First Posted: 12/4/2009

PEMBROKE The University of North Carolina at Pembrokes Regional Center for Economic, Community and Professional Development and the Pembroke Area Chamber of Commerce have scheduled the the next Rise N Shine Morning Connection for 7:30 to 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The meeting is at the UNCP Regional Center, 115 Livermore Drive, COMtech.
Sylvia Pate will facilitate the second of a series of seven sessions, culminating in a Professional Development Certificate. To receive a certificate, participants must attend six of seven sessions, but everyone is welcome.
The second session will be The Present … The Gift that Makes You Happy and Successful at Work and in Life.
Breakfast will be served. Registrations are necessary by calling (910) 775-4000 or e-mailing the Regional Center at [email protected] to confirm attendance.

WARRENDALE, Pa. rue21, a specialty fashion teen retailer, is planning a grand opening of its new store in Lumberton at Biggs Park Mall.
The store is set to open in February.
rue21 offers an assortment of the newest emerging fashion trends in apparel and accessories for girls and guys. The company operates more than 530 stores in 43 states with a plan to open 100 stores annually.

CHAPEL HILL Travis Branch, director of Management of Information Services for Lumberton, graduated from the 2009 Certified Government Chief Information Officers Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hills School of Government on Nov. 20.
The city government program began in 2005 and is the first local government-specific program for chief information officers. The course is 240 hours and covers various aspects of communication, planning, and management in city government.
Branch was among 29 public-sector employees who completed the year-long course in 2009. Over the past five years, more than 300 information technology professionals have been graduated.

RALEIGH Vitamin manufacturers who took part in a price fixing scheme have agreed to pay North Carolina and 22 other states $25 million, Attorney General Roy Cooper said last week.
Price fixing undermines fair competition and hurts consumers, Cooper said. Conspiring to overcharge customers is the wrong way to do business.
The settlement was negotiated on behalf of consumers and businesses that purchased certain vitamins between 1988 and 2000. As a result of the settlement, North Carolina will receive more than $1.7 million.
Cooper and the other attorneys general alleged that certain vitamin manufacturers got together and fixed prices of vitamin ingredients that they sold to food processors and drug manufacturers.