Story & pictures by Hal Goodtree

Cary, NC – Note to motorists: a new traffic light is being installed on Davis Drive just south of High House.

Its purpose is to manage traffic coming onto Davis Drive from Cornerstone shopping center and Searstone.

Searstone, currently under development, is adding a bank to the new CVS already on the property. No word on exactly when we’ll start seeing residential units.

Cornerstone is adding a cheer gym, Carolina Legacy Allstars. Land is cleared and construction should begin shortly. The business, a legacy of Impact, is moving to Cornerstone from a temporary home on James Jackson.

The photographer in me loved the new signals wrapped in fabric – kind of like René Magritte meets the DOT. Transportation, seemingly the most prosaic of activities, can often take on a surreal quality. Anyone who’s been to LaGuardia knows what I’m talking about.

What’s Happening in Your Neighborhood?

If you see something interesting in your neighborhood, take a picture and send us a couple of lines.

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Cary hosted the PONY 14U and 12U fastpitch softball tournament July 17- July 22

CaryCitizen photos by Tom Mousseau

CARY, NC –Softball’s future stars played for a national title in the PONY National Fastpitch Softball Tournament which began Saturday, July 17 and continued until July 22. Champions were crowned after games held throughout Cary and in Holly Springs. Representing 13 states and 2 countries, 120 teams qualified for the 12 & Under and 14 & Under age divisions. This year’s tournament was hosted in part by the Town of Cary and the Raleigh Jaycees, in partnership with the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau.

$2 Million for Local Business

Sporting events are always a welcome economic benefit to the region. Last year, an estimated 5,000 people came to the area for the tournament, infusing over $2 million in revenue locally through lodging, food purchases, shopping and other expenditures. This year’s bonanza appears to be even greater.

Games were played at various fields in Bond Park, Thomas Brooks Park, Middle Creek Park and Green Hope High School in Cary, as well as Womble Park in Holly Springs.  All proceeds benefited the Raleigh Jaycees.

PONY, Protect our Nation’s Youth, is a non-profit corporation that is an administrative body for baseball and girl’s softball. This is PONY’s 34th year of involvement with girl’s softball. During this tournament, about 450 games by 3000 players were played in the six-day time period.

The winning teams in each category

Pony- 14U:

Bronco- 12U:

Tournament Pictures

More of Tom Mousseau’s Pony Softball pictures on Flickr:

• 14U Pictures – Flickr Set
• 12U Pictures – Flickr Set
  

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(L->R) Christina, Miguel and Rossana

Story by Lindsey Chester. Photos by Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC- International Ballet Academy (IBA) has begun taking early bird registrations and will officially open its doors Monday, August 30. Contractors are still working to complete the up-fit of their space on Davis Drive in the office park directly across from Davis Elementary and Middle Schools.

I asked Christina de Matteis Fannéy, School Administrator, what prompted them to open in this tough economy. She said that elements came together and the timing was just right.

The Elements: Their Team

Rossana Gahagan had been an instructor and Summer Intensive Coordinator at Cary Ballet Conservatory and  resigned from there in March. She just returned from teaching an intensive program in Saratoga Springs. She will be one of the Artistic Directors.

Miguel  Campaneria had been a guest intensive instructor at Cary Ballet, and had fallen in love with this area on his many visits. He is leaving his post at the University of Hartford to teach at IBA and four of his male students are moving here to continue their dance instruction. Miguel is also an Artistic Director for IBA. His resume is rich with years of accolades and awards from Cuba to Pittsburgh.

Christina de Matteis Fanney, originally from Port au Prince, Haiti,  studied under Miguel before moving to the US. Upon moving to Raleigh she danced with Raleigh Dance Theatre. She will take on the role of Administrator at IBA.

Carmen Felder will be teaching the younger students as well as the jazz program. She studied under Rossana at Cary Ballet and has a BFA from the University of Oklahoma in dance. She performed in Carolina Ballet’s  Coppelia and Nutcracker.

From the moment Rossana had spoken to Miguel about summer programs she said “I wished we could work together”, and now  she is so happy to have her “dreams come true. It is hard to find a place where you give your students the best opportunities and everyone has the same philosophy”.

Miguel was torn about leaving his position in Hartford where he had built up their program for the past 2 years. An added blessing was when four of his current male pupils decided to move to the Triangle to follow him to the new studio.

New Opportunities

Christina said, “We want our business to be about providing opportunities for the students” that IBA is interested in offering their students competitions. She mentioned two of these:

Youth America Grand Prix where students aged 9-19 can compete for scholarship money and national exposure.

World Ballet Competition in Orlando, where individuals and partners compete against dancers from all over the world. Artistic Director Miguel won a bronze at this competition.

These competitions aren’t for everyone, but IBA would like to offer the possibility to those students that wish to take their training to that level.

Dancers may also audition for the IBA Company, (held September 12 for IBA registered students only). This group will perform in December and again in the Spring.

Their Focus

Rossana stressed that the school will concentrate on classical style ballet training. Miguel added that with “a classical base, you can do anything”. Their emphasis will be with upper level and pre-professional dancers and especially recruiting boys for classes. These upper levels will be able to take partnering and variations classes.

Of course to have a successful studio, opportunities exist for younger students to grow to fill in the upper levels.  There will be a variety of jazz and pre-ballet during the day for younger children, and jazz and progressive levels for all ages beginning directly after school. Dancers will advance based on ability, not age. For instance, students will go “En Pointe” when physically ready, not when they turn age 11.

Miguel wants “to make this one of the best schools in America, not just North Carolina” and something about the team’s determination makes me believe them.

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Cary, NC – Hard on the heels of acquiring Memex, SAS, headquartered here in Cary, has made another acquisition. This time, it’s VSTI, a move that aims to help the U.S. intelligence community speed predictive analysis and decision making to ultimately “defeat and deter threats and save lives”. 

VSTI is a provider of advanced software systems that assist with analytic discovery and information dissemination,  particularly within the US federal government intelligence community. It was founded in 1997 and is based in Ellicott City, MD. VSTI employs 60 people.

Customers include the U.S. Department of Defense, Navy, Air Force and the State of Maryland Consulting and Technical Services. All VSTI staff and the current management structure will be retained, according to the SAS announcement.

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Cary, NC – Don Parker, Chief Financial Officer of SAS, the leader in business analytics software and services, has been presented Triangle Business Journal’s 2010 CFO of the Year Award for Giant Private Companies in the Triangle.

“Don played a critical role in helping SAS achieve record profitability in a terrible economic climate,” said SAS CEO Jim Goodnight. “I applaud Don’s strong emphasis on integrity, quality counsel and customer service.”

Triangle Business Journal honored Parker and other outstanding finance executives with its CFO of the Year Awards for 2010 for various types and sizes of companies across the Triangle. Winners were chosen by a panel of judges based on nominations submitted to TBJ.

News on CaryCitizen is sponsored by SAS Championship.

LORD Corp, of Cary, is donating their Cessna Citation to airlift Special Olympic Athletes

Cary, NC – LORD Corporation, headquartered here in Cary, will transport Special Olympians as part of Cessna’s Citation Special Olympics Airlift.

The Airlift is coordinated by Cessna Aircraft Company, the world’s leading general aviation company based on unit sales. Participating Citations will transport athletes to the Special Olympics National Games, which will take place at the University of Nebraska Campus in Lincoln, NE on July 17 and 24.

Donating the use of their company-owned Cessna business jet, LORD Corporation is a proud participant in this year’s Games. LORD Corporation’s aircraft will transport up to eight athletes plus a coach or sponsor on each trip. LORD not only owns a Cessna, but is a key supplier of vibration, motion and noise control solutions to Cessna.

“We are proud to support this great cause,” said Joe Marotta, President, Americas Region, LORD Corporation. “It is a privilege to have the opportunity to provide this experience for some for these athletes.”

The Airlift is an impressive effort, with a Citation touching down every 60 to 90 seconds over a 12-hour period. Trip times are expected to range 90 minutes to three hours. Transporting approximately 800 athletes to and from the Special Olympics National Games, more than 160 Citations will be flown out of the Lincoln Municipal (LNK) airport.  As their sixth Special Olympics National Games and the second to be held in the United States, Cessna encourages other Citation business jet owners to participate in this great cause.

For more information or to participate, visit www.airlift.cessna.com.

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Cary, NC – Come out this Thursday for the 3rd Annual Extra-Innings Triangle Networking Event hosted by USA Baseball.

Food, Fun & New Friends

From 5:00-7:30 p.m., enjoy a one-of-a-kind networking opportunity, all you can eat food and drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic), and fun for the whole family.

Baseball

Be sure to stick around after the event to see the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team take on Korea at 7:30 p.m.

Free

Admission to “Extra Innings” and the baseball game is free to members of one of participating chambers of commerce and networking groups.

Register

• Cary Chamber of Commerce
• Apex Chamber of Commerce
• Morrisville Chamber of Commerce
• Garner Chamber of Commerce

Full list of participating organizations at USA Baseball.

Event Info

Extra Innings Triangle Networking Event
Hosted by USA Baseball
Thursday July 15
5:00-7:30 p.m.

National Baseball Training Complex
Thomas Brooks Park
200 Brooks Park Lane, Cary, NC 27519
Directions

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Cary, NC – Break out the champagne: Cary has once again made it into Money Magazine’s Top 25 Places to Live.

How They Did It

Money Mag crunched data on 746 small cities across the U.S. with populations between 50,000 and 300,000.

They screened out retirement communities, towns with significant job loss, and those with poor education and crime scores. Money ranked remaining places based on housing affordability, school quality, arts and leisure, safety, health care, diversity, and several ease-of-living criteria.

That cut the list by more than half. Then they factored in additional data on the economy (including fiscal strength of the government), jobs, housing, and schools. Economic factors were weighted most heavily.

Finally, Money visited 30 towns and interviewed residents, assessing traffic, parks, and gathering places and considering intangibles like community spirit.

A Bit of Analysis

Cary weighed in at #23. Eden Prairie, MN topped the list. No other North Carolina cities made the Top 25 (Chapel Hill came next at #40).

Minnesota had the most cities on the list with 5. Texas had 4 cities on the list and Colorado 3. In case anyone was asking, New Jersey had no cities in the Top 25.  Franklin, NJ weighed in at 34, followed by Piscataway (57)  and Wayne (73).

While lots of data fueled the study, it’s not exactly science. Nonetheless, it’s nice to hear that others think we have a solid community.

“Recognition is due to our residents, our Town staff and our partners–the Cary Chamber and our neighboring municipalities–who all work together to make great things happen in our area,” said Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht. “Moving forward, we want to make sure we continue to do those things necessary to make us worthy of this sort of recognition, and above all, keep Cary the kind of place our citizens want it to be.”

Congratulations to the Town staff and administration, all our local businesses, volunteers and participants in the life of our vibrant town.

Maybe next year, we’ll give Eden Prairie a run for their money.

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Kangaroo Express has announced a $200,000 donation to Victory Junction Camp – a summer camp founded by Kyle and Pattie Petty in honor of their late son Adam, dedicated to providing life changing experiences for children dealing with chronic medical conditions.

The money was raised through an in-store promotion with partnership support from Coca-Cola, the North Carolina Petroleum and Convenience Marketers and the South Carolina Association of Convenience Stores.

“Thanks to Kangaroo Express and all our corporate partners, dozens of children will enjoy a wonderful summer camp experience in the company of others who are enduring the same frustrations.”  Victory Junction Camp, located in Randleman, N.C., has welcomed 13,000 children and families since opening in 2004. “The Victory Junction camping experience empowers children by giving them a sense of independence. Thanks to the generous donations and hard work of our sponsors, we are blessed to be able to help make a difference in these children’s lives,” said Kyle Petty.

Kangaroo Express Vice President of Operations Brad Williams commented, “Kangaroo Express is extremely proud to participate in programs and events that make such a huge difference in the communities we serve.”

The cost of sending a child for one week to Victory Junction Camp is $2,500.

Cary, NC – SAS has acquired Memex, an intelligence management solutions company working to help improve intelligence processes, enhance public safety, and prevent and deter crime, terrorism and other threats, the company tells the CaryCitizen.

Memex has a presence in the law enforcement and homeland security markets. SAS is already a player in the worldwide public security and safety markets and intends to carve out a global leadership position, according to SAS CEO Jim Goodnight. Ian Manocha, Managing Director, SAS UK and Ireland will serve as Memex Chairman.

“The Memex acquisition is a key element of our global initiative to enhance our law enforcement, criminal justice, homeland security and intelligence offerings. I want SAS to be the first company public security organizations call to help them apply analytics to solve crime and protect citizens.”

With the acquisition SAS plans to be able to target the emerging market for fusion centers, which combine the resources of multiple law enforcement agencies. Several US states and major cities have fusion centers that are using Memex technology.

Ian Manocha

The move is consistent with SAS’ strategy of acquiring companies with crucial technologies that enhance or extend SAS’ own product line.

Within the past two years, according to their media feed,  SAS has also aquired Teragram – a 40-person firm headquartered in Cambridge, MA, expanding SAS’ analytical portfolio with natural language processing and advanced linguistic technology and IDeaS Revenue Optimization, a 200-person Minneapolis firmworking on analytics, business intelligence and industry-specific solutions for the travel and hospitality industries.

Both SAS and Memex are privately held. Financial terms of the acquisition are not available.