Category: Economy

Top 3: Coffee houses in New Bern

Best selection: Bella’s Cafe & Catering

Best quality food: Crema Brew

Most social: Crema Brew

Best non-social hangout: Starbucks

Best social hangout: Crema Brew

Best coffee house on a Sunday: Bella’s Cafe & Catering

Best over-all: Crema Brew

Longest hours: Starbucks

Bella’s Cafe & Catering

323 Middle Street

7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday

252-633-7900

bellascafenb.com

Decor: Attractive and comfortable. However, my table was sticky, as were the empty tables to my left and right. Seating includes round tables, a bar table, a square table and conversation circle. Seats range from aluminum to cushioned. The south wall is a cushioned bench with pillows and individual tables.

Menu: Comprehensive and will keep you fed from breakfast through dinner. Vegetarian and children options. Prices are moderate. My large hot tea and home-baked blueberry muffin came to $6.98 including $1 tip. The muffin was competent. Wait staff says all food is homemade.

Service area: Clean and fully functional. Two choices of creamers, milk and half-and-half. Several choices of non-dairy whitener. Choice of diet sweeteners plus white sugar and raw sugar, but no honey. Free ice water including paper cups.

Vibe: Lots of conversations at tables, but no table-to-table conversation. Wide range of ages and genders, but not races; entirely white, which is a common complaint about downtown New Bern.

Service: Friendly greeting as you arrive and bid you well as you leave.

I’ve been coming to this location for a decade, through numerous owners. Of them, the current arrangement is the most professional but least personable. The food is good and there is a wide selection. The restrooms have been redone, which is somewhat of a shame. The men’s room was once decorated by a hand-painted edition of the Sun Journal sports page. Now it is nicely decorated with solid paint and neutral wall hangings. A work of art has been lost. Fun fact: there is a disused door to the left of the women’s room that leads to the basement, which was intended to be used as a Cold War-era fallout shelter.

Crema Brew

914 Broad Street, northeast intersection of Queen and Broad streets

7 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Saturday, closed Sundays

252-288-5381

cremabrew.com

Decor: Homey and comfortable. Seating at large and small tables arranged in the front section that is lined with windows and the back section that is windowless. Facilities are immaculately clean.

Menu: Somewhat limited but adequate and deliciously homemade (you can watch them bake pies, cakes, and pastries in the back of the shop). Breakfast includes hot egg and cheese on Carolina Bagel bagels. Lunch includes egg, tuna, or chicken salad on home baked potato bread, Carolina Bagel bagels, or served alone in a cup, topped off with two cherry tomatoes. Daily soup specials. There is a selection of bagged chips and other snacks and sweets. What sets Crema Brew apart is its baked goods. Don’t tell your mother, but her pies don’t hold a candle to Crema Brew’s. Prices range from reasonable to free. Yes, if you need a cup and can’t afford it, ask and they will give you one.

Service area: Clean and functional. Includes half-and-half and non-dairy whiteners, white sugar, honey, and sugar free sweeteners. Free ice water with cups. Stirrers are dried linguini. Straws are cardboard and won’t kill the turtles.

Vibe: The other thing that sets Crema Brew apart is its friendly nature. Customers are a wide range of ages, genders, and races. Lots of inter-table and table-to-table conversations. The mom and pop and daughter who own and run Crema Brew regularly come from behind the counter and socialize with customers. It’s not long before they remember your name. It’s not long before you strike up new friendships from among other customers.

Service: Fast and friendly. Really friendly.

I’ve been going to Crema Brew since the day it opened. In fact I switched my go-to coffee house to Crema Brew and own a Crema Brew cap (gift from a friend) and hoodie sweatshirt (gift from the wife). The owners, Roxanne and Donovan Zook, and their daughter, Regina, will become part of your family if you let them. The coffee house is located within a former filling station-then-dry cleaner that sat empty for a couple of decades. They did all the work themselves that they could that didn’t require a permit.

Starbucks

3182 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (New Bern Mall outparcel)

5:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 6 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday

252-775-8605

starbucks.com

Decor: Industrial. Several small cushy chairs beside small tables, with one large table in the center surrounded by chairs.

Menu: Typical Starbucks fare but not as extensive as advertised. They frequently run out. Nothing is homemade; everything is frozen and, if heat is required, microwaved. Moderate prices.

Service area: Serviceable but often messy. No free water.

Vibe: Typical Starbucks. Don’t expect a social experience unless you bring one with you. Longest hours.

The Starbucks on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is New Bern’s only standalone Starbucks … something the city was once excited to get. It’s on the smallish side as one would expect in a small town at a mall outparcel. There are three in-store Starbucks, at Target and the two Harris Teeters. The Starbucks inside the larger Harris Teeter on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard has more spacious seating than a typical Starbucks, whereas the one at the Carolina Colours location has less seating. Target fits neatly in-between.

Posted in Business, Community, Downtown New Bern, Economy, FEMA, New Bern

New Bern ranks high among small cities in ENC, middle in NC, low nationally

New Bern, North Carolina, ranked above its small city peers in Eastern North Carolina, but not so well compared to other small cities in North Carolina or nationally in a new WalletHub report released today.

The study takes into account affordability, economic health, education and health, quality of life, and safety.

Using those measures, New Bern ranks ahead of every other small city straddling or east of Interstate 95, including its closest neighbors considered “small cities,” Greenville and Jacksonville. Smaller towns including Havelock and Kinston were not included in the study.

As for the rest of the state, New Bern falls in the middle of the pack, and in the nation, posted an unremarkable 29th percentile.

Go here for the rest of the story.

Posted in Economy, Economy and Employment, Health, Public safety

Mediocre “family friendly” rating should point New Bern in a better direction

New Bern received a mediocre score for family friendliness in North Carolina from WalletHub, a website that produces data-driven articles ranking various subjects in various categories.

In ranking North Carolina cities for “2019’s Best Places to Raise a Family in North Carolina,” New Bern ranked 56th out of 87 cities. The top-ranked city was Cary, while coming in at 87th was Laurinburg.

In Eastern North Carolina, Havelock — you read that right — was the highest rated city in the survey, coming in at 35th. Other Eastern NC cities were Wilmington (44th), Greenville (53rd), Jacksonville (59th), Wilson (70th), Elizabeth City (75th), Tarboro (77th), Goldsboro (81st), and Kinston (84th).

Taking just Eastern North Carolina cities into account, then, New Bern ranked fourth, just behind Greenville and ahead of Jacksonville.

The rankings took into consideration 10 metrics, of which New Bern did better than average in just three: violent-crime rate per capita, unemployment rate, and playgrounds per capita.

New Bern ranked low in several categories, including percentage of families with children under age 17, median family income, and high school graduation rate. It rated near the bottom — 72nd — in housing affordability.

New Bern appears at the top of many lists, from Top Charming Small Towns to Top Small Retirement Towns, but these are typically niche categories. Raising a family is about as fundamental to a city’s purpose as you can get, and New Bern’s ranking, indeed rankings of all Eastern North Carolina cities, should raise some red flags and help policymakers in making decisions.

The data used in these rankings is entirely publicly available, and is the same information that companies look at when determining expansion and relocations.

True, New Bern is constantly looking for ways to up its game. But take one example, the planned Martin-Marietta Park. New Bern already ranks high for playgrounds per capita (24th in the state). Martin-Marietta Park won’t move the bar one iota in rankings such as these, even if it’s a park that is physically larger than most of Craven County’s smaller cities.

The focus should be where New Bern and Craven County are average or weak — median family income, quality of school system, high school graduation rate, poverty rate, and perhaps foremost, housing affordability.

Here are specific rankings for New Bern:

Raising a Family in New Bern (1=Best; 43=Avg.; 87=Worst)

• 64^th – % of Families with Children Aged 0 to 17
• 57^th – Median Family Income (adjusted for cost of living)
• 49^th – Quality of School System
• 52^nd – High School Graduation Rate
• 34^th – Violent-Crime Rate per Capita
• 72^nd – Housing Affordability
• 48^th – % of Families Living in Poverty
• 31^st – Unemployment Rate
• 45^th – Divorce Rate
• 24^th – Playgrounds per Capita

Full report here:

Posted in Achievements, Commentary, Community, Community issues, Craven County, Craven County Schools, Crime, Economy, Economy and Employment, Education, Infrastructure, New Bern, New Bern business and commerce, Opinion, Politics, Public safety, Retirement, State news, State politics

Habitat for Humanity aims to improve home affordability in Craven County through new national advocacy campaign

Habitat organizations across the country are mobilizing to influence policy and system changes at the federal, state and local levels

Nearly 19 million households across the United States are spending at least half of their income on a place to live, often forgoing basic necessities such as food and health care to make ends meet.

In Craven County, 33% or 13,370 households, are cost-burdened and having difficulty meeting their monthly mortgage or rental payments, according to the 2017 statistics reported by the NC Housing Coalition.

A family needs to earn $33,120 per year in order to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment at $828 per month, while the average renter can only afford a rent of $683 per month. The stability that housing should bring continues to remain out of reach for many people.

On Wednesday, Habitat for Humanity of Craven County joined Habitat organizations across the country to launch a new national advocacy campaign aimed at improving home affordability for 10 million people in the U.S. over the next five years.

Marking significant growth in Habitat’s commitment to ensuring that everyone has a safe and decent place to call home, the Cost of Home campaign seeks to identify and improve policies and systems through coordinated advocacy efforts at the local, state and federal levels.

Cost of Home focuses on improving housing affordability across the housing continuum in four specific policy areas: increasing supply and preservation of affordable homes, equitably increasing access to credit, optimizing land use for affordable homes, and ensuring access to and development of communities of opportunity.

Habitat for Humanity of Craven County already has taken several steps toward these goals. In April, Executive Director Mike Williams and Homeowner Services Coordinator Betsy McDonald spent two days in Raleigh with area State representatives to advocate for policies and funding to support affordable housing in eastern North Carolina. Mike Williams also serves as the chair of a sub-committee on the County’s long-term recovery alliance for housing options.

“The impact of hurricane Florence has made affordable housing a major shelter issue in all of eastern North Carolina,” said Mike Williams, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Craven County. “It will take creative and intentional housing legislation and policies, on local and state levels, to solve this issue.”

More details about Habitat’s Cost of Home policy platform and campaign activation are available at habitat.org/costofhome. For more information or to speak to Habitat Craven County about the campaign, please contact Deedra Durocher or Betsy McDonald at 252-633-9599.

• Post to social media. Use #CostOfHome, #CostOfHomeCraven, and tag @CravenHabitat.
• Write or call your legislators. Tell them to support policies to improve housing affordability.

• Tell three friends about the Cost of Home campaign. Send them a link to this story and ask them to help.

Posted in Economy, Economy and Employment, Habitat for Humanity, Housing, New Bern

Environmental Justice and a Just Florence Recovery

The current activities towards Environmental Justice and a Just Florence Recovery will be presented by Naeema Muhammad and Ashley Daniels of the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network and the Just Florence Recovery Coalition.

Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.

Place: The Harrison Center, 311 Middle Street, New Bern

Environmental Justice is the effort to promote health and environmental equity, clean industry, safe work places, and fair access to all human and natural resources, especially for low income communities and peoples of color.

The Just Florence Recovery aims to help these communities get the resources now to continue getting help after the hurricane and flooding devastation, but also to build resilience in affected communities for future climate related events.

Ashley Daniels has been an activist with the NC Sierra Club in Wilmington and a founding member of the NC Sierra Club’s Equity, Inclusion and Justice Committee. She is an organizer for the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network and for the Just Florence Recovery.

Naeema Muhammad has been Organizing Co-Director with NCEJN since 2013. She has served as a community organizer working with communities dealing with waste from industrial hog operations and has co-authored publications regarding community based participatory research. She currently serves on the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Secretary’s Environmental Justice & Equity Advisory Board.

Hosted by the Carolina Nature Coalition, and cosponsored by the Craven County Branch of the NC NAACP and the NC Sierra Club Croatan Group.

All presentations are free and open to the general public. Questions and discussion are always encouraged.

Further Information: carolinanaturecoalition.org or 252-626-5100

Posted in Economy, Environment, FEMA, Hurricane, New Bern

New Bern, Craven County rejoice in National Travel and Tourism Week, saying ‘Travel Matters’

National Travel and Tourism Week 2019, the 36th annual celebration of the contributions and accomplishments of the U.S. travel industry, will take place on May 5-11.

This year’s theme is “Travel Matters,” a recognition of the innumerable ways in which travel enriches lives and strengthens communities. Each day of NTTW will spotlight a different example of why travel matters to America.

For New Bern and Craven County, travel and tourism are so vital that “Travel Matters” are not mere words.

“They are the economic engine for the city, the county, the state – the entire country,” said Sabrina Bengel, chairman of the Craven County Tourism Development Authority. “That’s true whether you are traveling to a campground or a 5-star resort.”

Tourism creates jobs that keeps local economies humming, and brings in sales taxes that pay for vital government services.

“‘Travel Matters’ is quite accurate,” said Tarshi P. McCoy, executive director of the New Bern-Craven County Convention & Visitor Center. “Tourism has an enormous effect on New Bern and Craven County and continues to grow each year.”

True, New Bern has been in recovery mode since Hurricane Florence struck in September 2018. Damage to DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel New Bern-Riverfront indefinitely reduced available downtown hotel rooms by 171 and left the city without its only full-service hotel.

Paradoxically, occupancy tax revenues actually increased to record levels since Hurricane Florence, Bengel said.

That’s one of those “silver lining” situations, as construction workers, insurance adjusters, government officials and others descended on New Bern in response to Hurricane Florence.

That surge is expected to subside by the last quarter of the year, about the same time that New Bern Riverfront Convention Center is scheduled to reopen fresh from repairs.

New Bern’s tourism industry continues to market the city’s unique and historic ambience, and there has been an uptick in business for the city’s Bed & Breakfasts. Pollock Street in downtown alone has six B&Bs offering around 43 rooms, all an easy walk from the Convention Center and other downtown attractions.

Having a major hotel and a convention center simultaneously out of commission affects the city’s ability to attract larger conventions, but the city has adjusted its strategies in order to focus on its many other strengths.

While the city may find it harder to attract large-scale conventions, its ambience and unparalleled services still suit smaller meetings and events.

“We can’t have full conventions but we can accommodate boards of directors,” Bengel said.

Case in point: PepsiCo continues to hold its annual meetings in New Bern, where Pepsi was invented.

Tarshi P. McCoy has been creative in addressing recent challenges while continuing to focus on New Bern’s entrenched strengths, Bengel said.

“The New Bern-Craven County Convention and Visitors Bureau works closely with the hospitality partners to ensure that we promote our amenities and educate travelers on everything the area has to offer,” McCoy said.

Downtown New Bern may have 171 fewer hotel rooms, but two other downtown hotels, Courtyard by Marriott New Bern and Bridgepoint Hotel and Marina, are open, and Havelock, a short drive away on U.S. Highway 70, offers 300-350 additional rooms, Bengel said.

Those amenities, coupled with value-added services including shuttle services, keep Craven County in the tourism game.

That’s not all. Downtown New Bern features a growing and vibrant arts and theatre community and a thriving night life. The area’s ambience is well suited for weddings and events, which by nature of their advanced planning provide stability for inn, venue, and restaurant bookings.

What is National Travel and Tourism Week?

Established in 1983 by President Reagan, National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW) is the annual salute to travel in America.

During the first full week in May, communities nationwide unite around a common theme to showcase travel’s contributions to the economy and American jobs.

This year, the travel industry is coming together to celebrate why “Travel Matters,” spotlighting a different way travel matters each day to American jobs, economic growth and personal well-being.

SUNDAY: Travel matters to the economy.

Travel generated $2.5 trillion for the U.S. economy in 2018 across all U.S. industries. Here in New Bern, the travel industry generated $142.10 million to the local economy in 2017.

MONDAY: Travel matters to new experiences.

From our national parks to our diverse cities and our scenic small towns, travel is uniquely made in America. Our attractions, restaurants, shops, theme parks, music venues and more—and the people who make them possible—are the best in the world and showcase what makes America great.

TUESDAY: Travel matters to our jobs.

Travel supported 15.7 million U.S. jobs in 2018—that’s one in 10 American jobs, making travel the seventh largest employer in the private sector. Here in New Bern, the travel industry supports According to “Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina Counties 2017,” prepared for Visit North Carolina by the U.S. Travel Association, the travel and tourism industry directly employed more than 1,170 people in Craven County. Total payroll generated by the tourism industry in Craven County was $29.06 million in 2017. State tax revenue in Craven County totaled $7.79 million through state sales and excise taxes, as well as income taxes. Local taxes generated from sales and property tax revenue from travel-generated and travel-supported businesses totaled $3.13 million..

WEDNESDAY: Travel matters to keeping America connected.

Within the next five years, Labor Day-like traffic will plague U.S. highways on a daily basis and within the next six years, our nation’s top 30 airports will experience Thanksgiving-like passenger volumes on a weekly basis.

Approximately 80 million inbound travelers visited America last year, about half of whom came from overseas. Spending by these visitors supports 1.2 million American jobs.

THURSDAY: Travel matters to health.

Americans are increasingly realizing the value of their vacation time, taking an average of 17.2 days of vacation each year. Yet less than half of that time is used to travel—despite its clear benefits for health.

Those who take all or most of their vacation time to travel report higher rates of happiness with physical health and well-being compared to those who don’t travel as much.

FRIDAY: Travel matters to hometown pride.

Over half of all leisure travel in the U.S. is to visit family and friends, making residents a community’s best tourism ambassador.

The intersection of sports—a key driver of hometown pride—and travel is unmistakable: in 2017, more than 150 million individuals attended sporting events last year across the five major sports teams.

SATURDAY: Travel matters to families.

Travel helps families connect, creating everlasting memories and develop a lifelong bond. When surveyed, most children (61%) say the best way to spend quality time with parents is on vacation. At their core, adults know this: 62 percent of adults say that their earliest, most vivid memories are of family vacations taken between the ages of five and 10.

Posted in Business, Community, Community issues, Downtown New Bern, Economy, Economy and Employment, Tourism

Closed DoubleTree an economic hit for Downtown New Bern

Six months after it made landfall, Hurricane Florence’s impacts on New Bern’s economy are still being felt throughout the city, but a new development may delay full recovery for some time.

Hurricane-damaged DoubleTree Riverfront hotel is closed indefinitely over insurance coverage issues related to the hurricane. Downtown New Bern will continue to face its worst economic crisis since 2008-10, when access to downtown was crippled by a bridge replacement and road construction projects.

“Business is definitely down,” said Lynne Harakal, director of Swiss Bear Downtown Development Corporation, said about Hurricane Florence recovery. “The best information I can provide is revenues are down about 15-20 percent since the hurricane. In retail, that’s a very large hit. Most small retailers have a profit margin of about 10 percent at the end of the year, so if these percentages continue many of our retailers could be in jeopardy.

“Not having the DoubleTree makes this situation even more ominous. Our downtown businesses need the DoubleTree operational. Furthermore, they need the Conventional Center up and running and a thriving Farmers Market to draw customers to our shops and restaurants.”

New Bern Riverfront Convention Center, a top venue for activities ranging from Marine Corps Birthday balls to corporate shareholder meetings, occupies about 3 acres of the downtown frontage on the banks of the Trent River.

The Convention Center was badly damaged during the hurricane, but is aiming to reopen in the fall. A big piece of its marketing plan has been the presence of a full-service hotel right next door—the DoubleTree Riverfront by Hilton.

Sources said there have already been two cancelled bookings at the Convention Center because of the DoubleTree being closed.

The Convention Center and DoubleTree Riverfront occupy a space previously known as Bicentennial Park and, before that, New Bern’s busy waterfront dating to the 1700s. More

Why does the DoubleTree matter? After all, there are two other hotels downtown, and several others elsewhere in the city.

Downtown’s two operating hotels are the Courtyard by Marriott, overlooking the Neuse River, with 100 rooms, and the Bridgepointe Hotel and Marina across the Trent River with 115 rooms. Both the Courtyard and the Bridgepointe are locally owned.

DoubleTree Riverfront, with 171 rooms, is by far the city’s largest hotel. More importantly, it is New Bern’s only full-service hotel. A full-service hotel offers full service accommodations, an on-site restaurant, and personalized service, such as a concierge, room service, and clothes pressing staff.

The DoubleTree was the hotel Alpha in New Bern, occupying the premiere location along the Trent River between the Convention Center and the N.C. History Center.

The DoubleTree is owned RPG Hospitality and managed by Singh Investment Group of Augusta, Georgia. More

Once a full-fledged Hilton and, before that, a Sheraton, the $12 million property in New Bern has been operating under Hilton’s DoubleTree flag for several years.

Singh Investment Group owns one other hotel property in North Carolina (all others are in Georgia), the DoubleTree Oceanfront by Hilton in Atlantic Beach. It, too, was severely damaged by Hurricane Florence and remains closed.

Singh Investment has not answered a request to be interviewed by New Bern Post, and local officials say they have not answered their inquiries since January.

In mid-February, the hotel’s general manager attended a Tourism Development Agency meeting and said that due to litigation with the hotel’s insurance carrier over whether it covered damage from wind-driven rain, the hotel might remain closed.

The hotel owners transferred the general manager and two weeks later laid off the entire staff except the sales manager and a couple of maintenance workers. The sales manager worked to cancel remaining bookings.

This puts downtown New Bern in a bad spot. Take the New Bern Grand Marina, for example. It is under separate ownership, but it partnered with DoubleTree to provide amenities to the marina including showers and laundry.

Then, of course, its impacts on Convention Center bookings, and a large hotel staff that has been laid off.

Then there are other effects. A vast, empty parking lot beside a large hotel is not a good indicator of a thriving downtown.

In short, it puts downtown growth and prosperity at serious risk.

Moreover, the longer DoubleTree remains closed, the harder it will be to bring it back into operation. The DoubleTree may very well go from being one of Downtown New Bern’s crown jewels, to a major liability.

It’s sort of like what the Days Hotel did in Five Points. The Days Hotel went from being in business to derelict to being razed over an eight-year span.

Alderman Sabrina Bengel, when asked what the city could do about the hotel, said, “Nothing. It’s private property.”

She equates DoubleTree with the beleaguered SkySail condominiums right next door to the DoubleTrees and the long-vacant Elks Building smack dab in the middle of Downtown New Bern. They, too, are major properties in the downtown that seek solutions and remain vacant or underutilized.

She said DoubleTree’s owners said they are not interested in selling the hotel, and continue to seek a resolution from the insurance carrier.

Meanwhile, the hotel has not reached the level of nuisance abatement, and is current on its taxes, which total just over $120,000 per year.

While it is true that the hotel is private property, current on taxes, and may not have reached a point where it is a public safety hazard, it is demonstrably true that a vacant and empty hotel has an adverse economic impact on the city.

Cities have used that argument to justify employing eminent domain, the right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation.

Whether the city has the stomach for that kind of nuclear option depends on how severe impacts become as the DoubleTree Riverfront remains closed.

Posted in Board of Aldermen, Boating, Business, Craven County Board of Commissioners, Downtown New Bern, Economy, Economy and Employment, FEMA, Hurricane, Infrastructure, New Bern, New Bern business and commerce

Who owns the DoubleTree Riverfront

The DoubleTree Riverfront by Hilton hotel in New Bern has been closed since Hurricane Florence in September 2018. Google Street View photo

Singh Investment Group is a privately held real estate investment and management firm based in Augusta, Georgia.

The company’s portfolio includes hotels, commercial, and residential developments. With 1,400 guest rooms, SIG has hotels ranging from limited service to full service properties operating under Hilton, Starwood, IHG, and Wyndham flags. With over 1,400 guest rooms, SIG sells itself as “a proven leader in hotel investment and operational management.”

In its Mission Statement, SIG seeks to implement efficient operational strategies that maximize financial performance in order to subsequently result in company growth. This objective is achieved through three key areas: Team Member Development, Exceptional Customer Satisfaction, and Disciplined Financial Management.

Singh Investment’s website includes a section called “Case Studies,” where it touts its successes. Ironically, the section is that the opening page is dominated by a panorama photo of New Bern’s DoubleTree Riverfront hotel.

Case studies shown on the SIG website include DoubleTree Oceanfront in Atlantic Beach. The main photo is of DoubleTree Riverfront in New Bern, which is not included in among the case studies.

The website does not include a case study about the New Bern hotel, but it does have one for DoubleTree Oceanfront in Atlantic Beach. Like New Bern’s DoubleTree, the Atlantic Beach hotel was damaged by Hurricane Florence and remains closed.

Except for hotels in New Bern and Atlantic Beach, all other SIG hotels are in Georgia.

Posted in Business, Economy, Economy and Employment, New Bern

Local Unitarian Universalist Fellowship gets $50,000 grant for disaster recovery support

GATHERED for a check presentation and celebration of a $50,000 grant award for disaster relief from the national Unitarian Universalist Association are some representatives of the Duffyfield Phoenix Project, the Craven County Disaster Recovery Alliance, and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of New Bern.  They are, first row, seated, Paula Saihati, Grace Hudson, the Rev. Dr. Ethel Sampson, Fred Pittinger, and Anne Schout.  In the second row, Elijah Brown, Johnny Sampson, the Rev. Robert Johnson, Carole McCracken, The Rev. John Robinson, Robert Benjamin, Jim Schout, and the Rev. Charlie Davis.   Standing behind are Mike Avery and Sully Sullivan.

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of New Bern (UUFNB) received a $50,000 grant from the national Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Disaster Relief Fund to aid in disaster recovery in New Bern, primarily in the Duffyfield area.  

UUFNB has partnered with the Craven County Disaster Recovery Alliance (CCDRA) and will coordinate efforts with the Duffyfield Phoenix Project, (DPP).

Individual Unitarian Universalists locally, and from various parts of the country, sent unsolicited donations for UUFNB disaster relief efforts shortly after Hurricane Florence created such devastation in the area.  

UUFNB formed a committee to distribute the funds to UUFNB congregants impacted by the storm and in most need of assistance Concurrently, UUFNB strengthened its partnership with CCDRA to undertake a community-wide effort.  CCDRA is a group of faith-based, non-profit, government and business organizations formed to provide coordinated recovery efforts to county residents. Of primary concern to the UUFNB is the large number of hurricane victims in urgent need of assistance in New Bern’s Duffyfield area.

UUFNB prepared and submitted a grant application to the UUA’s Disaster Relief Fund and was given $50,000 to support CCDRA efforts in the Duffyfield community.  Ten percent is available to respond to emergencies outside of Duffyfield. The remainder will focus on priority Duffyfield cases identified by CCDRA with the assistance of DPP.  This is a natural fit as DPP’s mission is to improve both the physical surroundings and quality of life for Duffyfield residents.

On Friday, Feb. 8, representatives of all three entities gathered at UUFNB to announce the grant to the press, answer any questions they had and formally turn over the grant funds to CCDRA.

Posted in Achievements, Community, Community issues, Craven County, Economy, Economy and Employment, Environment, Hurricane, Infrastructure, New Bern

BSH to expand workforce through Craven CC’s Manufacturing Pathway Program

A BSH forklift is unloaded at Craven Community College, to be used in a training program as the manufacturer ramps up its workforce.

BSH Home Appliances, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of home appliances, is expanding the workforce at its New Bern manufacturing and assembly lines to meet demands for its products.

Working in collaboration with Craven Community College (Craven CC) and Blue Arbor Staffing (BAS), BSH is seeking to add approximately 50 new employees to its current workforce.

Craven CC will offer a Manufacturing Career Pathway (MCP) program from March 11-April 11 to help train and screen potential employees. The MCP will be dedicated specifically to the initiative to enhance the success for individuals wanting to start a career with BSH.

This program will provide training in the following topics: Intro to Manufacturing, Forklift Operator Certificate, Lean Yellow Belt, OSHA 10-Hour Safety, Workplace Ethics and Intro to Microsoft Word. Students will also receive hands-on training with mock simulators.

Students who complete the program will work through BAS. BAS will arrange an interview between the candidate and BSH. Candidates chosen after the interview process will start in a temporary position and work toward permanent placement. 

Craven CC offers MCP programs throughout the year that conclude with interviews from local manufacturers for potential direct-hire positions. At the conclusion of Craven CC’s last MCP class, 55% of the students were offered direct hire positions with local industries, 18 percent chose to further their education through Craven CC by enrolling in a trade program and 100 percent were asked to complete applications for potential employment through local employment agencies.

For additional information on the program, contact Eddie Foster, Craven CC executive director of environmental safety and corporate training, at 252-638-3919 or fostere@cravencc.edu. To register, contact Cat Johnson at 252-633-0857 or johnsonc@cravencc.edu.

Posted in Business, Community, Craven Community College, Economy, Economy and Employment, Education, New Bern