New Shops in Salisbury Emporium

• Carol Kennedy from Rockwell has opened two shops, “French Country Flair” and “Northern Belle.”  She carries a mixed inventory of better quality finished furniture and painted and decorated pieces, as well as decorative ceramics, glassware and silvered items.
• “Funky Finds” on the main upstairs floor is filled with furniture, ceramics, wall hangings and other decor for your home.
• The walls of “Designs By Nancy” on the lower level are decorated with distinctive wreaths and other hangings. Nancy Monday of Salisbury also designs table arrangements and centerpieces.
• If you have ever been associated with the Boy Scouts, you will enjoy “The Carolina Trader.” Richard Shields from Monroe has loaded his shop with Scouts memorabilia from manuals to uniforms, badges, patches and awards dating to the early part of the 20th century. Shields is recognized as one of the largest scout memorabilia dealers in the world.
• Sonya Morris designs and paints flowers made from sola wood, a derivative of the tapioca tree type plant.

Company scatters ashes in space

StratoMemorials, LLC, a newly formed company in Winston-Salem, provides its customers a unique and creative way to memorialize their deceased loved one by having their cremated ashes lifted by balloon and scattered at the very edge of space. The family can also receive photos and a video of the vent set against the stunning backdrop of the curvature of the earth and the black of space. The ascent and scattering are captured in HD video and then the balloon bursts and the vehicle returns to earth via parachute and is located by an onboard GPS device. Once the vehicle is retrieved, video from the camera is used to create a short memorial video as well as a photo collage for the family to commemorate the event.

The ashes will become a part of the earth’s atmosphere and weather as the particles with which raindrops and snowflakes are formed, circling the globe and settling back to earth over a period of months.

StratoMemorials is partnering in promotion with Hayworth-Miller Funeral Homes in Winston-Salem.

One of only two companies in the U.S. providing this service, StratoMemorials launch packages start at $1,500 for a simple scattering in the upper atmosphere to $2,500 to include photography and videography of the entire service. Custom packages to launch from specific locations or provide for special requests are also available. More information can be found at the company website or by calling 336-970-1707.

Salisbury Company wins award

Swing Transport, Inc. was presented a Gold award by Great West Casualty Company and Joe Morten & Son for the 2017 National Safety Awards Program. This marks the 16^th consecutive year that Swing has earned an honor from Great West. These awards recognize motor carriers who have achieved minimal year-end crash results and have demonstrated a commitment to promoting safe driving practices and workplace safety within their company.

Swing Transport is a dry goods carrier with corporate headquarters located in Salisbury and terminals located in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama.

Longtime Cozart Lumber employee retires

Freddie “Jack” Ridenhour will retire from Cozart Lumber & Supply Company in Rockwell. A valuable employee for 38 years, Freddie was a trusted member of the inside sales team for the last 23 years, after beginning his career in warehouse and shipping.

To celebrate Freddie’s retirement, a dinner was given in his honor on Wednesday, June 6 at Morgan Ridge Railwalk Brewery which was attended by his family and the entire Cozart Lumber team. Freddie’s wealth of knowledge, humor and kindness will be greatly missed by his customers and his co-workers.

High Point business outfits Boys and Girls Club technology center

National Pawn, a North Carolina-based retailer with three Triad locations, is outfitting an entirely new technology center for the Southside Boys and Girls Club of Greater High Point. The tech center donation will include 10 new desktop computers to replace antiquated ones. National Pawn is also gifting the Club with $2,000 for software upgrades, staff training and future repair costs to make the center immediately useable and sustainable for years to come.

The Boys and Girls Club of Greater High Point serves more than 1,300 students from ages 6-18 at four club locations, and computers are often used for homework, career exploration, learning STEM skills and playing enrichment games.

For those looking to contribute to the Boys & Girls Clubs’ new tech center, National Pawn is collecting tablets and any other tech donations to further arm the Club with additional resources from the community. To donate a tablet or other device, bring it to any National Pawn store and mention the device is a donation for the Club. For more information, visitwww.nationalpawnshops.com.

Wake Forest opens new surgical facility in Lexington

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center broke ground on a new 26,500-square-foot surgical facility at Wake Forest Baptist Health – Lexington Medical Center. The project will replace the current operating rooms, which are almost 40 years old.

The state-of-the-art surgical facility will include four fully-digital operating rooms that can accommodate various types of procedures and specialties. In addition, a 10-bay post-anesthesia care unit, a urology procedure room, a waiting area for families, and consultation rooms for physicians and family members will enhance the care provided at Lexington Medical Center.

The $31.5 million project is jointly funded by Wake Forest Baptist and local philanthropy. A capital campaign is underway to raise $3 million through the support of the Lexington community.

The new surgical facility – located adjacent to the outpatient surgery center entrance on Emergency Drive – is being built away from the current surgical services area, so surgeries will be able to continue while construction is taking place.

Once construction is completed, the four existing operating rooms will be converted to procedure rooms.

Lexington Medical Center is working with Rodgers Builders of Charlotte and Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, also of Charlotte. Both companies have extensive knowledge and experience with hospital design and construction.

The surgical facility is expected to open in fall 2019.

Trinity Oaks wins OSHA recognition

Trinity Oaks health and rehab has received an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) award for being in the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) for 10 years. Kevin O’Barr, bureau chief for consultative services (OSHA), visited the Salisbury campus of Trinity Oaks recently to present the prestigious award.

According to the OSHA website, the SHARP program recognizes employers who have used OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program services and operate exemplary safety and health programs. Being accepted into the program “is an achievement of status that singles you out among your business peers as a model for worksite safety and health.”

Local Food Lion employees named to Top Women in Grocery

“Progressive Grocer” magazine has named five Food Lion leaders — including several Salisbury employees — to its prestigious 2018 Top Women in Grocery list, one of the food industry’s highest honors. Progressive Grocer’s Top Women in Grocery award recognizes grocery retail leaders who demonstrate excellence in leadership daily throughout the industry, their stores and the communities where they proudly live and work. The awards honor leaders in various categories. The Food Lion “Rising Star” category winners include:

Leslie Atkinson, director of brand communications for Food Lion: Atkinson is directly responsible for building the emotional connection between Food Lion’s customers, associates and its brand by bringing to life the organization’s brand strategy across all touch points, as well as ensuring the brand remains impactful to its customers. She is responsible for overseeing integrated, holistic campaigns — including in-store visual design — to support successful remodel market launches across the grocer’s footprint. She was also instrumental in bringing to life an evolution of Food Lion’s MVP loyalty program, Shop and Earn, as well as leading the campaign to launch the next evolution of Food Lion’s shopper marketing promotions.

Brandi Langford, human resources business partner for Food Lion: Langford is focused on aligning business objectives with people strategy for the Food Lion organization. She assesses and anticipates human resource-related needs and seeks to develop integrated solutions by communicating needs proactively with Food Lion’s HR department and business management. Also, she recently managed a significant merger integration process that included partnering with functional leaders on organizational design, assessing each functional area and executing a staff and selection process.

Jamie Osborne, associate creative director for Food Lion: Osborne is responsible for communicating the Food Lion brand to its customers and associates through all marketing channels, including the brand’s creative development which includes print, digital, customer relationship management, broadcast, social, experiential and multimedia. In partnership with the organization’s ad agency, Jamie managed the creative development that won two 2017 Addy Awards for Food Lion’s Holiday TV campaign and Food Lion Feeds’ video campaign.

All leaders will receive their award on Nov. 8, during a special celebration in Chicago.