TC Spotlight

This week, TC Spotlight sat down with the President of Nash Community College, Dr. Lew Hunnicutt. Dr. Hunnicutt is a lifelong education professional and leader, and the Twin Counties are lucky to have an enthusiastic leader in Hunnicutt. Nash Community College helps meet the needs of hundreds of local employers and educates thousands of local residents every year. NCC is part of the North Carolina...

This week, TC Spotlight sat down with the President and CEO of the Golden LEAF Foundation , Scott Hamilton. The Golden LEAF Foundation’s mission is to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural, tobacco-dependent, and economically distressed communities through leadership in grantmaking, collaboration, innovation, and stewardship as an independent and perpetual foundation. Enjoy this...

This week, TC Spotlight sat down with the co-owner of Koi Pond Brewing Company , Joshua Parvin. Josh is a a Rocky Mount native, and has been in the food and beverage business locally for over 15 years. He attended the grand opening of Koi Pond, and told the owner he'd love to be part of the team... shortly after, he started as the tap room manager and worked his way into an ownership role over...

This week, TC Spotlight sat down with the owner of On The Square and Tarboro Brewing Company , Inez Rubistello . Inez is a Tarboro native and moved back to begin operating On the Square after working in the World Trade Center in NYC. She is a wine sommelier, a beer enthusiast, and a writer. Most importantly, she's an advocate for Tarboro's beauty, charm, and opportunity. Inez's story i...

This week TC Spotlight sat down with the Mayor of Rocky Mount, Sandy Roberson. Mayor Roberson is both a political figure as well as a successful business owner and operator. When he isn’t busy with political engagements, he is working hard with his Healthview Capital team in Downtown Rocky Mount. In this interview, we discussed his political efforts and engagements, his various business interests,...

This week TC Spotlight sat down with the founders of the NC Beer Factory. Randy and Roxanne are part of the growing home-brewers-turned-brewery movement, and in this episode of the TC Spotlight, we discussed the Beer Factory's operations, how brewing beer actually works, and how Randy and Roxanne mix beer with community service efforts. If you've enjoyed our content this far, give it a listen...

This week TC Spotlight sat down with...ourselves! We realized we'd never given a public justification for why we started TC Media. So we got together and explained our reasons, goals, and hopes for the venture and what this new company can do for the Twin Counties. We had a few good laughs (mostly at each other's expense) and went behind the scenes about things we've learned while getting TC Media...

TC Spotlight sat down with Dr. Evan Duff, the eighth president of North Carolina Wesleyan University. We covered the school's history, its transition from college to university, new initiatives underway, the adult studies program, new masters degrees, how higher education has evolved since the pandemic, and much more! Wesleyan has been a key institution in the Twin Counties since its inception in...

TC Spotlight sat down with Tina Parker, Commercial Development and Main Street Coordinator for Tarboro. We met Tina when we interviewed Mayor Tate and were so impressed with her knowledge of all of the commercial activity in Tarboro and on Tarboro’s Main Street that we knew we wanted to have her on the podcast. We discussed her role in the downtown development corporation, economic development in...

TC Spotlight sat down with Crystal Wimes-Anderson to discuss her work in trying to bridge the divide between the factions that exist in the twin counties. As a relatively new resident of Rocky Mount, she brings unique perspective on the dynamics of the city. She ran for city council and shared with TC Spotlight that experience and what she learned along the way. We also discussed her vision for he...

TC Spotlight sat down with Sean Rose, a local blacksmith and bladesmith based in Nash county. Join us as we learn about modern methods of bending iron, why Viking blades were so strong, and what the coolest type of knives are. This was a fascinating interview that we wanted to do to shine the spotlight on someone doing something interesting in our backyard!  You can check out Sean's work here...

TC Spotlight sat down with Adrienne Copland and discussed her love of Rocky Mount, her work restoring historic homes, cool programs on historical preservation that used to be offered at Edgecombe Community College, and how to get involved in restoring Downtown!

TC Spotlight sat down with Dr. William Denton, a local historian, author, and filmmaker, to discuss the history of the Twin Counties. Join us as we learn about where Blackbeard's treasure is buried (hint: somewhere in Battle Park), how Nash county won the revolutionary war, the truth about Jack Kerouac's stay in Rocky Mount, and much more! This is part 1 of a series we plan to do with Dr. Denton c...

TC Spotlight sat down with Tate Mayo, the mayor of Tarboro. We discussed his deep roots in the community, Tarboro's new social district, his goals during his term, new economic development in Tarboro, and what the secret is to producing state champion football teams.

TC Spotlight sat down with Marion Stoga to discuss the rapidly growing sport of pickleball. As an ambassador for the sport in our region, she has been instrumental in spreading interest and garnering support for the development and redevelopment of pickleball courts in the Twin Counties. If you want to know more about pickleball's history, which equipment to buy, how to play, or where to play, the...

TC Spotlight sat down with Stepheny Houghtlin to discuss Preservation Rocky Mount, a group dedicated to retaining the architectural heritage, neighborhood character, and historic landscapes of the Rocky Mount through collaboration, education, advocacy, and restoration. We also discussed Stepheny's favorite buildings in Rocky Mount, how she became interested in architecture, and why preserving hist...

TC Spotlight sat down with Marilynn Anselmi and a few other artists from the Tar River Arts Collaborative to discuss their Jingle Mingle event, the formation of their collaboration, and the importance of art for local communities. To find out more about TRAC, visit www.tarriverarts.com.