C-100 drive nets more than 60 new members

With more than 60 new members, the Lenoir Committee of 100 has exceeded its expectations for its spring membership drive.

"I think this exceeded our expectations. ... Paul Chused did an outstanding job of organizing and putting it together and following up on it," C-100 President Gordon Vermillion said of the group's membership chairman.

Chused, working with 20 other members, spent about two-and-a-half months canvassing the community.

The drive, the committee's first in several years, netted 66 new members - businesses and individuals - who paid about $30,000 in initial dues, Chused said Thursday. The group now has a total of 288 members.

"We're just very excited that people in Kinston and Lenoir County recognize the importance of bringing industry and economic development (here), and are willing to sacrifice to help build a future for themselves and the other citizens of the community," he said.

Membership dues fund the organization's efforts to assist with economic development in Kinston and Lenoir County.

"We do work that would take the state, or the county or the city a long time to get done," Vermillion said. "We could get it done overnight."

Recent Committee of 100 projects include putting up matching funds allowing state and federal funding to come through for the proposed battlefield parkway project off U.S. 70.

The committee is also coordinating local partners such as the school system, Spirit AeroSystems and the North Carolina's Eastern Region Development Commission, who are participating in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition's efforts to promote science in the county schools.

"It's excellent for this community, because it's the kind of thing Spirit needs" Vermillion said.

The membership drive was scheduled to end April 15, but because of the high level of interest, Chused said it was extended to late May.

"Before I thanked everybody, I wanted to make sure we didn't miss somebody who wanted to join for 2009," he said.

David Anderson can be reached at (252) 559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com.

For more information on the Lenoir Committee of 100, call the county's Economic Development Department at (252) 527-1963 or visit www.lenoiredc.com and click the C-100 link.