Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

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TownTalk: Vance Granville Helping Small Businesses

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Dr. Jerry Edmonds, III, vice president of Workforce Development and Community Engagement at Vance-Granville Community, said he’s proud of the way the community supports small businesses and entrepreneurs. It may make his job just a bit easier, too.

From local government to the Chamber of Commerce, the network of support is a strong one for new business owners in the area.

“It seems like every week we’re having a small business ribbon-cutting,” Edmonds said on Tuesday’s TownTalk.

And those business owners have a valuable resource at VGCC – the Small Business Center. SBC Director Carolyn Perry’s office is located at the VGCC South Campus in Creedmoor, but Edmonds said she travels throughout the four-county area to help small business owners.

The services are free, and help individuals with anything from startup to counseling hours – it’s all designed to make sure that new businesses stay in business.

Statistics show that new businesses most often fail within the first five years, and Edmonds said the SBC is here to help during that initial period and beyond to help businesses continue to thrive. “We’re intentional,” he said. “We really try to mentor them and make sure they make it through that crucial five years.”

Whether you’ve been in business for awhile and maybe need a sounding board for advice or you’re thinking about starting your own business, the SBC is here to serve.

“Our job is to help business owners, be they startups or those that have been in business for years,” Edmonds said, adding that the local SBC help between 10-15 new businesses each year and provide help to retain that many businesses as well.

Visit www.vgcc.edu to learn more.

 

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The Local Skinny! Making Things Happen Downtown

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The Henderson City Council Monday approved a tax incentive program to encourage downtown business owners to make improvements to the overall appearance of downtown without adding to their tax bill.

Downtown Development Coordinator Tracy Madigan explained on Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny! that the tax incentives would occur over a five-year period. The idea is pretty simple: when a business owner makes improvements to a building’s interior or exterior,  the presumption that the property value – and associated tax – would also increase.

Through the tax incentive program,  Madigan said the additional tax amount would be waived 100 percent. In Year 2, the percent would drop to 80 percent, and continue at that rate until Year 5, when the tax due would be 20 percent of the higher tax bill.

There are programs in place to help downtown businesses with items like new awnings and signs, she said, but the tax incentive plan provides “a little more meat” to support existing businesses and to encourage new businesses to come downtown.

“This has a lot of teeth to incentivize (downtown business owners) and make improvements downtown,” Madigan said. It’s just one of the things in the proverbial pipeline that she said would motivate improvements in the overall appearance of the downtown area.

Madigan said recent changes made by the City Council to create a separate board to oversee the city’s participation in the NC Main Street program is just one way to strengthen downtown revitalization efforts. The newly created board can focus specifically on the Main Street Program. Previously, the Henderson-Vance Downtown Development Commission board had served in this capacity, and Madigan said creating a new board to focus on the Main Street program will free up the HVDC board to implement additional strategies to support downtown revitalization.

“It’s a way to improve downtown from two different directions – and get more done,” she said.

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Cooperative Extension With Paul McKenzie 05-14-24

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Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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TownTalk: Board of Equalization and Review Hears Appeals

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Vance County residents who want to learn more about the revaluation process and just how it will affect their tax bill can attend an information session on May 20 at 4 p.m. The info session will take place in the county administration building, known commonly still as “the old courthouse.”

One tidbit of information that may have been helpful for a handful of residents who appeared before the board of equalization and review last week: Have proper documentation to support your case for a lower valuation.

Another important tidbit: The appeals process ends June 3. It’s almost mid-May, so property owners who want to contest their revaluations need to get busy.

The county’s board of commissioners doubles as the board of equalization and review, and although some residents provided anecdotal evidence and even photographs to support their remarks, commissioners time and again said they needed written documentation.

Each of the five cases that were heard also were continued, and commissioners offered suggestions to help the property owners understand what was needed.

“A common theme tonight is that some people just don’t understand what information they need to bring,” said Commission Chair Dan Brummitt. Brummitt also said more information needs to be shared with the public about several exemptions that are available for property owners.

“They all have evidence…but they didn’t bring it,” Brummitt said.

One woman spoke and said there was no way her home could be valued at $103,000 – she lives among at least two abandoned homes, squatters living in a former business nearby and a hoarder one street away. She had pictures but nothing in writing, so commissioners, although sympathetic, said she didn’t have proper documentation to support her appeal.

Upon learning that the boarded-up house next door had sold for $12,000, commissioners encouraged the homeowner to request that public information – available at the tax office – to then present to the E & R on appeal.

Another woman who lives near Kittrell said her property value went from $50,000 to $109,000.

“I live in a doublewide, an old doublewide,” she said. And although she no longer has the swimming pool, outbuilding or deck on her property, “my property tax went up,” she said.

Brummitt said each property listing has a tax card that includes comparable properties. They’re on the back of the tax card, he said.

This resident said $75,000 is a more realistic price for her property, but Brummitt asked what documentation she had to support that claim. Comps could be one way to document similar properties and their values.

The county’s website has posted a lot of pertinent information about the appeals process, and tax office staff is available to answer questions, said Commissioner Yolanda Feimster.

“They’re there to answer your questions,” Feimster said, adding that staff is willing to extend any assistance needed to residents.

Not everybody is computer savvy or computer literate, and Commissioner Leo Kelly said senior adults especially may need a little extra help. “The information is overwhelming,” he said. “It’s just too much information all at one time.”

County Manager C. Renee Perry told WIZS in an earlier interview that the county is working on a tight deadline. Perry said “the plan is for the Board of E&R to open on May 6 and close on June 3. The last day to appeal will be June 3.”

Visit www.vancecounty.org/departments/tax-overview to learn more. Call the tax office at 252.738.2040.

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The Local Skinny: Granville Vance Public Health Receives Recognition

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The Care Management High Risk Pregnancy Program at Granville Vance Public Health has received the “Friend of WIC” award by the NC Dept. of Health and Human Community Nutrition Service section for its commitment to providing quality services and advocating for its participants.

The award follows the nomination of GVPH Care Manager and social worker, Phylicia Evans, for the Institute for Family’s 2024 Family Champion Award, according to information from GVPH.  Evans was recognized for her work as a social worker in North Carolina who goes the extra mile to support her community and to connect countless families in the community to essential services and resources.

The Friend of WIC award recognizes continued collaboration and outstanding support of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program. Selection is based on demonstration of commitment to improving WIC Program services and continual advocacy for program services  and participants.

Kristy Walker, Pregnancy Care Management Supervisor, accepted the award on behalf of Granville Vance Public Health (GVPH). “The ongoing collaboration between the Care Management High Risk Pregnancy Program (CMHRP) Program and the WIC Program reflects a shared commitment to advocating for the well-being of participants,” Walker stated. “Through regular reporting, communication channels, and coordinated efforts, both programs work together to  enhance service delivery and participant satisfaction.”

The CMHRP Program at GVPH has established several proactive initiatives to ensure that all patients have access to improved WIC Program services, including streamlining the enrollment process to increase WIC Program participation. GVPH staff also leverage Medicaid eligibility with WIC benefits to provide additional nutritional support and use technology to identify participants who may need additional assistance from care managers.

The CMHRP Program also promotes WIC Program services by facilitating direct communication during office visits or remote interactions to provide comprehensive support and guidance regarding WIC benefits. Program staff advocate for a holistic care approach that addresses participants’ nutritional needs alongside their high-risk pregnancy management.

Lauren Faulkner, GVPH WIC director, said she is “thrilled” that CMHRP Program has been recognized for the honor. “It’s a reminder of the impact we can make and motivates us to keep improving and evolving our services for the community.”

For more information on GVPH maternal health programs, please go to our website: www.gvph.org/clinic/maternal-health-clinic

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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: integrated pest management

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Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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Oxford Prep School

SportsTalk: Oxford Prep Looking For Playoff Success

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High school teams from all across our area are now in the state playoffs, and Oxford Prep is no exception.  The school’s athletic director, John Hammett, was on SportsTalk Thursday to discuss how his school is doing.  “Our baseball team is young,” he said.  Despite the youthfulness of the squad, Oxford Prep came from behind in the seventh inning to secure an 8-7 win over Clover Garden earlier this week to afford them the opportunity to go on the road to take on Pinetops. “Pinetops is an athletic school that does well in all sports,” Hammett said.

Meanwhile, the softball team is also on the road but with a much shorter trip as they will play Vance Charter at Oxford Park Friday afternoon at 5 p.m.  Oxford Prep is coming off a convincing 16-0 win in three innings this week at Northwest Halifax.  The Vance Charter game is a huge rivalry.  “Everybody knows everybody.  Vance Charter plays hard and hits the ball well,” Hammett said.  Expect a huge turnout in Oxford for that game Friday afternoon.

 

TownTalk: Beard Discusses Rural Health Care

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Maria Parham Health CEO Bert Beard said the state of health care in this area is in a pretty good spot these days. That doesn’t mean that rural hospitals like Maria Parham don’t continue to face challenges, but Beard said hospitals in other markets are facing some of the same things.

Beard was a guest on Thursday’s TownTalk to discuss some of the trends that he’s seeing from his vantage point.

Medicaid expansion, he said, is allowing more uninsured or under-insured residents access to health care. The number of new enrollees is about half a million, approaching the prediction of about 600,000 in North Carolina.

“We’re lagging a bit in Vance County,” he said, but health care professionals at MPH as well as Granville Vance Public Health and others are always looking for new enrollees.

With rising costs and the constant demand to find qualified health care employees, Beard said the Medicaid expansion “has given us a lifeline that we desperately needed.”

Beard said he and his colleagues knew hospitals were headed down a path to a health care provider shortage, but the COVID-19 pandemic hastened that process. Without adequate staff, some small hospitals simply couldn’t afford to keep the doors open, which only brings more challenges to the rural areas they serve.

“Services are going away that are vital,” he said. One of those is maternal services. It’s critical that expectant moms be within, say, an hour of a hospital that provides those services, for the safety of the mom and the child.

When he spoke at the April 23 “state of health care” forum sponsored by the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce, Beard said top on people’s minds was the mental health crisis that is so often in the news.

He looks forward to the Emergency Department’s Safe Space project that has received funding and said it will transform how patients in crisis can be managed when they come through the Emergency Department.

Mental health issues are multi-dimensional and under-resourced, Beard said, noting that psychological issues are often entangled in social issues and substance abuse, which exacerbate the problem.

“We’ve got to be more deliberate in how we invest in that,” he said. Public-private partnerships like MPH behavioral health services in Louisburg is something that Beard said he is quite proud of.

Whether through collaboration or providing quality health care by Duke physicians and others, Maria Parham is poised to keep patients across the region it serves top of mind when it comes to community care.

It must be a mutually supportive relationship, however, Beard said. When you seek care, seek local care first.

“It’s more important than ever,” he said, that “when people have good available local health care, that they choose it – the alternative is that health care goes away if it’s not supported locally.”

“We’re working every day to get better every day. That comes with a mutually supportive relationship with our community.”

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