SALISBURY — Meg Ham, president of Food Lion, was named as one of North Carolina’s most influential leaders in Business North Carolina’s 2022 Power List.

The publication’s annual list highlights leaders in a number of fields, including agriculture, real estate, education, arts, entertainment and sports and retail.

Founded in Salisbury in 1957 as Food Town, Food Lion has grown into a 1,100-store, 82,000-employee grocery chain with locations throughout the southeast.

Ham took over as top executive at Food Lion in 2014 after working for owner Ahold Delhaize since 1988. Ham is a New York native who graduated from Cornell University.

Rowan EDC hosting annual meeting on June 9

SALISBURY — The Rowan Economic Development Council has rescheduled its 2022 Annual Meeting for Thursday, June 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at City Tavern in Salisbury.

Jay Garner will be the keynote speaker at the event and will deliver a presentation called “So, you want to keep winning those projects?”

Garner is the president and founder of Garner Economics, LLC, an economic development and site location consulting practice headquartered in Atlanta. He has served for more than 40 years as both an award-winning economic development, Chamber of Commerce CEO, and site location professional.

“We’re excited to finally hold our premiere event after previously postponing it due to COVID,” Rod Crider, Rowan EDC president, said in a news release. “I have worked with Jay for many years both as an economic development colleague and site selection professional, and I know he’ll deliver an entertaining and important message about continuing the momentum in Rowan County.”

State’s unemployment rate decreases slightly in April

North Carolina’s seasonally adjusted April unemployment rate was 3.4%, decreasing 0.1 of a percentage point from March’s revised rate, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

A seasonally adjusted rate means seasonal hiring patterns have been taken into account.

The national rate remained unchanged at 3.6%.

North Carolina’s unemployment rate decreased 1.7% from a year ago.
The number of people employed increased 30,263 over the month to 4,883,507 and increased 203,995 over the year. The number of people unemployed decreased 3,917 over the month to 173,348 and decreased 79,156 over the year.

Seasonally adjusted Total Non-farm employment, as gathered through the monthly establishment survey, increased 11,300 to 4,729,100 in April. Major industries experiencing increases were Professional & Business Services, 5,500; Leisure & Hospitality Services, 4,200; Financial Activities, 2,800; Manufacturing, 2,200; Other Services, 1,300; Government, 900; Trade, Transportation & Utilities, 900; and Information, 300. Major industries experiencing decreases were Construction, 5,900; and Education & Health Services, 900. Mining & Logging employment remained unchanged.

Since April 2021, Total Non-farm jobs increased 185,600 with the Total Private sector increasing by 174,900 and Government increasing by 10,700. Major industries experiencing increases were Leisure & Hospitality Services, 52,400; Professional & Business Services, 50,600; Trade, Transportation & Utilities, 18,400; Education & Health Services, 14,200; Financial Activities, 14,200; Manufacturing, 13,100; Government, 10,700; Other Services, 6,700; and Information, 5,700. Major industries experiencing decreases were Construction, 200; and Mining & Logging, 200.

The next unemployment update is scheduled for Wednesday, June 1 when the county unemployment rates for April 2022 will be released.