Leoneda Inge

Bank of America has set up shop in the Raleigh Convention Center to help homeowners teetering on foreclosure. 

Craig Willis says he’s had a lot of sleepless nights worrying about his house in Burlington.

Craig Willis: " I would just hate to give all that up and have to start over doing it again."

Willis got behind on his house payments in 2008, after losing his job and then a divorce.  Jessica Garcia is a Bank of America events manager.  She says they contacted 19-thousand customers within 150 miles of Raleigh inviting them to talk with specialists.

Eric Hodge:  North Carolina Congressman Brad Miller has introduced a bill he says will give consumers the power to switch banks if they’re disgruntled over fees. Leoneda Inge reports.

Recent announcements about rising fees from big banks like Bank of America have some consumers mad.  Democrat Brad Miller of Raleigh says that’s why he introduced the “Freedom and Mobility in Banking Act.”

Brad Miller:  "Banks should send money by electronically from one bank to another when you decide you want to transfer your accounts because you weren’t happy with your first bank."

North Carolina’s clinical trials industry is seeing a major shift.  The latest example is the purchase of Wilmington-based P-P-D.

More than 200 furniture companies in North Carolina have closed over the past decade. This weekend in High Point – there is a festival to celebrate the region’s unique history. 

The High Point Theatre is hosting the first annual – “Carolina Crossroads – A Celebration of Music and Furniture.”  Tonight the theatre will show the film – “With These Hands.”  It captures the last days of the Hooker Furniture Plant in Martinsville, Virginia.

The Small Business Administration visited Raleigh to kick-off a new national program to help businesses grow internationally.

Karen Mills is the Administrator for the S-B-A.  She visited "Raleigh Denim" to announce the new State Trade and Export Promotion program.

Karen Mills:  "American manufacturers can still produce world class products, even in textiles."

The State Department of Transportation has been working on a high speed rail proposal for downtown Raleigh for several years.  Today the public is invited to see an updated plan at the Raleigh convention Center. 

Some of the nation’s leading housing finance experts will be in Raleigh today and tomorrow for the American Mortgage Conference.  Thad Woodard is president and C-E-O of the North Carolina Bankers Association.  He says they wanted to present a major platform to answer some major questions about the future of home financing.

A new report released yesterday takes a close-up look at the state of workers in North Carolina’s tobacco fields.

The report – “A State of Fear – Human Rights Abuses in North Carolina’s Tobacco Industry” was produced by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee and Oxfam America.  It includes interviews with migrant farm workers, mostly undocumented and representatives of the tobacco industry.

Baldemar Velasquez is president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee AFL-CIO. He says the only way to better the lives of the tobacco workers is for industry to step in.

President Barack Obama was in campaign-mode during his stop at N-C State University yesterday.   His jobs speech was more like a re-election campaign speech.   There was chanting, cheering and waving – and Mr. Obama didn’t mind the attention at all.  

The mood in Reynolds Coliseum was patriotic.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the Triangle tomorrow.   He’s drumming up support for his “American Jobs Act” plan.

President Obama will talk jobs and the economy at N-C State tomorrow afternoon.  He’ll also speak with the owners of a small business in nearby Apex.  The business is West-Star Precision.  It is a manufacturer of specialized machined components for the aerospace and medical industries.  Brenda Steen is executive director of the Apex Chamber of Commerce. She says the company is not a chamber member – but President Obama’s visit will benefit all.