SBWire

These days people let their fingers do the walking, not through a phonebook, but rather online as they search for home improvement options and companies to perform those projects. Pro-Built Construction recently launched a new website, aimed at giving customers all the information about its specialty services: screen porches and 3 season rooms.

Blue Sky Services has closed the purchase of another tract of land, this time in Belville, NC. This prime location, adjacent to the Brunswick and Cape Fear Rivers stands at the Gateway to Wilmington, its deep water, container seaport and numerous destination beach communities. The transaction was initially contracted with The Pantry, Inc. of Cary, but was consummated by Circle K as a successor of The Pantry through their acquisition and merger earlier this year. Nikita Zhitov of Blue Sky Services Real Estate facilitated the transaction on behalf of Belville Funding, LLC, affiliate of Preston Development, with Beverly Keith of Avison Young, Raleigh Office, who represented Circle K interests.

David R. Rhode, managing partner of Vaco Raleigh, an executive placement and consulting firm, has announced the firm’s new Triangle area headquarters at 2501 Blue Ridge Road, Suite 400, positioning the company for continuing future growth in 2012 and beyond. The company has recently added several new professional staff including Suzan Sprouse as business development director, Brent Coles as executive recruiter, Christiaan Heijmen as managing director of the executive search division and Joe Medina as senior financial recruiter. Vaco Raleigh is a member of the 26-location Vaco family that has ranked on the Inc. 500/5000 list for five consecutive years.

Preci-Dip is a leading manufacturer of interconnect components and further expands BTC Electronic Components extensive product roster.

William Peace University, a private four-year university located in downtown Raleigh, has announced that Michael John has been promoted to director of public safety, where he will be responsible for monitoring the overall safety of William Peace University and its campus. In his position, John will develop crime prevention and awareness programs, oversee the campus identification and access programs, investigate incidents, work with Residential Life and residential assistants to resolve students grievances, problems, or complaints, ensure staff is trained and equipped to handle its duties, perform regular physical inspections of buildings and grounds to identify hazards and recommend preventative measures, and work with local, state and federal emergency agencies in the event of disasters that may require implementation of the university’s disaster plan. A security officer with William Peace University since 2008, John previously served for 31 years at the Rockefeller University in New York City as a night shift guard, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, operations manager and assistant director of security.

Dean Ogan, owner of Rocky Top Hospitality, has announced that every purchase of $100 worth of Rocky Top Gift Cards between Monday, Dec. 19 through Saturday, Dec. 24, will receive a $25 complimentary certificate to redeem at its restaurants as well. The certificates can be obtained through card purchases on the Rocky Top website as well as in person at any Rocky Top Restaurant, and they must be redeemed between Jan. 1-March 31, 2012. Rocky Top’s restaurants include The Red Room Tapas Lounge, Draft Carolina Burgers & Beers, and The Twisted Fork Grill, Market & Bar, all in Raleigh; Tribeca Tavern, with two locations in Cary and Raleigh; and The Mash House Brewery & Chophouse in Fayetteville.

Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, L.L.P. (CB&H), one of the nation’s largest public accounting and consulting firms, has announced that Jeff Sabetta, a certified public accountant, has been promoted to partner with the firm. Originally based out of CB&H’s Raleigh office, Sabetta recently transferred to support the firm’s growth in the region. CB&H has served the Charlotte market since 1958.

Raleigh based AV integration company ranks 49th for systems integration revenue for 2011 by Systems Contractor News Magazine

North Raleigh Florist (http://www.northraleighflorist.com), located at 7457 Six Forks Road, has announced the release of a podcast on the best flowers and other arrangements for Christmas festivities. In the podcast, Janice Cutler, president and owner of North Raleigh Florist, discusses emerging Christmas floral trends, modern versus traditional color schemes, the most-requested indoor and outdoor greenery, and how to care for poinsettias and other delicate flowers. Cutler also provides tips on how to add the “wow” factor to any holiday gathering with wreaths, decorative trees and more.

Dan Fields, principal of BJAC Raleigh, pa, an architectural firm offering professional services for specialized, complex institutional projects, has announced that Lou Jurkowski, FAIA, managing principal, has been named to the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce 2012 board of directors, which acts to set the organization’s policies and priorities. Her term runs from Oct.1, 2011 through Sept. 30, 2012.

The Chef’s Academy, the Culinary Division of Harrison College, a 108-year-old, nationally accredited institution that offers more than 30 degree programs in five schools of study, has announced that Eric Gephart has been named a lead instructor for the school’s Morrisville, N.C. campus. Trained as a chef under Eric Ripert at Le Bernadin and at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Spice Market in New York City, Gephart comes to The Chef’s Academy after having served as top cook for Mixto, a Latin American-themed restaurant in Wilmington, N.C. He previously cooked for Buoy 32, a seafood restaurant in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., that closed in 2010, and won the Taste of Wilmington Food and Wine Festival’s Top Chef contest that year. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., Gephart worked at seafood fine dining establishments in Auckland, New Zealand and Naples, Fla., before coming to the Wilmington area. A native of Hillsborough, N.C., with an English degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he has a wife, Jenny, and a newborn child.

Sandy Abalos, managing partner of Abalos & Associates, PLLC, has announced that tax supervisor Dorothy C. (Connie) Behrens has been selected to lead a spring 2012 accounting course at Scottsdale Community College. The course will focus on payroll, sales and use tax. At Abalos & Associates, Behrens handles tax compliance and research for business and individuals. A federal, state and local tax accountant, she is licensed in Arizona as a Certified Public Accountant and is also licensed as an Enrolled Agent with the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Rachel Kendall, broker and team leader of The Rachel Kendall Team of Keller Williams Realty, a full-service real estate firm, has announced that Gene Pitzer has joined the organization as a broker/buyer agent. In his position, Pitzer works with buyers in the office and out in the field to refine their search process, develop financing resources on properties under consideration for purchase and provide other necessary support that ensures maximum efficient service for his clients. Pitzer has 21 years of sales and management experience, including two years as a broker and 19 years with American Express, where he progressed from a full-time sales position to becoming a national account manager responsible for a $1.3 billion portfolio of business and C-Suite relationships. Having received the State Volunteer of the Year award from the North Carolina Hotel-Motel Association, Pitzer served on its board of directors from 2000-2003. From 1998-2000 he served on the board of directors for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina, where he was awarded the Long Term Service Award.

SfL+a Architects has announced that Libby Lee has joined the firm as design assistant, a position in which she will work alongside the firm’s architects to coordinate the design of interior spaces, including overseeing computer drafting programs to assist in the production of construction documents, and determining which materials will fit together best functionally and aesthetically for the end user in a space. Lee earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Appalachian State University in May 2010, where she majored in interior design and minored in business. She completed an internship with Big Sky Design, a commercial interior design firm based in Wilmington, N.C., in the summer of 2009.

Melanie Black Dubis, a partner at Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, has announced the release of a podcast on the legal concepts of social media in the workplace. In this podcast, Dubis outlines the issues surrounding employee social media usage, legal issues arising from the misuse of social networking sites and the best practices employers can implement to ensure appropriate usage among all organizational employees.

Patty Briguglio, president of MMI Public Relations, a Raleigh-based full-service public relations firm, has announced that the firm has received a 2011 Gold Pixie Award from the American Pixel Academy, which honors outstanding work in the fastest-growing areas of the moving pixels industry, including animation, effects and motion graphics. MMI Public Relations won in the category of logo effects for “Lloyd Yates' Wake County: A Great Place To Live and Work,” a video produced for Wake County Economic Development (WCED), the lead economic development agency for Wake County, N.C.

A patented method that stops text messaging while driving might yield a solution to the national debate about the safety of cell phone use while operating a vehicle. NNID Corp. – short for Not Now I’m Driving – has patented a technology that stops texting while a car is in motion but allows for emergency calls and other safety overrides.

SfL+a Architects has announced that Kathryn Lynn, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, has joined the firm as a project architect. In this position, Lynn will use her five years of experience to participate in the design, documentation and administration of various projects for the firm.

Coats and Bennett, PLLC, an intellectual property law firm, has announced that Tim Bradley, an associate with the firm, recently addressed green IP issues at a webinar sponsored by the American Bar Association, as well as in the ABA’s official intellectual property publication, Landslide. The “Green IP: An Overview of Opportunities and Risks” webinar on Nov. 2 featured Bradley as a panelist discussing greenwashing, the practice of using environmental claims inaccurately to market products or services, and how companies engaged in green marketing need good legal advice to avoid litigation and comply with government regulations. Bradley previously addressed the importance for lawyers to recognize and advise their clients about following guidelines by the Federal Trade Commission to prevent greenwashing in his article “Likelihood of Eco-Friendly Confusion: Greenwashing and the FTC Green Guides,” which appeared in the September 2011 issue of Landslide, a bimonthly ABA publication on IP law.

William Peace University, a private four-year university located in downtown Raleigh, has announced that Marnie E. Arkenberg, Ph.D., has been promoted to serve as assistant dean of academic affairs and instruction, where she will be responsible for advising students on their academic, career and personal goals, developing strategies to better optimize student learning, and assisting faculty members in the implementation of new teaching methods. Additionally, Arkenberg will execute the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) on Ethical Decision Making by working with instructors who teach courses that contain elements of the QEP and informing the campus community about what ethical decision making is and how it benefits university students. A participant in the William Peace University Arts and Events series planning team, Arkenberg will assist in the recruitment of compelling speakers, reviewing potential plays and productions that compliment the QEP, and analyzing future events that will bolster the intellectual climate on campus.

Bruce Clarke, president and CEO of CAI, a human resource management firm that helps organizations maximize employee engagement while minimizing employer liability, has announced that the firm is actively conducting data research for the 2011-2012 North Carolina Healthcare Benefits & Cost Survey. The information collected will outline current healthcare market trends along with benefit design and costs. The results, which will be collected through Friday, Dec. 16, will include impacts and reactions on the healthcare reform and the changes in rates for employer annual contributions.

David Finch, president and CEO of ATCOM Business Technology Solutions, has announced that the communications solutions provider replaced a legacy Nortel telephone system with a state-of-the-art Mitel 3300 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications system for Sirchie Finger Print Laboratories, a fully integrated manufacturer of quality products for the worldwide law enforcement community. The new communications platform is equipped with all paperless IP telephones, and includes applications such as Unified Messaging with desktop features allowing voicemails to be easily retrieved and managed; contact call center/ACD, for customer calls to be handled more efficiently; and dynamic extension for mobile users, which helps on-the-go employees stay connected.

Dean Ogan, owner of Rocky Top Hospitality, has announced the newest addition to the Rocky Top Hospitality restaurants, Rockwell’s American Grill, which will open in late January at 1080 Darrington Drive. The newest venture and second restaurant for Rocky Top Hospitality in Cary, Rockwell’s will combine the concept of a modern American grill with family style portions, and a menu inspired by American diners, delis and traditional comfort foods. Breakfast will be served all day, and Rockwell’s will offer family style service and a menu priced very reasonably from $5 - $19. The bar will focus on reasonably priced craft beers, wines and modern day takes on classic American cocktails. The new outdoor patio will seat more than 100 guests, and is sure to be a destination for locals.

Enterprising Women magazine (http://www.enterprisingwomen.com) has announced that publisher and CEO Monica Smiley has received the 2011 President’s Award from Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), a national nonpartisan public policy organization that advocates for and on behalf of nearly 1 million women-owned businesses in the country’s legislative processes. Each year, the WIPP Awards recognizes the efforts of thought leaders who advocate for women’s involvement in the business and legislative arenas. This year’s awards were presented at the WIPP’s Annual Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.

Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, L.L.P. (CB&H), one of the nation’s largest public accounting and consulting firms, has announced that John Gonella, a certified public accountant, has been promoted to partner with the firm. Originally based out of CB&H’s Raleigh office, Gonella recently transferred to support the firm’s growth in the region. CB&H has served the Charlotte market since 1958.

Coldwell Banker Commercial TradeMark Properties (http://www.cbctmp.com) has announced that several of the firm’s brokers have negotiated significant deals during the month of November. Drew Eller, investment advisor, and Jim Harris, commercial investment advisor with the firm, co-brokered the lease of 6,409 square feet at 4515 Falls of Neuse Road in Raleigh to TowneBank Mortgage. Les Broulliard, senior real estate advisor, represented the seller in the sale of 214 E. Cedar St. in Raleigh, a property valued at $209,900.

Wake Education Partnership, an independent non-profit dedicated to creating world-class schools in Wake County has announced that Patty Briguglio, president of MMI Public Relations, and Art Glasgow, chief information officer and vice president for Duke Medicine, have been appointed to serve as members of the organization’s board of directors. Effective immediately, Briguglio and Glasgow will begin their three-year appointments acting to connect other Wake County business leaders and elected officials with area educators for Wake County Public Schools.