Krista Tillman, BellSouth, President-NC Operations

     Krista Tillman, President of BellSouth's North Carolina operations, was born in Kansas City and grew up in Atlanta.   After graduating from Georgia State with a degree in Math, she began her career as a teacher.  She joined BellSouth after receiving her Master of Science degree from Georgia Tech and has held a variety of leadership positions in the company.  She was appointed in June 2000 as President of the North Carolina operations for BellSouth, and since that time, has been actively involved in the Charlotte community serving as Chair of Center City Partners, Communities in Schools, and is a member of the Board of Trustees at UNC-Wilmington.

     Krista began her remarks by acknowledging that Charlotte is a city that expects service of its leaders, and that Rotary’s motto of “Service Above Self” is the perfect motto for Charlotte’s business leaders.  She acknowledged that service to the community and customers is very important to BellSouth, and they are passionate about customer service.  BellSouth has won six national awards in the past year, including Top Business Telecom Provider in the United States.  Customer requests for a total comprehensive solution for telecom services was one of the main reasons BellSouth fought so hard to get back into the long distance telephone market, which was approved September 2002.  Krista indicated that BellSouth is much more than a telephone service provided – it’s really more accurate to call BellSouth a data networking company.

     The state of the telecom industry today was the focus of Krista’s remarks, and to demonstrate her point of the changes in the past 10 years, she asked for audience response to several key questions regarding cell phones, PDA’s, and websites.  The bottom line is that now more than ever, telecom services are mission critical to almost all businesses.  Despite the increasing demand for service, the telecom industry has experienced a 60% decline in market value in past several years, which represents the loss of 500,000 jobs and one trillion dollars.  Capital investments are down significantly, which affects new product development and service delivery.   This is not just a national problem, but also a NC problem since NC is knows as the “Telecom State”.  She used the analogy of the “Perfect Storm” to describe the state of the telecom industry with powerful forces converging together including the soft economy, increased competition, and government regulatory interference.   The government needs to realize that where competition has been allowed to work, the market has benefited customers.  Krista indicated that the FCC needs to get the rules right to provide a level playing field for competition but not try to pre-determine the winners and losers.  According to Krista, unreasonable and unnecessary restrictions have no place in the market today.

     She concluded her remarks with some suggestions for all of us to “take out the checkbook and start buying telecom services”, pick the right provider and develop a long-term relationship, and encourage those in public service to let businesses compete.

   Head Table-David Anderson, Skip Berry, Rusty Brink, Billy King, Matt Joyner, John Tabor.

     Visiting Rotarians & Guests-Randall Groves; Health & Happiness-Jamie McLawhorn; Song-Carroll Thomas; Invocation-GeorgeThompson.

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Did You Hear…

è Polio Eradication Update
Club Pledge:               $54,000
Received To Date:     $21,645
Representing:     92 members

è Leland Park made a Paul Harris Fellow presentation to Helmut Deussen, in memory of Elizabeth Deussen.

è Clothing will be collected for Crisis Assistance Ministries during the month of November.  Members are asked to bring donations to a club meeting or call Jim Adams for pickup.

è Rotary Breakfast Bunch, 7:30 AM, November 25^th at the Dowd (Morehead) YMCA.

è Contact Steve Landers, 704-366-6161, to sign up for the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle at the Square.

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New Member

Arch McIntosh

Charlotte Latin School

Classification: Education-Private

9502 Providence Rd (28277)

704-846-1100  

FAX 704-846-1712

Email: amcintosh@charlottelatin.org

     Arch is serving his second year as headmaster of Charlotte Latin School, having spent the past 24 years in independent education.  A native of Marion, NC, Arch graduated from Marshall University in 1976 with a degree in journalism.   From 1976-1979, he served as a basketball coach at both Livington University and the University of South Alabama.  He earned his masters degree in secondary education from South Alabama in 1980. Arch worked as an English teacher and coach at Pinewood Christian Academy (Bellville, GA) and served as headmaster of Effingham Academy (Springfield, GA), where he also taught and coached.  For the next 19 years, Arch served as an administrator at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, AK, the last 13 years as headmaster. While in Arkansas, Arch became a founding member and vice-chairman of the Arkansas Nonpublic Schools Accrediting Association, chairman of the Board of Directors for the Independent Schools Association of the Central States, chairman of the State Board of Communities in Schools for Arkansas, and was a member of the Foundation Board for the Arkansas School of Math and Science.  He was an active member of Rotary Club 99 in Little Rock and served as both a school sponsor and president of the Little Rock Adult Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Arch continued his education while a resident in Arkansas, earning credits for an Ed.S degree in administration and supervision from the University of Arkansas.  He was named a Klingenstein Fellow at Columbia University Teacher’s College in 1992.  Arch and his wife of 15 years, Jennifer, have three children, Archie III (11), Jeffrey (9), and Avery (6).  Arch is an avid fresh and saltwater fisherman who spends most of his leisure time with his family.  The McIntoshes attend Forest Hills Church.  Welcome to Charlotte Rotary, Arch.

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Sonny Brown, Rotary Foundation Trustee, presented Dwight Thomas with his beautifully framed Paul Harris Fellow credentials during the Foundation Banquet held November 16^th.  The Charlotte Club was recognized by the District for contributing over $30,000 to the Foundation in 2001-2002.

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