Three finalists for the superintendency of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will visit the district April 11-12 to meet with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, CMS staff and the community. The finalists, whose names will be disclosed on April 9, will meet with principals and staff, and tour schools the morning of April 11. Public meetings have been scheduled for Wednesday afternoon around Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, concluding with a meeting at Northwest School of the Arts for parents, students and staff. Media interviews with each candidate have also been scheduled that afternoon. “A quality public education is the bedrock of a thriving

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HomeGoods, the country’s only major off-price store dedicated to home fashions, will open a new store in Mooresville on Sunday, April 22 at 8:00 a.m. The 25,000 square-foot store is located at Winslow Bay Commons, Highway 150 and Bluefield Road. With the addition of this store, HomeGoods will have five stores in the Charlotte market. HomeGoods offers an exciting, ever-changing selection of high-quality home fashions at prices 20% to 60% less than department and specialty store regular prices, every day. HomeGoods provides consumers with extraordinary values on brand name and designer merchandise and unique finds for every room and in

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After learning that Charlotte-based Friendship Trays, which delivers meals to elderly and disabled citizens, is cutting individual cartons of milk from its meals to save on costs, PETA is offering to lend a hand. The group is sending single-serve cartons of nutritious and delicious vitamin D–fortified soy milk that will help recipients get the calcium and other nutrients they need without the artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated animal fat found in cow’s milk. Several studies, including the Harvard-based Nurses’ Health Study, have shown that consuming dairy products offers little to no protection against bone fractures. “The last thing elderly people need

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It is not impossible to do business in DR Congo. It is only that firms cannot see the “possible” paths to do so. The Democratic Republic of Congo is expected to grow at 6% in 2012, far outpacing growth in Western markets, according to the IMF. It is a country rich in minerals, land, and water, as well as possessing a consumer market in excess of 70 million. Charlotte Africa Business Week strives to demystify this French-speaking country to attendees to promote business opportunities benefitting both foreign firms and local DRC firms. “People are often surprised at the growth rate

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Dezan Shira & Associates, one of the largest business advisory firms in Asia, has established a U.S. presence by co-locating in Elliott Davis, PLLC’s Charlotte office on East Morehead Street. Elliott Davis, one of the largest tax, assurance and consulting services firms in the Southeast, and Dezan Shira are members of The Leading Edge Alliance, a worldwide association of independently owned accounting firms. It is this affiliation that drove Dezan Shira’s expansion in Charlotte where it currently has one representative, Jessica Tou. The firm says additional hiring is possible. Elliott Davis’ International Practice will work closely with Dezan Shira to

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Mecklenburg County government offices and agencies will be closed on Friday, April 6, 2012 for the Good Friday holiday. This includes all units of the Department of Social Services, the Tax Office, Elections Office, the Register of Deeds Office, and the Land Use and Environmental Services Office. Mecklenburg County Substance Abuse Center (Detox) is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Department of Social Services Care Line (704-336-CARE or 704-336-2773) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week to receive reports of suspected abuse or neglect of children, the elderly or disabled adults. The Health Department

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Hundreds of Charlotte area Realtors® are nailing down the final details in preparation for the fourth-annual Realtors® Care Day Friday, April 20. The all-day, home-repair initiative, which helps struggling homeowners across Mecklenburg and Iredell counties, is a project of the Housing Opportunity Foundation, the charitable arm of the Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association. Realtors® Care Day is an industry-wide volunteer effort to help area homeowners with necessary but often unaffordable exterior home repairs and/or adaptive safety modifications. Fortified by a collective altruistic spirit and armed with hammers, paintbrushes and assorted tools, some 500 Realtors® will take the day off to answer

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CPCC’s Institute for Entrepreneurship to offer three, free seminars the week of April 23. The Institute for Entrepreneurship at Central Piedmont Community College announces three, free seminars for the week of April 16: Monday, April 23 (6:30 – 8:30 p.m.) at Charlotte, N.C. Top Seven Reasons Why Businesses Fail SBX-8043-501 Statistics indicate that 30 percent of small business startups close in their first year and 50 percent close within five years. Beat the odds, and learn how to avoid repeating costly mistakes others have made. Understand typical problems that result in failure so you can devise and execute a plan

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The Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization (MUMPO) is holding Open House-format meetings to receive the public’s input on proposed amendments to its 2035 Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) and 2012-2018 Transportation Improvement Program. Public input will also be received on the Conformity Determination Report for the amended LRTP and TIP. The meetings are scheduled for the following dates and locations: Tuesday, April 17 5:00-8:00 PM Pineville Hut 413 Johnston Drive Pineville, NC 28134 Wednesday, April 18 5:00-8:00 PM Huntersville Town Hall 101 Huntersville-Concord Road Huntersville, NC 28078 MUMPO is considering amending its LRTP and TIP, and making a conformity determination in response

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Two exhibitions celebrating the depth and range of The Mint Museum’s ceramics collections are set to go on view at Mint Museum Randolph from April 7 through January 6. Sophisticated Surfaces: The Pottery of Herb Cohen pays tribute to a Charlotte-based artist who has earned a national reputation as a master of his craft ­– and who happens to be an important figure in the Mint’s own history. “Herb Cohen has long deserved to have his work be the single focus of an exhibition. We are especially pleased to present an in-depth overview of his career this year, in which

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