WSTB

I nominate Susan Cameron as W-S CEO of the Decade! If only some of our CEO's took as strong a lead in Winston-Salem initiatives as Ms. Cameron. So glad she's back.

Per the WSJ, Susan Cameron, president and chief executive of Reynolds American Inc., has been named as the third chair-person of Old Salem Museums & Gardens’ On Common Ground capital campaign. Cameron joins Paul Fulton and Stan Kelly as chairpersons. The nonprofit said Reynolds American has provided a lead gift of $750,000. The campaign goal is $17.66 million, a symbolic reference to Salem being founded in 1766. As of June 30, $14.6 million has been raised. An additional $1.6 million in collections of Southern decorative arts has been contributed.

Wonder what Salem College & Academy has planned for this property? The site contains three houses that they are currently renting out. The request for zoning may mean something could be in the works construction-wise??? The college also purchased Beau Dancy's half acre lot between Main/Liberty along Cemetery across Main from this property back in November 12. It is already zoned PB.

http://www.cityofws.org/Portals/0/pdf/P ... /W3244.pdf

Maybe more student housing? Salem I think owns the Fogle Flats between Main & Church, facing the cemetery strollway, that is occupied by Salem students.

Ragan Folan, the president of Old Salem Museums & Gardens is retiring at years end after 5 years at the helm, as reported by the WSj. She's citing the projected completion of their $17.66 million capital campaign by year’s end and the start of the 1st phase of the recently adopted three-year strategic plan as an good time to transition to new management. She will remain on the Board of Directors as a Board member, stepping into the role as vice chair in 2017 & chair in 2018.

She had a pretty good run there, here's some stats from the article:

A-Visitor attendance has risen 36 percent.
B-Revenue climbed from $4.6 million in 2011 to $5.2 million in 2015.
C-Organization was able to retire in 2013 what was once $5 million in long-term debt.
D-In May 2014, Old Salem released an economic report that said it had a local economic impact of $45.1 million in 2013. That includes revenue directly generated by Old Salem, visitor spending and vendor services. The study indicates Old Salem was responsible for 1,017 jobs in 2013.

I think it would be an awesome idea if Old Salem would go into some sort of joint venture with a craft brewer and reconstruct the old Single Brothers brewery basing at least some of the brews on old recipes from back in the day.

The site of the brewery is in a great location next to the Strollway. It would be a way of enlivening that section of Old Salem and serve as a bridge between the residential properties of South Marshall Street with Old Salem proper.

http://www.digitalforsyth.org/photos/9371

Yes, great idea - I wonder what happened to the proposed brewery in Old Salem (a few years ago - don't recall the thread).

Wasn't Home Moravian opposed to the brewery idea?

New Initiatives from Old Salem President Frank Vagnone . . .

[youtube]R-fECeENp5Y[/youtube]

Thanks for the Old Salem video. At the risk of seeming trite, I still believe what Old Salem needs is the right combination of innovation and preservation along with implementation meaning just the correct mixture of historic preservation along with creative application (selling it). Also, the Southeast Gateway development as progressed is not optimum to complement Old Salem as mentioned in discussions when that so-called project was announced. There is still an opportunity in the Southeast Gateway to develop that area to attract visitors and tourists to augment Old Salem as a major attraction. As mentioned before, it ought to be something along the lines of the Biltmore Village, and include a hotel much like the Grande Bohemian (Marriott boutique) in Biltmore Village (Asheville).

The BB&T Charitable Foundation, I am assuming as a part of their recently announced increase in charitable giving, has awarded a $250,000 multi-year grant to Old Salem Museums and Gardens in support of their seven strategic visions for the 75 year old living history site. Frank Vagnone, Old Salem's president stated " BB&T has been a consistent supporter and we believe this most recent investment is recognition of Old Salem's quickly expanding international reputation as a thoughtful, organizational change agent"

The areas of improvement earmarked for investment by Old Salem include:

*Access Salem: Increased accessibility and inclusivity for visitors on the spectrum of impairments that include Autism, sensory and language limitations and processing abilities.

*Activate Main Street: Reinvigorating the historic district and visitor experience.

*Equity Initiative: Increased economic, cultural, ability, gender, and racial diversity in programming and inclusion.

*Hidden Town: The "HIdden Town project" will research and reveal the history of enslaved and free Africans and African-Americans who lived in Old Salem.

*Learning in place: Educational partnerships with area schools and universities

*Salem Check-up: Constant review of operational needs and process improvement.

*Seeds with Stories: An initiative to highlight stories around Old Salem's historic plant collection.

Old Salem sites receive 444,000 visitors each year, including 45,000 school children. The various sites employ 170 full time and part time employees and generate an estimated $48 million a year.

Source: Triad Business Journal

According to an article in today's WSJ: "Frank Vagnone, who has served as president and the chief executive of Old Salem Museums and Gardens and the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts since January 2017, will step down effective June 30 to become president of the Newport Restoration Foundation in Newport, R.I., Old Salem said Friday in a news release." https://journalnow.com/news/local/frank ... 24de0.html

I had a feeling that he would be leaving for a better position as soon as he could. Moving to Newport is an amazing opportunity. It's just much too difficult to raise the necessary funding here and he wanted to do so much to transform Old Salem into a world class living museum. In Newport it will be so much easier to implement an agenda. For example, at one time former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was the foundation's vice president so he will be operating in an entirely different league. His leadership and vision will be missed.

A few notable folks in the restaurant scene are happy to see him go after the way the Salem Tavern has been handled. I'm not sure if that is fair to Frank or not, but I do hope that the Tavern is a priority for the new leader.