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Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry has been on the job for eight months, and during that time, she’s had plenty of issues to deal with – filling vacant positions, finalizing the county’s budget and getting up to speed about ongoing challenges involving possible restructure of the fire services, a revaluation and dismissal of a key county official.

For a “glass-half-empty” person, navigating these sometimes choppy waters could be overwhelming. But Perry’s glass seems to always be at least half-full, and when she came on board, she said she was “excited to begin the journey.”

Perry’s first day on the job was Nov. 1, 2023, having been the deputy county manager in Halifax County.

She viewed numerous director vacancies in four county departments not as negatives, but as opportunities to build her leadership team and move forward. One director took another position within the county, another left citing family needs, and others left the county to pursue other opportunities. The finance director, however, was dismissed in February 2024 amid a cloud of suspicion of fraud and other allegations that remain under investigation.

And, one by one, those vacancies have been filled: Budget and Finance director, Animal Services manager, Planning director, Elections director.

On Tuesday, Perry announced that Ferdinand Rouse would begin his role as the county’s economic development director on Monday, July 15.

All the while, Perry was putting together the county’s budget with the added wrinkle of considering results of a property revaluation that occurs every 8 years and guiding commissioners to set a palatable tax rate that would allow the county to continue planning several capital projects, including a new jail, EMS building, 911 call center and more.

And there’s still four months until Perry celebrates her first year of occupying the county manager’s office.

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WIZS Radio · TownTalk: Renee Perry’s First 8 Months As County Manager

TownTalk: Medical Arts Named MVP – Most Valuable Pharmacy!

July 10, 2024/by WIZS Staff

Medical Arts Pharmacy has been awarded the 2024 Dan Moudry Most Valuable Pharmacy award from a national pharmacy cooperative.

Chocky White accepted the award on June 24 during the annual business meeting of the Independent Pharmacy Cooperative in New Orleans.

The IPC has been around for more than 40 years – almost as long as White has been operating as a pharmacist.

He came to Henderson in 1971, fresh out of pharmacy school, and set up shop. What began as a one-man show has evolved into a staff of more than 40, including six pharmacists.

White places a priority on establishing and maintaining good relationships with his customers. “We love interacting with our patients,” he said on Wednesday’s segment of TownTalk. “We feel like that’s the most important aspect of our business.”

Daughter Cara White Kirby, who also is the company’s vice president, said her dad is a stickler for excellent customer service, encouraging – and expecting – everyone on the payroll to over-deliver in that department.

White said Henderson had seven independent pharmacies when he came on the scene. “It was slow growth for me the first 10 years or so,” he recalled. “But I gradually earned people’s support…and have grown steadily over the past 50 years. It’s been my lifetime job and I’ve loved every second of it.”

When IPC reps contacted Cara to make sure her dad would be at the pharmacy when they came to visit, she said it wouldn’t be a problem – if the pharmacy’s open, her dad’s there, she said.

“We knew we were finalists,” she said, “but when they came with balloons and a cake,” she knew something else was afoot.

“I was shocked,” said Chocky. “I thought it was somebody’s birthday.” Cara said there was a whole group of folks filming and taking photos while the pharmacy staff was helping customers and filling prescriptions.

The resulting video was shown at the meeting last month during the award presentation. “They did a beautiful job of showing off our pharmacy inside and out,” Chocky said.

The Wisconsin-based IPC is a network of more than 2,000 members who purchase pharmaceuticals, equipment and merchandise available for purchase at the independent pharmacies.

“We have a very large inventory here,” Chocky said, which benefits customers who need meds or other equipment quickly – even after-hours.

White’s been known to be at the store on nights and weekends – even Christmas Day last year.

“We’re not always open, but we’ll be here if you need us. We do whatever it takes to serve our customers,” he said.

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WIZS Radio · TownTalk: Medical Arts Named MVP!