Wells Fargo Community Celebration Saturday—Huge

Wells Fargo, which recently completed its conversion of Wachovia signs and banking locations to Wells Fargo nationwide with Charlotte and North Carolina being the final changeovers this month, is throwing the largest cultural arts festival I think this city has ever seen. The Wells Fargo Community Celebration takes place this Saturday in Uptown Charlotte, featuring more than 60 performances and events, and it's all free to the public.

Wells Fargo, which now employs about 20,000 people in Charlotte and nearly 30,000 in the state thanks to its acquisition of Wachovia, has partnered with the Arts & Science Council (ASC) and Charlotte Center City Partners for this all-day celebration. There will be live art demonstrations, a street festival featuring LEGO sculptures, a chalk art competition, stage plays, dance shows, and concerts such as those by Nicci Canada and headlining act, jazz great Branford Marsalis.

Branford Marsalis headlines the celebration Saturday. Credit: facebook.com/branfordmarsalis.

Wells Fargo is also underwriting free admission into several Uptown cultural facilities on Saturday, including: Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Discovery Place, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture, Levine Museum of the New South, McColl Center for Visual Art, The Light Factory, and more. Plus, the celebration will commemorate the opening of the Wells Fargo History Museum in Three Wells Fargo Center, which honors Charlotte and North Carolina's rich banking heritage in addition to telling the history of the San Francisco-based bank.

The main hub for the activities will be the Levine Center for the Arts, so you'll want to make your way there Saturday as a starting point. CATS Gold Rush, the free center city trolley on wheels, is operating a special route to help attendees maneuver easily to the various facilities and events. You can find a detailed list of all of Saturday's events here on the ASC's website, including this printable event guide and information on parking.

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What's up with Occupy Charlotte?

I've been following the national news coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement over the last three weeks or so. And as the rallies and protests spread from New York to other major cities like Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles, so did the national media's inclusion of those cities in its coverage. But I hadn't been hearing any mention of Charlotte. Surely the citizens of this country's second largest banking city would get involved, right?

Well, the Occupy Charlotte movement appears to have been quietly building momentum for about two weeks, and this past week and this weekend made its biggest showing yet. An estimated 500 protesters gathered in Uptown Saturday and marched from the old City Hall on East Trade Street to the Bank of America headquarters on Tryon Street. Some even slept outside overnight to continue the rally today. So Charlotte's efforts finally got mentioned in news stories by The Wall Street Journal, ABC News, and others over the last 24 hours.

Supporters of Occupy Charlotte gathered in Uptown Saturday. Photo by Enid Valu.

Occupy Charlotte protesters reportedly will also march to the Charlotte City Council meeting Monday. So you'll likely see a lot more local coverage in coming days.

Like many of you, I'm curious to see how this movement progresses nationally and what the overall objectives are. I know the participants are largely rallying against the corporate greed that has ruined this economy, but Occupy Wall Street--and the groups that have spun-off--have been criticized for not having a conventional leader nor a clear organizational structure.

As for Charlotte, I'm a little skeptical about the impact the movement will have here because this city does not have a strong history of successful grassroots organization in the name of protests. This has long been a buttoned-up town. And despite what many across the country might say about the evils of the financial industry, the big banks--Bank of America and Wachovia-turned-Wells-Fargo--have done a lot of great things for this city. You don't want to bite the hand that feeds you, but at the same time a lot of people are already starving (and have lost their jobs and homes) because of some of the greedy and shady practices banks and other big corporations engaged in for years.

Keep up with the Occupy Charlotte movement at these links:

• OccupyCharlotte.org
• Occupy Charlotte on Facebook (there are a few pages set up but this one has the most fans)
• Twitter @OccupyCLT
• #OccupyCharlotte hashtag

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'Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers' Keeps Telling Charlotte's Story

I always say that eight out of 10 people I meet in Charlotte aren't from here. I can't say that my 80 percent theory is scientific, but I'm sure you would agree that Charlotte has a lot of newcomers and transplants. I've lived here for almost six years now and because of the work I do I've gotten to know the city really well. But it's easy to get caught up in the present and future and not know much about a place's history. There's no better way to learn Charlotte's story than by visiting the Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers exhibit at Levine Museum of the New South. The award-winning exhibit that debuted in 2001 has just been renovated and updated to reflect the past decade.

Levine Museum tells the history of the New South, which is defined as the period from the end of the Civil War (1865) to today. Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers is its permanent exhibit, located on the first floor, so if you've ever visited the museum you've likely journeyed through it. It's a large exhibit that literally guides you through Charlotte's history from when cotton fields dominated the landscape in the late 1800s and early 1900s to how the economy changed that eventually led to the businesses that built the skyscrapers we see in Uptown today. Or as the museum folks say, it goes from "farm to factory to finance." And along the way, you experience cool artifacts and features such as equipment from a cotton mill, a replica of an old Belk department store, a lunch counter that tells the story of Civil Rights Movement-era sit-ins, the history of integrating schools, the plight of factory workers, how Duke Energy became the largest utility company in the country, and more.

Levine Museum has been celebrating its 20th anniversary since the beginning of the year, and things ramped up this week with an elaborate and festive gala, "Taste of Time," on Thursday that drew hundreds of people, including some of the city's most prominent figures. This week also saw the reopening of Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers, which underwent a three-month renovation. It now contains an additional 750 feet of gallery space, primarily comprised of the new end section, titled "Whirlwind of Growth, 1970s-2010s." In this section, which largely reflects the changes Charlotte has experienced since 2001, you see how the big banks got bigger--Bank of America and Wachovia--and how the latter was acquired by Wells Fargo. You also see how Charlotte has become one of the South's most diverse cities.

A replica of the Bank of America Corporate Center stands tall in Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers.

The exhibit also now features many new interactive components with touchscreen technology. There's the "Remix History" feature, where you can play with digital graphics on flatscreens to manipulate historic photos (it reminds of how the folks at CNN slide things around on their big screens when telling the news). There's also "Picture Yourself in History," where you sit in front of a green screen and have your picture taken to place yourself into an historic moment. The computer allows you to email the photo to yourself so you can have a keepsake (look for these to pop up on people's Facebook pages).

But before you get to all of the cool new stuff at the end of the exhibit, you get to experience a new 10-minute intro film. Sitting in the theater at the entrance to the exhibit, you can watch a video that I guarantee will tell you some stuff about Charlotte you never knew. But you'll likely recognize the names of the voices narrating the film--former Bank of America chief Hugh McColl, NASCAR pioneer Humpy Wheeler, and radio personality Ramona Holloway.

On Tuesday I attended a media tour for the reopening of Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers. Below is a few minutes of video I captured that showcases the new section at the end. Levine Museum historian Tom Hanchett points out some of the new features; then I wander off a little on my own.

You should make sure to check it out for yourself, which you can do tomorrow (Sunday, May 1) during the museum's 20th Anniversary Community Celebration. The free event takes place 12-5 p.m. and you'll be treated to exhibit tours, music and dance performances, multimedia art, photography, family activities, and birthday cake. Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. Seventh St., 704-333-1887, www.museumofthenewsouth.org.

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New York Times Reviews 'Banktown' and City

In the Sunday edition of The New York Times, the venerable newspaper reviews Banktown: The Rise and Struggles of Charlotte's Big Banks, a book released this month that was written by The Charlotte Observer reporter Rick Rothacker. The Times review is quite lengthy and you realize it's as much a book review as it is a business article and that this book is as much about Charlotte as it is New York. It was, after all, Charlotte that was home to two of the country's biggest banks, becoming an unlikely financial district that puzzled New Yorkers.

As is evident by the review, titled "Big Banking, Southern Style," the book contains a lot of what we in Charlotte have known for quite a while, such as how Bank of America and Wachovia's Tryon Street rivalry built their balance sheets while simultaneously building this city. And then there's the ugly reminders:

“Bank of America and Wells Fargo remain formidable corporate players in the city,” Mr. Rothacker says, and Charlotte also possesses a range of other financial firms. But it remains to be seen, he says, “whether or not the city can replace the salaries of high-paying bank jobs” that it has lost.

The Times review goes on to say that Banktown reveals a lot of details from court documents and securities filings, as well as provides great insight from Hugh McColl. But in the most stinging line of the review it states:

The “Banktown” saga has all the elements of a compelling tale of high finance. Unfortunately, the writing fails to rise to the drama of the occasion.

Banktown is available at many major bookstores and at Amazon.com.

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'Wachovia's Drug Habit' Revealed in Magazine

You've been hearing a lot lately about how increasingly deadly and powerful Mexican gangs and drug cartels are becoming, and how they're impacting the U.S. border. Well, in the August issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine, it reveals how over a three-year period Wachovia was used by drug cartels to launder money. Several U.S. banks are implicated, but Charlotte-based Wachovia, which is now own by Wells Fargo, sits atop the heap. It's reported that Wachovia handled $378 billion (yes, billion) in illegal funds for Mexican-currency-exchange houses from 2004 to 2007. And that's said to be the largest violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, an anti-money-laundering law, in U.S. history.

Also playing a role is Charlotte-based Bank of America. This is depicted in a scene during an incident in 2006 when law enforcement search a jet at an airport in Mexico: They found 128 black suitcases, packed with 5.7 tons of cocaine, valued at $100 million. The stash was supposed to have been delivered from Caracas to drug traffickers in Toluca, near Mexico City, Mexican prosecutors later found. Law enforcement officials also discovered something else. The smugglers had bought the DC-9 with laundered funds they transferred through two of the biggest banks in the U.S.: Wachovia Corp. and Bank of America Corp.

The article says that Wachovia, which federal prosecutors charged, ignored signs that drug cartels were funneling money through its banks. It also goes on to state that since 2006, more than 22,000 people have been killed in drug-related battles that have occurred mostly along the 2,000-mile border that Mexico shares with the U.S.

Read more about the Bloomberg article by clicking here.

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Read About It: Tiger, M.J., Skipper

The Quail Hollow Championship tees off in Charlotte next week, and everybody's abuzz now that Tiger Woods has committed to play in the tournament. It's going to be interesting to see what the atmosphere is like--how composed is Tiger, will the fans behave, are the paparazzi going to set up camp? I can only think back on better days, like when Tiger came here and won the tournament in 2007. That week was memorable from start to finish, beginning with Tiger's famous pairing with Michael Jordan and Skipper Beck in the Wednesday Pro-Am.

In the April 21-27 issue of Creative Loafing, you can read my cover story, "Quail Hollow Trilogy: The paths (and downfalls) of Tiger, M.J. and Skipper," where I chronicle how the lives of the golf great, basketball legend, and astute businessman have changed immensely since that fateful spring day. Click here.

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Name that Speedway

Now that it has been officially announced that Lowe's Home Improvement will not renew its track sponsorship of Lowe's Motor Speedway, I feel like I should suggest some companies that should take over the naming rights. Speedway Motorsports Inc., which owns the track, says that if a new sponsor isn't found by the time Lowe's contract ends at the end of the year, the track that hosts three NASCAR races a year will go back to its former name: Charlotte Motor Speedway. That was the track's name for decades before Lowe's purchased naming rights in the late 1990s.


Sure, Charlotte Motor Speedway conjures up nostalgia for longtime racing fans, but I think we need something more exciting. Here are my top-five suggestions for naming rights, assuming that any of them can afford the $6-$9 million annually that's rumored to be asked for in the deal.

5. McCrory Motor Speedway: Since the seven-term Charlotte mayor isn't seeking reelection, this would be a great way to remind people that he was a big projects kind of guy.

4. Lance Crackers Motor Speedway: This Charlotte-based company has been producing tasty snack packs for nearly 100 years. And since the products are affordable, the company continues to do well during a recession--it recently posted record revenue for the second quarter of 2009--so it could afford the naming rights. And it could give away peanut butter crackers at races to spur ticket sales.

3. Wells Fargo Motor Speedway: They nabbed our beloved Wachovia for pennies on the dollar and are already reaping record profits. Time to pay up. Plus, this would be another way to show their commitment to the area (don't worry about the criticism that would likely come from the federal government if the bank spent this kind of money on sponsorship right now).

2. Jordan Brand Motor Speedway: Come on MJ, we know you can afford it. Plus, you could probably find a way to market the first pair of Air Jordan racing sneakers. I know you're getting your money together as you consider buying the Charlotte Bobcats from Bob Johnson, but I think the speedway would be a more lucrative--and less risky--investment.

1. Harris Teeter Motor Speedway: There's one of these grocery stores on just about every major street in Charlotte, so they already have a loyal following (and the company is headquartered in Matthews). I can just see VIC cardholders (annoyingly) waving their key rings at races. And fans from around the country will be able to say they're going to the race this weekend at "The Teet."

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BofA Is Officially Number One

According to a new study by SNL Financial, Bank of America is now the largest U.S. bank, ranked by assets. The Charlotte-based bank has total assets of almost $2.5 trillion. Before the recent acquisition of Merrill Lynch, BofA would have been ranked third. Even though the Merrill Lynch deal has proved to be an ongoing headache as New York's attorney general has led an investigation into the massive executive bonuses ML dished out, at least we can take pleasure in knowing we're number one. Take that New York! And Ken Lewis has won...for now.

BofA knocked off former number one JPMorgan Chase (New York), which is now second on the list with $2.17 trillion in assets. Citigroup (New York) is third with $1.9 trillion; Wells Fargo (San Francisco), which acquired Wachovia at the end of the year, is fourth with $1.3 trillion; and HSBC (Mettawa, Ill.) rounds out the top five with $467 billion.

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Is Bank of America Quietly Cutting Jobs?

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Bad News About the Big Banks

After watching picturesque, historic, and inspiring images of President Barack Obama's inauguration and celebration all day yesterday, I awoke to much of the same this morning. But CNN broke a little from the round-the-clock coverage and recap of the events to offer some other news, though still related. When talking about the troubling economy Obama has inherited and that we're all facing, CNN flashed a simple graphic that contained this information:

Bank stock prices decline since election day
Citibank 81%
Bank of America 79%
Wells Fargo 59%

That's how much value the three big banks have lost in just two and a half months. While analysts (and loud talkers) like Suze Orman stress that the state of the stock market is separate from the state of the economy, saying that Americans shouldn't rest their everyday economic concerns and fears on how Wall Street is doing, you can't help but worry. Especially here in Charlotte. We've all been anticipating the previously announced job cuts at Bank of America due to their acquisition of Merrill Lynch, and cuts at Wells Fargo because of their purchase of Wachovia. With BofA and Wells Fargo's stock prices continuing steep declines since their major deals, it's only reasonable that we should expect even more changes than previously announced.

If you paid attention to Obama's inaugural speech yesterday, he told us it's only going to get worse before it gets better. I say it's time we all got serious about this economy. Serious, not scared. Do things differently than you had in the past. The partying is over. And I don't think Obama will even get a honeymoon.

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Wachovia Employees: Have a Drink

Things are still unfolding regarding who will buy or merge with Wachovia and a legal battle has ensued. If you work at the Charlotte-based bank, it has to be stressing you out, worrying about the future of your job. On CharlotteMagazine.com, I've listed the top-five bars for our fellow bankers to drink away their worries. Click here.

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New York Times Article Captures Charlotte's Banking Culture

The New York Times is publishing an article in tomorrow's paper (available online today) titled "For Two Longtime Bank Rivals in Charlotte, Competition Turns to Concern." If you live here, the article likely doesn't offer much you didn't already know. But the writer did an excellent job of recapitulating what the culture has been like in Charlotte for the last several years as home to both Bank of America and Wachovia's headquarters, and tells our story on a world stage.

Here's an excerpt:

No sooner had construction begun in the late 1980s on the 42-story bank headquarters — the tallest building in North Carolina — than its biggest rival announced it would build a taller building right up the street.

If one bank gave $50,000 to the Chamber of Commerce, the other wrote a check for the same amount. When one built a performing arts center, the other built a museum. For decades here, it has been thus: the two banks, homegrown Wachovia and the larger Bank of America, gleefully one-upping each other, and Charlotte coming out the winner.

With Wachovia dominating the south end of Tryon Street, uptown’s main thoroughfare, and Bank of America dominating the north end, Charlotte became the nation’s second-largest banking center behind New York.

But last week, as Wachovia, which employs 20,000 people here, became the latest financial institution to succumb to the credit crisis, the long spirit of competition between the two banks swiftly turned to concern.

Click here for the full article.

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Trying to Keep Up With the News

The Charlotte Observer has been on top of the news surrounding Wachovia this week. And there has been a lot of news. The Charlotte-based bank has the financial world buzzing again today after announcing that it would be backing out of its planned sale to Citigroup (which it just announced Monday) and instead would be merging with Wells Fargo. There's still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the deal and analysts still speculate that thousands of Wachovia jobs, particularly in Charlotte, will be lost. Plus, Citigroup has just issued a statement opposing the Wachovia/Wells Fargo deal saying Wachovia has violated its agreement with Citigroup. This will definitely be a developing story.

The Observer has posted breaking news and updates on its website all day, all week, and gone even more in-depth in the print edition each day. Yes, it is true that more and more people are getting their news from the web. I read CharlotteObserver.com at least three times a day. But as a journalist (I have a journalism degree; I'm not just a blogger.) and news junkie, I hope that people realize that no matter how or where you get your news, true journalism can't be replaced. You won't get in-depth reporting from YouTube, The Daily Show, or sound bites. We need print journalism, even if it's printed on the web.

Now where the newspaper becomes problematic and appears archaic is when breaking news happens overnight, after the print edition has been sent to press. Today's printed edition of The Charlotte Observer mentions nothing of Wachovia's merger with Wells Fargo, but instead continues to report on the rippled effects of the sale to Citigroup. But the Observer did the best it could and began updating stories online this morning. The first one I read was posted at 7:31 a.m. and they've updated it seemingly every hour.

The story in the top right column of today's paper, "Wachovia: What will remain?" quickly became old news.

Because fewer people are reading the print edition, which means fewer are subscribing to it, and fewer businesses are advertising in it, revenue is down increasingly at the Observer and newspapers around the country. A couple of my friends and members of my black journalists organization have lost their jobs over the last few months because of layoffs at the Observer. And just this week, the parent company of Creative Loafing filed for bankruptcy (we don't yet know how CL Charlotte will be affected), while last week the local Rhinoceros Times folded its print operations, laid off workers, and will be publishing solely on the web.

I hope we find a way to save newspapers because they really are needed. Even though more people are turning to the web, it's not the same. A lot of us are just skimming stories online because the advent of technology and personal devices (laptops, BlackBerrys, cell phones) is giving us short attention spans. But we need to be going deeper than the headlines and soundbites. If you do, you'll realize there's more to the story.

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September Madness

I received this in an email this morning (think March Madness). I'm pulling for the home team, Bank of America.

Click to enlarge.

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Jay Leno Knows Why Wachovia Was Sold

Charlotte is still in shock over the announcement yesterday that Wachovia is selling its banking operations to Citigroup. The Wachovia as we know it will be forever changed, and the immediate attention now is on potential job losses at the Charlotte-based bank.

Last night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Leno talked about the Wachovia news. He showed this actual Wachovia commercial that he says he saw airing yesterday while the reports of the bank's sale were going on (I saw Wachovia commercials airing, too, on CNBC as the story was being reported). Leno said Wachovia was sold because the bank was doing poorly and the bank was doing poorly because it was giving away money, as is evidenced in this commercial. (When I look at it, I'm reminded of "making it rain." Man Law.)


It's not funny to those who are worried about their jobs, but sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying.

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Press Release Tells a Lot About Status of Wachovia

Charlotte and the financial world are buzzing this morning over the announcement that Citigroup will acquire Wachovia's banking operations. The breaking news, which started in the wee hours of the morning, created a long list of questions for the future of the Charlotte-based bank. A press release sent out this morning does a great job of addressing them.

Particularly of note is the paragraph at the end that states where the operations will be headquartered. If you live in Charlotte, you likely have friends and/or relatives (or you yourself) who work for Wachovia. I have friends and colleagues who do, and my sister works for Wachovia in Columbia. I hope all of their jobs are safe.


CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Wachovia today announced intentions to sell its retail bank, corporate and investment bank and wealth management businesses to Citigroup. Wachovia Corporation will remain a public company with two main operating subsidiaries: Wachovia Securities, the nation’s third largest brokerage firm, and Evergreen Asset Management, a leading provider of asset management services.

“During recent weeks, the financial landscape has changed significantly and presented us with unprecedented challenges,” said Robert K. Steel, CEO and President of Wachovia. “Today’s announcement is the best alternative for the company, enabling a resolution on the Golden West portfolio.”

Under terms of the transaction, Citigroup will pay $2.1 billion to Wachovia and assume the senior and subordinated debt of Wachovia Corporation.

The transaction is expected to close before year-end. It has been approved by directors of both companies and is subject to shareholder approval of Wachovia and the appropriate regulatory approvals.

Customers of both companies should continue banking as usual, and feel confident that their deposits are secure. Also, employees and vendors should continue to operate business as usual.

At this time, there are no changes to Wachovia’s board of directors and two Wachovia directors will join Citigroup’s board.

Wachovia Corp. will remain headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. Wachovia Securities will continue to be headquartered in St. Louis, MO. Citigroup will headquarter the retail bank in Charlotte and the investment bank in New York. Wachovia’s investment bankers were Goldman Sachs, Perella Weinberg Partners and Wachovia Securities, and its legal advisors are Sullivan & Cromwell and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

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Wachovia Makes Women's List

Wachovia Corp. made Pink magazine’s second annual list of Top Companies for Women in the ladies mag's September/October issue. I would've put the Charlotte-based company at the top of the list with my own unscientific research. Everywhere I go around Charlotte I meet lots of women who are employed by either Wachovia or Bank of America (apparently Wachovia treats its women better). They're half the reason after-work networking events are so popular here.

Pink did its research, though. It picked companies based on the number of women reporting to the CEO, how quickly the ranks of women in middle and senior management are growing, upward trends in women among the highest earners, and several other criteria.

Thirteen companies made the list. The others are American Express Co., Bebe Stores Inc., FedEx Services Inc., Grant Thornton LLP, Heller Ehrman LLP, KPMG LLP, Liz Claiborne Inc., Manpower Inc., MetLife Inc., Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Turner Broadcasting System Inc., and UPS. Get your resumés together, ladies.

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Banks, I'm Begging You

Both Bank of America and Wachovia posted second quarter earnings this week. While BofA's profits fell 41 percent from the previous year's second quarter, the red bank still made a profit of $3.41 billion. Some analysts are becoming a little optimistic during these hard times. I'm not.

Wachovia reported that it loss $8.9 billion during the second quarter and as a result will be cutting 10,750 jobs. While the locations of these jobs are not yet known, I don't think there's anyway Charlotte can be spared. While I'm not at all an economist, I foresee a significant number of jobs being loss here at the blue bank.

Today, I'm making my plea again. And I'm doing it by directing you to a blog I posted a couple of months ago: Big Banks: Please Save Our Women.

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Startling Statistic About CEOs' Salaries

Charlotte CEOs have been making the news a lot lately. After firing CEO Ken Thompson last month, Wachovia hired Bob Steel away from the U.S. Treasury Department last week to run—and hopefully save—the suddenly struggling bank. (You can read a blog I posted a couple of months ago about why I especially want Wachovia to survive.) And a couple of weeks ago, news broke that United Way of the Central Carolinas CEO Gloria Pace King was paid $1.2 million last year, with about $800,000 of that said to have been for underpaid pension payments.

During this currently struggling economy, people are paying a lot more attention to all things financial. In the past when we would hear of CEOs' astronomical salaries (I remember a couple of years ago Bank of America's CEO Ken Lewis's salary for the year including bonuses topped $20 million) we would usually say things like "I wish I made that kind of money." But now we're more outraged, as we see people losing their homes and gas escalating above $4 a gallon.

Last night I was watching Meet the Press (it originally airs Sunday mornings on NBC, but I was watching the rebroadcast on MSNBC) and I heard a startling statistic. The first half of the show featured surrogates for presidential candidates Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri is the national co-chair for the Obama campaign and this is what she said as she spoke about the changes that are needed in how the economy is being run:

In America, CEOs at big companies make 400 times more than their employees. In Japan, CEOs make ten times more.

When Meet the Press host Tom Brokaw asked McCaskill what Obama would be able to do about that she said he would support legislation that required shareholders to approve CEO's salaries. I'd never heard of that, but I would certainly support it. At most large companies and organizations, such as Wachovia and the United Way, the board of directors approve CEO's pay. So you have 8-12 people in a boardroom who have fat pockets themselves making the decision, all the while they're hollering how their biggest responsibility is to their shareholders. Okay, so let the shareholders approve the salaries and see if they give the top brass golden parachutes while they, themselves, are just trying to stay afloat.

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Big Banks: Please Save Our Women

If you're new to Charlotte, it won't take you long to realize that this is a bank town. We're the number two financial city in terms of assets, second only to New York. Most of this is due to Bank of America and Wachovia being headquartered here. You likely know the story of how the two banks employ about 35,000 people in the area. But did you know that more than 80,000 people are employed locally in the finance industry as a whole? Not only is about half of that number bank employees, but the other half are jobs that are created largely because of the banks' presence: insurance, investments, mortgage lenders, etc.

So with the ongoing bad news about the banks' financial state, I'm concerned. In the last two weeks, Bank of America has reported that its first quarter earnings fell 77 percent, while Wachovia reported that it lost $393 million during the first quarter of this year. And in the past week, both banks have coincidentally received big fines or penalties for having programs that violated SEC laws. When companies are losing hundreds of millions of dollars, people are soon to follow. I'm concerned that if things don't turn around soon, the banks will be forced to conduct big layoffs (some have already been announced in recent months). And when people get laid off, they often move away in search of new jobs, especially if they moved here because of the job in the first place. I'm afraid that would mean scores of young ladies would be leaving Charlotte.

In late 2005, about four months after I moved to Charlotte, I was working on an article on speed dating. As part of the research, I attended two different speed dating events. I didn't go as a journalist. I went as a "regular" person, so I signed up and attended like everyone else. One of the speed dating events I enjoyed more than the other. In that particular one, what I remember most was that about half of the dozen or so women I "dated" that night (each date lasted 5 minutes) worked for either Bank of America or Wachovia. I learned this because one of the standard questions you ask or are asked during you five-minute interview—because that's what it felt like, an interview, but it was fun—is where do you work.

Since that time, as I've gotten to know Charlotte—its people and places—better, I've come to realize how much the banks mean to this city. I'm not going to go on and on about the jobs they create, the philanthropy they do, or their overall impact (BofA and Wachovia are singlehandedly responsible for the growth and development downtown has experienced). I only care about the ladies we could potentially lose. What would the nightclubs and after-work social scene be like without the chicks from the red and blue banks? The young professional women who line the bars and meet in groups. I don't even want to think about it.

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