Business Spotlight: Midnight Blue Martial Arts

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Many people seem to think that Karate is just a “kid thing.” That statement could not be further from the truth. Kim Gupton, the owner and a teacher at Midnight Blue Martial Arts, sat down with Kevin Bullock of WIZS to give you the breakdown.

Gupton said, “Many people think that Karate is just something for their kids to do, and they just watch. I have a parent or two that wants to get on the mat every once in a while, but that’s rare.” Karate was actually invented by adults, for adults.

Gupton also said, “People think that their child is going to get hurt doing karate; not here. We have had less than five people get hurt since we started, and that wasn’t because they did something wrong on the mat.”

Midnight Blue Martial Arts also does cheerleading from September until April, but the Karate lessons and training are year-round.

The process of going from a white belt to a black belt takes about four years. Gupton said, “It’s a four year college for kids and adults.”

When Gupton was asked why she decided to take up Karate, she said, “It gives confidence. I’ve never been in a situation where I was intimidated, because I knew I had this in my back pocket.”

To learn more about Midnight Blue Martial Arts call Kim at 252-438-8896 or visit them on Facebook.

Granville Chamber’s Small Business Saturday Recap

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The Granville County Chamber of Commerce kicked off their first-ever Small Business Saturday – Shop Local emphasis for Saturday, November 28th.  Preparation for the event included several preparation sessions, scheduled around Granville County, which included updating their Google information.

Small business owners were encouraged to participate by providing reasons for people to Shop Granville First on Small Business Saturday – the Saturday following Thanksgiving.

Reasons to patronize small businesses in Granville County on that particular day included coupons, specials, promotions designed to drive traffic into businesses, etc.  Business patrons of small businesses in the county took “passports” into the businesses where they shopped and then had the passports stamped/signed at the business.  Passports were turned in to one of the Chamber’s offices.  Grand prize winners were determined by the amount of different business stamps on a passport.

Grand prize winners were Deborah Lunsford and Doug and Vickie Logan.  Other prize winners were Steve and Marie Jones, Kim Dean and Mike and Barbara Felts.

Many businesses donated items for the Shop Small canvas bags that were distributed at the Chamber’s Thanksgiving breakfast.  Passports and Shop Small bags were also available at both Chamber offices the morning of Saturday, November 28th.

The Chamber’s Board of Directors is already planning for 2016 Small Business Saturday.

Donors of Small Business Saturday prizes were:  Butner-Creedmoor News, Coble Printing, Creedmoor Drug, Creedmoor Wellness Center, Curves of Butner-Creedmoor, Gentle Touch Reflexology, Gil-man Florist, Granville Gun Works, Lawn Ranger Services, M & M Consultants, Nan’s Young Fashions, Oxford Ace Hardware, Quality Drugs, Stovall’s Gifts and This ‘n That.

Corbitt Celebration held in Henderson

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On Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. the Corbitt Preservation Association in partnership with the City of Henderson, and the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce held at ribbon cutting to celebrate the Bennett H. Perry Jr. Museum in downtown Henderson.

Local dignitaries joined together to celebrate the rich history of The Corbitt Company as well as the City of Henderson.

Charles Powell, president of the Corbitt Preservation Association, said, “This event is a culmination of hard work. We worked 14 years to get to this point. We stayed true to our mission of preserving the Corbitt name, Corbitt products, Corbitt buildings and property, and founding a Corbitt Museum, and we’ve done it.”

However, Powell noted that there is still work to be done.

He said, “There are still people that do not know what a Corbitt is.”

The hours for the Bennett H. Perry Jr. Museum are Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. To find out more information about the Bennett H. Perry Jr. Museum, the Corbitt Preservation Association, and the history of The Corbitt Company please visit www.corbitttrucks.com.

Ellington set to lead Henderson-Vance Community Watch Association

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Mayor-elect Eddie Ellington is going to be a busy man. Last night at the Golden Corral in Henderson, Eddie Ellington was voted as the next president of the Henderson-Vance Community Watch Association. Ellington succeeded Dr. Gene Wood of the Calvary Baptist Church. Dr. Wood had held the position for the last three years.

Leonard Hight was voted by the board of directors as the new vice president of the Henderson-Vance Community Watch Association at the same meeting to replace Ellington’s vacated seat.

The Henderson-Vance Community Watch Association is widely regarded in North Carolina as it is the only such association in the state.

Vance-Granville Community Band to present free holiday concert on Dec. 3

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The Vance-Granville Community Band will perform its eighth annual Christmas Concert, entitled “Making Spirits Bright,” on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m. in the Civic Center on VGCC’s Main Campus in Vance County. Admission is free and the public is invited.

The band has prepared a program featuring a variety of holiday-themed favorites, including “All I Want for Christmas is You,” “A Holst Christmas,” a march called “Christmas Joy,” “The Bells of Saint Mary,” “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” a sing-a-long of popular Christmas songs, and “May the Good Lord Keep and Bless You.”

The concert will also feature students in the VGCC Music Scholars program: Shontiara Williams of Oxford (on vocals and piano), Kaleb Williamson of Bullock (guitar), Tiffany Barnes of Henderson (vocals) and Charles Keith of Raleigh (bass).

VGCC music instructor Ivory Brock is the band’s primary conductor. Also conducting for a portion of the concert will be Brian Miller, the recently-retired band director at Louisburg High School.

First formed in 2008, the all-volunteer Community Band has included VGCC students, local high school students, educators, and interested citizens from all four counties of the college’s service area (Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin) and beyond. For more information, call Ivory Brock at (252) 738-3222.

VGCC registers 350 potential lifesavers

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A recent Vance-Granville Community College service project added some 350 people to the registry of potential bone marrow donors. In partnership with the Project Life Movement and the “Save the Fox” campaign, the college held events on each of its four campuses during the week of Oct. 26-29.

Students, faculty, staff and community members signed up and swabbed their cheeks to provide DNA samples at these events. The painless registration process took only a few minutes, but could save a life if a participant turns out to be a match for someone in need of a bone marrow transplant. Such treatments are the only hope for many people diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia and other blood cancers and diseases. Around 60 percent of those in need of a donation currently cannot find a donor match, according to Project Life, a national movement that started with students at Davidson College and has spread to more than 25 other schools and has registered more than 13,000 donors.

The “Save the Fox” campaign is named after North Carolina Superior Court Judge Carl Fox of Orange County. Judge Fox was diagnosed with blood cancer in April and has searched for a suitable bone marrow donor.

At a kickoff event on Oct. 26 at VGCC’s Main Campus in Vance County, Dr. Stelfanie Williams, the college president, welcomed participants and commended the students, faculty and staff who contributed their time and energy to the project. “I love it when we take these opportunities to integrate service with learning and to give back to the community,” Dr. Williams said. “Like the students at Davidson College who started Project Life, our students are leaders of the future and can make a difference.” She particularly thanked the students in VGCC Health Sciences programs who took the lead in the registration drive. The very first student to register as a potential donor was Kala Williams of Henderson, a Pharmacy Technology major.

Also speaking at the kickoff was Project Life executive director David Lindsay, who received a successful bone marrow donation and helped found the organization with his fellow students at Davidson College. He thanked all of the participants in the VGCC registration drive. “This will create more chances that a patient like Judge Fox or a patient like me 25 years ago will have a second chance at a miracle,” Lindsay said. “That’s what the drive is all about: creating the possibility for miracles. Potentially everyone in this room is a match for someone you don’t even know.”

He noted that the decision to register as a potential donor, particularly for a young person, would have an impact for years to come. “Students who are 20 will be on the registry for 40 years,” Lindsay said. “Think about what it would feel like to get a call, find out you’re a match, and save someone’s life. I’m glad that Vance-Granville is now part of the Project Life movement, and I hope it becomes an annual event because the potential is immense.”

Attendees then heard remarks from VGCC Financial Aid Assistant Glynnis Wilson, who actually saved a life as a bone marrow donor. She was on the registry for more than eight years until 2006 when the National Marrow Donor Program called, informing her that she was a match. “People ask me if it hurt when I donated bone marrow,” Wilson said. “I always say that whatever I felt was nothing compared to what my recipient had endured. I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

VGCC Radiography student and Save the Fox student leader Nick Kemp of Franklinton thanked all of the volunteers who made the drive a success. “What we are really working for is the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life, hopefully multiple people’s lives,” Kemp said. “Everyone who registers is a potential lifesaver, maybe not for Judge Fox but perhaps for one of the hundreds of thousands of other people who are looking for a match.” He said that those who registered could look forward to a day “when your phone rings and you get the opportunity to help a fellow human being in need. I don’t know about any of you, but I hope my phone rings sooner rather than later.”

VGCC academic and career coach Seletha Pherribo, who helped spearhead the project, said that Save the Fox had helped unite the college and the community. After the first day at Main Campus, events were held at the Franklin County Campus on Oct. 27, the South Campus in Granville County on Oct. 28 and the Warren County Campus on Oct. 29. Pherribo thanked Project Life for its support. Project Life works with the Delete Blood Cancer organization to process the new potential donors. For more information on becoming a donor, visit www.projectlifemovement.org or www.deletebloodcancer.org.

New VGCC Job Driven Initiative staff connect area residents with training

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Two professional staff members are now in place at Vance-Granville Community College to help area residents obtain education and training through a special grant.

The college, in partnership with the Kerr-Tar Workforce Development Board, received a $147,000 “NCWorks Job Driven Initiative” (JDI) grant in 2014, made possible by federal funds awarded to the North Carolina Division of Workforce Solutions. VGCC currently ranks second out of 12 North Carolina community colleges in the number of students who have been approved for grant funding.

Rosemarie Baker is the new JDI Grant Program Marketer and Connie Ragland is the Grant Coach, both working in the VGCC Continuing Education division. Baker’s role is to educate the community about the program and recruit potential students, after which Ragland helps to see if they qualify for the program. For those who do, Ragland tracks their progress and helps guide them to success.

Baker, a resident of Clarksville, Va., spent more than 15 years teaching business and marketing classes, most of which were in the Vance County Schools system. She graduated from Longwood College (now Longwood University) in Virginia, with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with concentrations in Management and Marketing Management. Baker said that although she is new to her position, she knows the college well. “I actually began my college experience as a freshman at VGCC, I have taught classes for VGCC, and now, I’m recruiting students to take advantage of this great training under the JDI grant,” she said. Baker noted that if students meet the requirements as determined by NCWorks, the grant funding will pay for their tuition, books, certain supplies and certification testing fees.

A Henderson resident, Ragland has held various positions at area organizations including Kittrell Job Corps Center, FGV Partnership for Children, Granville County Schools and, most recently, the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce. She earned a degree in Business Administration at North Carolina A&T State University. Over the course of her career, Ragland has enjoyed working in many capacities that allowed her to help people of all ages, from young children to adults. Her proudest accomplishments, she said, have come from the benefits of operating two non-profits with her husband, R.O.Y. and New Horizons Training Group. “As the NCWorks JDI Grant Coach, I hope that this opportunity to serve will help someone be able to continue their educational pursuits because of the tuition assistance that it can provide,” Ragland said. “I’m excited to be a part of the Vance-Granville family.”

VGCC’s programs as part of the JDI are all designed to lead to industry-recognized or state-regulated credentials, and to prepare students for various entry-level jobs that address the needs of local employers. These programs include BioWork Process Technician, Certified Logistics Technician, Certified Production Technician (Manufacturing Skill Standards Council), Class B Commercial Driver License (CDL–B), Health Unit Coordinator, Health Unit Secretary, Nurse Aide,  Home Health Care Aide, Emergency Medical Technician-Basic, Guest Service Gold, Hospitality (START), and Heavy Equipment Operator.

Students must meet certain eligibility requirements to participate in the grant program. For more information, contact VGCC at raglandc@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3452.

Small Business Summit and Expo to be held October 20 at Warren County Armory

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via Andrew Beal

The Vance-Granville Community College Small Business Center has announced the complete lineup of presenters for the fourth annual Small Business Summit and Expo, which will be held Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 11:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. at the Warren County Armory Civic Center in Warrenton.

The Chamber of Commerce of Warren County, the Warren County Economic Development Commission, the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Warren County Center, and the Lake Gaston Regional Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center are partnering with the college to organize the event, which has the theme, “Weaving the Fabric of a Thriving Economy.” CenturyLink is the presenting sponsor. Other co-sponsors are Halifax Electric Membership Corporation, The Warren Record, Hundley’s Greenhouses, Inc., The Lake Gaston Gazette-Observer, 1450 AM WIZS, the Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald, The Daily Dispatch and WARR.

The summit kicks off with a keynote address during lunch by Susan E. Harris, owner of Quilt Lizzy in Warrenton. Her discussion is entitled “Why Your Small Town is a Great Place to Do Business.”

For the rest of the afternoon, attendees can choose from among several breakout sessions being held simultaneously.

During Session 1, from 1:15 until 2:15 p.m., the choices are: “Creative Opportunities for Arts and Crafts Businesses in the Community” with professional artist and educator Theresa Brown; “Making Your Business Model Work in a Small Town” with Warrenton town manager Robert Davie; and “Turning Your Passion Into a Business” with Adam Fields, owner of AF Wake & Wakeboard World Champion.

Session 2, from 2:30 until 3:30 p.m., offers these options: “Farm to Fork Enterprise” with Crystal Smith and Paul McKenzie of N.C. Cooperative Extension and Gabe Cummings of Warren FoodWorks; “Emerging Consumer Markets for Agriculture” with Debbie Hamrick, Director of Specialty Crops for the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation; and “Social Media: The Black Hole” with Dave Blodgett of Buggs Media.

For the third and final session (3:45 until 4:45 p.m.), attendees will select either “Financing Opportunities for Small Businesses” with Barry Ryan of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center and Lou Grillo of the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments; “USDA Loans & Grants Program” with Rhonda Pope, USDA Farm Service Agency’s Strike Force Coordinator and County Executive Director at large, Michelle Winslow, Dock Jones and Rob Satterfield, all of USDA/Farm Service Agency, and Lyn Millhiser of USDA/Rural Development; or “Social Media: The Black Hole” with Dave Blodgett of Buggs Media.

Between breakout sessions, attendees can browse through booths set up by representatives of various resources for small businesses. These include CenturyLink, Carter Bank & Trust, Ag Carolina Farm Credit, N.C. Rural Center, North Carolina Cooperative Extension – Warren County, Warren County Economic Development Commission, USDA, Kerr Tar Regional Council of Governments, Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald, Lake Gaston Regional Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center, Vance-Granville Community College, Vance-Granville Community College Small Business Center, Halifax Electric Membership Corporation, North Carolina Farm Bureau, North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development, The Daily Dispatch, WARR, and The Warren County Chamber of Commerce.

The purpose of the Small Business Summit and Expo is to engage, empower and enrich participants to help make their small businesses more successful. “We welcome all aspiring entrepreneurs, small business owners, and non-profit leaders to participate in this inspirational, educational and motivational experience with us,” said Tanya Weary, director of the VGCC Small Business Center.

Lunch is provided free of charge by CenturyLink to the first 50 registered participants. After that point, lunch is $10.

For more information, call Tanya Weary at (252) 738-3240 or e-mail her at smallbusiness@vgcc.edu.