and the quality of the program. Gingerbread LittleVersity’s Five Star rating will assure parents and policy makers a higher quality of childcare.

“We are proud and excited to have earned the Five Star rating,” said Kelli Ketner owner of Gingerbread LittleVersity. “We hold our facilities and staff to very high standards and this designation affirms that.”

The criterion to earn a Five Star rating in a childcare facility includes but is not limited to:

score a six on the environmental ratings
program structure
activities for children
space for children
interactions with children
listening and talking
lower teacher/child ratios

For more information about Gingerbread LittleVersity, call 919.552.GRAD (4723).

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Exhibit Resources Donates Exhibit To Women’s Center Of Wake County

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 8:07 pm

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RALEIGH, N.C. – Lana Calloway, president of Exhibit Resources (www.exhibitresources.com), a full-service exhibit design agency, has announced that the firm has donated an exhibit to the Women’s Center of Wake County to be used in promotions and fundraising for the organization. Calloway serves on the board of directors for the Women’s Center and recently chaired a benefit dinner for the Women’s Center at Raleigh’s Caffe Luna in September. The Women’s Center of Wake County is a nonprofit organization that provides an array of services to low-income and homeless women and children. Services include: providing basic needs, such as food, clothing, personal care items, laundry vouchers and lockers for the homeless; providing supportive services, such as domestic-law legal clinics, attorney hotlines, free HIV and STD testing and counseling, and financial assistance and crisis counseling; and affordable housing services, such as an on-staff housing specialist and Epiphany House. For more information, visit www.wcwc.org.

“We are pleased to announce that we are donating an exhibit to the Women’s Center of Wake County,” said Calloway. “Having been actively involved with the organization for several years, I have seen firsthand how the agency improves women’s lives and we are proud to support them in their efforts.”

About Exhibit Resources:
Exhibit Resources, Inc. is a full-service exhibit design agency based in Raleigh, N.C. The company provides total trade show management, including the design, construction and installation of trade show exhibits for clients locally, nationally and internationally. In addition to custom corporate interiors, Exhibit Resources offers an extensive line of modular, portable and tabletop displays; warehousing and storage; refurbishment; and turnkey show logistics management. For more information, please call 919-832-4700 or visit the Web site at www.exhibitresources.com.

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Inside Out Sports Promotes Edde Burgess to e-Commerce Division

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 8:00 pm

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Cid Cardoso, Owner of Inside Out Sports triathlon shop in Cary & Charlotte, NC, announced today that Raleigh native and two time Ironman, Edde Burgess, has been promoted to run the e-Commerce division. Ed has extensive knowledge and experience in bike fitting and sales and is excited to meet the challenge of increasing online sales for the company. He attends the annual Interbike Expo each year in Las Vegas to meet with vendors and manufacturers of the latest in triathlon cycling technology. He also travels to several of the Ironman competitions in the US to represent the company at various Expo events.

About Inside Out Sports
Inside-Out Sports is the Triangle’s premier specialty running store and the East Coast’s largest and most complete triathlon shop specializing in running and triathlon for 14 years. Excellent long-term rapport with top-notch vendors allows the maintenance of a large, cutting edge inventory to satisfy the needs of the most discerning customers.

Inside-Out Sports was founded in December 1993 and opened its doors on February 19, 1994. With its narrow focus and outstanding customer service, Inside-Out Sports quickly established itself as the leading specialty running store in the Triangle. In 1995 Inside-Out Sports took ownership and title sponsorship of Triangle Triathlon and began expanding its involvement in the multi-sport market.

Over the years, Inside-Out Sports has sponsored and supported numerous annual events, including the Raleigh Marathon, the Women’s Distance Festival, the Inside-Out Sports Classic Half Marathon and the Inside-Out Sports Turkey Trot. Inside-Out Sports has also helped with the development and sponsorship of both the North Carolina and the Palmetto State Triathlon Series.

Following great success as the exclusive multi-sport retailer at Ironman USA and Ironman Florida, Inside-Out Sports expanded its relationship with Ironman North America to include all four U.S. Events in 2002 and 2003, including the inaugural Ironman Idaho and Ironman Wisconsin

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New Free Clinic Opened in Raleigh

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 7:55 pm

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RALEIGH, N.C. – The Mariam Clinic, a new nonprofit organization that provides free health care to low-income, uninsured adults in Wake and Durham Counties, opened its doors in October 2007. The clinic is located near Rex Healthcare Center in Raleigh and provides medical treatment for acute and chronic illnesses, as well as social service and physician referrals, psychiatry and counseling, discounted lab and radiology services, and interpreters for five languages, including Spanish and Arabic.

Open on Sunday afternoons from 1 PM – 5 PM, the Mariam Clinic was created to fill the gaps of other local safety net providers. With more than 100,000 uninsured citizens in Wake County alone, the need for such clinics is enormous. The Mariam Clinic offers weekend hours because 80% of the uninsured are employed, mostly in hourly-wage jobs, which can make it difficult to keep appointments during the traditional weekday hours of many clinics

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