The Winston-Salem Cycling Classic!

Don Flow and Co., the group that brought professional tennis to the Twin City through the Winston-Salem Open, is now doing the same with cycling through the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic. The race will be an official USA Cycling event.

Wake Forest Innovation Quarer

The Piedmont Triad Research Park has been re-branded:  Wake Forest Innovation Quarter (this is a link to the new website.) Distilled from talking heads, the idea behind the re-branding seems to be 1) distinguish its from Research Triangle Park (PTRP v. RTP), 2) to leverage Wake Forest's brand, and 3) broaden appeal away from biotech to include IT and other high-tech industries.

Other Articles on the New Quarter:
 - The Winston-Salem Journal
 - The Triad Business Journal
 - Press Release from Wake Health

The Pepper Building

 The Pepper Building located at 104 Fourth St., has been purchased by a joint venture between U.S. Development and local developer Michael Coe. Local architect David E. Gall will design the project while McCrory Construction is to complete the work which is scheduled to begin immediately. Plans include moderately priced apartments ($800/month) with retail on the bottom floor. According to the Triad Business Journal, a Brazilian steakhouse has already been secured as a ground-floor tenant.

Herbalife & 500 Jobs Coming to Winston-Salem

Herbalife (NYSE:  HLF) is a publicly-traded nutriution supplement company that sells its products through independent distributors - typically persons who already use their products (this is called Multi-Level Marketing and works similarly to Amway or Avon; click here for more information on similar companies). The Los Angeles based company expects $4 billion in sales this year and projects $10 billion in yearly sales by 2020. It currently sells its products in 85 countries with the U.S. market comprising less than a quarter of its sales. Click here for a link to its Investor Relations webpage.

According to their press release, the company got the Dell Plant for $22.2 million (the plant cost Dell $110 million to build). In exchange for between $10-13 million in incentives, the company will spend over $100 million on improvements to the old Dell facility located at 3200 Temple School Rd., and create 493 jobs over the next three years.  

Downtown's First Grocery Store: the Washington Perk

Downtown Winston-Salem's first full-line grocery store wil be a duplicate of the Washington Perk , the popular "neighborhood market, coffee shop and deli" on Acadia Avenue in the Washington Park neighborhod. The new store will be located on Fourth Street in the old Associated Artists space.  This is a link to the Winston-Salem Journal article about the same.

Winston-Salem State's $140 million Facelift: Go Rams!

http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/article_035dc06e-36b5-11e2-acb6-001a4bcf6878.html

Incentives for Downtown Mast General Store Approved

The City Council voted 6-1 to approve $1.27 million in incentives to lure Mast General Store to downtown Winston-Salem. The proposed site is between Trade and Cherry Street on the north side of Fifth Street:  click here for a link to the Winston-Salem Journal article which contains an excellent graphic of the proposed location.