Livingston & Haven Receives High Achiever Award

CHARLOTTE, -- Juan Pablo Giometti, president and CEO of NHEO, Inc., has announced the launch of National Hispanic Entrepreneurs' Organization (www.nheo.org), a nonprofit organization created to empower Hispanic entrepreneurs who are underrepresented in America. As the premier business organization serving Hispanic entrepreneurs, NHEO's mission is to close the minority gap that Hispanics face in the business world and foster entrepreneurship among Hispanics through mentoring, networking and education. The organization acts as an information hub for new and existing Hispanic business owners and offers timely access to business and community resources at the local, regional and national level. NHEO also helps stimulate economic growth by providing high quality, prescreened information in the English and Spanish languages.

"I am excited that NHEO is up and ready for business," said Giometti, president and CEO of the organization. "Our overall objective is to increase the chances of success of Hispanic entrepreneurs by providing them needed business wisdom, resulting in increased revenue as well as job growth within the country."

About Juan Pablo Giometti:

Juan Pablo Giometti is the president and CEO of National Hispanic Entrepreneurs' Organization, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship among Hispanics through educating, mentoring and networking. Giometti is also managing director of The Latin Focus LLC, a full-service Hispanic media and marketing consulting firm headquartered in Charlotte, with research and development and call centers in Latin America. In 2006, Giometti founded Viva Carolina, a multimedia Latino network in the Carolinas with focus in Education, Business and Healthcare, that was acquired in 2008 by The Latin Focus LLC. Viva Carolina was the first community Hispanic newspaper in eastern North Carolina. An active member of the community, Giometti serves on the board of advisors for the East Carolina College of Education Special Education and is a board member of Law & Community Advancement, Inc.

About National Hispanic Entrepreneurs' Organization:

National Hispanic Entrepreneurs' Organization (NHEO), headquartered in Charlotte, is the leading Hispanic nonprofit organization for entrepreneurs. Established in 2008, the organization was created to empower Hispanic entrepreneurs, who are underrepresented in America, through information, connections and support.

long North Carolina's coastline proved treacherous to sailors and pirates alike. Lighthouses provided beacons of illumination. Among the most famous are the six along the Outer Banks.

Driving north past Duck and into Corolla you arrive at the Currituck Beach LightStation. Opened in 1875 its red brick exterior differs from the black and white patterned and whitewashed facilities to the south. Approximately one million bricks were used in building the still active lighthouse. From Easter to Thanksgiving weekend you can climb its 214 steps, walk around its grounds and peer in the Keeper's home. Maintained by the Outer Banks Conservationists a fee of $7.00 per person is required.

Heading south on Highway 12 through Kitty Hawk and Nags Head, and almost immediately at the entrance of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore – comes the Bodie Island Light. Pronounced "body," the name, according to long held rumors, came from either the large number of unfortunate drowning victims washed up on shore or the supposed original owners of the land – you decide.

The structure you now see is the classic case of "third time a charm". The first, built on a shaky unsupported brick foundation in 1847, once competed with the leaning tower of Pisa for most vertically challenged building. Abandoned within less than 15 years of its completion, the second lighthouse’s upright time was even less.

Two years to be exact. During the Civil War Confederate troops, fearful of its potential usefulness to oncoming Union naval ships, blew it up in 1861.

The shoreline remained dark, until the present lighthouse was completed in 1872. Now at 156’ high, the light from its black and white horizontal striped structure can be seen for 19 miles. Climbing the stairs it is not permitted, but the former the lighthouse keeper's house has been converted into a visitor's center and ranger’s station run by the National Park Service. Several adjacent nature trails provide excellent viewing of coastal marshland birds - like herons and Glossy ibis. Take a stroll.

The National Seashore protects the environment and its multiple creatures, for 70 miles, until the village of Ocracoke. Take time to explore quiet inlets, constantly changing sand dunes and perhaps spy the wild horses still roaming the islands.

The Diamond Shoals are anything but precious. The shallow and underwater sandbars, between Hatteras and Ocracoke, are ever moving. Combined with the convergence of the warm Gulf Stream and the Artic cold Labrador Current the region has a foreboding nickname – “Graveyard of the Atlantic.”