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Lucas to Deliver Wells Fargo Distinguished Lecture

Alumnus to discuss entrepreneurship in Wells Fargo Lecture at Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, Va., March 5, 2012 – Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business alumnus Randy Lucas will give the Wells Fargo Distinguished Lecture on Thursday, March 15, at 3:30 p.m. at the Holtzman Alumni Center’s Alumni Assembly Hall.

Lucas is the founder and principal consultant for Lucas Tax + Energy, a Charlotte, N.C., tax consulting and financial advisory firm specializing in tax incentives for energy efficiency construction and for renewable and/or alternative energy technologies.

His talk is titled “The Journey is the Reward … EHFAR (“everything happens for a reason”) Entrepreneurship in the New Normal.” Lucas says he coined the term “EHFAR entrepreneurship” in reaction to a New York Times story about “accidental entrepreneurs,” people who started businesses after losing their jobs in the recession. He felt that unintended or involuntary entrepreneurship did not describe his career move.

A Richmond native, Lucas earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting in 1991 and 1992, respectively. He has more than 18 years of tax consulting experience and is a licensed certified public accountant in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. He was a director of tax services at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Philadelphia and Charlotte before founding his own firm.

Lucas has presented technical training workshops and co-authored articles on fixed asset depreciation and energy tax incentives. He has participated on panel discussions of the American Solar Energy Society and the Charlotte chapter of the American Institute of Architects and at the Green NC Conference. He is a board member of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association and a member of the Charlotte regional chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and the Charlotte chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants.

He is active in several community service organizations, including the Men’s Ministry of The Park Church and Bethune Mays Classical Academy, and is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.

The talk is the first in the Wells Fargo Distinguished Lecture series, formerly the Wachovia Distinguished Lecture series. Pamplin Dean Richard E. Sorensen will mark the occasion by presenting a certificate of appreciation for Wells Fargo’s support of the lecture series to Jeff Hartman, a 1979 management alumnus and senior managing director at Wells Fargo Wealth Management Group.

The event is free and open to the public, no tickets needed. Free parking is available at the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center. Find more parking information online or call 540-231-3200.

Virginia Tech’s nationally ranked Pamplin College of Business offers undergraduate and graduate programs in accounting and information systems, business information technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. The college emphasizes the development of leadership, technology, multicultural, and international business knowledge and skills and is committed to serving business and society through the expertise of its faculty, alumni, and students. It is named in honor of two alumni: the late Robert B. Pamplin, retired CEO of Georgia-Pacific, and businessman and philanthropist Robert B. Pamplin Jr.

Office Park Becomes Greener and Lighter Due to Stimulus Aided Improvements

Complete lighting overhaul part of $6mi. renovation of Charlotte East 10 building complex

Charlotte, NC – December 14, 2011 –Charlotte East, a 10 building office community located on Albemarle Road, has recently completed comprehensive interior and exterior lighting improvements that will make the complex significantly more energy efficient in addition to enhancing the building’s illumination and security. Improvements including parking lot and building up-lighting, common area and tenant lighting, were partially funded by the North Carolina Green Business Fund, and are part of more than $6.0 mi. invested in the buildings over the past five years by the buildings’ owners.

“The Charlotte East development team and our tenants are most pleased with the results of this lighting project and its benefits both immediate and longer term,” said Kevin Jensen, Vice President and Director of Operations for Charlotte East. “We are thrilled that this project improved the quality and efficiency of our lighting for the park, our tenants and the many clients that visit Charlotte East for vital needs,” added Jensen.

Randy Lucas addresses a group at the newly updated Charlotte East office complex.

Energy usage related to interior lighting, are projected to decrease by more than 53% as a result of the improvements. Costs of interior and exterior lighting typically comprise 40% of electricity costs for office buildings with heating-air conditioning making up another 40% of costs and other uses 20%. Improvements to lighting are typically the most cost effective way to reduce energy usage and costs.

The NC Green Business Fund announced the grant enabling Charlotte East to make these improvements on July 5^th, 2011. Charlotte East received a grant of $162,252 and was the only Mecklenburg County business to receive an ARRA funded NC Green Business Fund grant in this round of funding. Additionally, Charlotte East invested $81,715 in the project and is expected to save more than $27,000 annually by decreasing electricity usage. The Charlotte East grant application met US Department of Energy criteria for using energy more efficiently, reducing utility costs, and directing savings into programs to grow these businesses, supporting job generation and retention. Since 2009, a total of 46 NC Green Business Fund grants, including grants for 4 Mecklenburg County based businesses, have been funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act via the U.S. Department of Energy State Energy Program (SEP).

“The NC Green Business Fund is extremely proud to assist Charlotte East in enhancing the energy efficiency of the Charlotte East office buildings in addition to education efforts to tenants and the community regarding energy efficiency,” said Paul Shannon, Grants Manager of the NC Green Business Fund. “This type of project is exactly how the American Recovery Reinvestment Act of 2009 was intended, to create economic activity that otherwise would have not happened and at the same time demonstrating a positive benefit to the public. In this case, greater energy efficiency, reduced green-house emissions, and capital that can be directed to employment and other property improvements,” added Shannon.

Charlotte East worked with Jon Mollendick of RISE EcoTechnologies in assessment of pre-project energy use, development of equipment specifications for the project, and energy usage projections. Randy Lucas of Lucas Tax + Energy assisted Charlotte East and Mollendick in procuring the grant. Small, locally-owned businesses performed the installation work and included Broadway Lighting, Carolina Induction, and Spectrum Building Company.

The grant requires verification and reporting of project results by the grant recipient, and Charlotte East and its project team are well into this process. Charlotte East will monitor and report results for three years. Additionally, Charlotte East will educate its tenants and the community on the benefits of improvements that provide ongoing energy savings.

Charlotte East’s operating partners have invested more than $6.0mi. in the complex including construction of the onsite café, YMCA, and tenant upfits, lobby, elevator, and landscape improvements, and exterior painting of all buildings. Occupancy in the park has increased from 55% in 2006 to its current level of 83% despite adverse market conditions.

About Charlotte East

Charlotte East is the largest office community in East Charlotte and the 11^th largest office complex in the Charlotte Metro with 526,572 leasable square feet in the 10 buildings that make up the complex. Amenities include an onsite café and YMCA partnership, landscaped trails for walking and running, and gazebos in a park like atmosphere. Additionally Charlotte East offers great proximity to numerous area shops and restaurants and ease of access to Uptown via Independence Boulevard and I-485 via Albemarle Road.

Tenants of Charlotte East range from professional firms and healthcare practices to numerous government offices including the Immigration Court, Social Security Administration, and various Mecklenburg County and state of North Carolina offices.

About the North Carolina Green Business Fund

The North Carolina Green Business Fund is a competitive grants program designed to encourage the expansion of small to medium-sized businesses with 100 or fewer employees that have innovative commercial technologies, products and services to grow a green and energy efficient economy in North Carolina. Eligible entities are for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, state agencies, or local governments. Funding is given to projects that directly benefit small to medium-sized businesses and meet at least one or more of the following objectives: save energy, install or generate renewable energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, produce alternative fuels, and/or promote building energy efficiency.

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Dreamsports Center’s Energy Improvements Yielding Immediate Rewards

Stimulus program aided improvements should save indoor sports facility more than 50% annually

Apex, NC – December 12, 2011 – Dreamsports Center, the Triangle’s premier indoor sports and child development facility, has completed major building and energy improvements that are yielding the facility immediate rewards through significantly reduced energy usage.

The improvements, funded in part by the North Carolina Green Business Fund, include a solar-thermal hot water system providing all hot water for the center, an updated interior lighting system, and new heating and air conditioning systems. These improvements have made the center’s operating systems far more energy efficient as evidenced by monthly electricity usage. In addition to the sustainability and efficiency benefits of the systems, lighting, cooling and heating have improved markedly with better illumination throughout the center’s three courts and a heating and air conditioning system better equipped to handle peak facility usage.

“We are ecstatic about all of the green and operational benefits of our new systems, the reduction in energy utilized, and the lighting, cooling, and heating improvements already evident,” said Steve Werner, general manager and one of the owners of Dreamsports. “We bring over 13,000 visitors weekly to Dreamsports, and we want to educate our clients that even large indoor sports facilities can be green and better stewards of energy and lighting,” added Werner.

While final improvements were completed in November, reduction in the center’s electricity usage for lighting became apparent immediately in October. Data analyzed shows lighting costs have been reduced by more than 30% based on prior year usage. The grant issued by the North Carolina Green Business Fund requires verification and reporting of project results by grant recipients, and Dreamsports and its project team are well into this process. In fact, Dreamsports will monitor and report results for three years. In addition to verifying results, Dreamsports will share the sustainability and efficiency benefits of the systems with visitors and customers through interior displays and communications.

The NC Green Business Fund announced the grant enabling Dreamsports to make these improvements on July 5^th, 2011. At that time, 16 additional grants were issued to small businesses in the state meeting U.S. Department of Energy criteria for using energy more efficiently, reducing utility costs, and directing savings into programs to grow these businesses, supporting job generation and retention. The 17 total grants were funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment act via the U.S. Department of Energy State Energy Program (SEP).

“The NC Green Business Fund is extremely proud to partner with Dreamsports in order to enhance the energy efficiency and renewable energy component of their facility, as well to educate the public of energy efficiency possibilities” said Paul Shannon, Grants Manager of the NC Green Business Fund. “This type of project is exactly how the American Recovery Reinvestment Act of 2009 was intended, to create economic activity that otherwise would have not happened and at the same time demonstrating a positive benefit to the public. In this case, reduced green-house emissions,” added Shannon.

Dreamsports worked with Jon Mollendick of RISE EcoTechnologies in assessment of pre-project energy use, development of equipment specifications for the project, energy usage projections, and calculations of actual use versus projections. Randy Lucas of Lucas Tax + Energy assisted Dreamsports and Mollendick in procuring the grant and the systems were installed by J.S. Howard Electrical and Center Heating and Air Conditioning.

About Dreamsports Center

Dreamsports Center is the Triangle’s premier indoor sports and child development facility serving a wide range of audiences ranging in age from 17 months to over sixty years and attracts more than 650,000 visitors annually.

Dreamsports’ 56,000 square foot facility hosts youth and adult leagues in soccer, lacrosse, and hockey and provides a broad array of child development and kids sports programs. Track–out and summer multi-sports camps, child development programs, and birthday parties are other highlights of the facility’s child and youth program.

Locally owned and managed, Dreamsports has operated in Apex for more than 13 years. The managing partner for Dreamsports and Sports Palace Ventures LLC is Steve Werner, a sports enthusiast and former technology executive.