This Week’s Business Buzz: 2/22/19

February 22, 2019

If you haven’t heard, GE Aviation is hiring over a hundred candidates in 2019. The Diana Wortham Theatre has begun its spectacular transformation into a three-venue performing arts complex. Buncombe County has hired a new Family Justice Coordinator and General Services Director. And The Omni Grove Park Inn is thrilled to announce $80k in donations to area nonprofits as a result of the gingerbread competition parking sales.

Achievement

  • Pardee UNC Health Care announced today that its Antibiotic Stewardship team was published in the peer-reviewed journal, Case Reports in Infectious Diseases. Their research, “Successful Treatment of Olecranon Bursitis Caused by Trueperella bernardiae: Importance of Environmental Exposure and Pathogen Identification,” was published in the September 2018 edition. It was the group’s first publication, and was a partnership with the Radiology department and the Wingate School of Pharmacy. The paper represented the first reported case of olecranon bursitis secondary to T. bernadiae infection, and emphasized the advantages of more rapid, modern bacterial identification methodologies to direct therapy for these and many other infections.

Announcement

  • Pardee UNC Health Care announced today that Josh Harris, PA-C, a certified physician assistant, has moved to Pardee Family Medicine Associates – Etowah, located at 6503 Brevard Rd., and will begin seeing patients on Monday, Feb. 11. Harris most recently practiced at Pardee Adult and Family Medicine in Laurel Park. Convenient to both Henderson County and Transylvania County residents, Pardee Family Medicine Associates – Etowah and Harris are now accepting new patients.
  • Explore Great Smoky Mountains National Park and enhance its trail system through Friends of the Smokies’ ninth annual Classic Hikes of the Smokies series. Monthly guided day hikes of varying length and difficulty raise money for the Trails Forever endowment to help maintain the nearly 900 miles of trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mountain vistas, historic structures, wildflowers, and waterfalls are just a few of the highlights participants can expect, as well as the opportunity to see up close the impact of the restoration work done by the Trails Forever crew. Guided hikes are held on the second Tuesday of each month, March-December. To learn more and register for an upcoming Classic Hike visit https://friendsofthesmokies.org/product/hike-the-smokies/.

Expansion

  • In January 2019, construction began at the current Diana Wortham Theatre — transforming the single-stage entity into a three-venue performing arts complex. The new Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, which will open in September 2019, will comprise three venues: the existing 500-seat Diana Wortham Theatre, with an improved sound system, hearing assistance technology and energy efficient LED lighting; the new Tina McGuire Theatre, a multiuse black box theatre with comfortable, tiered seating for 80-100 people; and the new Henry LaBrun Studio, a multiuse space for classes and events, to be used as a classroom by day and a performance venue, seating 60-80 people, by night.

Hire

  • Buncombe County is pleased to announce Mike Mace has been selected as General Services Director. He is currently employed as Facility Director for Mission Health System and will join Buncombe on March 25. In his current role he provides leadership to 10 managers and more than 115 full-time staff members, as well as oversees over 4 million square feet of property. Prior to Mission, he served as President at M.A.M. Enterprise, Inc., a commercial, residential, and industrial construction company located in Morganton, NC.
  • Buncombe County is pleased to announce Diana Sierra has been selected as the new Family Justice Coordinator. Since 2015, Diana has been employed with Health and Human Services’ Child Protective Services, where she served as Program Manager. Her work with the community, partner agencies, and County administration gives her knowledge and first-hand experience with the Family Justice Center (FJC), its mission, and those it serves.
  • United Federal Credit Union has appointed Matt Brookshire as branch manager of its Asheville, North Carolina branch at 1441 Patton Ave. As branch manager, Brookshire will be responsible for selling products and services, member satisfaction through the branch delivery channel, and will manage a branch with over $50 million in assets.
  • The Gardner-Webb University Board of Trustees is pleased to announce Dr. William M. Downs has been named the institution’s 13th president. He currently serves at East Carolina University (ECU) as the dean of the Thomas Harriot College of Arts & Sciences in Greenville, N.C. Board members unanimously confirmed his appointment at a special meeting, capping a highly competitive one-year national search. His term as GWU president begins July 1.

Opportunity

  • ContinuuCon 2019, the fourth annual international Haken Audio Continuum conference, will take place on May 30–June 1, hosted by the University of North Carolina at Asheville Department of Music. The conference’s organizers are issuing a Call for Presentations to anyone interested in presenting a program, staging a workshop, or giving a demonstration directly related to the Haken Continuum Fingerboard. If you have an interesting idea for a presentation, please submit an informal proposal to continuucon@gmail.com as quickly as you can. Presentations should be 30, 45, or 60 minutes in length.
  • GE Aviation is hiring over a hundred candidates in 2019. Don’t miss this chance to be part of GE Aviation’s success story in Asheville, helping make ceramic matrix composite (CMC) components and shrouds for commercial jet engines. Entry-level positions start at $16.17/hour, with benefits. If interested, please review the GE listing and look for Asheville jobs here.
  • Friday Staffing is looking for a Machine Maintenance Apprentice, Collections Rep, Finishing Technician, Manufacturing Operator, Culinary Support Consultant, Executive Assistant, Order Picker, and Warehouse Laborer. For more information, call Angela Paskus at 828-684-8700 or go to www.friday-staffing.com.

Outreach

  • The Omni Grove Park Inn was able to donate $10k each to the Asheville City Schools Foundation, Buncombe Partnership for Children, Homeward Bound, Horizons at Carolina Day, American Legion Baseball, Meals on Wheels, United Way, and YMCA/Camp Watia as a result of the gingerbread competition parking sales.