Business Notebook: 4 directors join board of Cumberland Community Foundation

Cumberland Community Foundation has welcomed four new members to its board of directors.

They are:

• Retired Army Sgt. Maj. Jabbar Surles, who owns several local businesses. He is a 1990 graduate of E.E. Smith High School and an active member of the 100 Black Men of the Cape Fear.
• Emily Schaefer married into a family with deep roots in Fayetteville and Cumberland County and has continued their history of community service. She has served on the boards of Cape Fear Botanical Garden and Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation. She is currently on the Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission and volunteers at her children’s school.
• Brenda Sparks is a retired nurse administrator and former executive director of Carolina Collaborative Community Care. She is a member of the board of Cumberland HealthNet and the Phoenix Center and co-chair of the Women’s Giving Circle grants committee.
• Mac Healy owns and operates Fayetteville’s only local beverage wholesaler. He and his wife, Linda, have lived and worked in Fayetteville for more than 40 years and are active in numerous community projects.

Cumberland Commissioner Faircloth joins board of county association

Cumberland County Commissioner Marshall Faircloth is a new member of the board of directors of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners. He also will chair the board’s tax and finance committee, according to a county news release.

Faircloth was sworn in at the board’s Oct. 20-21 meeting, which was held in Guilford County.

The association serves as the official voice of North Carolina’s 100 counties on issues being considered by the N.C. General Assembly, U.S. Congress, and federal and state agencies. It also provides expertise to counties in the areas of advocacy, research, risk management, and education and leadership training

At the October board meeting, members heard a presentation on the state of the economy by Mouhcine Guettabi, associate professor of economics at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. They also received a briefing on the association’s work assisting counties with using national opioid settlement funds.

Johnnie Carswell of Burke County, who was elected the 107th president of NCACC, provided an update on his initiative, “One More Thing,” which is focused on empowering counties to invest opioid settlement funding for the greatest benefit.

“This is a crucial time as counties work to collaborate on addressing the overdose crisis through the use of national opioid settlement funds,” Carswell said in his speech.

The board also heard updates on legislative and financial matters, the release said.

Faircloth previously served as the association’s District 6 director in 2016-18 and as chair of the tax and finance steering committee in 2018-20.

Faircloth was elected as an at-large member of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners in 2022. He previously as a commissioner from 1992 to 1996 and 2008 to 2020.

He has worked in public accounting and financial consulting in Fayetteville since 1972.

County seeks vendors for ‘white flag’ shelter services

Cumberland County Community Development is seeking information from providers interested in providing “white flag” shelter services for vulnerable and homeless people during extreme cold weather conditions.

A “white flag day” is declared when temperatures or wind chills are forecast at or below freezing for either night or day. Cumberland County estimates no more than 35 white-flag days a year from December through March.

Legally qualified vendors, including service providers, competitive providers, nonprofit organizations and other entities interested in partnering with Cumberland County, can submit a request for information and should address how their response will assist the county with services and sheltering, a county news release said.

Responses must be emailed to cccdapplicatons@cumberlandcountync.gov no later than 3 p.m. Nov. 9. The subject line of the email must identify the RFI title: RFI 2023 – White Flag Shelter.

More information is available on the Cumberland County Procurement Division’s webpage at cumberlandcountync.gov/bidopportunities. Go to Vendor Self-Service (VSS) by clicking on the “bid opportunities” link.

Community Development will meet with vendors at 10 a.m. Oct. 31 at the Community Development Office, 707 Executive Place in Fayetteville. Questions may be submitted by email to cccdapplicatons@cumberlandcountync.gov no later than Oct. 30.

Cumberland County Community Development administers programs to benefit low- to moderate-income families and help preserve and expand the supply of safe, affordable housing in Cumberland County. For more information, go to cumberlandcountync.gov/communitydevelopment or call 910-323-6112.

DOT taking applications for HBCU-minority scholarships

RALEIGH — The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Office of Historically Black Colleges and Universities Outreach is accepting applications for the 2023-24 HBCU and Minority-Serving Institutions Transportation Scholarship Program.  

The program helps develop diverse transportation professionals by awarding scholarships to students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in transportation-related fields at a North Carolina HBCU or MSI, according to a news release.  

“The scholarship program is a great way to attract the nation’s brightest minds, bring innovation, and expand and retain top talent in the transportation industry,” said Christy Dunston, director of the outreach program. 

The program provides $2,500 in financial assistance to help cover costs for future transportation professionals and leaders, the release said. 

Applications must be received by midnight Nov. 17.

To apply, visit DOT’s HBCU Scholarship Program Application web page.  

For more information, email Christy Dunston at cdunston1@ncdot.gov.

The CityView News Fund is a nonprofit organization that supports CityView’s newsgathering operation. Will you help us with a tax-deductible donation?