Newton-Conover City Schools will have a little more than $1 million for the new middle school in an interest-free loan.

During a recent Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Dr. Barry Redmond asked the board to approve a resolution to accept $1.23 million from the 2009 Qualified School Construction Bond (QSCB) program through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). These funds are part of North Carolina’s $275.77 million received.

Redmond said various schools in the state that applied will receive a portion of the state's money based on the district's student population.

The money allows NCCS to borrow less to build the new Newton-Conover Middle School and pay it back without interest. Redmond said it will help Catawba County with NCCS receiving these funds.

"It would be irresponsible on our part to not take advantage (of this loan)," he said. "It saves the taxpayers dollars."

The new middle school will be built on Northern Drive near County Home Road in Conover. Construction starts in summer 2010 and completed in 2012.

Redmond said the current middle school will be converted to Thornton Elementary, and the Newton-Conover Health Science School will take the old elementary school. Redmond said the health science school will be directly across from the Newton-Conover High School, which will make it easier for the shared activities between the schools.

The school system expects to spend $20 million on the new school's construction. Redmond hopes the cost will decrease with bids at the first of the year.

The board members unanimously approved accepting the interest-free loan.

A new group is trying to gain a fresh perspective on the economy in Catawba County with the hope it can determine how to build the economy of the future.

The Future Economy Council was developed in early March with the help of the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce with the intention of building a sustainable economy.

“We’ve definitely had some trying times in Catawba County and across the region in the last little while. Obviously, some of the things we’re doing are failing,” said council chairman Terry Bledsoe, who also serves as the chief information officer for Catawba County .

“It’s just a lot of the old rules we’ve been playing by are no longer effective,” he said.

The group includes people from a variety of backgrounds from business professionals to educators, librarians, fire departments and local municipalities. Together, they are looking at different issues in the economy, Bledsoe said.

“We’re looking at the whole system of it,” he said. “There’s not one piece you can look at and say this is why the economy is not good. You have to look at all the pieces.”

One of the issues the group is discussing is weak signals, which Bledsoe describes as events or trends that don’t seem like they will have a major impact on the economy at the time. For example, he noted the trend in the 1990s when companies began sending a large amount of trade and operations to China.

“It didn’t seem too harmful at the time,” Bledsoe said. “As we’ve seen over the last little while, it’s had a devastating impact on our economy.”

In turn, they will look for new trends and signs that show the economy is changing in a negative way. By identifying them ahead of time, Bledsoe said the hope is to allow the appropriate people time to react before any damage is done.

He said the group is also examining the growing importance for high-speed broadband capabilities and its role in the economy. Bledsoe said it is a necessary element in building the economy of the future, where people have greater mobility to work anywhere in the world, as well as more opportunities to enable and grow local businesses.

The Future Economy Council is still in its infancy, but it has potential.

“It will be something that grows continuously and goes in many different directions,” Bledsoe said.

He said the council will look beyond the trends of the past to develop new concepts and ideas to strengthen the local economy. The group intends to share its ideas with the public, the local government bodies and local business leaders through the county Chamber of Commerce.

Rick Smyre, an internationally recognized futurist, is serving as a mentor for the Future Economy Council. Bledsoe said he’s worked with many companies throughout the world.

The council is also sponsoring book discussions through the Catawba County and Hickory City libraries called the Catawba County Future Trends Dialogue Group. The book is called “The Age of the Unthinkable: Why the New World Disorder Surprises Us And What We Can Do About It” by Joshua Cooper Ramo.

For more information on the Future Economy Council contact Catawba County Chamber of Commerce President Danny Hearn at (828) 328-6111 or Terry Bledsoe at (828) 465-8497.

Box: The Future Economy Council meets at the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce at 8 a.m. on the third Tuesday or every month. Anyone interested is invited to attend. The meetings last about an hour and a half.

The book discussions will be held at the Catawba County Library Southwest Branch in Mountain View at 10 a.m. the second Friday of each month and at Patrick Beaver Memorial Library in Hickory at 7 p.m. the second Thursday of every month.

The largest expansion of Catawba Valley Medical Center will move forward next month after loan funding was approved for the project.

The hospital announced last year plans to expand operating rooms and add amenities to labor and delivery rooms, such as a big tub for expectant mothers to submerge in, among many other improvements. Once complete, the expansion will add 95,000 square feet to the hospital with the addition of a three-story patient tower, where CVMC plans to relocate existing impatient services.

Financial market conditions delayed the $70 million three-year project, which the hospital initially hoped to begin construction on in January.

“It’s taken us this long to get the financing,” said CVMC President Tony Rose.

He said the hospital administration decided to break the project into phases to make the funding more manageable.

“The scope of the project hasn’t changed from a year ago,” he said.

Now they have the means to get started. The Catawba County Board of Commissioners approved the use of a new loan opportunity Monday night. CVMC will use Build America Bonds offered through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to fund the first $25 million phase.

The bonds will allow the hospital to put $16.25 million in Build America Bonds, which gives CVMC a more favorable interest rate. Rose said the federal government will rebate 35 percent of the interest expense, which lowers the overall interest rate. Another $8.75 million will be placed in Economic Zone Recovery Bonds, which will grant the hospital a 45 percent rebate on interest.

Rose said the first phase will add three new operating rooms and renovate the existing 12. The current operating rooms range in size from 350 to 500 square feet, which leave little room for new medical technology that requires larger equipment. Rose said some of the rooms will be combined to form larger operating rooms. When the surgical expansion is finished, he said there will be 12 operating rooms each measuring 600 square feet or more, noting that the total number of rooms will not change.

“The big thing out of Phase One is modernizing the surgical pavilion so we’re not limited in productivity, because all rooms will be the same,” said Rose.

The first phase will also include the addition of new infrastructure, including enhancing cooling and emergency power capacities. Meanwhile, CVMC will be changing traffic patterns and adding parking at the back of the hospital, Rose said.

After the first phase is finished, CVMC will add a four-story patient tower, including 16 medical-surgical beds, 16 oncology beds and 18 labor and delivery suites.

“This will give them a new home,” Rose said.

The special care nursery would be increased in size to 7,126 square feet to allow space for new technology, like the Giraffe care units. The Level III nursery is used to treat infants for conditions like jaundice and complications from premature birth.  The additions would also add private patient rooms for children.

The medical outpatient facility in oncology, where the hospital conducts infusion, radiation and chemotherapy treatments would also expand from 900 to 7,400 square feet.

In the end, Rose said the hospital will eliminate most of its semi-private or shared rooms and replace them with private rooms.

CVMC will begin work on the project in mid-August, pending final approval from the N.C. Local Government Commission.

While the focus recently has been on Apple and other new businesses coming to the region, a new grant opportunity is available to support businesses already settled in the area.

The Western Piedmont Workforce Development Board is offering local businesses in the Unifour region of Catawba  Alexander, Burke and Caldwell counties up to $20,000. The organization established the Local Incumbent Workforce Grant, a 12-month pilot program, designed to help local industries train and educate current workers.

“People, especially now, are looking for training opportunities and looking for ways to make themselves more competitive as a company,” said Nathan Huret, existing industry coordinator at the Catawba County Economic Development Corp.

The goal of the program is to enhance employee skills, increase employee wages, provide training in transferable skills and promote business retention and competitiveness. The primary focus is on businesses in fields such as health care, manufacturing, transportation, business and information technology.

“Existing companies are the ones that built this economy, and they are the lifeblood of it,” Huret said. “When they are doing well, we’re doing well. If they are hurting, we are hurting.”

The grant could aid local businesses in a number of different ways. Huret said one of the most important outcomes would be to increase a company’s competitiveness.

“People always want stronger employees who know what they are doing (jobwise) inside and out,” he said.

A better-trained employee reflects well on a business through increased productivity, which equates to cost savings and other benefits, Huret said. It also helps reduce employee turnover.

The employee could increase skill proficiency and learn a new expertise. Huret said hopefully any new skill learned would also be one that could be used in other industries should the employee lose the job. The training may also qualify employees for a raise, depending on the company.

Any money received through a LIWG must be used to upgrade employee skills through courses at a community college or private company that supples the training. A company can also use funds to either increase wages for workers or increase advancement opportunities for trained staff.

“It’s fairly customizable to what they might need,” Huret said. “They could pick from 100,000 different options.”

Companies are also eligible to receive up to $40,000 in additional funding through the State Incumbent Worker Program. However, Huret noted the state program is much more competitive with companies throughout the state applying for grant funding. Many companies won’t receive funding from the state program the first or even the second time they apply because of the volume of applications, and it could be months before a company knows whether it will receive a grant.

Huret said the advantage of the program through the WPWDB is the Hickory based board chooses the local companies to receive funding and are familiar with the business in the area.

The project application and guidelines are available at the Western Piedmont Workforce Development Board Web site at www.westernpiedmontworks.org.

A company representative can call Huret at 267-1564 or Peggy Byrd at 485-4214 to apply or get more information about the grant opportunity.

Hickory, NC is full of cultural activities to expose your children to! While there are many creative outlets to take part in and display in the Hickory area, you will find that there are many opportunities to bring the kids along! They’ll have a fun, educational time at any of our local museums!

1. Decide what comes first – the chicken or the egg – by playing the "Before and After" puzzle in the cartoon exhibit, Doug Marlette: His Art and His Words, on the 1st floor (through September 14).

2. Pick up a Family Scavenger Hunt in the museum gift shop and explore the high-speed photography of "Doc" Edgerton, famous for his frozen-motion images in the 2nd floor exhibit, Stopping Time: The Art & Science of Harold "Doc" Edgerton's Life Work (through August 24).

3. Go on a trek through the museum to find the life-size sculpture of a Sumo wrestler.

4. Point out and identify all of the animals in, The World Within: Folk Art of Sarah Britt, on the third floor (through August 24).

5. Put on puppet show of your very own or act out one of the many books in the children's interactive gallery on the second floor

Atlanta Bread Company

Butch's BBQ and Breakfast, Hickory and Morganton

Cafe Gouda in Hickory 

McDonald's, at select locations in Catawba and Burke counties

Quiznos on North Center Street and Catawba Valley Boulevard, both in Hickory 

Beef O'Brady's in Hickory 

Ham's in Hickory and Morganton

Hickory Tavern in Hickory

Copper Bean Coffee in Hickory 

Courthouse Coffee in Morganton

Tee & Coffee Co. in Hickory 

Zanders Coffee House in Newton 

Catawba County Library, Newton branch

Patrick Beaver Memorial Library

Ridgeview Branch Library

Office Depot in Hickory 

Barnes & Noble (for a fee)

The Hickory Community Theatre is a volunteer based, nonprofit organization that creates quality live theatre. 

  Hickory NC is known for their active Arts community! Music, Live Performances, Theatre, and overall community atmosphere at these events create a very tight community!

The Hickory Community Theatre has all kinds of great theatre productions that provide great entertainment for residents of all ages! In fact, our company, Realty Executives sponsored a production called “The Streets of Hickory” – it fun and successful event in which all of our clients, past clients, friends, family, and business partners attended on opening night!

The Hickory Community Theatre provides lifelong learning opportunities, and fosters creative expression throughout the community – Thanks to all those who participate!

For those of you who have never enjoyed seeing a performance at the HCT, then be sure to visit their website here to see their latest attraction! You’re in for a real treat!