NEWSMAKERS: ROAD TO SUCCESS

It would be hard to name a person who's had a greater influence on the hospitality industry in North Carolina's Piedmont-Triad than Dennis Quaintance. As Chief Executive Officer, Chief Design Officer and Chief Storytelling Officer of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants and Hotels based in Greensboro, he and his team run a company that built and continues to operate 2 upscale hotels in Greensboro...

Not many companies can claim they've grown 300% in the last 5 years. But Geoff Foster's company can! Foster runs the Core Technology Molding Corporation based in Greensboro, North Carolina. It's in the process of moving into a new $28 million manufacturing facility east of Greensboro. The company takes raw plastic pellets, melts them at high temperatures and injects that material into...

You may not recognize his name, but there's a good chance he's influenced your life here in North Carolina's Piedmont-Triad in one way or another. 30 years ago, Bernie Mann bought what was a struggling publication and turned it into a "Celebrating North Carolina" powerhouse. But before he became a magazine publisher, he owned radio stations across the northeastern and souther...

He's been a key figure in turning a quiet travel venue in central North Carolina into an economic development and aerospace powerhouse. Within the next few years, the Piedmont-Triad International Airport will be the home of one of the largest concentrations of aircraft manufacturers in the world! But it's also a traditional airport that--like many others--is facing challenges that include...

During the last more than 20 years, Glenn Dobrogosz has turned a sleepy science center in Greensboro, NC into a legitimate tourist draw and--you could argue--an economic development machine. In this episode, the Greensboro Science Center's executive director tells Neill McNeill how and why he arrived in Greensboro, explains the "secret sauce" behind the facility's success and his...

Don Stewart leads what will soon become one of North Carolina's largest employers: Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina in the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite. By the time its fully operational within the next few years, it will employ at least 5,100 people. In this episode, Stewart and Neill McNeill talk about some of the major issues/challenges facing the electric vehicle industry and th...

Not many in Central North Carolina have as complex a list of responsibilities as Don Stewart. He's the president of Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina, Toyota's first big effort to make lithium-ion batteries in the United States for its cars and trucks. This operation in the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite in Randolph County consists of multiple large buildings (7 million collective...

He's had a front row seat to some of the largest economic development deals in North Carolina history. Mike Fox is the president and CEO of the economic development organization, The Piedmont-Triad Partnership. In this episode, Fox describes to Neill McNeill the history behind the organization, what it's doing today and what it was like to be a part of a couple of major local aerospace neg...

It would be hard to find someone with a more complex list of professional responsibilities than Mike Fox. Attorney. North Carolina transportation authority. Economic developer. He does it all. In this episode, Fox describes to Neill McNeill his growing up in western North Carolina, the early days of his law career and his time as chairman of the North Carolina Board of Transportation during perhap...

It would be hard to name two more important behind-the-scenes people in live entertainment than the father-son duo of Jim and Michael Brammer. Jim's the founder/CEO of The Concert Stuff Group. Michael's the chief strategy officer. Together they run a company that provides audio, video, staging, production and transportation services (among many others) for many of the world's top artis...

There's a good chance if you've attended a large live event featuring just about any major artist--from Billy Joel to Paul McCartney to Luke Combs among many, many others, there's a good chance you've experienced the work of the company Jim Brammer founded and still runs. The Concert Stuff Group is based in Davie County, North Carolina but consists of multiple businesses across the...

They're among the largest economic development wins in North Carolina history: the Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina complex in the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite and JetZero's announcement it'll bring its next generation aircraft factory and corporate headquarters to Greensboro: billions of dollars in economic impact, more than 20,000 announced jobs. And Marvin Price was a key...

He's among THE top economic developers in the United States. And during his half-decade as executive vice president, economic development for the Greensboro (North Carolina) Chamber of Commerce, Marvin Price has helped lead initiatives that have led to more than $20 billion in capital investment and well more than 25,000 announced jobs. (This includes the largest economic developmen "win&...

When it comes to commercial building construction in Central North Carolina, it would be hard to find a more influential person than Mike Lancaster. From the new Care Tower at the Atrium Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, to the Qubein Children's Museum in High Point to the first phase of the Lenovo Center renovation in Raleigh, Lancaster has been heavily involved. He's t...

When it comes to success, not many in North Carolina's Piedmont-Triad have experienced it quite like Mike Lancaster. He's the president and CEO of Blum Construction, a company based in Winston-Salem that recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. There's a very good chance you've seen or have spent time in a building locally that Blum has built and Lancaster's had a hand in bui...

What does it take to become a billionaire? In this episode, the CEO and president of the Carroll Companies (a real estate and development firm based in Greensboro NC) discusses with Neill McNeill how he did just that. In some ways, it's a master class on taking ideas (even though some may "flop") and turning them into very successful businesses. Carroll also talks about some of his c...

Forbes Magazine titled its 2023 article on him "The Guru of Greensboro: How a College Dropout Built a $2.9 Billion Real Estate Empire." Not bad for someone who grew up modestly in Guilford County, NC and would eventually become among the most successful real estate developers in the United States. In this episode, the founder and CEO of the Carroll Companies, Roy Carroll, speaks with Nei...

For the third year in a row USA Today readers have voted Biscuitville as having the best fast food breakfast in the United States. Not bad for a company that gew out of a pizza restaurant in Burlington, North Carolina in 1975. While Biscuitville may be a relatively small company in the world of fast food, it's quickly become one of the most recognizable brands in the business. In this episode,...

For the third year in a row USA Today readers voted Biscuitville as having the best fast food breakfast in the United States. Not bad for a company that grew out of a pizza restaurant in Burlington, North Carolina in 1975. While Biscuitville may be a relatively small company in the world of fast food, it's quickly become one of the most recognizable brands in the business. In this episode, Biscuit...

After Joey Cheek grew up in Greensboro, NC and won 3 Olympic speed skating medals, he--among other things--dabbled in the business world where he started or helped start a couple of companies. One of those companies he calls a "miserable failure." Now, he's taking what he learned in all those experiences helping others start their own businesses through his job as Executive Vice President of Entre...

Before he won gold, silver, and bronze Olympic ice speedskating medals, Joey Cheek grew up in Greensboro skating with skates that had wheels. Today, he's back in his hometown working as Executive Vice President of Entrepreneurship with the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. In this episode, Cheek reflects on his athletic career: the switch from wheels to blades, the practice, the competition, the fam...

In this episode, world-renowned author, philanthropist, public relations executive and power broker Dr. Robert J. Brown describes to Neill McNeill how he, as a registered Democrat, began work in Republican President Richard Nixon's White House while offering a perspective of the former president you haven't heard before. Dr. Brown also talks about the key role he played in freeing former South Afr...

In this episode, world-renowned author, philanthropist,public relations executive and power broker Dr. Robert J. Brown describes to Neill McNeill how he became a close friend and colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the early days of the civil rights movement. Hear—among otherthings--- how these two met, some of the things Dr. Brown believes most people don’t know about Dr. King, how Dr...

Many have called him the most influential person you’venever heard of. From being a close friend and colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to working in the Nixon White House to helping free Nelson Mandela from prison in South Africa, Bob Brown has had a complex, inspiring and “connected” life. But it all started growing up in a segregated southern city(High Point, North Carolina). Here he tell...

Peter Voorhoeve is not only one of the world’s leadingauthorities on trucking and moving things from one place to another (what many call “logistics”), he’s also one of the leading proponents and innovators of building zero emission large trucks. In this episode, he discusses with NeillMcNeill how navigating this mission is difficult in the current political environment. He also talks about how hi...