RALEIGH – Gov. Mike Easley announced that visitor spending for 2007 increased 7.4 percent across North Carolina to $17.1 billion.

MONCURE – Gov. Mike Easley has announced that Uniboard Canada Inc., an internationally known manufacturer of pressed wood products, is building a plant in Chatham County.

FAYETTEVILLE – Fayetteville was ranked No. 51 in mid-size markets in the South, according to Southern Business & Development’s “250 Best Places in the South to Locate Your Company.”

PITTSBORO – Piedmont Biofuels announced that it has become accredited as North Carolina’s first BQ-9000 producer of biodiesel.

RALEIGH – North Carolina school districts are not very "parent-friendly," according to a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report.

WASHINGTON – The National Federation of Independent Business Index of Small Business Optimism fell one point to 88.2 (1986=100) in July, establishing one of the longest strings of recession-level readings in the history of the survey.

FOUR OAKS – Four Oaks Fincorp, Inc. (OTCBB: FOFN), the holding company for Four Oaks Bank & Trust Company, has announced results for the first six months and second quarter of fiscal 2008.

ASHEBORO – Calling it a “historic occasion,” Randolph Community College President Robert Shackleford was joined by the presidents of Pfeiffer University, Greensboro College, and Salem College today in signing an agreement to establish The University Center of Randolph County on RCC’s Asheboro Campus.