SALISBURY — Belk at the Salisbury Mall will offer storewide discounts to any educator in Rowan County on Aug. 29.
To celebrate the back-to-school season and show appreciation for the time and effort educators put into creating a successful school year, Belk will offer savings to teachers, school administrators and school employees.
Educators should bring this invitation and a valid school ID to take advantage of savings throughout the store with limited exclusions.
“We are grateful for this opportunity to recognize your invaluable efforts and contributions to our community,” Belk Manager Terry Little said.
Charities named in barbecue rally
Tilley Harley-Davidson of Salisbury has listed the 2012 Biker Blues & BBQ Rally and BBQ Classic event charities: The Folds of Honor Foundation, Disabled American Veterans, Operation Homefront, North Carolina and Wounded Warrior Project.
On Saturday, Sept. 22, the event will honor all service veterans and active duty personnel. TGI Friday’s has provided a small token of appreciation to give all service personnel who attend and sign in (while supplies last).
Presentation of the colors will be performed by the Rowan County Veterans Honor Guard.
The event will raffle five prizes with the proceeds supporting the charities. Another event on Saturday will be the People’s Choice where a $10 donation will let you be a judge and sample barbecue from the competitors.
The annual event is at Tilley Harley-Davidson on Bendix Drive in Salisbury and runs from Sept. 20-22. Uncle Buck’s pre-event party is the Thursday evening before a party Friday night sponsored by Trane Building Services and the finale on Saturday evening sponsored by Tom McGrath’s Motorcycle Law Group. The event is sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society. Admission is free.
Children’s book store opening
SALISBURY — Picture Page! Children’s Book Collection will host a grand opening Saturday at the new location, 118 W. 13th St.
The store offers more than 5,000 new and used children’s books, educational games, textbooks, toys, puzzles, pictures, posters, videos and resources for parents and educators.
The grand opening will feature free face painting, bounce house, games and activities, with story time held every hour on the hour. Popcorn and tea are free, and hot dogs and canned drinks will be for sale.
Craig Thomas and Harold Easley co-own the store. Store hours are noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. To learn more, call 704-213-3367.
New Chamber website
Rowan County Chamber of Commerce officials recently went live with a new website for the membership-based organization: www.RowanChamber.com.
New features include community calendars, job listings, new member listings, scrolling photos and a photo gallery.
“It was time for an update. We feel the new site turned out extremely well and that it will be a real asset for both our members and the community in general,” Chamber President Bob Wright said.
Additional features include information on advertising, business resources, networking opportunities, awards, community links, member benefits, Chamber programs, communications, member directory and relocation guide.
Chamber and community members are encouraged to visit the site and feedback is welcome.
Chamber Membership Director Linda Sherrill led the site upgrade with support from fellow staffers Charlene Deese Maness and Rose Simerson.
Girdler new marketing director for Life Christian in Concord
CONCORD — Dr. John H. Girdler Jr. has been named marketing director for Life Christian University’s Concord campus.
Girdler will be responsible for developing content for video, web, print and direct mail communications. He will also provide instruction in grammar and composition to help students learn the appropriate techniques for writing essays, master’s theses and doctoral dissertations.
Life Christian University offers curriculums and degrees in theology, pastoral studies and Christian counseling. Classes begin Sept. 4. To learn more, call 704-795-5433 or email nc-conc@lcus.edu.
Girdler is co-owner of JG Media LLC, a video production and web creation media company.
Workforce automation change for Delhaize America
According to a report in trade publication Progressive Grocer, Delhaize America’s Salisbury-based banners that include Food Lion have implemented new workforce automation and mobile execution management systems to model, plan and manage labor budgets.
The retailer is working with Richardson, Texas-based Logile, Inc.’s Enterprise Labor Model, Sales and Labor Planning, Real-Time Plan Optimization, and Enterprise Performance Reporting modules for the solution.
“Each of the Delhaize banner teams quickly learned, deployed and used the software to plan and manage labor at more than 1,200 stores,” Rob York, Logile’s director of professional services and customer engagement, told Progressive Grocer. “This was a major undertaking and accomplishment considering the number of stores and unique attributes of each banner.”
The Enterprise Labor Model and Sales and Labor Planning modules integrate historical volumes, effective dated engineered labor standards and store-specific characteristics to provide labor budgeting.
The tool was implemented at Food Lion earlier this year, with implementation to other banners scheduled through the year.
Logile Inc. provides real-time workforce and execution management solutions, combining proprietary software applications with expert professional services in both traditional and SaaS models.Submit information about new businesses, honors and management promotions to bizbriefs@salisburypost.com. Include a daytime phone number.