Ron Stodghill

MCT REGIONAL NEWS

Nearly 18 months ago, in my first column for this newspaper, I wrote about the importance of reinvention.

Even in the best of times it's tough for a smallish tech firm in Charlotte such as Skookum Digital Works or Jackrabbit Technologies to grab the spotlight.

When Mayor Anthony Foxx strode Tuesday into Amelie's, the popular French bakery and cafe in NoDa, it didn't take long for him to tap his feminine side.

Back in the spring of 2006, catering hotshot Mike Bailey delivered a jolt to the industry by announcing his retirement as CEO of the Compass Group, the UK-based food service giant.

This time a year go, business turnaround expert Bob Dunn kept a perpetually optimistic Magic 8 Ball on his desk. When you shook it, your fortunes invariably came up as "Yes," or "It is decidedly so" or "Most likely."

He still owns a condo in Ballantyne, and chats regularly with friends here. But ask Vijay Harrell, founder of the Web-based startup Proxpur Labs, when he's moving back, and you'll get a lot of stuttering and sidestepping.

As trade partners, at least, North Carolina and Russia actually are quite friendly - if not exactly BFF.

Paul Solitario, investment banker and champion of Charlotte's entrepreneurial class, was sitting in his 24th-floor office at the Bank of America Plaza Building earlier this week reminiscing about the much hungrier days of local startups.

Last week, Charlotte's business and political leaders cut ribbon in a cavernous warehouse occupied by Jetion US, a China-based solar panel company bringing its North American distribution, along with some 40 jobs, to the Queen City.