February a Busy Month for the Elizabeth City Chamber by Roberta Pifer

Thank you for your support of Annual Dinner

Thank you to all who supported our 107^th Annual Dinner on February 8. Whether you purchased a ticket, donated or bid on an auction item, or volunteered your time; you helped make our event a great success!

During cocktail hour, attendees socialized with one another and competed to be the winning bidders of amazing auction items. Our 300 guests then enjoyed a delicious meal from Kelly’s Outer Banks Catering, while guest speaker Tony Copeland, North Carolina Department of Commerce Secretary, addressed the crowd.

We gave much deserved recognition to the winners of our annual awards, and to retiring board members.

Congratulations to our winners:

Business of the Year: Tandem, Inc.

Nonprofit of the Year: Albemarle Area United Way

Ambassador of the Year: Christina King, Comfort Inn

Lauren Spruill of Piedmont Natural Gas was welcomed as our 2018 Chairman of the Board, and Doug Gardner was honored for his service as Board Chair in 2017. Also honored were retiring board members Gloria Frelix of East Carolina Oncology, and Chris Purcell of Firehouse Subs.

Students Tour Businesses for Groundhog Job Shadow Day

On February 20, the Chamber’s Education Committee hosted Groundhog Job Shadow Day. Two hundred thirty students from Camden County Schools, Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools, and the Northeast Academy for Aerospace and Advanced Technologies participated in this annual event. Each group of students toured four business sites to learn about prospective careers, and the educational and personal qualities necessary to succeed in those careers. We owe a big thank you to our tour sites:

College of The Albemarle Health Sciences

The Daily Advance

Elizabeth City State University NASA Lab

Mid-Atlantic Christian University Athletics

Montero’s Restaurant

Museum of the Albemarle

Sentara Albemarle Medical Center

TCOM

United States Coast Guard Fire Department and Police Department

United States Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Facility

We could not provide this day to the students without the help of our sponsors:

Sylvan Learning Center

McDonald’s

Pepsi Bottling Ventures

Ribbons Cut and Renovations Celebrated at Two Business After Hours Events

We had quite a busy month celebrating with two Business After Hours events.

Apex Event Center hosted a Business After Hours and Ribbon Cutting on February 15. This full-service event venue can provide décor, linens, china, glassware, and more for your event.

After an extensive renovation, Sawyer’s House of Furniture celebrated their Grand Re-Opening on February 22 with a Business After Hours and Ribbon Cutting. A family owned business since 1955, their 30,000 square feet showroom offers a wide variety of design choices.

Looking Ahead to March

The Chamber will host its first ever St. Patrick’s Day Bowling Event on Tuesday, March 13 at Albemarle Lanes. Teams are filling up fast for what is sure to be fun evening of bowling and friendly competition. The luck of the Irish could be with you, if you enter into our raffle drawing. Who knows, you may win a pot of gold!

Recognizing our Sustaining Sponsor of the Month

As part of our ongoing effort to recognize Chamber members who have joined us as a Sustaining Sponsor, we look forward to recognizing their business and what they offer to our community. This month, we are highlighting Biggs Cadillac Buick GMC Truck.

Biggs Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, Oldsmobile started in January 1982 when Bruce Biggs bought the former Ivy dealership from Mr. Charlie Johnson, an automobile dealer from Florida. It was a time of 18% prime rate and unrest in our country. There were many long days, long hours and sleepless nights with 20 employees.

Even in the lean early years, the dealership has always maintained a strong commitment to the community and surrounding area. In 1992, General Motors awarded a huge benefit to the dealership by adding the GMC truck franchise. In 1994, Biggs received an even greater benefit when Rick Durren joined the dealership as General Sales Manager. With Rick’s background in sales and automobile knowledge, coupled with Bruce’s background in finance, a most successful partnership was made. As business increased, so did the commitment to the community. In 1998, a 25,000 square foot collision repair shop was added making Biggs a 10-acre full service GM store with five different franchises. The following years showed much success as the showroom was expanded and the number of employees grew to 70, with $42M a year in sales.

In 2009 came the uncertainty of the survival of General Motors. There were many changes which resulted in the removal of Oldsmobile and Pontiac brands. This meant the dealership was only offering Cadillac, Buick and GMC trucks. In 2013, in compliance with the new General Motors standards, the dealership underwent a major renovation making it very customer friendly.

Biggs Cadillac, Buick, GMC continues its success with 50 dedicated employees and an even stronger commitment to Northeastern North Carolina. We wish to thank all our customers that have supported us through the past years. We recognize and value your loyalty and look forward to many more years of continued service.

Tradewinds Note: Due to an unfortunate mixup this month's chamber article was omitted from the printed edition. We are posting it online to keep our readers updated on the chambers events.