Achievers
Reynolds American recently announced that Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group have recognized the organization as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity 2024. The scoring process involved publicly available data, interviews with human resources professionals, and an anonymous online survey conducted among a diverse group of employees at companies in the U.S. Respondents shared insights into corporate culture, working environments, and other aspects of their own companies and those they were familiar with, resulting in more than 1.5 million company reviews.
On the large employer list, Reynolds earned a rating of four-and-a-half stars out of a possible five, underscoring the organization’s commitment to recruiting and advancing individuals of various ages, races, genders, sexual orientations, and abilities.
Globally, across the entire BAT Group and at Reynolds, bold 2025 ambitions have been set to accelerate the pace of progress. Within the U.S., Reynolds has ambitions to achieve gender parity in management roles, 25% minority representation in management roles, and 40% female representation in senior leadership. All employees are made aware of the organization’s progress towards D&I ambitions. Reynolds is also committed to transparency with salary grades across the organization.
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This recognition complements Reynolds’ recognition as a Top Employer 2024 in the U.S. and the BAT Group’s continuous certification as a Global Top Employer and notable inclusion in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, which underscores the BAT Group’s commitment to pay equity.
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Gov. Roy Cooper has appointed Omar Gonzalez of Boone to the North Carolina Veterans Affairs Commission as a representative of the 5th Congressional District. Gonzalez is the enterprise risk manager at Appalachian State University and previously served as an Intelligence Sergeant for the U.S. Army.
Announcements
Smitty’s Notes, the widely read online news and information source about the Winston-Salem area, is ceasing publication of its monthly email newsletter. Founded in 1997, the final Smitty’s Notes email newsletter is its April 3, 2024 edition. The SmittysNotes.com website will remain active as a source of community news and information; however, the Smitty’s Notes Facebook group will be paused effective April 7 and archived later in the month.
Smitty’s Notes founder and editor Jeff Smith said he fully intends to remain active in the community and will continue to participate in a number of community groups. However, he said there is no possibility that Smitty’s Notes will be sold to another group, and its database of more than 16,000 email subscribers will not be shared with anyone.
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The Thomasville Farmers Market will hold its its grand seasoning opening and Spring Daze celebration from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 4 at 21 E. Guilford St. in Thomasville.
There will be a live DJ, a bouncy house, food trucks, graveyard tours and historic walks and more.
For information, email mary@davidsoncountyfood.com or call 704-488-1304.
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The Blue Ridge Music Center is looking for friendly music enthusiasts to join its team of volunteers for the 2024 Deep Roots, Many Voices: Summer Outdoor Concert Series.
Help concerts run smoothly by selling tickets and merchandise, tracking attendance and assisting with parking. Volunteers can choose which concerts they work and are invited to stick around and watch the rest of the show after their shift.
Summer concerts are held Saturday evenings, Memorial Day through Labor Day, in the Music Center’s outdoor amphitheater.
A pre-season meeting for summer concert volunteers will be held at the Music Center on May 11. Those who plan to attend should contact Marianne Kovatch at 866-308-2773, Ext. 212 or mkovatch@brpfoundation.org for more information.
On the Move
Kylie L. Hamilton has joined Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey as an associate working on their commercial bankruptcy team.
Dr. Roxie Cannon Wells will join Novant Health’s office of patient experience as the chief physician executive officer. In this role, Wells will help lead the system’s patient experience strategy in support of both employed and independent clinicians. Most recently, Wells served as senior vice president, chief physician executive and strategy officer for Novant Health’s coastal region.
Scholarships
UNCG has announced that third-year chemistry student, Marcos Tapia, has been awarded the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship.
Tapia, a first-generation college student from Forsyth County, was among only 438 students chosen nationwide for the Goldwater honor. This year, the scholars were chosen from 1,353 science, engineering and mathematics undergraduate students nominated by 446 institutions to compete for the award. Each scholarship is awarded $7,500 a year, to cover up to two years of tuition expenses.
The scholarship is intended to support students with aspirations for research careers in natural sciences, mathematics and engineering to ensure that the U.S. produces professionals in these critical fields. Many Goldwater Scholars have already published research findings in journals and presented at professional conferences, including Tapia.
Tapia joined the research team of Shabnam Hematian in his very first year at UNCG and began studying electrochemical properties of substances found in nature to develop environmentally friendly technologies.
In his second year at UNCG, Tapia was named a U-RISE Fellow by the National Institutes of Health. This fellowship, which prepares high-achieving science students from underrepresented groups for doctoral training, gave Tapia further opportunities to present his work and opened doors for his Goldwater Scholar appointment.