New Study Reveals the Most Likeable CEOs in Charlotte

Charlotte Stories
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New Study Reveals the Most Likeable CEOs in Charlotte

duke buying piedmontOwler, a pioneer in crowd sourced information that’s building the world’s largest database of company and executive information, has just released its first report on CEO Likeability.

Owler’s analysis, which parsed thousands of CEO reviews from site users, uncovers what people truly think of CEOs in Charlotte and throughout the country. This comes at a time where there’s more transparency and accountability in the corner office than ever. Whether it’s through social media, the news, or executive review websites such as Owler, the nation’s top executives can’t seem to escape public scrutiny.

The top 3 CEOs in Charlotte include Curtiss-Wright’s David C. Adams, Sealed Air’s Jerome A. Peribere, and Duke Energy’s Lynn J. Good. With an average score of 66.7/100, Charlotte ranked #24 in the country for most-liked CEOs in Owler’s Top 30 Cities list, suggesting that Charlotte CEOs are not as well-liked as many other peer CEOs around the country.

Here is a link to the full results for Charlotte.

Thousands Signed Up For Tomorrow Morning’s March For Our Lives Rally

Charlotte Stories
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Thousands Signed Up For Tomorrow Morning’s March For Our Lives Rally

Over half-a-million students are now signed up to march tomorrow in cities around the country to protest gun violence and demand stricter legislation.

The movement, which is now being called “March For Our Lives”, was inspired by the Florida students who fought for their lives during a school shooting in February.

According to their website, “The mission and focus of March For Our Lives is to demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address these gun issues. No special interest group, no political agenda is more critical than timely passage of legislation to effectively address the gun violence issues that are rampant in our country.”

There are currently over 800 marches planned for tomorrow, including a scheduled rally in Uptown Charlotte. The event will start at 11 am in First Ward Park. Speakers will include two former Sandy Hook Elementary students who were inside the school when gunfire broke out in 2012.

The ridesharing company Lyft has even offered to give free rides to and from the rally in Charlotte.

To get a free ride;

  • Claim your spot by RSVPing to the rally at www.marchforourlives.com/events.
  • Ride codes will sent out to those who have RSVP’d through www.marchforourlives.com/events.
  • Ride codes will also be available at www.lyft.com/MFOL starting Saturday morning.
  • Once you have received a code, enter it in the ‘promos’ tab of your Lyft app.
  • For the code to work, you must enter the official March for Our Lives rallypoint as your destination.
  • You can find rallypoint details in your app once you enter your code in the ‘promos’ tab.

UNCC Student Released on Bond After Threatening to Shoot Up The School

Charlotte Stories
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UNCC Student Released on Bond After Threatening to Shoot Up The School

UNCC campus police are now on the alert for a student who made threats to ‘shoot the university up’ and who was recently released from police custody.

Earlier this month, 20-year-old Matthew Recoy Saavedra, a student at UNCC, went to a doctor in King, NC to talk about his mental health issues and was noted in saying “he could not wait to buy a gun and shoot the university up,” according to the Charlotte Observer.

This past week, Saavedra was charged with a felony for making a false report concerning mass violence on education property.

Police used a search warrant to raid his off-campus apartment, where they found a campus emergency response guide opened to the active shooter response and evacuation pages on his wall and searches for school shootings and videos about death on his computer.

UNC Charlotte Police took out a warrant and Sheriff’s deputies in Forsyth county arrested him this past Tuesday. Less than 24 hours later, Saavedra’s mother helped him post his $12,000 bond and he is reportedly now with family in Forsyth County.

Since his warrant and arrest, Saavedra has been banned from coming onto the UNCC campus.

Developer Just Broke Ground On Massive New Midtown Greenway Project

Steve
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Developer Just Broke Ground On Massive New Midtown Greenway Project

Concord_Regional_AirportThe Charlotte Regional Realtor Association is one step closer to moving into a gleaming new development in the heart of Midtown.

Pappas Properties just broke ground on the first phase of their massive new mixed-use development, which includes the new 58,000 sq. ft. CRRA building, new parking, and greenway features.

The new building is expected to be completed by March of 2019 and will replace the current decades-old CRRA building;

via Pappas Properties
via Pappas Properties

The development will also include a 175,000-square-foot retail, hotel and residential building, a 168,000-square-foot office building, and a “greenway-style trail” through Pearle Street Park to connect Little Sugar Greenway to center city.

What do you think of the new development?

Zagat Ranked Charlotte As One Of America’s Best Food Cities – Beating Charleston and Atlanta

Steve
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Zagat Ranked Charlotte As One Of America’s Best Food Cities – Beating Charleston and Atlanta
Grilled Catfish from Zada Janes
Grilled Catfish from Zada Janes

The Queen City was recently ranked as one of the best food cities in America by Zagat, topping regional favorites like Charleston (#11) and Atlanta (#10), as well as global heavy-hitters like NYC (#21) and San Francisco (#20).

Charlotte landed at the #9 spot, largely due to several critically acclaimed new openings in 2016, including; O-Ku, Yafo Kitchen, and Stoke.

Zagat compiled the list by assessing the number of unique new openings, award recognitions, and national media attention, then asked some of the nation’s top food critiques to weigh in on which locales they thought were the most exciting.

Here is Zagat’s reasoning for why Charlotte is now the 9th best food city in America:

“Once known only as a sports-centric center of commerce, Charlotte has emerged as the new destination for adventurous, landscape-driven cuisine. There’s no shortage of up-and-coming chefs, like Chris Coleman, whose wood-fired oven at Stoke is churning out stellar plates like salt- roasted oysters and charred octopus with Virginia chorizo; or Michael Chanthavong, who just brought over his Asian-meets-Southern spot, O-Ku (with a killer uni pasta). Charlotte has also become popular among established industry vets looking to find the next big hospitality market: Corkbuzz, the accessible wine bar from New York, just opened in the city (helmed by Master Sommelier Laura Maniec), as did Yafo Kitchen, a bold Middle Eastern spot with a menu developed by Einat Admony of New York gems like Taim and Balaboosta. Even Wolfgang Puck couldn’t resist the opportunity to land in Charlotte, entrusting longtime mentee Stephen Schmitt to oversee the kitchen at his brand-new concept, WP Kitchen + Bar, which serves crowd pleasers like linguini diavolo and turkey Bolognese. With dozens more openings anticipated for next year — and plenty of other chefs making the move to Charlotte from big cities like San Francisco and New York — this burgeoning dining scene is only just getting started.”

Do agree with Zagat’s assessment?

Comment below with your thoughts about Charlotte’s food scene. 

Opioid Overdoses Jumped By 40% in NC Emergency Rooms This Past Year

Steve
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Opioid Overdoses Jumped By 40% in NC Emergency Rooms This Past Year

The NC Department of Health and Human Services just released the opioid overdose figures from 2017 – they’re alarming to say the least. Emergency room visits saw a nearly 40% increase in opioid overdose cases from 2016 to 2017, with over 5,700 visits.

Given that there were roughly 2,879 cases in 2009, our state has now almost doubled in cases over the past eight years.

Heroin accounted for about 68%, or 3,924 cases, with the rest of the visits resulting from of opium, methadone and various other natural and synthetic opioids.

Stokes and Yadkin counties saw the highest percentage of cases, with at least 100 visits per 100,000 individuals.

Forsyth County saw the lowest, at between 15.2 and 29.9 cases per 100,000. The statewide average was 56.9 per 100,000.

According to NCDHHS, “visits are tracked as part of North Carolina’s Opioid Action Plan, developed in 2017 with community partners to combat the opioid crisis. The plan includes measurable strategies to reduce the oversupply of prescription opioids, the diversion of prescription drugs and the flow of illicit drugs, increase community awareness and prevention, make naloxone widely available, expand treatment and recovery systems of care, and coordinate the state’s infrastructure to tackle the opioid crisis.”

“We are seeing progress in some areas, but the latest numbers show that we still have a long way to go to stem the tide of this crisis,” said Mandy Cohen, M.D., Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. “We must continue to develop and implement innovative approaches to address the issue, working closely with our partners on both prevention and treatment.”

One major step the state recently took was to change Naloxone (opioid overdose antidote) from requiring a prescription, to now be available ‘over the counter’.

Despite the medicine being a proven life-saver, local pharmacists say people are not coming to them to get it or even asking about it, likely due to people simply not having enough information about it.

According to the Carolina’s Healthcare System, “Naloxone is a medication that counteracts an overdose caused by an opioid drug – administering naloxone may be the key to saving a person’s life before medical assistance arrives.”

Naloxone works by immediately restoring a person’s breathing. It can either be injected intravenously or deliver through the nose, via a special spray canister. It lasts about 30-60 minutes, so anyone administering the drug should immediately call 9-1-1, if they haven’t done so already, and stay with the patient until help arrives.

The following are common signs of an opioid-related overdose;

Small pupils
Pale face
Limp body
Shallow or slowed breathing
Vomiting
Loss of consciousness

North Carolina also has the ‘Good Samaritan law’, which essentially protects people who contact emergency officials, then administer Naloxone to someone who has overdosed from any liability.

If you know anyone who might use heroin or any other opioids, please pick up some Naloxone from your local pharmacist and keep it handy – you never know when it might save someone’s life.

 

 

DHHS will begin making quarterly opioid reports available, as well as preliminary monthly data at http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/.

Charlotte Will See All 4 Seasons Over The Next 2 Days – Including Possible Snowfall

Steve
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Charlotte Will See All 4 Seasons Over The Next 2 Days – Including Possible Snowfall

Charlotte is about to experience some of the most confused weather of the year over the next couple days, including; a fog warning, a thunderstorm, possible snowfall, and a temperature swing from 67° to 35° (with a wind chill of 28°).

The weirdness starts this morning with an official fog warning being issued for our region;

The 4-season cycle starts this afternoon at around 2pm when Charlotte will experience summer, with clear blue skies and warm 67°.

Our city will then transition into fall starting at around 7pm this evening with a thunderstorm and temperatures in the mid-50s.

Fall continues tomorrow with windy conditions and a high of 50°/low of 41°.

Tomorrow night we transition into winter with temperatures dropping from 50° at 6pm to 35° (wind chill of 28°) at 6am, and possible snowfall;

Be sure to have some de-icing salt handy for Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Springtime then returns late Thursday morning with clear blue skies and 57° temperatures.

This week’s weather reminds us yet again that there’s no place quite like Charlotte! 

Duke Energy Attorney Compares Big Mac Meal To Cost of Rate Hike

Charlotte Stories
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Duke Energy Attorney Compares Big Mac Meal To Cost of Rate Hike

With Duke Energy customers now facing one of the highest rate hikes in the history of the company, regardless of how much electricity they use, an attorney for the company tried to calm the public by saying that the rate hike only amounts to the price of a fast food meal.

“One extra Big Mac, fries and a drink,” Duke Deputy General Counsel Bo Somers commented during the company’s hearing before the North Carolina Utilities Commission.

The company’s attorneys are now trying to convince regulators that the rate hike won’t be a financial hardship to anyone, even though the hike affects the company’s basic service charge, not the amount of electricity used.

The current monthly service charge is $11.80 per month, and the company is trying to secure an increase of $5.99 for residential customers, for a total of $17.79 a month. The increase is, roughly the price of a Big Mac value meal from McDonald’s, but it’s far from all they are asking for.

According to Raleigh’s WRAL, “Duke Energy Carolinas, the company subsidiary serving the western half of the state, began this process by asking for a 16.7 percent rate increase, though that figure has come down some after negotiations with attorneys representing the public before the Utilities Commission. Add to that an additional $13 billion the company wants from tack-on bill riders, which would fund roughly a decade’s worth of upgrades to the state’s power grid and the burying of power lines.”

Another major issue at play here is executive pay. While the public-private company is trying to force historic rate increases on all of its customers, it’s executives are now seeing historic pay increases.

Duke recently reported to shareholders that CEO Lynn Good was paid over $21.4 million in 2017, over double the $10.8 million she was paid in 2015.

Her salary rose by 4% last year, but her stock awards shot up almost 90 percent to more than $17 million.

What do you think about Duke’s requested rate hikes?

New Construction Tips For Charlotte Home Buyers

Leonard Brecken
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New Construction Tips For Charlotte Home Buyers

charlotte real estate marketWith my second new construction home nearly complete in Weddington I thought some helpful hints to consumers here in Charlotte was in order. Further I meet so many new Charlotte residents or first time home buyers that I thought some helpful advice is due.

Firstly, building a new home whether it be in NJ like my first house or here in Charlotte isn’t much different other than the style of homes and various building codes. The process itself is fairly the same as well.

To me the number one most important choice in building a new home is choosing the right contractor who is honest, upfront in their fee structure and who has a sound reputation in the area. My experience has been with custom home builder’s vs the national builders and the market in Charlotte has definitely shifted to the national ones.

Besides the factors just mentioned choosing a general contractor to build your home should match the current style of home you desire to build. And you must plan your budget ahead of the beginning of construction so that you aren’t low on cash at the time of paying your builder. If you are building a stucco house and the builder you choose has no experience in that or has built mostly brick houses then it may not be the best choice to use them. If you find one go see their work.

Another factor is whether your builder gives you a choice of suppliers for the materials you use for your home. Make sure there are multiple suppliers to choose from or better yet the ability to choose one of your own so that you get the best price relative to your allowances.  Also make sure how your builder is sharing in the markups for certain items. Some take a fixed percentage of the allowance for items while others don’t even disclose it. Make sure that is very clearly defined and whether the allowance includes the builder markup or not.

Speaking of allowances builders are notorious for upselling their clients on upgrades and charging for them. This is the single most challenging aspect to building a home and making sure it’s on budget. If you lack the experience I would suggest contacting someone who has built a home before or works in housing, to see if the allowances for items in your new home are accurate relative to what you want to buy. Some rely on decorators for assistance here and Charlotte has plenty of knowledgeable ones and in other cases a really good realtor can be source. One thing is for certain allowances or budgets by builders won’t be correct and in most cases under-estimate the actual costs of items chosen.

In my two experiences budgets/allowances were off by 10-20% which can be very significant.  In my cases I either made tradeoffs elsewhere to compensate or used an alternative supplier that was less expensive. My best advice is to have some idea of the class of manufacturers you will use and create your own budget to see if certain items are accurately reflected in allowances. For fixtures as an example go look at them and see what price range you’re in and then calculate a budget and then compare to the builder allowance.

One last piece of advice, is that builders love when clients change things cause that gives them an opportunity to upcharge them for that change. So plan things out carefully because changes from a planned specification can be costly.

All in all if one is careful, plans accordingly and knows the pitfalls of building a new home the experience can be a lot more enjoyable both mentally and financially.  Charlotte has plenty of great builders so make sure you find the right one.  For more specific insight, please contact me.

brecken-disclosure

New Study Shows CMS As The Most Racially Segregated District in NC

Steve
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New Study Shows CMS As The Most Racially Segregated District in NC

This past Friday, the North Carolina Justice Center released a new study that examined racial segregation in schools across our states.

The report examined the trends in school segregation in North Carolina over the past 10 years and concluded that;

  • The number of racially and economically isolated schools has increased
  • Districts’ racial distribution is mixed, but economic segregation is on the rise
  • Large school districts could be doing much more to integrate their schools
  • School district boundaries are still used to maintain segregated school systems
  • Charter schools tend to exacerbate segregation

The report also indicates that while the Charlotte Mecklenburg School system used to have a rather successful racially integrated system, the 2001 decision by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to declare Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s racial integration plan illegal has since created significant resegregation.

According to the report, Mecklenburg County is now the #1 most segregated school district in the state of North Carolina;

You can read the entire report here.

What are your thoughts on racial segregation in our schools?

What steps do you think should be taken to improve CMS?

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