SALISBURY — The Centralina Regional Council has announced the recipients of the Region of Excellence Awards in a virtual ceremony.

Presented annually, the awards recognize individuals, communities and organizations for achievements in support of Centralina’s mission to expand opportunity and improve quality of life in the nine-county region that includes Anson, Cabarrus, Gaston, Lincoln, Iredell, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly and Union counties.

“Local governments nominated an innovative project, program, plan or individual that contributed to significant and positive advancements in the region this past year” Geraldine Gardner, Centralina Regional Council executive director, said in a news release. “The Region of Excellence Awards provides an excellent forum for county and community leaders to learn from best practices and to network with their peers in the region.”

An independent panel of judges reviewed the forty-four applications and selected the award winners.

Salisbury was given the Local Government Innovation Award for its 2020 Virtual Cheerwine Festival. Attracting more than 100,000 visitors, the Cheerwine Festival is a beloved annual event in downtown Salisbury. When COVID led to the cancellation of the festival last year, Cheerwine and the city of Salisbury moved the event online. 

The three-hour virtual event featured musical performances and an online marketplace for vendors and downtown businesses. Cheerwine raised funds for the Rowan County United Way COVID-19 Relief Fund.

The city of Kannapolis received the Improving Quality of Life Award for its downtown revitalization project. 

In 2015, the city of Kannapolis launched a plan to purchase the entire 50 acres of downtown from a single property owner. The land purchase was the first step in revitalizing a dormant and vacated business district. The city developed a downtown master plan which leverages public investment to attract private investment. 

Over the next five years, the city invested $113 million with the expectation it could attract more than $374 million in private investment over the next ten years. Currently, about $100 million in private investment is already underway which could increase commercial and residential development and increase tourism.

Pivot Physical Therapy reopens Salisbury location

SALISBURY — Maryland-based Pivot Physical Therapy has reopened its Salisbury location at 1523 E. Innes St.

“Reopening this clinic allows Pivot the ability to offer the highest quality patient care to the Salisbury community,” Pivot CEO Chris Throckmorton said in a news release. “We are proud to serve this community and offer rehabilitation services, utilizing individually designed programs that maximize physical function and allow patients to live a full active lifestyle.”

With the reopening of the location, Pivot Physical Therapy now has 39 clinics across North Carolina.

Pivot offers various services and treats acute and chronic pain, arthritis, auto and work-related injuries, back and neck pain, balance disorders, fibromyalgia, sports injuries, sprains and strains. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pivot has started offering telehealth virtual treatment options through a secure online video chat. Pivot’s Clinic Director in Salisbury is Christopher Knight, DPT.

Pivot’s hours of operation are Monday through Thursday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. To make an appointment, call 704-754-4766.

For more information, visit www.PivotPhysicalTherapy.com.

Deadline approaches for Rowan Chamber of Commerce’s May Power in Partnership

SALISBURY — The reservation deadline for the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce’s Power in Partnership is Tuesday at noon.

Steve Chandler, from Chandlerthinks, will be the keynote speaker at the last Power in Partnership of the season. The meeting will also feature the graduation of the chamber’s Leadership Rowan class. The event is sponsored by Duke Energy and co-presented by the chamber, Rowan Tourism Development Authority and Rowan EDC.

Chanderthinks is the agency that developed Rowan County’s “Be An Original” campaign. During the event, Chandler will share recent survey results on how far the county has come in improving its community image.

Chandler is a career place marketing strategist. With over 20 years experience in strategic planning and brand development for local, regional and national brands, his emphasis is connected to the branding and marketing of cities, counties, downtowns, and regions. Chandler has been a part of over 100 place marketing projects in over 25 different states. 

The event, which starts at 7:30 a.m., will feature some in-person components, but most attendees will receive a Zoom link.

Individual reservations for the event are welcome; however, the reservation deadline is Tuesday at noon. The cost is $15 for members and $25 for non-members. 

The chamber will take a break in the summer and resume the Power in Partnership series in Sept. The Power Card discounted frequent attender program will be available for the Sept. 2021 – May 2022 PIP series and speakers will be announced soon. Contact the Chamber for information on reservations at 704.633.4221 or info@rowanchamber.com or www.rowanchamber.com

Kannapolis opens new VIDA parking deck downtown, defines other parking options

KANNAPOLIS — The city of Kannapolis has opened the parking deck under the VIDA development in downtown for public parking.

The public is welcome to park in the VIDA deck free of charge. The VIDA parking deck is located at the intersection of South Main Street and Vance Street. Entrances are on Vance Street and South Main Street.

Free public parking is also available in these lots: Oak Ave., train station/South Main Street, North Main Street, the unpaved Horseshoe lot (across from First Baptist Church) and City Hall.  For special events, including Cannon Baller baseball games, parking is available after 6:00 p.m. in the Research Center deck and in the following lots: University, Watson Crick, and Wellness Way.

VIDA residents are welcome to park in the VIDA deck and in the Main Street and Oak Avenue public parking lots. VIDA residents will need to obtain a parking decal and display it in their rearview mirrors in order to park overnight in these designated areas. Amtrak passengers who need to park overnight in the train station/Main Street parking lot may secure a temporary parking decal from the train station attendant.

Downtown business owners, tenants and employees are welcome to park in non-premium parking spaces. They cannot park in premium parking spaces. These are reserved for the public. Premium parking spaces are on-street spaces in the following locations: West Avenue/Research Campus Drive between Vance Street and the southern horseshoe sidewalk entrance and Veterans Park; Laureate Way between Main Street and Chestnut Avenue; West A Street between Main Street and West Avenue; Cannon Baller Way between Main Street and Oak Avenue. Parking is available in the VIDA Deck during the day – no overnight parking in the deck.
Parking will be prohibited between 2-6 a.m. every day in the VIDA Parking Deck, the Oak Avenue Parking Lot and the train station//South Main Street parking lots unless a parker has a city permit from the train station or the VIDA apartment leasing office.

Handicap parking is available along West Avenue, in the parking lots and the VIDA deck.

For more information, a downtown parking map and a Kannapolis Cannon Ballers game day parking map, visit www.kannapolisnc.gov/parking.

Millers Ferry Fire Department receives grant to purchase equipment to service farm fires

SALISBURY — The Millers Ferry Fire Department was recently awarded a grant through Carolina Farm Credit’s Corporate Mission Fund.

The fire department will use the grant funds to purchase large farm equipment jacks to be used in agricultural/farm accidents.

Last year marked the sixth year Carolina Farm Credit awarded Corporate Mission Fund grants. Nearly 125 grant applications were received for the program and grants were awarded in the last quarter of 2020. Scholarships were also awarded from the fund. In total, $141,500 was awarded to 25 local organizations and 12 college students.

“Our Corporate Mission Fund is another way that Carolina Farm Credit strives to enhance agriculture and the rural communities in North Carolina.” Vance Dalton, CEO, Carolina Farm Credit, said in a news release. “These grants help provide funding for many great organizations across our territory.”

The Corporate Mission Fund operates on an application-based grant system. Organizations may apply for up to $5,000 per year to help in their endeavors to promote agriculture, as well as stimulate the local agricultural economy in the western half of North Carolina. 

Grant applications will be accepted until June 30. Project proposals will be reviewed and grants will be awarded in the fourth quarter of 2021. To qualify for a grant, organizations must be located within the 54 counties and geographic area where Carolina Farm Credit conducts business. For more information and to apply,visit the Carolina Farm Credit Corporate Mission Fund page.

To read about last year’s grant recipients visit carolinafarmcredit.com.

Carolina Farm Credit is a stockholder-owned cooperative providing financing to full and part-time farmers and agricultural-related businesses and also provides financing for the construction and purchase of homes in 54 counties through 30 branch offices. Other financial services available are credit life insurance, appraisal services, leasing programs, and financial planning.

For more than 100 years Farm Credit has been supporting rural communities and agriculture with reliable, consistent credit and financial services. The association’s territory covers the western half of North Carolina, with branch offices located in Albemarle, Lexington, Salisbury, Statesville, and many other towns and cities.

Duke Energy touts improvements to electrical grid in Rowan County and across state

With spring storm season ongoing and hurricane season nearing, Duke Energy announced that is has made improvements to its electrical grid in several places across the state, including Rowan County.

“We recognize when the lights go out, our customers depend on us most,” Mark Wimberly, vice president of customer delivery zone operations, said in a news release. “We’ve been making upgrades across our system and in Rowan County to build a stronger and smarter energy grid to reduce outages and restore power faster for customers.”

The company has begun installing self-healing technology that automatically detects power outages and quickly reroutes service when outages occur to restore power faster. The technology is touted to reduce the number of customers impacted by an outage and the duration of an outage, by restoring power often in less than a minute. Installation of this technology included new and upgraded power lines in some areas and automated controls to reroute power to other energy pathways when outages occur.

In 2020, the company claims that self-healing technology helped to avoid around 300,000 extended customer outages in North Carolina and South Carolina, saving customers more than 1 million hours of lost outage time. Over the next few years, Duke Energy expects to install enough self-healing technology to serve most customers.

Crews also upgraded poles in the area, replaced and upgraded power lines, and increased the capacity of the electric system in some areas. The company said the improvements help to strengthen the grid and make the power grid in Rowan County more resistant to outages from severe weather, as well as support growth. 

Duke Energy is making grid improvements across the state over the next few years. Throughout 2021, more than 8,500 customers will benefit from additional grid improvements with more planned in the years ahead.

Duke Energy said trees were trimmed in nearly 200 miles of rights-of-way since last Spring and more tree trimming and removal will occur this year to further improve reliability.

N.C. Craft Brewers Guild unveils spring fundraising T-shirt

The North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild has released its new #DrinkNCBeer spring T-shirt to raise money for the organization.

The N.C. Craft Brewers Guild is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit advocacy group that supports the independent craft brewers across the state through advocacy and education. North Carolina has over 350 independent craft breweries and brewpubs, each one serving as a local gathering spot for their communities.

With every purchase of a $30 shirt, the N.C. Craft Brewers Guild will receive $10. The shirts are produced by Beer Murch and are printed on soft cotton Next Level shirts. There are two styles to choose from: regular or fitted. 

Pre-orders for the shirt will continue until 11:59 p.m. on May 16. Order will begin to be fulfilled the following week. 

Shirts can be ordered online at https://beermurch.com/collections/ncguild.