SOUTHERN PINES – Pinehurst Championship Management announced today that it has closed a record $3 million in corporate hospitality sales for the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open Championship.

SANFORD – The Pantry, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTRY), the leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern U.S., today announced that it has completed the previously disclosed acquisitions of 33 convenience stores.

FAYETTEVILLE – Cape Fear Valley Medical Center has announced that it is among the nation’s Top 5 percent of hospitals, according to a study of mortality and complication rates by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent healthcare ratings company.

WASHINGTON – President Bush today announced a proposed FY 2008 budget for the U.S. Small Business Administration that increases financing capacity by 40 percent over business lending in FY 2006, reduces fees on loans, and provides increased funding and staff for SBA’s ongoing operational reforms.

ROCKINGHAM – It was the perfect antidote to the sound and the fury and the glitz, a back-roads drive through quiet places like Cheraw and Bennettsville and Hamlet into the heart of the cold, piney woods.

CORDOVA – BST Safety Textiles, a division of Narricot Industries that makes side curtain airbags for the automotive industry, will open a plant in Richmond County that is expected to employ up to 200 people within three years.

RALEIGH – Members of the Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN) management team will discuss the company’s strategy and financial outlook on Friday at an analyst meeting in Florida.

RALEIGH – Progress Energy (NYSE:PGN) donated more than $12 million in 2006 to enhance education, promote economic development and protect the environment in the communities it serves, and to support initiatives and institutions important to the company's 10,000-plus employees.

RALEIGH – Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN) today announced fourth-quarter net income of $255 million, or $1.01 per share, compared with net income of $154 million or 62 cents per share, for the same period last year.

DUNN – New Century Bancorp (Nasdaq: NCBC), the holding company for New Century Bank and New Century Bank South, has reported net income for the year ended Dec. 31 of $4.7 million, compared to $3.6 million in 2005, an increase of 31 percent.

SOUTHERN PINES – National Golf Club has embarked upon a series of golf course enhancements, many of which were recommended by architect Jack Nicklaus during a course inspection last year.

MOUNT GILEAD – McRae Industries, Inc. (Pink Sheets: MRINA) declared a dividend of $.0825 per share on the Company's Class A Common Stock payable on March 23, 2007 to shareholders of record on March 9, 2007.

DUNN – The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced that Harnett Health System has been awarded the Certificate of Need to build a 50-bed hospital in Lillington.

WASHINGTON –Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and Healthy Carolinians, Inc., with funding from The Duke Endowment, today announced that they have awarded a $55,000 grant to the North Carolina Alliance for Health to support chronic disease advocacy and public education to fight obesity. The Alliance, a three-year old coalition of nearly 35 statewide organizations working together to promote tobacco use prevention and advocate for state legislative change, is creating a similar coalition of organizations that have an interest in promoting healthy lifestyle issues and setting healthy weight policy priorities for the state.

ASHEBORO – FNB United Corp. (NASDAQ: FNBN) announced that President and Chairman Michael Miller is scheduled to present at the Southeast SuperCommunity Bank Conference in Atlanta on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON – Last year, the Export-Import Bank of the United States authorized nearly $3.2 billion in support of U.S. small business exports.

LILLINGTON – Edwards Brothers, a Michigan-based manufacturer of short- and medium-run-length books and journals, has announced that it will invest $5 million in new machinery and add 30 to 40 jobs at its Lillington operations.

SOUTHERN PINES – Delta Air Lines is inviting customers to putt their way through Pinehurst with special low fares for travel to the more than 40 golf resorts in the Pinehurst/Southern Pines region of North Carolina. Between today and March 5, customers can purchase tickets at special low introductory prices for travel to and from Pinehurst/Southern Pines, N.C. between March 14 and May 24, 2007.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN) is building on significant positive momentum, operationally and financially, and is positioned to become the nation’s largest pure-play regulated electric utility, CEO and Chairman Bob McGehee told financial analysts at a meeting last week.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Census Bureau announced that it has hired the management staff for a local census office in Fayetteville, which will be the hub of local census activity for the 2008 Census Dress Rehearsal.

SANFORD – Central Carolina Community College’s new dental program is a “go.”

FAYETTEVILLE – Cape Fear Valley Medical Center has announced a decision to enter discussions of a clinical affiliation in cardiac surgery with Cleveland Clinic, an international leader and the top-ranked heart center in America, according to U.S. News and World Report.

FAYETTEVILLE – Cape Fear Valley is now serving up wireless Internet along with its Valley Perks Starbucks coffee, thanks to a newly launched wireless system.

WHITEVILLE –Black’s Tire & Auto Service has acquired Briggs & Sons Tire. And with this acquisition, Black’s now operates 31 locations throughout the eastern Carolinas, including tire and service centers, as well as retread plants and wholesale and warehouse facilities.

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolinians saved at least $80 million last year in direct out-of-pocket prescription costs when Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina told them to skip the copayment on generic drugs.

PINEHURST – Golfers in the Sandhills will again have a tour to call their own when the popular Amateur Golf Tour returns to the region on March 3 at Sapona Country Club.