Woolard appointed to BCCC Board of Trustees
Ashley Woolard, a resident of Washington and former candidate for the U.S. Congress, has joined the Beaufort County Community College Board of Trustees. He was appointed to the college board by the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners.
Woolard took the oath of office at a recent meeting of the BCCC board and will serve a four-year term.
“The BCCC Board of Trustees is pleased to welcome Mr. Woolard as one of its members,” said board Chairman Russell Smith. “With his experience as a businessman and a county leader, Mr. Woolard will bring valuable insight to the board.”
A native and life-long resident of Beaufort County, Woolard is president of Woolard Insurance Brokers, Inc. He is a graduate of Washington High School and of East Carolina University where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. Woolard is also a 2003 Fellow of the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership, a non-partisan, nonprofit research and educational institution, formed to improve the overall quality of political and governmental leadership at the state and local levels.
Woolard has been active in civic organizations for many years. He is a former member of the Old Ford Ruritan Club and served as an officer for two years and President of the club in 2004. Woolard was an officer of the Washington Rotary Club for three years and served as President in 2007. He also served on the City of Washington Planning Board from 2001 to 2004.
Woolard has been active in Republican Party politics, serving as Chairman of the Beaufort County Republican Party from 2007 to 2009. In 2010, Woolard was the Republican candidate for Congress from the 1st Congressional District and in 2012 was one of 15 presidential electors representing North Carolina.
Woolard is a leader in education, having served as a representative of the ECU Educational Foundation for 10 years. He served as President of the Beaufort County chapter of the Pirate Club from 2005 to 2010. Woolard was named Rookie Chapter President of the Year in 2006 out of 35 chapters, for leading the local chapter to a 16 percent increase in members and a 20 percent increase in donations.  In addition to his duties as President, he organized the annual banquet and golf tournament and oversaw all major fund-raising initiatives for the chapter.
His other awards include being named the Ruritan of the Year for the Greenville-Goldsboro District in 2002 and the Fund-Raiser Award for the Old Ford Ruritan Club that same year. Woolard was named Rotarian of the Year for the Washington Rotary Club in 2005.
Woolard has three children – Payton, 10; Parker, 7, and Pressley, 3. He attends Old Ford Church of Christ. In his spare time, he enjoys coaching his children’s various sports teams and ECU athletics.

BCCC to offer  advanced  entrepreneur classes
Business and Industry Services at Beaufort County Community College will offer three workshops in October designed to provide advanced training for current and prospective business owners.
The workshops offered are as follows:
Understanding Your Small Business Financials, Thursday, Oct. 17. This workshop will expand on previous financial seminars and focus on determining break-even points and cash flow. Participants will receive templates to develop charts for their businesses.
Marketing and Pricing for Your Small Business, Thursday, Oct. 22. This workshop will focus on pricing products and services. Participants will learn strategies for pricing their products and services and will have the chance to talk with and learn from others in the group.
Pulling it All Together: Planning the Pitch for Your Small Business, Thursday, Oct. 24, will focus on presenting a business plan to financial institutions. Participants will learn what lenders are looking for in a business plan and will learn the concept of an “elevator pitch” for presenting their small business ideas.
All workshops will be from 6 to 9 p.m. on the designated day and held in Room 828 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus.
“These workshops will dig deeper into topics that will help their businesses grow and prosper,” said Lentz Stowe, director of Business and Industry Services at BCCC. “They are intended to add to and supplement the information BCCC provides current and prospective business owners through the Small Business Center’s Core Curriculum workshops.”
These are the first seminars BCCC has offered in cooperation with the NC REAL entrepreneurship program material, according to Stowe.
REAL, or Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning, is a program that provides courses, training, and resources to help rural America grow through hands-on education.
“We are excited to be working with Beaufort County Community College to expand the information that is available to entrepreneurs in your service area,” said Shannon Gallagher, eastern regional associate for North Carolina REAL Enterprises.
The Washington/Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce is a co-sponsor of the workshops.
The workshops are offered free of charge to participants, however, to allow for the preparation of an adequate number of materials, pre-registration is encouraged. To pre-register, contact BCCC’s Business and Industry Services at 252-940-6375 or email Eva Peartree at evap@beaufortccc.edu.
For more information about other services offered by BCCC’s Business and Industry Services’ Small Business Center, including targeted seminars for business owners, visit BCCC’s Website at www.beaufortccc.edu/coned/Small Business/workshops.htm or contact Stowe at 252-940-6306 or lentzs@beaufortccc.edu or Lauren Spruill at 252-940-6311 or by email at laurens@beaufortccc.edu.